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Ableton Live 11.1 released, adding native support for Apple’s M1 Silicon Macs is now official. For those who have been waiting for it, its arrival is very good news.

The first batch of  native support for Apple’s M1 Silicon Macs, was released over a year ago. This means that owners of these machines like, the MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch, M1 13-inch MacBook Pro and M1 MacBook Air, are now able to run Ableton Live without the need for Apple’s ‘translation’ software Rosetta, unleashing the full power of their computers in the process.

This release also comes with a variety of smaller improvements, especially for Windows machines and older Mac owners, including an updated Shifter device, which adds a new mode for real-time monophonic pitch shifting, as well as delay, an envelope section, an LFO and glide functionality.

In addition, the update also adds two new Max for Live utilities, Align Delay and MIDI Shaper. Align Delay enables users to compensate for lag when sending signals through their system, while MIDI Shaper generates modulation data that can bring more expression to MIDI performances.

Live 11.1 is available now, and is free for Live 11 users. Find out how to upgrade on the Ableton website.

Spitfire Audio has released free Philip Glass Piano plugin.

New LABS instrument was recorded in Glass’s New York home: get the sound of the composer’s baby grand in your DAW.

The new Glass Piano plugin – a collaboration with composer Philip Glass, looks rather appealing. Powered by samples that were captured at Philip Glass’s home in Manhattan, NYC, and released to mark his 85th birthday, this gives you the sound of his baby grand piano, which has been in the same premises since the 1990s.

Glass Piano comes with six presets that cover everything from ‘standard’ grand piano tones to more atmospheric and warped sounds. The simple interface and control set means that both beginners and more experienced players can use it.

Discussing his baby grand, Philip Glass says: “My piano has been my piano for 30 years. I have a tuner who makes it sound the way I want it to sound. When I’m writing music, and if I play it, it’ll be on this piano.

“It’s not just the piano and its sound. It’s the room it’s in, it’s the density of the walls and floorboards and the temperature. It’s how young or old a piano is. My piano has a heavy action. It’s even how the keys are varnished. Just like people, pianos have personalities.

“Especially the low parts of the piano tend to be pitches that are very clear to me. If you look at all 88 keys, the piano is different in different places. The lower octaves of my piano are not meant to be bold and aggressive. They are meant to be beautiful and spiritual, and that’s how they sound.”

Glass Piano is available now from the Spitfire Audio website. It runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats.

Icelandic music tech company Genki Instruments, creators of the Wave Ring gestural controller, has launched Cosmos, a new software synth that they say is designed to “let musicians let go of their normal assumptions of what a synth looks like and explore new musical territory”.

“We made Cosmos out of love for happy accidents. It is specifically designed to be an inspiration machine, not just for synth buffs, but any musician who wants to create interesting sounds and sonic textures. The Cosmos is your playground,” said Genki CEO Ólafur Bjarki Bogason.

Features:

• Oscillators – Eight-voice variable shape virtual analog oscillators with sync, FM, cross-fading velvet noise and sub.
• Filter – Virtual analog filter with independent damp, resonance and drive.
• Arpeggiator – Galaxy arpeggiator with rate, octaves and four unique modes.
• UFOs and Envelopes – Patch anything with two UFOs (frequency and shape) and envelopes.
• Effects – Lush reverb and echo with variable feedback, damp, time and mix.

Cosmos is available now, with an intro price of $69.99, normal price $139.99