Ableton Live 5

Live: The Audio Sequencer That You Can Play Like An Instrument!

Ableton Live is the music-production solution that allows you to spontaneously compose, record, remix, improvise and edit your musical ideas. Live brings your acoustic, electronic and virtual instruments, as well as your digital audio recordings, together in a single interface with unparalleled ease of use. In the end, Live lets you focus on what really matters: your music. Ableton Live 5 at a Glance:

• Record musical ideas, combine or create new songs, and compose on the fly.
• Unlimited 24-bit /192 kHz multitrack hard disk recording.
• Manage any number of audio and MIDI inputs and outputs.
• Drag and drop MIDI and audio effects, layer synths, and record MIDI as audio.
• The versatility of a classic sequencer with the spontaneity of a groove box.
• Time-Warping Engine stretches all audio in real time to match the chosen tempo.
• Draw melodies, rhythms and effects changes onto loops and samples while they play.
• Wide array of creative audio effects.
• Play your sequencer like an instrument on stage or in the studio.

New In Ableton Live 5:

• New daw features.
• Clip freeze.
• Plug-in delay compensation.
• Launchable arrangement locators.
• Mackie control support.
• Mp3 and automatic tempo-matching.
• New "complex" warp mode.
• New clip transport.
• New instruments and effects.
• Beat repeat.
• Phaser and flanger.
• Auto pan.
• Saturator.
• Arpeggiator.
• Simpler updated.

