Hurry Up Ableton 9!

Ok…I’m super late on talking about this, but since the release is supposedly right around the corner I guess now is a good time. If you still haven’t heard, Ableton is releasing a new version of their amazing DAW, Ableton Live, sometime in the first quarter of this year. If you are an Ableton producer you are probably just as pumped as I am for this release.

Those witty developers in Berlin (where Ableton was born) have created some awesome new features that are sure to help elevate anybody’s production. For instance, as with most creative people, we musicians, composers and producers get some of our best ideas when we aren’t sitting in front of our instruments or in the studio. Inspiration can come at any moment and some of us hum, sing and beat box our ideas onto our phones or other voice recorders to capture the idea. Unfortunately, unless you are some musical genius, it takes some time to transpose your ideas back in the studio, but not anymore…

Ableton Live 9 allows you to capture a thought and transpose it almost immediately. Live can now extract midi from harmonies, melodies and drum beats. Though its not perfect, it will save us loads of time trying to figure out what notes we were humming, or the harmonies in your favorite song. See for yourself!

Here’s a full list of new features!

Ableton Live 9 new features

• Session automation: In Session View, automation can now be recorded in real time directly within clips. Automation can move together with clips between Arrangement and Session View.
• Find sounds fast: Live’s new browser puts all instruments, effects, samples, and plug-ins in one easy-to-navigate view. Drag and drop folders from anywhere on your computer, search as you type and navigate from the keyboard to find everything quickly.
• Discover new sounds: Live comes with a large selection (3,500 in the Suite edition) of production-ready sounds, which were carefully crafted with the help of over 40 artists, sound designers and engineers. All sounds feature Macro controls for fast access to their most meaningful, musical parameters.
• Get your sound right: Live’s studio effects have all been reworked for even better sound and usability. The Glue Compressor is a new effect – an authentic model of a legendary 1980s console bus compressor. EQ Eight has an audition mode for isolating frequencies and an expandable spectrum display. The Gate and Compressor effects feature a Gain Reduction view which shows changes in signal level over time.
• Extract music from samples: Live’s new Harmony, Melody and Drums To Midi tools extract natural-feeling MIDI directly from the favourite parts of your music collection. You can also sing, tap a rhythm, play any solo instrument, then use Melody or Drums to MIDI to turn your recordings into MIDI clips that you can edit and reuse with any sound.
• Edit the details: Transpose, reverse and stretch MIDI notes or warp clip automation and add curves to automation envelopes. New tools and an improved workflow allow fast and flexible editing of musical ideas.
• Max for Live – now in Suite: The Suite edition of Live 9 comes with Max for Live and its many unique instruments, effects and tools. Max for Live itself includes 24 new devices such as a convolution reverb, new drum synthesizer instruments, MIDI echo as well as reworked versions of classics such as Step Sequencer and Buffer Shuffler 2.

I also own an Akai APC 40, the Ableton specific midi controler. It’s a really cool piece of hardware and I talked about it more here. However, Ableton has annouced a new midi controller called Push. This thing blows the APC, the Launchpad, The Maschine and most other midi controllers off the face of the planet…just see for yourself.

 

Cool!