Ableton: Live 12 Suite

The importance of organization, functionality, and preparedness is central to the work we do when making music with/for others. From my perspective, DAWs are getting more comprehensive and less specialized. Most modern DAWs (digital audio workstations) can help with every stage of music creation, from writing/composing, mixing, and mastering... all the way to delivery, and, in some instances, public release. Every major DAW works with MIDI and video, does your laundry, dusts your bookshelves, etc. So, why do we give a shit? What's the point of this soapbox? Why upgrade if we already have everything we'd ever need?

Well, in my view, certain DAWs consistently provide timely, fresh, and creative answers to "evergreen" problems in the audio world. They keep my creative thinking focused, and often reveal new skills and techniques that previously seemed out of reach.

The folks at Ableton are among the best, with a reputation of steady, innovative maturation, and Live 12 is here to eagerly welcome us back to the tool shop. To begin with, Live 12 has several improvements to its base interface: helpfully, a revised browser with a new tagging and filtering system, and a browser history function with forward/reverse, etc. The GUI has been updated to allow the Mixer to be present in Arrangement View, and users can now toggle the Clip and Device Views simultaneously. Live does all this while maintaining its "flat" design principles and famously clean look and feel. The additional options can lead to a potentially crowded Arrangement View (closer in practice to PreSonus’ Studio One [Tape Op #132] or Apple’s Logic [#74]). Still, there is so much customization available now in Live that the new UX never feels fugly. Live supports multiple monitors, so feel free to spread out the Arrangement and Session views if you can. A quick option-click maneuver hides the Device and Clip Views, and I'm still learning previously existing keyboard shortcuts, such as the one to hide/show the Mixer (CTRL/CMD ALT-M). The new GUI level-ups are fantastic.

Live 12 also brings a few new generative tricks at the outset of the sound design process. There is a new Sound Similarity Search function where you can select clips or instruments in your session and tell Live's browser to find comparable sounds and/or instrument presets with the help of a "neural network." For users with an extensive sample library, or for composers looking to short-circuit their stagnating sound design, this is a huge update, and works surprisingly well. I tested with loops and one-shot samples and found this to work well; the search even tried to maintain tuning across selections! The preset similarity search was a bit finicky and appeared to operate only with the Ableton-included instruments, but Max For Live [Tape Op #76] allows for user created MIDI tools, and we’ve been told to expect third-party MIDI tools that will be announced soon after the March 5th Live 12 release.

The focus on productivity options extends to other parts of the creative flow in Live 12, notably in the MIDI clip editing realm, where there are new Generators to help summon up fresh melodies, chords, and/or rhythms – all user-friendly and very musical. Also, Live 12 adds the ability to split and consolidate MIDI notes. With parameter constraints and easy editing, Generators never made me feel like I was cheating – it's more like playing a new kind of instrument, somewhat similar to the sensation of "controlled randomization." MIDI Transformers help build incredible articulations and expressivity to otherwise unremarkable MIDI clips with the addition of handy articulations such as Flams, Strums, Span, and Time Warp. These features work in (excuse the pun) harmony, with the new Scale Awareness feature that keeps everything constrained to the scale of your choice with clear visual highlighting on the Piano Roll. The exciting thing here is that clips can be set to drive the scale of the larger project – so even if a previously performed MIDI part were in a different key, the new Use Current Scale toggle can conform pitch-based device parameters in scale degrees rather than semitones. Note that this only works with Ableton-native devices and instruments at present, so devices such as the Arpeggiator or Random now conform to scale with one click.

I should point out that the Scale Awareness options can be as universal or as segmented as you desire – and Live now supports several microtonal tunings and scales, including a Browser selection for "Tunings" with hundreds of new and exotic tunings to try.

More new MIDI features I found helpful in Live 12: I control multiple external synths and pedals with Live, and often struggle to map MIDI CCs to those external devices quickly. This is especially challenging with Push [Tape Op #115], and Live simply hasn't had an easy solution to this problem until version 12, which now includes a new utility called CC Control that can be used to send MIDI CC messages to hardware devices or used in automation lanes on MIDI clips to send out MIDI CC data during a performance. I can drop it in at the start of a device chain, then route it to MIDI-connected hardware (such as my Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 or Chase Bliss Generation Loss Mk II pedal), enabling macro-able control over any mappable MIDI parameter. I could transfer these CC Control presets over to the standalone Push 3, then use that same control, even in standalone mode sans computer. I'd like to see Ableton offer other features like this natively to standalone devices within Push's browser.

Live 12 comes with a stellar new multiband saturation effect called Roar, which has extensive modulation options. Roar has three saturation stages that can be deployed in series, parallel, or mid/side configurations. It's a massive improvement over the stock distortion and saturation effects included with previous versions, and easily rivals third-party options like FabFilter's Saturn 2 [Tape Op #139] or Soundtoys' Decapitator [#105] – it sounds phenomenal with almost any instrument chain or tonal characteristic.

Finally, new instruments like Meld and Granulator III are bundled with V12: Meld is a bi-timbral, flexible digital synthesizer engine, offering unique cross-modulation options, rare multi-synthesis macro oscillators, and Euclidean LFOs, that interestingly works with the aforementioned Scale Awareness feature (with new, exciting Filters in V12). Meld can be used to build everything from glassy FM-like tones to synths that sound almost physically modeled. I found Meld intriguing and can see massive potential in its MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) capability, especially when using Push as a performance platform with its MPE-sensitive pads. Granulator III is a bit more experimental: A granular sampling instrument that builds on previous iterations by including MPE support and reverse-playback options, plus an unbelievably deep Cloud mode that allows for innumerable modulation and density tricks. The most remarkable new feature of Granulator III is its ability to easily capture live audio directly into the sampling engine as a grain source. Think live vocals or even tempo-synced rhythms being manipulated, and you'll start to scratch the often weird and wonderful surface.

Phew! I didn't even get to the new Performance Pack by Iftah (check it out on YouTube), but suffice it to say, there is a lot to unpack in this new grab-bag of Live 12 tricks. A healthy selection of new (and often specialized) tools that help me accomplish my work using methods I didn't realize were possible – more like a paintbrush than a power tool. Once again, Ableton, take my money: It's hard to imagine going back to version 11. Crossgrade discounts available.