First Look: Ableton Live 11

Ableton Live 11 just dropped, and it has created a stir among Live adherents at Sweetwater with its host of upgraded features, devices, and sounds. Building on Live’s solid production and live-performance creative platform, Ableton Live 11 cranks things up a notch, offering streamlined track comping, four new devices, six nature-inspired instruments and effects, six new sound packs, advanced live performance features, and potent randomization tools. So, let’s dive in and check out all the fresh features in Ableton Live 11!

Track comping and linked editingMPE compatibilityNew devices and soundsAdvanced live performance featuresEnhanced probability functions

Track Comping and Linked Editing

Create the perfect take with Ableton Live 11’s new track comping feature. Loop record multiple passes of audio or MIDI in loop mode, and Ableton Live 11 automatically organizes them into lanes — so you can easily audition the takes and choose the best pieces to comp into a final track. Additionally, you can link two or more tracks for simultaneous comping and editing. Ableton users at Sweetwater also find that the new comping feature presents an opportunity to create unique arrangements by splicing together random samples in unexpected ways.

MPE Compatibility

MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) controllers such as the ROLI Songmaker Kit and the Roger Linn Design LinnStrument offer unprecedented touch-based MIDI manipulation by giving you expanded parameter control over individual notes in a chord. Ableton Live 11 adds comprehensive MPE compatibility to bring heightened expressiveness to your MIDI performances. Alter timbre, pitch, modulation rate and depth, and much more, polyphonically with your favorite MPE controller. Plus, for even greater control, you can automate polyphonic sound variations and expressions, including slide and pressure, just like standard MIDI data. Moreover, Ableton Live 11 adds MPE support to its Wavetable, Sampler, and Arpeggiator instruments and offers a slew of electrifying presets.

New Devices and Sounds

Every time a new edition of Live drops, it typically comes packed with exciting new devices — and Ableton Live 11 is no different! Joining Ableton Live’s stable of engaging sound-design tools are Hybrid Reverb, Spectral Resonator, Spectral Time, PitchLoop89, and six instruments and effects inspired by natural and physical processes. Hybrid Reverb is an algorithmic and convolution reverb mash-up that leans into the best aspects of each to create everything from organic spaces to physics-defying ambience. Spectral Resonator and Spectral Time deconstruct the frequency spectrum of a signal, augmenting harmonic content through modulation and time-based manipulation. Based on an early digital effects processor, PitchLoop89 excels at glitched-out pitch-shifting effects, including shimmer delays and vibrato. And the six nature-inspired effects and instruments use fractal patterns, gravity, magnetism, particle physics, and granular synthesis to produce spirited, evolving textures. Finally, Ableton collaborated with Spitfire Audio to create three intimate chamber instrument packs — Upright Piano, Brass Quartet, and String Quartet; and they carefully curated three evocative collections of sounds — Voice Box, Mood Reel, and Drone Lab — to inspire your creativity.

Advanced Live Performance Features

Live differentiates itself from other DAWs by being both a formidable studio production tool and a live-performance powerhouse, and Ableton Live 11 delivers updated performance features that will take your stage show to the next level. First up, the new tempo following feature maps Live’s tempo in real time to incoming audio, meaning that a keyboardist can flawlessly sync their performance to a live drummer, breaking from the confines of a predefined tempo map. DJs benefit from this, as well, by turning Live into a tempo-synced effects box. Additionally, you can now store snapshots of your favorite Macro settings for instant recall, with up to 16 Macros per Ableton Rack. And you can randomize the states of your Macros at the push of a button to shatter your audience’s expectations of where a performance is going next!

Enhanced Probability Functions

Ironically, one of the biggest pitfalls of computer-based music production is its accuracy and consistency, which can make your music sound rigid and predictable. Ableton Live 11 is equipped with new probability features that add random variations to help your productions breathe and move like a human performance. With note chance and velocity chance, you can set probability values that dynamically alter the pitch and feel of a pattern. Furthermore, Ableton’s Follow Actions function can now be linked to clip length, making it faster than ever to create interesting generative sequences.

Conclusion

Just when we thought Live couldn’t get any better, Ableton Live 11 arrived — and we’re impressed with its bevy of upgraded features. For Live aficionados, upgrading to Ableton Live 11 is a no-brainer, and it’s become an even more attractive prospect for Live-curious producers and music makers. Whether you’re a dedicated Live user looking to upgrade or you’re interested in using Live for the first time, your Sweetwater Sales Engineer is here to assist! Give us a call at (800) 222-4700, and get started with Ableton Live 11 today!

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