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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s unveiling of Live 12.3, Ableton has released updates for its Note iOS app and Move hardware. While there are a few differences between these two updates, they share one key headline feature – adding full, unabridged access to Live’s stock synth Drift.

Now, for the first time, Note and Move users have full access to one of Live’s synths complete with every parameter available in the DAW version and the ability to craft patches from an initialised state.

Despite their visual differences, Move and Note share a lot of fundamental similarities. Note, which launched in 2022, brings a stripped-back version of the Live workflow to iOS devices, allowing users to play and sequence MIDI clips as well as sample and sequence audio, plus manipulate sounds with a limited selection of Live’s stock effects.

Move is a standalone hardware device designed as an on-the-go sketchpad companion to Live, although under-the-hood it essentially runs a variation on the Note app.

Both formats control instruments and effects via a bank of eight parameter controls, which are adjusted via the touchscreen in the case of Note and using a bank of eight touch-sensitive rotaries on the Move hardware.

In each case, in order to control Drift, these controls can cycle through multiple banks of parameters for adjusting the synth’s oscillators, filters and modulation tools, along with a top-level bank of macros.

The key difference between the rollout of Drift across the two platforms is that, while it comes to Move as a free firmware update, access to the full version of Drift in Note requires an in-app purchase, although this is fairly reasonably priced at $6.99.

In either case, having access to the full range of Drift parameters is an excellent addition. As Live users will likely already know, Drift is a fantastic-sounding, wonderfully versatile analogue-style synth capable of creating both faux-vintage tones and modern timbres. Particularly when combined with Move’s expressive pads, it can create some highly dynamic and vibrant synth patches.

The Note update is out now, and also adds an assortment of bug fixes and minor workflow refinements (all of which are free, and don’t require the purchase of Drift).

Move’s latest firmware update, v1.7, is available today via public beta. Along with the upgrade to Drift, the update also introduces the ability to adjust the brightness of the Move hardware, and adds a pair of new acoustic drum racks.

The update follows hot on the heels of other recent Move updates. Version 1.5, which arrived earlier this summer, significantly improved the device’s MIDI capabilities and added much-requested sample-slicing capabilities. V1.6, which left the beta stage just yesterday, introduced the ability to reverse samples in Drum Racks.

The Note app is available from Apple’s App Store priced at $/£6.99. Move is available now priced at $499 also on Amazon site. Find out more about Note on the Ableton site, and join the Move public beta here.

Ableton has released a free firmware update for Move that adds a variety of new features and improvements.

What’s new in Ableton Move 1.5.0:

• New Features & Improvements:
  • Auto Filter – The Auto Filter audio effect, including presets, has been added to Move’s Core Library. Auto Filter is a versatile filter effect that includes many interesting filter types and modulation possibilities.
  • MIDI I/O – MIDI input and output can now be active simultaneously. Additionally, MIDI send and receive channels can be configured for each track.
  • MIDI Sync – Move can now receive MIDI from an external device. To set up external sync, hold Shift and press Step 2 to open the Setup menu, then select MIDI Sync. This setting now includes an In option for receiving incoming MIDI Sync.
  • Sample Slicing – To enter Slicing mode, hold Shift and press the wheel while a sample is in focus on the display. Then press the wheel again to select the Slice option.
  • Drum Sampler
    • The Hold parameter, which is available in Trigger Mode, can now be set to Inf (infinite)
    • Parameter banks can now be accessed by holding Shift and turning the wheel while a sample is in focus on the display. Previously, accessing banks was possible by holding Shift and pressing the wheel, which is now used to enter Slicing mode.
    • When playing drum pads, samples whose start and end points have been adjusted now include markers on the display to indicate the active region that is being played.
• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed an issue where extending the previous step shortened a following step.
  • Fixed a crash that occurred when receiving MIDI while disabling MIDI input.
  • Fixed a rare crash that occurred when changing the Sample Gain.

See the Ableton site for details.

Now Ableton has launched a new firmware update for Move, which looks to be its most significant update yet. Ableton Move v1.5 Major Update Adds Sample Slicing, Auto-Filter Device & Enhances MIDI I/O.

When Move launched, one of the most common complaints from potential users was its lack of automatic sample slicing. Although Move allows users to sample using its audio input, onboard mic or internal routing – and lets users manually spread a recording across different pads – at launch it lacked the ability to automatically slice a loop to be triggered across different Drum Rack pads, in the way Live allows.

With the 1.5 update, Move now offers that option to slice a sample into equal regions, with the amount of slices set by the user. Users can then adjust the individual slice points in order to fine tune the process.

Move 1.5 also significantly enhances the device’s MIDI capabilities. Move can now simultaneously send and receive MIDI across its four tracks, which can each be configured with its own MIDI in and out settings. Move can also now receive MIDI clock settings from external devices.

It’s worth noting that Move uses its USB port for MIDI I/O, and doesn’t have conventional MIDI input and output ports.

Live’s newly overhauled Auto-Filter device also comes to Move 1.5, along with a range of presets. The update also adds some refinements to how Move functions when controlling Live, along with a variety of bug fixes.

These new updates join several other enhancements to the Move workflow that have been added since launch. These include the ability to sample using the device’s USB port, as well as improvements to the arpeggitor and quantize modes.

The 1.5 firmware is currently in public beta, head to the Ableton beta program site to find out how to join.

Move itself is available now, priced at £399/€449/$449, also available at Amazon site. For more info visit the main Ableton site.