Ableton Live
Ableton Live is an available for Windows and Mac OS X sequencer of the Berlin software company Ableton and a tool for music production, both aimed at the target group Live-Musiker/DJs who perform their music in real time on the stage, as well as to producers, want to create musical arrangements with the help of this software.
The main strengths of Live lie in the real-time processing of audio sources (samples) that changed depending on your preference in the pace and regardless of the pitch ( time stretching ), can be modulated with effects or mixed together with internal instruments. Similarly, audio sources can record in real time and virtual software instruments or effects ( VST, ReWire, etc.). In addition, live able to integrate into the MIDI device performance. Thus allows live composing / improvising music in real time, the software can be ( eg keyboard, MIDI keyboard, mixer, etc.) controlled by so-called MIDI controller. Remote control via MIDI allows musicians various manipulations at the same time, while this feature is rather limited with a mouse. For the MIDI control of Ableton was in collaboration with Akai, a specially tuned to Live series of MIDI controllers designed. Among other things, the APC20, APC40 and APC80 the (self-made from an APC20 and an APC40 ). As a sequencer can be used in the studio live, even when shooting, which makes it possible through an intuitive operation faster processing.
Revision history
From version 5 Ableton Live has a feature called "Clip Freeze ," which serves to reduce the CPU usage. Frozen tracks can not be edited, but also burden the CPU no longer particularly. Furthermore, a variety of new and high-quality effects ( six neue/22 total ) included. The effects Phaser, Flanger, Auto Pan, Saturator, Arpeggiator and Beat Repeat are since version 5 integral part of live. In addition to WAV and also the import of MP3 files now AIFF is supported.
With integrated Ableton Live 5.2 with native support for Intel -based Apple Macintosh computers.
Starting with version 6 hold further improvements feeder. Besides the new instrument " Sampler", the effect of " Dynamic Tube " and the expansion of existing instruments and effects, live is now also able to process frozen tracks, without thaw them before ( " Deep Freeze "). Live 6 offers the possibility to combine built-in and external instruments and effects not only in the so-called Device Groups, but in addition to also organize in virtual racks and thereby control centrally. Among the announced changes are among other things: Multi-CPU/Multi-Core support, the ability to import movies in QuickTime format and thus set to music, to export audio tracks into individual files and the direct support of numerous MIDI controller. Version 6 is available with an extensive library of sampled instrument sounds, called the Essential Instrument Collection ( EIC), delivered.
In November 2007, version 7 was released, on April 2, 2009 Version 8 Version 8 offers improvements in warping, a new groove feature, the option of combining channels in groups, the new effects Vocoder, Looper, Limiter, Multiband Dynamics, overdrive and Frequency Shifter and many other minor changes. Furthermore, a tool for online collaboration is built, but not yet activated ( closed beta test ). In the suite, or surcharge, there is a new virtual instrument Collision for percussive sounds and the sample library Latin Percussion.
The user interface of Live was localized in various languages, including there is also a German version.
Since version 8.2.6 Live is compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion operating system and supports the controller serial "Impulse" Novation. In early April 2012 Version 8.3 was released; From this version, the program automatically updated. Audio files can now be uploaded directly from the program on your own Soundcloud account. With the update to 8.3.1 compatibility was taken into account for OS X 10.8 operating system.
Version 9 brings especially the support of in-house hardware controller push to include the possibility clip automation curves, a revised browser, the new Glue Compressor and the ability to convert audio clips in MIDI.