Ableton: Move

Like a lot of Tape Op-ers, I started my recording expedition with a cassette 4-track. For a young songwriter, the 4-track was nothing less than a joy engine – a new way to capture ideas and shape song demos, wrapped into a studio that I could take with me that unlocked a whole new creative landscape. Ableton just launched a new hardware device called Move, a "portable tool for intuitive music making." In my short time with Move, I already feel like it carries some of the same spirit of those early cassette 4-tracks: A device that’s fast, easy to learn, entirely mobile, with a workflow that gets out of the way of inspiration and experimentation but nevertheless comes with a set of (ultimately compelling) creative restrictions. Let's look at what Move is, and, interestingly, what it isn't.

Move is much more than a 4-track; it’s "groove box" instrument and sampler with 64 GB of internal memory and a grid-based 32-pad layout similar to its larger sibling, Push [Tape Op #143], and capable of playing 64 monophonic melodic sample tracks at the same time via the 16 Pitches feature in the Drum Rack, plus every Drum Sampler can be adjusted individually. This is powerful, even if the basic concept is that you play with four Instruments or Drum Racks and a focused workflow with lots of options underneath the hood. It is an entirely standalone song sketchbook with four hours of internal battery life, a stereo line/headphone out (which incidentally drives high-impedance headphones), a stereo line input, and MIDI over USB-A port. It has a footprint of roughly 12 x 6 x 1.5 inches with internal speakers that are sufficiently loud for in-the-moment jams (but with very little bass response – think laptop speakers).

In addition to being a completely standalone creative device, Move can connect over Wi-Fi to your network, where you can use the Move Manager web-based interface to run and download your Ableton Live Sets, transfer Live [Tape Op #160] for further refinement and tracking, manage files on Move, then add your own samples, or transfer your own-predesigned track templates using Move devices which are shared with Ableton, such as the Drift synth, Drum Sampler, EQ device, and various effects. Connected to a computer with a USB-C cable, Move can also act as a capable Ableton Live controller: A kind of "abridged" Push.

Wi-Fi works quite well to connect, download, and iterate on ideas started on Move, but currently, it’s primarily a one-way workflow into Ableton Live (at least for whole Sets). Also of note is Note! Up to eight Move Sets can be synced over Ableton Cloud with Note, their free mobile music-making app for iOS or Android devices. Live 12.1 can also access Cloud Sets. It's nice to be able to start a Set on Move and have those clips and arrangements auto-save and upload behind the scenes to Note, where I could continue working on the arrangement on my iPad. If you extrapolate the potential here, imagine a classroom full of Moves, where students collaborate on a shared Set that syncs back to an instructor's tablet. Move Manager is designed to work with mobile browsers, so the platform is super travel-friendly.

One hiccup I experienced with the current Wi-Fi implementation is that it may require more work to use complex network authentication schemas. When I attempted to use Move with my hotel Wi-Fi while traveling, a connection required additional web browser authentication, so I was stuck without a way to connect to Move Manager. I'd like to see an option similar to Push 3, where the device can now create its own Wi-Fi hotspot. (Ableton’s Johannes Russ responds: “We do not support captive portals. As a workaround, it's also easy to connect Move and a computer to your phone's hotspot.” We had a great deep-dive conversation with Johannes, who’s Head of Product for Move, and we'll have a "Behind The Gear" article on tapeop.com soon, which will get more into the technical development of the Move project). A major benefit of Wi-Fi is easy over-the-air updates. In my short time with Move, Ableton pushed several new features and bug fixes, so I'm confident that this device will continue to evolve.

As an idea-generation instrument, Move is very instinctive: When starting any new Set, Move pre-populates the four tracks with four randomly selected-yet-curated devices. The roll of the dice usually gives you a Drum Sampler, a bass sound, a chord-friendly pad or keyboard, and a lead sound. Of course, all of these can be swapped out for other available instruments or even your own presets. The intention is to kickstart the creative flow, and for the most part, it works. I found myself reaching for Move during lunch breaks and in between chores, getting absurdly creative little vignettes of songs sketched out on the couch or in bed, in those spaces where I would otherwise be passively scrolling my phone.

Move's killer feature has to be the ease of performance capture paired with automation recording. Every macro control, whether it's a parameter, EQ band, or wet/dry blend – whatever – can be automated via the eight touch-sensitive encoders. While similar to Push in this regard, something about the form factor and limitations of Move makes this capture-overdub-repeat automation feel even more central to the experience. As an example, I could record an acoustic guitar phrase using Move's internal mic and then use an encoder to sweep the start position of the play head, hit the Capture button to record that gesture, overdub a few other automation sweeps to the Envelope and Filter – suddenly I have a unique pseudo-granular sampled instrument that I can play melodically in-key or chromatically. So cool!

Minor gripes/opportunities: MIDI implementation has some room to grow. It's one track out only, and the device can be set to MIDI in or MIDI out (not both simultaneously), although Johannes has suggested this will be expanded in future updates. Even though the classic drum machine-style sequencer is easy to grasp, there are opportunities for more performative features, and support for other time signatures there. Finally, in the true 4-track spirit, I'd love to see an easier track consolidation option; you can resample into a melodic or Drum Sampler device, but a button-press "bounce tracks" feature would be nice. I'm curious to see what the next over-the-air software update brings!

For $450, Move will likely be a hit for Ableton. There are similar devices out there, like the Novation Circuits, etc., but none that check as many boxes for me in terms of immediacy, automate-ability, and integration with Live’s ecosystem. Ich liebe Move!