Ableton Live Suite 12

About this release

Live is built around two views of the same set, and moving between them is what makes the program feel different from every other production environment. Session view is a grid of clips you trigger freely, which is where ideas get found, and arrangement view is a linear timeline where those ideas get committed to a structure. Anything played in session can be recorded straight into arrangement, so the jamming stage and the writing stage are not separate projects.

The Suite edition is the complete package rather than the trimmed ones. Every instrument is included, which means the analogue and wavetable synthesisers, the physical modelling instruments, the drum and sampler engines, the granular and additive devices and the full orchestral and acoustic sample libraries. Every audio effect is there as well, from the ordinary compressors and equalisers to the more unusual spectral, resonator and delay devices that the program is known for.

Warping is the underlying technology and it touches everything. Any audio can be time stretched to the set tempo in real time with several algorithms suited to different material, so a vocal, a break and a synth loop from three different sources all lock together without printing anything. Tempo can be changed at any point in a project and everything follows.

Max for Live ships with the Suite edition, which turns the device rack into an open platform. Devices built in Max appear alongside the stock ones, the community library is large, and anyone who wants to build their own sequencer, effect or control surface mapping can do it inside the same window. Hardware integration, external instrument routing and multichannel audio interface support are all handled natively.

What it does

Two views, one set

Trigger clips freely in session view and record the performance straight into the linear arrangement.

Complete device set

Every instrument and effect in the line, including the synthesisers, samplers and spectral processors.

Real time warping

Any audio stretches to the project tempo live, with algorithms tuned to different source material.

Max for Live included

Build or install custom devices that sit alongside the stock ones in the same rack.

Large sound library

Orchestral, acoustic, electronic and percussion collections installed with the suite.

Hardware integration

Control surface mapping, external instrument routing and multichannel interface support built in.

Changed in this version

• New modulation system available on more stock devices.
• Improved warping quality on complex polyphonic material.
• Browser reworked with better sound tagging and similarity search.
• MIDI editing gains generative and transformation tools.
• Lower processor load on sets with many active devices.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a drive with room for the full sound library.
2. Run the installer and point the library location at a fast drive.
3. Launch once and set the audio device and buffer size in preferences.
4. Let the library index finish before opening a large set.

Worth knowing before you start

File details