An ideal DAW for creative artists

From the beginning, Ableton Live has been as much a creative tool as a DAW. This duality essentially has to do with the way Live lets you construct tracks and play with audio in real time. There are two main parts to Live: the Arrangement View and the Session View. The Arrangement View is more or less a standard linear DAW, with time on the X axis and tracks on the Y axis. Where Live differs from other DAWs is its Session View, which puts individual tracks on the X axis and scenes on the Y axis. Each scene contains a slot on each channel for a clip. Clips are usually short pieces of audio or MIDI, a few measures longer or shorter, that loop to create grooves. Launched individually, these loops let you experiment with your arrangements, trying out various combinations of grooves and riffs.

Since everything from modern electronic music to classic rock and blues is heavily based on repeating sections, Live’s Session View makes it an ideal creative tool for all kinds of songwriters. In fact, the songwriting tools don’t stop there. In addition to launching individual clips, you can launch entire scenes, complete with automatic advancement to subsequent scenes, scene repeat instructions, and other logic options.

Using scenes makes it easy to arrange entire songs in parts (verse, chorus, etc.). When you record your progression to the linear Arrangement View, you add the possibility to record lead lines and other performances that fall outside the rest of the song structure. What’s more, all of the loop-/riff-based arrangement options are still available on the timeline, so you can continue to edit and build on your song even after you record it to the Session View.

All of the standard DAW functions you need

In addition to the standard linear Session View, Ableton Live comes loaded with every standard DAW function you need. Nondestructive multitrack recording at up to 32-bit/192kHz is the beginning. You get powerful mixing and signal-flow tools such as bussing and return tracks. VST and AU plug-in formats fit right into your workflow, right alongside the wonderful tools bundled with Live. Live’s MIDI sequencing capabilities are second to none, and easy access to automation curves, MIDI learn, and more make this a total DAW powerhouse.

Excellent tools to get you started

Ableton Live 12 Intro includes an excellent set of content you can use to make music right from the start. More importantly, you get all of the basic processing you need, such as compression, and EQ, plus chorus, delay, and other cool effects. On top of that, powerful MIDI effects are great ways to explore creative ground you might not consider otherwise. And when you add your own third-party plug-ins, all of these tools add up to an amazingly rich music-production system.

Tons of powerful new features

Ableton really stepped up their game with Live 12, introducing a bunch of great new features. If you’ve used previous versions of Live, then you’re definitely going to want to check these out.

• MIDI Transformations: add variations to your MIDI clips, such as creating ornamental articulations, drawing acceleration and deceleration curves, connecting successive notes and chords, and simulating strumming
• MIDI Generators: craft melodies, chords, and rhythms by using the new MIDI Generators to create engaging patterns
• MIDI Editing Improvements: arrange the order of a selection of notes by pitch, velocity, or duration to conjure up exciting new sonic concoctions
• Keys and Scales: set the selected clip’s scale in Live’s Control Bar to see its notes in any clip you create, then edit the clip using scale highlighting as a guide, use the clip scale to transform and generate musical ideas, or sync the scale of MIDI devices and instruments to the clip being played
• Expanded Probability: assign a single probability rule to a group of notes so that the entire group of notes is played whenever the trigger is fired
• Embrace and Explore Tunings: easily access alternate tuning systems — even those outside of the 12-note equal temperament system
• Stack Live’s Detail Views: view your devices and the Clip Editor or automation at the same time for distraction-free toggling between views
• Mixer in Arrangement: Live’s Mixer can now be viewed in the Arrangement Window instead of only in the Session Window
• Browser Tagging and Filtered Searches: search for sounds in the Browser without the constraints of Live’s built-in categorization
• Sound Similarity Search: easily find comparable sounds and instrument presets to any other sample
• Drum Rack Swapping: instantly swap out the samples in your Drum Rack for similar ones to audition new percussive textures