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.

Raising the bar on standard included content

In the ever-escalating battle to provide the most content for the money, Sweetwater can confidently say that Ableton Live 12 Standard more than holds its own. Packed with more than 38GB of content, including 13 software instruments, 42 audio effects, and 13 MIDI effects, Live 10 Standard is no joke. It puts drums and sample-based instruments at your fingertips, old-school breakbeats and modern electronic music tools at your disposal, and all of the distortion, modulation, and other basic effects you could ask for right in your DAW. Of course, you also get essentials such as EQ, dynamics, and real-time analysis tool, and with unlimited AU and VST plug-in support, the included content is only the beginning.

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

Ableton Live 12 Standard Features:

• Comprehensive DAW designed from the ground up for the creative studio or performing musician
• Includes 38+GB of content, unlimited tracks and scenes, 13 software instruments, 55 effects, and 16 content packs
• Session View provides a nonlinear approach to music creation via groove/loop/riff arrangement
• Arrangement View provides quick and intuitive composition plus flexible performance and improvisation options
• Multitrack recording up to 32-bit/192kHz
• Nondestructive editing with unlimited undo lets you freely create
• Powerful MIDI sequencing lets you take control of software and hardware instruments
• Convert audio to MIDI to use with virtual instruments and more
• Advanced warping and real-time time stretching provides extensive flexibility with audio files
• Get creative with unlimited Audio effects and MIDI effects per project
• Includes a comprehensive selection of built-in audio effects, including a host of creative delays, filters, distortions, studio compressors, and EQs
• VST and Audio Unit support lets you use all of your favorite plug-ins and virtual instruments
• Mix, match, and add effects without ever stopping the music
• Powerful creative and performing environment for DJs and mash-up artists
• Group tracks for better organization and simpler automation
• Time signature changes allow you greater flexibility when scoring to video
• Multiple automation lanes make setting up intensely dynamic mixes easy
• Track Freeze lets you free up your computer’s resources without stripping down your mix
• Automatic plug-in delay compensation minimizes phase issues and tightens up your mix
• Instantly map MIDI control to nearly any parameter for a fully customized control environment
• MIDI output and MIDI Clock/sync let you create deeply complex rigs combining hardware and software seamlessly
• REX file support and native sliced audio file creation
• Video import and export for scoring to picture or warping picture to music
• Includes built-in step-by-step tutorials
• Multicore/multiprocessor support
• WAV, AIFF, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC file support