Last year Ableton Live emerged with a DAW platform that transcended the
expectations of Live while adding great new virtual instruments. With
Live 7, Ableton continues to improve upon their DAW, integrating
features that up the sound quality while adding a veritable boatload of
new instruments and sample libraries. Live has been steadily gaining
converts as the feature set continues to expand. Version 7 cements Live
as a force to be reckoned with in the DAW world, and the inclusion of
the great new instruments and sample libraries further expand the
cross-genre appeal!
Ableton Live 7 at a Glance:
- Operational upgrades
- User-requested Features
- Drum Rack
- Virtual instruments
Operational upgrades
First, we'll dive into new operational features of Live 7. Ableton
instigates a new audio engine, including a 64-bit mix-summing engine in
this latest edition of Live. This equates to finer detail and better
resolution of the finished product along with POW-r dithering. To
further preserve audio integrity, devices such as Operator, Dynamic
Tube, and Saturator are now equipped with optional "high-quality" modes
for anti-aliased processing, reducing nasty "digital" artifacts. Also
new to Live is the inclusion of a real-time audio analyzer, known as
Spectrum. Spectrum can offer visual feedback for any audio signal
present in the current session, and can zoom in for an up-close and
personal look of the chosen audio.
User-requested Features
Live 7 is loaded with the top user-requested features. New this time
around is a streamlined approach to editing automation, offering a look
at each automated parameter within it's own lane. Plus, any videos
edited or warped within Live can now be exported as a new file. REX
files - a staple of groove-building and remixers - can now be imported
with drag-and-drop ease, allowing for more fluid and flexible
spontaneous song crafting. Rounding out the user-requested features of
Live 7 are a couple of time-based tools. Now multiple time signatures
can be used within a single Live Set in the Arrangement View timeline
and Session View Scenes. For live performance situations, Live 7 sports
a function called Tempo Nudge that allows you to temporarily speed up
or slow down the tempo so live musicians can more easily sync up with
the recorded or sequenced tracks. This function can be mapped to any
MIDI controller for on-the-fly "tempo nudges."
Drum Rack
A breakthrough in the way sequenced drums are handled within a DAW,
Live 7 introduces Drum Rack. Drum Rack is a drag-and-drop interface for
loading samples, and offers a trigger pad-style interface. Just drag
samples, instruments, and effects into Drum Rack, assign a key on your
controller, and you're off and running! Each "pad" has its own signal
chain and can be shown as a mixer channel in Session View. Each Drum
Rack also has its own sends, returns, and sub-mixes. Sliced loops can
be used to fill Drum Rack with the individual hits from REX or audio
loops.
Virtual instruments
The Essential Instrument Collection 2 offers a versatile, comprehensive
collection of sounds ready to play and inspire-from faithfully sampled
acoustic and electric instruments to unique and impressive electronic
creations. The sounds come with preconfigured controls that can be
easily mapped to your favorite hardware controller for expressive play.
You can effortlessly shape sounds without being concerned about
technical intricacies, but if you like to dig deeper, you will find
myriad possibilities for creating unique, personalized sounds.
Ableton Live 7 Features:
- Multitrack recording up to 32-bit/192kHz
- Complete nondestructive editing with unlimited undo
- Powerful and creative MIDI sequencing of software and hardware instruments
- Real-time time-stretching and warping of AIFF, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and MP3 files, for improvisation and instant remixing
- A comprehensive selection of built-in audio effects, including
a host of creative delays, filters, distortions, studio compressors and
EQs
- Built-in software instruments: Simpler for creative sample-based synthesis, Impulse for sampled drums
- Instrument-, Drum-, Effect Racks for creating and managing complex performance setups, drum kits and multi-effects
- VST and AU effects and instruments support; automatic plug-in delay compensation
- REX file support and native sliced audio file creation
- Video import and export for scoring to picture or warping picture to music
- Real-time control of parameters with any MIDI controller-just
MIDI-map it or choose from a list of popular supported controllers for
instant mapping
- Full ReWire support
- Single-screen user interface for simple, creativity-focused operation
- Multicore and multiprocessor support