New DAW Features Live 5 includes advanced and creative DAW features to satisfy any audio professional. Read more about clip Freeze, plug-in delay compensation, launchable Arrangement locators and Mackie Control support. Clip Freeze The new Freeze command has two purposes: freeing up CPU power and easing the transfer of projects between computers. "Freezing" a track transparently creates sample files for all clips in the track. These sample files are then played instead of CPU-intensive real-time instruments and effects. While a track is frozen, you cannot change the details of its clips - but, unique to Live 5, "frozen" clips retain their real-time launch capabilities. This means that you can improvise, perform and sketch out song arrangements even while tracks are frozen. You could transfer a project from your big studio PC to an older PowerBook and keep working - even though the laptop is not powerful enough to handle all the virtual instruments and effects in the project, and even though the project is using plug-ins that are unavailable on the laptop! Plug-In Delay Compensation Live 5 now automatically compensates for delays caused by Live effects and plug-ins, including those on the return tracks. The compensation algorithm keeps tracks in sync while minimizing delay between the player's actions and the audible result. In addition, both audio and MIDI tracks have a manual delay setting, adjustable in milliseconds, that can be used to compensate for human, acoustic, hardware and other real-world delays. Launchable Arrangement Locators Live 5 offers locators with MIDI mapping and quantized recall. Using the mouse, computer keys or MIDI messages, you can drop locators on the fly during playback or recording. Each locator can be named and assigned to a computer key or MIDI message. Jumping to a locator is subject to real-time quantization, just like launching Session View clips and scenes. Previous/Next buttons allow you to jump from locator to locator. Mackie Control Support Live 5 brings dedicated support for Mackie Control-compatible mixer surfaces such as Tascam's FW-1082/1884, Yamaha's 01X and Mackie Control, allowing for mouse-free program operation. Using the mixer surface's controls, you can navigate arrangements and the Session View grid; launch clips, scenes and locators; and access instruments and effects. Through bank switches, one surface unit can control any number of tracks in a Live Set. Live feeds data back to the control surface to make the faders move and the displays report values. Remix Features. Get ready to remix! Live 5 includes a host of new remix-minded features, assuring instant remix and mash-up gratification. MP3 support, automatic tempo-matching, Complex Warp Mode and the new clip transport make remixing a breeze. MP3 and Automatic Tempo-Matching Live 5 guarantees instant remix and mash-up gratification. Not only is your music library in MP3 format immediately accessible to Live, but the music also automatically synchronizes to the project tempo. State-of-the-art signal processing automatically tracks the tempo of imported songs and sets Warp Markers for you. This works well not only for electronic music but also for songs with human tempo variations. New "Complex" Warp Mode Now that Live works with your entire music collection, there is a dedicated Warp Mode to accommodate all types of music. Live 5 introduces "Complex," a new real-time Warp Mode to complement Beats, Tones, Texture and Re-Pitch. Complex is a frequency-domain warping method specifically designed to accommodate composite signals such as mixed-down music. New Clip Transport Navigation within Live's Clip View has become much easier. Just click anywhere in the waveform to jump there - in sync and subject to real-time quantization. In Live 5, the clip start and end points ("In" and "Out") are now decoupled from the loop. You can prepare a clip to run into a loop or use the new "Set" buttons to catch a certain part of the music in a loop as it plays. The Set buttons, the loop switch, the loop position and other Clip View controls can now be mapped to MIDI controllers to allow for mouse-free loop tweaking using your preferred controller. New Instruments and Effects Live 5 introduces a selection of innovative new devices, bringing even more creative possibilities. Check out Beat Repeat, Phaser, Flanger, Auto Pan, Saturator, Arpeggiator and the updated Simpler Beat Repeat Beat Repeat is an inspirational, expressive and addictive audio effect that is useful for subtle-to-extreme reorganization of beats and vocals. You create short loops on the fly and control their lengths either manually or via random functions - delivering endless variations of grooves and stutter effects. Phaser and Flanger Live 5 offers new Phaser and Flanger devices, both modeled after classic '70s guitar effects and augmented with a beat-synced LFO (with variable waveforms) and a unique envelope follower function. The results range from classic phasing and flanging to drastic sound manipulation. Auto Pan The new Auto Pan effect offers LFO-driven manipulation of amplitude and panning. It can create everything from automatic panning with various curves to tremolo and amplitude modulation and beat-synchronized chopping effects. Saturator If digital is a little too clean for you, if your sound is crying out for some dirt or punch, or if you are missing some warmth, Live's new Saturator has the cure. Five different shapes and a set of powerful tone controls create subtle-to-drastic distortion effects. Arpeggiator We are proud to fulfil a top customer request with the release of our Arpeggiator. It does everything you would expect - and a lot more. Beyond classic applications, Arpeggiator can chop chords, strum notes like a rhythm guitarist, morph velocities and create scale-corrected pitch progressions. Simpler Updated Simpler now includes independent envelopes for filter, pitch and amplitude, a glide control, and an improved LFO. Live 5 also brings countless improvements to existing features; for instance, you can change the properties of multiple clips at once, resize and minimize the width of tracks in the Session View, use right-click context menus for most functions and use a count-in for recording. Version 5 is even easier to learn thanks to a new