Ableton Live 8
TECH
This makes getting creative in a DJ set a
doddle, building synchronised, multiple
layers of tracks to devise much more
interesting sets than simply mixing from
one track to the other. It’s also perfect for
nabbing a groove loop from here and a riff
from there and effectively constructing
entirely new tunes on the spot.
There are plenty of other options (like
what percentage of the chosen swing is
desired) but that is about as complicated
as it needs to be. The list of presets
includes swing characteristics that mimic
the venerable Akai MPC and E-MU SP1200
samplers.
Careful warping is in order to get the
best results when adding groove to audio
loops, but it’s not such a chore. And
extracting grooves from favourite tracks
couldn’t be simpler. Either convert an
audio loop into a Midi drum track and
extract the groove from the Midi (our
preferred method) or take the groove from
the original audio The plug-ins, too, have some nice Finally, Vocoder is a rather stunning
PRICE
additions. The Limiter excels at keeping effort, offering everything from beat-
£399
WORKFLOW
the individual volume channels in check, mangling to computerised voices. But,
The workflow has also been improved with as Live has a tendency to make anything most impressively, it offers a number
CONTACT
clip fades and cross fades available, which over zero sound pretty ropey. of extra features designed to make any
ableton.com
makes ‘comping’ (lining up different The Multiband Dynamics compressor vocoding speech properly intelligible,
01494 836 3012
parts of an audio take, like a vocal) and enables bass, middle and high frequencies which can be very hard to do otherwise.
eliminating the vast majority of annoying to be compressed, while expander The Midi features in Live 8 have not
clicks much easier. performs the opposite function. Multiband progressed much since their previous
Multiple channels can be highlighted Dynamics sounds very good and has a incarnation. Step-sequencing mode adds
TECH SPEC
and their parameters can be tweaked rather impressive GUI (graphical user notes in sequence without playing the
simultaneously (changing the level of five interface) for displaying thresholds and track back — ideal for people who aren’t Up to 96KHz sample rate,
volume faders together, for example). attenuation. that confident with a keyboard to play
32-bit rate
Tracks can be grouped together, making It also offers two different operation in riffs. More sophisticated Midi note
7 audio warp modes
The besT
live performances much simpler — an modes —upwards and downwards, which is editing functions and key commands can
eight-track set with eight channels quite uncommon. be added.
Mac OS X 10.4 / Windows XP
per track now need only have eight Looper automatically loops any incoming
or later required
jusT goT beTTer!
permanently visible columns on the screen audio and puts it in time with the track.
GOOD TO SHARE 11 groove-quantise
instead of 64. This type of tool is beloved of guitarists, It’s essential to mention the new Share categories
as with a simple button push it’s possible Live Set feature. Essentially, this uploads
Multi-processor support
Also helpful is its ability to colour code to layer a new riff on top of each cycle. tracks on to a server on the Ableton site,
scene and channel names just like clips It’s great fun and also perfect for human from where they can be made public VST/AU plug-in compatible
themselves, and its zoom in and out beat-boxers. for other users to download and remix.
function (albeit only from the Preferences) Overdrive is a guitar pedal-style distortion Alternatively, potential collaborators can
comes in handy. unit and Frequency Shifter is the new go- access the tracks privately via a shared
It’s fair to say this is a radical step to plug for sci-fi-style ring-modulation password. VERDICT
forward, and we found Live 8 easy to use effects. They both sound pretty good, It’s all a great idea but in practice it still
during a recent live show. albeit fairly digital. feels like a work in progress. That's not
BUILD QUALITY 4.0
to say it doesn’t work, the downloads are EASE OF USE 5.0
pretty fast and the uploads, while not FEATURES 5.0
light-speed, aren’t much slower than a VALUE FOR MONEY 4.0
standard file-sharing site. But the process
SOUND QUALITY 5.0
could be streamlined. For example, it’s
necessary to Freeze anything without
HYPE
universal plugs when uploading a project.
Packed with new features, this is
An automatic Freeze would be most
the best Live program yet.
welcome.
GRIPE
It skimps on plug-ins.
So, is this the best version of Ableton’s
Live so far? Most people will say yes. Does
With Live 8, Ableton's
it finally include many of the features that
performance sequencer
we’ve been asking for? It sure does. Is it comes close to
worth buying? For those who don’t own a
perfection
version of Live but make music and/or DJ
.
— absolutely! And existing Ableton Live
users really should upgrade to Live 8.
4.5/5
www.djmag.com
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DJ474.tech_ableton live 8.indd 151 5/5/09 14:49:12
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