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.
Operator: A look back at two decades of sound design with Ableton
Almost 20 years ago, musician Robert Henke developed Operator, a synthesiser that has since become a key component of Ableton Live. Combining elements of FM, subtractive and additive synthesis, Operator is characterised by low CPU usage and easy programmability despite its versatility. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Henke and Ableton instrument designer Christian Kleine have put together a preset pack with over 100 sounds, demonstrating the range of this ‘little’ FM synthesiser. Congratulations and thanks! To download the 20 Years of Operator Pack for free, Live 12 Suite required.
20 years of Operator: From FM synth to sound design powerhouse
Ableton Live was launched in 2001 as an audio-only DAW, but with the release of Live 4 in 2004, Ableton added MIDI functionality and with it the need for a dedicated synthesizer. The development of this synthesizer fell to Robert Henke, one of Ableton’s co-founders, who had been working intensively with FM synthesis since 1997. He was inspired by John Chowning, the inventor of FM synthesis.
Traditionally, FM synthesis has been seen as complex and difficult to master. Henke’s aim was to reduce this complexity by creating an intuitive, polyphonic FM synthesiser that is less intimidating. This was achieved through an innovative visual display of the parameters: instead of displaying all the settings at once, an LCD-like display was developed that shows only the parameters that are currently relevant.
History behind Ableton’s innovative synthesiser
For it’s public release, the synthesizer was renamed from ‘Onyx’ to ‘Operator’ in line with Yamaha’s naming convention. Standout features of the software synthesiser include the Global Tone control, which adjusts high frequencies, and the Spread effect, which is based on a Synclavier chorus. Another special feature is the ability to control the pitch of each oscillator via velocity.
Over the years, Operator has been continually expanded and improved. New filter modes, reworked oscillators and the ability to create your own waveforms using additive synthesis make it an essential tool for DAW-based music production in 2024.
Henke adds that, despite its long history, there is always something new to discover, proving Operator’s timelessness and versatility. He also hints that he still has a few ideas in mind for future updates. An interesting package that all Ableton Live users should definitely install and try out!
Ableton Live 12.1 also features improved MIDI editing, automatic sample tagging and updated Limiter and Saturator devices, and puts real-time pitch correction within reach for anyone working with vocals.
Ableton has announced the latest update for the Live DAW. Ableton Live 12.1 is now in public beta. This free update for Ableton’s music performance and production software comes with significant additions like Auto Shift, a new real-time pitch correction device, Drum Sampler, a one-shot sampler for drums and more, and improvements to all editions of Live, including Live Lite, plus Push.
Live 12.1 introduces auto-tagging, making it easier to find the right sound in your user library. New tags are automatically assigned to all samples in the library less than a minute long, as well as to VST3 and AU plugins.
Auto Shift, Live’s new pitch correction and harmonization device, enables you manipulate and extract harmonies from vocals in real time. Choose a scale for Auto Shift to follow, and play and make harmonies from any monophonic signal with the dedicated sidechain.
Drum Sampler, Live’s new compact sample player is designed to be used in Drum Rack, enables you tweak and enhance drum sounds on the fly. Limiter and Saturator have been redesigned, and the MIDI Editor now allows you to filter and select notes by time, pitch, or a number of other criteria. Two new MPE-specific MIDI Transformations – Glissando and LFO – let you create curves for the MPE parameters of selected notes.
Auto-tagging for all your samples. You can now search your entire user library faster with filters – and there’s no need to tag the samples yourself. Live 12.1 automatically assigns new tags to any sample in your library less than a minute long. VST3 plugins will also be assigned tags based on metadata.
Live’s Limiter and Saturator devices have both received an overhaul, while the MIDI Editor benefits from an improved workflow that’ll let you search for and select notes using various filters.
Limiter gets a complete overhaul – with a smoother release curve making for less distortion, better metering with the improved UI, and the addition of Mid/Side routing, True Peak, Soft Clip, and Maximize modes.
Along with a more focused front panel, Saturator sees the addition of a Bass Shaper curve ideal for low end processing. Drive 808 kicks and sub basses as hard as you like and let Saturator keep the frequencies in check.
MIDI improvements. You can now filter and select MIDI notes by time, pitch, velocity, chance, duration or by a number of other dimensions using a new toolbar in the MIDI Editor. 12.1 also introduces two new MPE-specific MIDI Transformations – Glissando and LFO – allowing you to create curves for the MPE parameters of selected notes.
Ableton Live 12.1 and Push. Live 12.1 comes with a host of updates to Push. With Push 2 and 3 you can now design sounds with more detail and control by mapping Macros, and experiment with a range of different sounds using Macro Variations. Push 3 now also lets you add groove instantly to all the MIDI clips in your Set with a single twist of an encoder.
The new update also brings Live 12’s filtering system to the browser on Push 2 and 3, as well as auto-tagging for samples on Push 3 standalone. Plus, you can now save Default Sets and Template Sets on Push 2 and 3, and organize your Sets by moving tracks and scenes.
For a full list of what’s new, check out the release notes.
If you own a Live 12 license, you can join the beta program to test Live 12.1.
Once the beta testing period is over, Ableton Live 12.1 will be free for all owners of a Live 12 license. Ableton Live 12 is available for purchase from Ableton.com and, in some countries, through local retailers.
Ableton Live 12 costs €79 / $99 / £69 for Intro, €279 / $439 / £259 for Standard and €599 / $749 / £539 for Suite. Owners of previous versions of Live can log in to their accounts to check upgrade pricing.
Ableton Push is also available through Ableton.com. Push costs $999 / €949 / £879, and Push (standalone version) costs $1999 / €1899 / £1669. Upgrade Kits are also now available and cost $1049 / €999 / £879.