set of lessons and an improved lesson reader. From sketch to music composition Live's specialty is composition by improvisation. Record musical ideas, combine or create new songs, and compose on the fly. Live captures your every move for later refinement and editing. Introducing your musical sketchpad: Live's Session View. Each clip holds a musical idea, phrase, melody, loop or even a complete song. Add to your Session in real time by dragging in audio or MIDI files from Live's built-in Browser, or record new "takes" without ever stopping the music. Leave behind the constraints of linear composition. Each clip contains its own play button, allowing you to "launch" them at any time and in any order. Live assures that everything plays in sync, so you are free to improvise new arrangements, try different loop combinations or jam with existing musical ideas. If you like what you hear, engage Live's recording and capture your actions for later refinement in the Arrangement View.
The music hub... Come together, right now. Live offers complete multitrack recording and editing for any acoustic source, hardware synthesizer or software instrument. Live's Arrangement View, shown here, is the multitrack environment where it all comes together. Live offers unlimited 24-bit / 192 kHz multitrack hard disk recording, full MIDI sequencing and complete automation for every mix and effect parameter (including song tempo). Every edit is non-destructive and revertible thanks to unlimited undo. Live can manage any number of audio and MIDI inputs and outputs, making it the hub of your musical studio. VST, Audio Units and ReWire support allow you to use your favorite effects and software instruments. Flexible and intuitive signal routing for audio and MIDI gives you the room to experiment with your signal flow in creative ways. Layer instruments, submix tracks, record the signal from any track or group of tracks.
MIDI editing! Yes, MIDI can be fun and easy. Drop a software instrument in a track and play. Drag and drop MIDI and audio effects, layer synths, and record MIDI as audio. Instruments and effects are a matter of drag and drop in Live. Just drop a software instrument into a track, and you are ready to play. Add MIDI effects, such as Scale, which forces all notes into a desired key, or audio effects like Chorus, Auto Filter or any of Live's other creative plug-ins. Live's Track View shows how the signal flows, with meters between the devices, and provides you with direct access to all device controls. Live's built-in Simpler instrument revives the art of sampling. Grab any piece of audio, drop it into Simpler, and play it across the keyboard. Simpler is simple to operate, yet capable of creating entirely new and complex sounds.
Pattern Mode: Your laptop is about to turn into a groove box. Live puts an arsenal of groove-making tools at your fingertips. Live combines the versatility of a classic sequencer with the spontaneity of a groove box. Create drum machine-style grooves using Live's Impulse drum sampler and real-time pattern sequencing. However you prefer to create rhythms, be it through MIDI input, loop overdubbing or drawing patterns, Live keeps you grooving. Drag and drop sounds into Impulse and start building patterns. Impulse provides filtering, time-stretching and powerful dynamic control over the sonic characteristics of your sounds. Feeling a groove but no MIDI controller at hand? Simply use the computer keys to trigger your samples and record your groove.
Mix and Remix from the same environment Instantly combine jazz with house with hip hop with soul... Live synchronizes it all in real time. This year, 58 international magazines voted Live as the best DJ tool on the market. Live opens up a universe of creative possibilities to DJs. Combine music of any style and tempo, while effortlessly spinning three, four or as many tracks as you like. Preview tracks through headphones and control the mix with Live's DJ-style EQs and built-in crossfader. Live also creates opportunities for DJs to explore remixing and producing new tracks. Live's Time-Warping Engine stretches all audio in real time to match the chosen tempo with complete flexibility and fidelity, while giving independent control over pitch. Even a complete piece of music with fluctuating tempo can be stretched and re-pitched in Live. To the remix artist, tedious tasks, such as aligning vocal tracks, shrink to a matter of seconds.
On the spot sound design Perform real-time sonic surgery on your sounds. Draw melodies, rhythms and effects changes onto loops and samples while they play. Samples and loops are great to work with... if only you could go back in time and tell the producer to change a few things. Live puts an end to static sounds by allowing you to "open up" your samples or loops and work from "within." Live's "clip envelopes" enable you to draw the pitch and volume of individual notes inside a sample. You can also modulate the sample with effects, scramble beats, and create LFO effects and step sequencer patterns. Even better, clip envelopes can be drawn while the music is playing and your composition is evolving. Live's non-destructive clip envelopes make it possible to create unlimited variations of any sound. Live offers a wide array of creative audio effects, bringing you even more sound creation possibilities. Any number of effects can be placed on any track, send or the Master track. Insert, chain and reorder effects by drag and drop, all without interrupting the music. All Live effects, as well as VST and Audio Unit Plug-in parameters, can be remote-controlled via MIDI and fully automated in real time. In conjunction with Live's clip envelopes, effects can be used like the components of a modular re-synthesizer.
Hand's on control! Liberate yourself from the mouse. Play your sequencer like an instrument on stage or in the studio. Imagine launching sound and MIDI files, controlling transport functions, tweaking tempo, changing mixer and effects controls, and never touching the computer. Your software has just transformed into hardware. Almost all of Live's functions can be arbitrarily assigned to your computer keys as well as MIDI notes and controllers. With Live and a MIDI keyboard or fader box, you are in complete control. Ableton Live 5 Features:

