Sonic State – the latest video – captures an overview of the new Ableton Move, the company’s new four-track standalone sampling groovebox.
Ableton’s Johannes Russ & Brian Mauleon provide an intro to Move and its capabilities, the Move workflow, integration with Live and more.
After having teased its arrival earlier this month, today, Ableton has finally unveiled its latest hardware device. Move is a compact controller and instrument that – like the latest version of Ableton’s flagship controller Push – can operate both tethered to Live and as a standalone device, thanks to an onboard CPU and rechargeable battery.
Ableton Move is offering a core library of over 1500 sounds and a simple workflow. It comes with 32 polyphonic aftertouch pads, a 16-step sequencer, a built-in speaker and a microphone for sampling.
Although it shares some obvious characteristics with Push, Move actually has more in common with the company’s iOS sketchpad Note. In its standalone mode, Move runs an onboard OS that closely resembles the workflow of Note. This allows the unit to run up to four tracks, each of which makes use of a version of one of Live’s Instrument Rack or Drum Rack devices.
These Racks make use of a limited selection of Live instruments and effects to produce both melodic and percussive sounds. The Drum Racks can contain 16 instances of the Drum Sampler device, which was recently added to Live 12.1, while the Instrument Racks can each contain a single instance of either Drift, Wavetable or Live’s Melodic Sampler. Each Rack can host two effects, one send and one insert, chosen from a limited selection of Live devices.
Patterns can be programmed using Move’s grid of 32 polyphonic pressure-sensitive pads, or via the button step sequencer along the rear of the unit. Both playing and automation can be recorded, overdubbed or recalled using Live’s Capture functionality.
The sounds offered by Move are largely preset-based, all sounds can be customised using the parameters controlled by a bank of eight touch-sensitive rotaries along the top of the unit.
Move also features onboard sampling capabilities. Users can sample via a built-in mic, a 3.5mm audio input on the rear of the unit, or by resampling the main output. It’s also possible to import samples via either a wired connection or Move’s onboard WiFi.
On that front, Move offers a number of methods for users to take ideas started in standalone mode for further development in Live. This can be done using the browser-based Move manager – again accessible via either wired or wireless connection – or by using Ableton Cloud, which lets users transfer Move projects to Note or Live.
Along with its standalone capabilities, Move can also function as both a controller for Live whereby its pads, sequencer and rotaries can be used to play and edit Live’s devices, trigger clips and input patterns. Move also functions as a USB interface.
The hardware itself has a fairly minimal range of I/O. The rear panel has 3.5mm jacks for audio input and output, which are joined by two USB ports. The first, a USB-C port, is used for power and connection to a host computer, the second, USB-A, is used for connection to MIDI devices. According to Ableton, Move’s onboard battery life is around 4-hours. It can also sync with other devices via Ableton Link.
Key Features:
Hardware Specifications:
Ableton Move Demo Videos:
Move is available now for £399/$449/€449. Find out more at the Ableton site.
Ableton has posted an image on its website appearing to tease the forthcoming arrival of something called Move.
The image in question – posted on a new section of the site labelled ‘Move’ – is captioned ‘Ableton Move is coming soon’ and shows posters being pasted onto a wall displaying the date 8 Oct. Below, under the heading ‘Want to know more?’, Ableton invites users to sign up to its newsletter.
Whatever, that’s the sum total of information on offer right now. It’s safe to assume that the Berlin brand is planning on announcing or releasing something called Move next month, but what that will be remains a mystery.
Ableton is best known for its DAW, Live, which recently received an update to version 12.1, adding a new Drum Sampler device, Auto Shift effect and various other enhancements. It’s worth remembering, however, that the company also has various other stings to its bow.
Push is Ableton’s official Live controller device, which was updated to version 3 last year. That launch saw the introduction of a standalone configuration that allows Push to run a version of Live on a built-in processor. Ableton also has an iOS app called Note, which acts as a sketchpad for ideas to be finished in Live.
Beyond that, Ableton has also developed a sync protocol, Link, widely used by iOS apps and hardware. The brand has also run several music making conferences under the name Loop. As for where Move might fit into that picture, it’s anybody’s guess.
Let’s find out what the company has in store on 8 October.
