WHAT'S NEW ON ABLETON LIVE 12

All new features and updates in Live 12

To see highlights of the release in more detail, visit the Live 12 page

Play freely with ideas

MIDI Transformations

Create a variety of simple or complex variations to your MIDI clips: add ornaments and articulations, draw acceleration and deceleration curves, connect successive notes and chords, or simulate the strum of a guitar.

MIDI Generators

Conjure up melodies, chords and rhythms with new MIDI Generators. Give your chosen Generator custom constraints, watch it create playful and original patterns, and then turn the ideas it produces into your own.

Max for Live MIDI Tools

Max now facilitates even greater experimentation, letting you create new MIDI Transformations and Generators – either based on existing ones, or your own creations.

MIDI Editing Improvements

Arrange the order of a selection of notes by pitch, velocity or duration. Stretch, split, chop or join notes in new ways; shape the velocity of notes; transpose them into a scale; or add intervals chromatically or in key.

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. Any changes in Live will be reflected in Push, and vice versa.

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. Or select a chord and tell Live to randomly play one note from it whenever the probability trigger is fired.

Embrace and explore tunings

Follow your preferred tuning systems or try different ones more easily. Work outside the 12-tone equal temperament system, and access tunings with Live’s devices as well as any MPE-capable plugin.

Surprise yourself with the sounds you create

Meld

A bi-timbral, MPE-capable instrument designed for deep sound shaping that lets you create a wide array of textural and experimental tones with its two easy-to-use macro oscillators.

Granulator III

The latest iteration of Robert Henke’s granular instrument now has MPE capability, giving you expressive control over parameters like note bend, vibrato and glissando. Plus, you can now capture audio in real time and start manipulating it immediately.

Roar

Create everything from subtle and precise mastering-grade warmth to wild and unpredictable sound degradation with Live’s new coloring and saturation effect. Roar’s three saturation stages can be used in series, parallel, or even in mid/side and multiband configurations – and it comes equipped with a feedback generator and an extensive modulation matrix.

New Modulation Behavior

Modulation destinations are no longer taken over by the modulation source. This means you can still adjust the parameter being modulated, even after assigning an LFO or other modulation source to it, opening up faster workflows, more possibilities for performance and continuous real-time control of parameters.

New Packs

Lost and Found – A collection of sounds fashioned from unusual materials, percussive trinkets, unique foley recordings and expressive objects to infuse your productions with character and authenticity. Dig deep and create layers of decorative, expressive instruments, playful Drum Racks and rich sound effects.

Performance Pack – A set of innovative devices from Iftah that push the boundaries of performing with Live. Capture snapshots of your sets and deploy them later, control multiple parameters with layered macros and curves, extend performances with looping in Arrangement View and pre-arrange the structure of a performance before you have even recorded it.

Trap Drums – Southern hip hop pioneer Sound Oracle puts the power of his in-demand trap beats in your hands with a Pack of 20 crisp, futuristic Kits and Clips created especially for Live 12 and loaded with MPE functionality.

Golden Era Hip Hop Drums – Explore the gritty drums of old-school hip hop with the new beat-focused Pack from heavyweight producer Sound Oracle. Get your hands on warm, authentic-sounding Kits with built-in effects and enhanced MPE functionality, created especially for Live 12.

Work more intuitively

Stack Live’s Detail Views

View your devices and the Clip Editor or automation at the same time – so you can work without the distraction of switching between views.

View styling

Live 12’s cleaner, more minimal look removes visual complexity and keeps the focus on your music.

Mixer in Arrangement

Live’s Mixer, previously available only in Session View, can now be used in Arrangement View. Toggle it on or off with Mixer View Control located in the bottom right corner or via the View menu, and configure it independently of the Arrangement Mixer.

Mixer improvements

Live’s Mixer also comes with visual improvements that make it more accurate for detailed mixing decisions, and easier to read and control.

Browser Tagging and Filtered Searches

Search for your sounds in the Browser without the constraints of Live's built-in categorization. That means when you search for bass sounds, you'll see all the bass sounds in your Ableton library, whether they're samples or instrument presets.

Live 12's sound content is also tagged using a new system that acts as a more flexible alternative or addition to Collections in the sidebar. All sounds – including Packs – now come with sensible labels to make them easier to discover and find later – but if you need more detail, or just want to use your own method of labeling, you can also add your own.

Sound Similarity Search

Start with a sample and tell Live’s browser to find comparable sounds and instrument presets, with the help of machine learning algorithms

Drum Rack swapping — Swap all the samples in your Drum Rack for similar ones to quickly try out new percussive textures – like a drum machine with seemingly-infinite kits

Browser History

Retrace your steps, and see and hear the sounds or presets you've previously searched for — Live's Browser now lets you backtrack through your browsing history as you would with a web browser.

Accessibility and navigation improvements

Screen Reader Support – Visually impaired musicians now have access to core workflows in Live using Screen Readers or other assistive technology.

New Keyboard Shortcuts – Use new keyboard shortcuts to navigate to nearly every part of Live.

New Themes

Choose new themes and adjust them with cool, neutral or warm tones and even a high contrast mode.

Need more details? Check out the Release Notes