• Complete sequencing, combination and reorganization of MIDI clips.
• Straightforward MIDI recording, editing and pattern creation.
• MIDI bank and program change settings for individual MIDI files.
• Graphically represented MIDI controller data for intuitive drawing and editing.
• Versatility- play MIDI notes anywhere with no equipment other than the computer keyboard.
• Manipulation of MIDI timing through quantization and swing/groove settings.
• Drag and drop import of Standard MIDI files and their individual tracks.
• Export of MIDI tracks and patterns as Standard MIDI files.
• Preview and combine AIFF, WAV and SDII audio files of any sample rate, size and bit depth with no prior conversion.
• Real-time time-stretching of any audio file to play in sync with the project tempo.
• Sample reverse of individual audio files.
• Rhythm and time warping for notes and sections within audio files.
• Real-time swing and groove manipulation of audio files.
• Complete control of volume, pitch and timing for segments or notes within audio files through drawn curves.
• Detailed audio file exporting.
• Nonlinear audio and MIDI file organization and triggering for imaginative recombination and improvisation.
• Audio and MIDI files can be mapped to MIDI keyboard ranges and computer keys for instant triggering.
• Detailed control over the launch and play properties of individual files.
• Automatic jamming- Create groups of files that can trigger each other to generate specific or random output.
• Configure groups of files that play simultaneously, store tempo changes and advance automatically.
• DJ-style crossfading between any number of tracks.
• Hands-on control of any interface element with a MIDI controller or the computer keyboard.
• Flawless recording of all aspects of a set for later in-depth editing.
• Comprehensive audio and MIDI recording and sequencing.
• Unlimited 24-bit/192 kHz multitrack hard disk recording.
• Detailed on-the-fly recording and editing of automation for mixer, effects control movements and the song tempo as continuous breakpoint envelopes.
• Complete nondestructive editing with unlimited undo.
• Drum machine-style loop/overdub recording for building MIDI patterns.
• Punch-in and -out points for recording.
• Creation of perfectly cut samples and loops through optional record quantization.
• Instant resampling of audio and MIDI while the music plays.
• Wide array of innovative Ableton audio and MIDI effects.
• New Ableton instruments: Simpler, for creative sample-based synthesis and Impulse, for dynamic percussion sound design.
• Endless expansion through VST and Audio Units Plug-in instruments/effects and ReWire.
• Automation and remote control of all instrument and effects parameters.
• Unlimited variations from single samples and loops through user-definable effects, mixer, volume and pitch curves.
• Track-to-track I/O routing for complex mixes, post-effects recording, MIDI-to-audio conversion, submixing and synth layering.
• Individual instrument outputs and multi-timbral instrument input and output routing capabilities.
• Private cueing and previewing through separate audio outputs.
• Complete MIDI control of ReWire clients.
• Intuitive signal flow management of effects and instruments by drag and drop.
• Pre- or post-mixer effect grouping/bussing on up to twelve sends/return tracks.
• Tempo sync to any external source through MIDI Clock master or slave; MIDI Timecode slave.
• Audio and transport sync through the ReWire protocol as master or slave.
• Unlimited audio and MIDI tracks.
• Unlimited audio and MIDI inputs and outputs.
• ASIO, MME, DirectX, Sound Manager and CoreAudio audio interface support.
• Hundreds of one-shot drum samples for use in Impulse.
• Selection of royalty-free loops and samples from Big Fish Audio.*
• Built-in program tutorials and starter sets.
• Printed reference manual.*
• Multilingual program help and PDF manual in English, Japanese, German, French and Spanish.

* Available in Live 5 boxed version only. Live 5 is Ableton's most significant release to date, extending Live's real-time music-making approach to the complete range of today's music production techniques.