Ableton Live 12.1 - New Features, New Devices, and MORE!

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Hey friends! In this video I go through the release notes for the new Ableton Live 12.1 update, now available in Public Beta.
Check out the full release notes: www.ableton.com/en/release-no...
***
⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:13 - Automation and Modulation Workflows
3:13 - Auto Shift FAV
8:33 - Drum Sampler
11:36 - Limiter Updates
14:16 - Saturator Updates
17:13 - Filter and Select MIDI Notes
19:47 - Chopping MIDI Notes
21:51 - MPE MIDI Tools FAV
23:35 - Scale Aware Audio Clips
24:12 - Auto-Apply Grooves
25:52 - Undo History FAV
26:36 - Full Height Browser FAV
27:12 - Auto Tags in Browser FAV
28:58 - Browser Improvements FAV
30:18 - Sidebar Improvements
30:51 - CC Control Update
31:28 - Echo Update
31:52 - Meld Update
32:09 - Envelope Follower Update
32:49 - Tuner Update
32:52 - Multi-Clip MIDI Editing Improvements
33:40 - Stacks Tool Improvements
34:11 - Recombine Tool Improvements
34:39 - Mappable MIDI Tools
35:35 - MIDI Tool Chains FAV
37:33 - More MIDI Tool Improvements
38:36 - Tuning System Updates
38:56 - Split Arrangement Clips in Clip View
40:43 - Improved Arrangement Cropping
41:17 - Final Improvements
41:33 - Bugfixes
42:16 - Final Thoughts
****
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[@matttinklermusic]

OK so this video was MASSIVE, but it is a MASSIVE update. My fav features have been timestamped with *FAV* so you can skip through if you'd like. :) What are your favourite new features and updates?

[@HugoCaron]

Thx Matt, such a great update! My favorites are MPE MIDI Tools, Auto Tags, Limiter, Saturator and echo update. +1 for Auto Shift in depth video!

[@matttinklermusic]

@@HugoCaron All such good updates! I'll definitely do an Auto Shift deep-dive, but I think I'll wait until closer to the official release in case things get updated and bugs get ironed out.

[@Itsanasmusic]

as someone who LOVES working with shortcuts, that Automation update is FIRE

[@matttinklermusic]

100%!

[@matthewsmith6051]

Auto Shift looks great. I can recreate Windowlicker vocal effects 25 years after Aphex Twin made them using who knows what equipment 😂

[@matttinklermusic]

Definitely some fun to be had!

[@knotlock]

He used Metasynth, apparently.

[@ryanwintersmusic]

I wish Ableton would enable scaling for the size of Groups; they take up so much real estate in the Arrange window. Such a simple fix that would make a big difference. Thanks for the video

[@matttinklermusic]

Yes!! Groups can end up being waay too big!

[@BIG_PASTA]

Hard agree. At the end of a mix session the other day with like 160+ tracks, I had to put everything except drums into a group and it just looked so stupidly big 🤣. Minor issue, but it would be nice when you work with groups often.

[@denisbrazeau5031]

Excellent summation, thank you very much!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@BIG_PASTA]

Great deep dive of the new features! Much appreciated 🙏🏻

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@itinerantghost]

whoa, they went all in. Many cool updates here. Downloading now!

[@matttinklermusic]

It's awesome!!

[@offchristianamr]

Thanks so much for this video. I love how in depth you go through the whole changelog and the examples you show for most of them. I’ll be returning your channel frequently from now on! Your video included a couple of things that I glossed over in my deep dive of the patch notes - MIDI Tool chains is especially neat! One of the more intriguing changes I didn’t really pay attention to at first is the global groove that’s applied to any new clips. Functionally, this feels like the successor to the project-wide Swing amount that was removed many versions ago when grooves were added - a change that some people have been mourning for a long time. Now you can just up the groove amount and hotswap the groove within the groove pool to apply different swing settings to every clip in your project! Very interesting change and hopefully the change the Swing enjoyers have been looking for!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're so welcome, and thanks for watching! Yeah I love both the MIDI Tool chains and the global groove features. Very overlooked, but very cool!

[@SchneiderRicky]

super content my friend!❤🎉

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you! :D

[@VentureNW]

From what I see, in this update, I think they are starting to listen to our feedback in the Beta forums. Thanks for the deeper dive Matt. I might go back and play around with my Beta update, a bit more.

[@matttinklermusic]

It finally feels like it hey! That's why I think this is really the version that they were intending to release back earlier in the year, but probably had to rush the official release out for corporate reasons. Thanks for watching! :D

[@er2ondatrack820]

Thanks for the detailed and honest video, no overhype and honest thoughts, which I really like. My fav updates: keyboard automation, it was annoying to right click, edit value to type in whatever value you want, this little update is really handy. Auto Shift is great (was looking for a formant shifter). And finally, one of my favorite modulation devices, Envelope Follower and the side chain option.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Glad you liked the video. :) Definitely agree with the keyboard automation stuff. I think it's a great feature addition!

[@0711RC]

Thanks!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@johnnylizardjohnnylizard]

Ableton Live 12 is the Goat

[@matttinklermusic]

🙌🙌🙌

[@siaseeds8950]

Wow they really did a proper update with this one. Good for them. Can't wait to fuck around with pitch correction also way to make the video with so much speed!

[@matttinklermusic]

They certainly did! I'm so excited about Auto Shift too. Thanks for watching! :D

[@basscut]

Wow, this made my head spin. Unfortunately I will have to update much of the Live12 curriculum I created for an NYC music school.

[@matttinklermusic]

As a teacher myself I feel your pain...

