Ableton Live 8, Suite 8, Share and Max unveiled!

Ableton Live 8, Suite 8, Share and Max unveiled!

15 January, 2009 | 2.03PM

• Written by: Christen Reutens
• Filed under: Music News: ableton, namm 2009

Ableton just a few moments ago unveiled Ableton Live 8, Suite 8, the long-awaited Cycling ‘74 Max/MSP co-development and a whole load of new features, during a press conference at the NAMM 2009 show.

Here’s all the info.

Ableton 8’s new features

Ableton Live 8 comes with a whole host of new features including a new groove engine that is able to extract grooves from audio or MIDI and allows for real-time groove quantization.

There’s also an improved warping engine that can warp audio events by adjusting events in a timeline; it also includes a new Complex Warp Mode, a slice audio files to MIDI feature (based on transients) and an updated Beats Warp Mode.

Loop fans will also have a new ‘Looper’ which provides sound-on-sound looping without the limitations of a hardware device. It allows you to record, overdub and undo without touching the computer.

Some new effects have also been added to the Ableton Live arsenal, including Ableton Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Limiter and Frequency Shifter.

There’s been a number of workflow enhancements, that include real-time crossfades in Arrangement View, an enhanced MIDI editor, group tracks, multiple track selection, and a long-awaited screen magnifier.

Suite 8’s new features

Ableton claim their new Suite 8 is a “World-class sound library”, and with over 1600 sounds, a new “real-world” Sound Objects feature, presets, grooves and templates, we’re not doubting them.

Physical-modeling fans have two new toys to play with, Collision and Corpus. They allow for authentic mallet sounds and creative percussion.

Deep house fans and producers who like more organic sounding drums will find joy in Ableton 8’s new Latin Percussion - a collection of acoustic percussion instruments from the worlds of Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and African music.

And finally, the old and reliable Operator has had an upgrade which includes new filter types, more modulation routing options and additive wavetable synthesis.

Share Live Sets

Ableton were smart to add a ‘Share Live Set’ functionality to version 8. For many years producers have been emailing and Rapidsharing Ableton live sets to each other, but the new feature makes thing faster and more stable.

Share also includes the ability to set access permissions so you can have multiple producers working on one project at the same time without fear of overwriting each other’s work.

Cycling ’74 and Ableton’s Max for Live

Ableton has become one of the most popular tools for electronic music producers, but the simplicity of the program has led some artists to lose interest in the software – last year James Holden even complained that there was an army of Ableton junkies out there making Ableton techno using only the presets available.

Max For Live could change everything, at least for those producers looking to extend beyond the simple realms of presets.

Max For Live brings Max/MSP inside Live, allowing users to create completely new instruments, synths and FX from scratch, and therefore the creative possibilities in Live has just become limitless.

Its impact in the future of electronic music production could be felt for years.

Ableton and Akai introduce the new APC40 controller

The final big announcement from Ableton today at NAMM 2009 was their new joint project with Akai that led to the development of the APC40, a new hardware controller specially designed for Ableton Live. The APC40 features high quality controls for real-time mixing, remixing and production with 109 buttons, 16 endless encoders with LED rings and nine 45mm faders.

“It’s time to kiss the mouse goodbye,” Ableton boasted.

Video: Ableton Live 8 and Suite 8 features

Press Release: ABLETON ANNOUNCES LIVE 8, SUITE 8 AND NEW INITIATIVES

Berlin, Germany (January 15, 2009) - Ableton is excited to announce
the agenda for 2009: Ableton Live 8, Ableton Suite 8, new instruments
and three completely new product initiatives.

Live 8 and Suite 8 enhance the Ableton vision of creative, real-time
digital music with a wealth of new techniques, effects and most-wanted
workflow improvements. These include a new groove engine, revamped
warping techniques, live looping, five new effects (including the
Ableton Vocoder), crossfades in the Arrangement View, group tracks
and a reworked MIDI editor. Ableton Suite 8 includes all that plus
a massive, inspired sound library and all the instruments a musician
could hope for, including a wide range of synths, a sampler, electric
and acoustic drums (new: Latin percussion), mallets (new: Collision),
numerous sampled instruments and a new, even-mightier Operator.

