As one of the best free educational resources on the internet for music producers, Ableton’s Learning Synths website has just got even better.
Launched in 2017 as a partner for Ableton’s free web-based guide to making music, Learning Synths is an interactive tool built around a browser-based 2-oscillator synth. It starts with the basics, discussing the likes of amplitude and pitch, before explaining concepts and features such as envelopes, modulation, oscillators, LFOs and filters.
In addition, there is a handy Playground section that dispenses with the ‘Learning’ and just provides access to the synth.
New Export and Record options mean that you can use your sounds elsewhere
Two of the best of the new features make it possible to take your Learning Synths creations into your DAW so that they can be used in a music-making context. The Export option turns your work into a Max for Live synth contained in a Live Set – this will work in both Live 11 Lite and Live 9.7-10 Suite – and you can now capture up to 60 seconds of audio from the synth (recordings are instantly downloaded as WAV files).
Additionally, there is a new configurable XY pad for the Playground, so you can adjust multiple parameters at once, and you’ll now find ‘Open in Playground’ buttons on the lesson pages. Click one of these and you can edit the sound you are currently tinkering with in more detail.
Lastly, there is Dark mode support (based on your system preferences) and Turkish, Finnish and Portuguese language versions have been added.
Ableton had introduces Microtuner, a free MIDI device for Live that enables you import, edit, and generate microtonal scales.
With Microtuner, you can find the notes between semitones – the ones that would fall between the keys on a piano, for example – and any scale that you import into Microtuner can be saved for future use.
You can also create your own from scratch using parameters such as number of pitches (up to 128), octave frequency ratio, and pitch distribution randomisation. Lead and Follow modes enable you to sync tuning systems across entire tracks.
Features:
Tap into a broad range of scales and tuning systems with Microtuner’s import function, or build your own from scratch with a customizable scale generator.
Import and sync tuning files – Microtuner supports Scala tuning files, which you can download for free from the Scala archive. Just drag and drop a scale or folder of scales into the device to get started. If using multiple instances of Microtuner, you can sync tunings across instruments with the device’s Lead and Follow modes, or by connecting it to an MTS-ESP client plugin.
Edit scales and notes – Any tuning file you import can be customized. Tweak individual notes, transpose entire scales, or modify base frequencies as needed. The Scale Editor’s Follow button allows for incoming MIDI notes to set the pitch you’re working on, so you can play sounds out as you edit them. Finally, a Revert button reloads scales back to their original state.
Create new scales – The device’s Generator panel features three parameters for crafting scales: number of pitches, octave frequency ratio, and pitch distribution randomization. Use up to 128 pitches to build nuanced microtonal systems, or play with octave frequency ratios to explore some of the many scales that aren’t tuned to equal temperament.
Blend scales and add expression – Two separate scale decks mean you can blend two scales in real time using the device’s dedicated slider knob. Create shapeshifting arpeggios, recasted chords, and morphing melodies as you move between tunings. Combine this with a polyphonic synth that supports MPE to add even more expressive depth to your sound.
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.
