Ableton’s much-anticipated release of Live 9 is here! All three versions of Live — Live 9 Intro, Live 9 Standard, and Live 9 Suite have been updated in this release and upgrades from earlier versions are available at various prices depending on the version being updated. The newest version of Live has a ton of new features that makes music creation even faster and easier:
- Session automation: Automation can now be recorded in real time directly within clips in Session View. Automation can move together with clips between Arrangement and Session View.
- Find sounds fast: All instruments, effects, samples, and plug-ins are in one easy-to-navigate browser. Drag and drop folders from anywhere on your computer, search as you type, and navigate from the keyboard to find everything quickly.
- New sounds: Live 9 comes with a large selection of production-ready sounds (more than 3,000 in the Suite edition), providing a full range of synthesizers, drum kits, and one-shot samples, acoustic instruments, loops, and much more — all powered by Live’s built-in synthesizers, samplers, and effects.
- Audio-to-MIDI: Use Drums-to-MIDI to convert drum breaks into MIDI files for use with your own sounds. Use Harmony-to-MIDI and Melody-to-MIDI to get the notes and chords from samples. Sing, beatbox, tap a rhythm, or play any solo instrument, then use Melody- or Drums-to-MIDI to turn your recordings into MIDI clips that can drive any virtual or hardware MIDI instrument.
- New and better effects: Live 9’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 now 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 levels over time.
- Enhanced editing: Live 9 introduces new tools and an improved workflow that allow for fast and flexible editing of musical ideas. Transpose, reverse, stretch MIDI notes, or warp clip automation and add curves to automation envelopes.
- Max for Live now included with Suite: The Suite edition of Live 9 comes with Max for Live giving users access to an ever-expanding array of unique instruments, effects, and tools. The included Max for Live boasts 25 new devices such as a convolution reverb, drum synthesizer instruments, MIDI echo, and reworked versions of classics such as Step Sequencer and Buffer Shuffler 2.