New in Ableton Live 8:

• New groove engine: new groove library, extract grooves from
audio or MIDI, real time groove quantize

• New warping engine: warp audio events by adjusting the
events on the timeline, updated Beats Warp Mode, new Complex Warp Mode,
slice audio files to MIDI tracks based on transients

• Looper: classic sound-on-sound looping without the limitations
of a hardware device. Record, overdub, undo and more without touching
the computer. “First loop sync,” simple loop management

• New effects: Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Limiter
and Frequency Shifter

• Workflow enhancements: including real-time crossfades in the
Arrangement View, enhanced MIDI editing, group tracks, multiple track
selection, a screen magnifier and more

New in Ableton Suite 8:

• World-class sound library: completely new sound library with
real-world “Sound Objects,” presets, grooves, templates and, above all,
over 1600 beautiful sounds

• Collision and Corpus: a unique physical-modeling instrument
for authentic mallet sounds and creative percussion. Includes Corpus,
a separate effect that reproduces Collision’s resonator section

• Latin Percussion: a collection of acoustic percussion instruments
from the worlds of Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and African music plus a wide
selection of clips and grooves for authentic usage

• Operator, Ableton’s renowned do-it-all synthesizer, has been
given a major overhaul. New filter types, more modulation routing
options and additive wavetable synthesis with drawable partials make
Operator more powerful and flexible than ever.

Plus these existing Ableton instruments: Sampler, Electric, Tension,
Analog, Drum Machines, Session Drums* and the
Essential Instrument Collection 2*.

*Boxed version only.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: NEW INITIATIVES FOR 2009

Share: effortless remote collaboration
Share Live Sets with others via the Web using this special feature
in Live 8. Ableton’s simple and intelligent solution for online musical
collaboration streamlines the sharing process with easy sharing and
loading, a simple system of setting access permission, speedy transfers
and no issues with external plug-ins and instruments.

Extend: Max for Live
Max for Live is a new product, co-developed by Ableton and Cycling ‘74.
Quite simply, it puts the power and potential of Max/MSP inside Live.
With Max for Live, it’s possible to create completely new instruments,
effects and extensions that go beyond the common and predictable and
transcend the limits that conventional tools impose. The possibilities
are virtually endless, from completely unique synths and effects,
algorithmic composition tools or radical, new music machines fusing
Live and controller hardware. Max for Live is a chance to join a
society of makers and share ingenuity.

Touch: dedicated controllers for Ableton Live
Ableton and Akai Professional are proud to announce the APC40, a
new hardware controller specially designed for Ableton Live. The
APC40 features high quality controls for real-time mixing, remixing
and production. 109 buttons, 16 endless encoders with LED rings,
nine 45mm faders and a replaceable crossfader give musicians and
producers complete control of Live’s Session View, effect devices
and virtual instruments. For anyone in the studio or on stage, DJing,
making beats, running backing tracks, firing MIDI loops or triggering
sound effects, it’s time to kiss the mouse goodbye.

These three initiatives combine in interesting ways:

Live 8 + Max for Live: Swap extensions, effects and instruments
created with Max for Live using the sharing technology in Live 8.
So Max for Live owners also get access to any number of additional
instruments, effects and extensions created by the Max for Live
community.

Live 8 + Max for Live + APC40: with Max for Live, it’s possible to
customize the APC40, turning its Clip Launch Matrix into a step
sequencer, for instance. Live 8’s sharing features allow users to
share APC40 mods with other APC40 users. And because communication
is two-way, this also means access to all the other shared APC40
goodies that the Ableton community has to offer.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Ableton Live 8 and Ableton Suite 8 should be available in the second
quarter of 2009, following extensive testing and bugfixing. A public
beta version of these products will be available soon.

Prices for Ableton Suite 8 start at EUR 549/USD 699 (download version).
Prices for Ableton Live 8 start at EUR 349/USD 449 (download version).

Upgrades to Live 8/Suite 8 vary in price, depending on the Ableton
products you already own. More details at:
http://www.ableton.com/live-8-upgrades

Collision and Latin Percussion will be available individually or
as part of Ableton Suite 8. Both instruments will be available with
the Live 8 release. Collision will cost EUR 129/USD 159,
Latin Percussion EUR 79/USD 99.

Max for Live will be available later this year. Max for Live is a
separate product: it is not part of Ableton Live 8 or Ableton Suite 8.
No price available yet.

The feature “Share Live Set” is initially included in Ableton Live 8.
As the technology develops, Ableton may introduce new models for
handling this feature.

For more information on pricing and availability of the APC40, visit:
http://www.akaipro.com/apc40

CAN’T WAIT FOR 8?

Customers who buy Live 7 now get big savings on upgrades to Live 8
and also get two Ableton instruments (Operator and Drum Machines,
worth EUR 198/USD 238 in total) for free.

Customers who buy Ableton Suite now will get a free upgrade to
Ableton Suite 8.

This offer is valid until March 31st 2009. More details at:
http://www.ableton.com/cantwaitfor8

• (13) Comments
• (8302) Views