[@BIG_PASTA]

Same! I've been teaching Live at a university for the past 10 years on v9... We're finally updating to 12 and I gotta say I'm happy I have the summer to figure out how to incorporate all this new fun stuff! Excited though :)

[@jacobaedam]

The new saturator looks so impressive!

[@matttinklermusic]

It's a very nice and welcome makeover! :D

[@MaMusiqueUK]

thanks

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69]

I couldn't wait so I signed up for the beta and got it in the same day and I'm loving it like McDonalds. Thanks for this long video covering some of the newest addictions.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! I hope you're enjoying playing around with the beta! :D

[@DojoOfCool]

Thanks for the detailed video on all the new or updated in Ableton 12. Ableton really great BUT everyone is wanting Stem Separator so disappointed that isn't in the update. It would be really nice Ableton if you would at least say you're working on adding Stem Separation.

[@matttinklermusic]

I definitely hear a lot of people asking for it. I personally don't think it's that useful for my workflow, and there are lots of third party tools that I think do it better than any DAW implementation of it, but it would be cool to have it as a feature!

[@DJ_MARIANO]

@@matttinklermusic100% agreed I do not want them wasting time on it meanwhile theres so many stems/multis online and better tools as well. I would be happy if they enhanced or added new audio-to-midi stuff but thats really it

[@lemonhscott7667]

I’m pretty excited that auto shift has MPE support as well. The only other autotune/harmonizer I’ve seen that has mpe is BLEASS Voices and I don’t really like the way the algorithm on that one sounds. Exciting stuff

[@matttinklermusic]

Man I didn't even think about the implications of this, so true!!

[@friendwithin]

I've been wanting to be able to tab between breakpoints for years!

[@matttinklermusic]

It's such a great feature!

[@fumarolas]

so many exciting features, by any chance, do you know if there's a way to switch between midi clips (like a keymapping option) when editing multiple midi clips at once, I always find it a bit fidly to click on this tiny color line

[@matttinklermusic]

I actually don't think that's possible, and probably one of the reasons I don't work with multi-clip editing often. It would be fantastic to see this added!

[@machinemademan]

so hype for some of these. thanks for covering the actual release notes and not just the email stuff!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! There's so many good updates in here that really went beyond all the promo, so going through the whole release notes just felt like the right thing to do. :)

[@andrewrichardsuk]

You have to hand it to ableton, they really do come out No 1 for me everytime. I simply run live 12 and a full set of the latest fabfilter plugs and thats it. nothing else needed! Well done Ableton You Rock! ❤

[@matttinklermusic]

I use mostly Live stock stuff, and now with the addition of Auto Shift thats one other plugin that I can replace with a stock device!

[@modu2255]

Split arrangement clips in clip view FINALLYY 🕺as a former logic user it annoyed me so much that this wasn't possible! Almost makes me as happy as the Auto Shift tbh 😅 but yeah it would be way better if you could also edit the clips in the clip view, do crossfades etc.

[@matttinklermusic]

Agreed! At least we're one step closer!

[@Ginufy]

Does anyone know if the auto shift plug in will be included in the standart version or only in the suit version?

[@matttinklermusic]

Auto Shift looks like it will be available in every edition of Live 12, including Lite! 😁

[@cyrildelecraz]

I'm wondering if we can easily convert a simpler to a drum sampler (right click context menu) as we can already do for switching simpler/sampler devices. Is it possible? It would be great to "convert" drum kits containing simpler instead of drum samplers (when appropriate).

[@matttinklermusic]

Unfortunately this isn't possible at the moment, but there have been a lot of people suggesting it in the beta forum!

[@cyrildelecraz]

@@matttinklermusic thanks for your quick reply. Let's cross the fingers 🤞 Another annoying thing is that the collection browser filter does not work with elements included in a folder tagged as a collection. Do you know if 12.1 changes this behaviour, please?

[@biribibiribo]

What about gain control on audio clips? Rather than having to open the bottom window to control gain

[@matttinklermusic]

This is Bounce In Place are literally my next most hoped-for features. Would be major for workflow!

[@er2ondatrack820]

Auto Shift is sick, maybe I should reinstall Beta again, huge❤

[@matttinklermusic]

It's so awesome!

[@basscut]

For starters I love the polyphonic midi control in Auto Shift and the FX section in Drum Sampler. I can also do granular and fm synthesis there now! First impression on the negative side is that some of the new midi editing tools seem a bit far fetched. Sometimes less can be more, but maybe I'll find a good use eventually.,

[@matttinklermusic]

Agreed on all points! The MIDI time selection tools are very esoteric... 😅

[@BIG_PASTA]

@@matttinklermusic Yeah out of everything that this update brings, I'm struggling to understand why they implemented that feature. Hopefully someone more creative than me will come out with a video showing "7 cool ways" to use it or some shit lol.

[@adl0815]

I´d love to have the option to automatically loop a cropped clip. The amount of time i manually have to hit the loop button after i cropped something is insane. Why isn´t there just a setting for that in the settings.

[@matttinklermusic]

This would be an awesome option! If you use the crop clip option in the clip view though rather than the arrangement view you can just use the loop key command (cmd/ctrl+L) to engage the loop option rather than clicking the loop button. This is even easier with the new 'crop clip' key command, cmd/ctrl+shift+J. :D

[@cyrildelecraz]

Can drum sampler "start" and "length" can be automated/modulated?

[@matttinklermusic]

Yes it can! :)

[@cyrildelecraz]

@@matttinklermusic what a good news! Thank you very much for your great video 😊

[@coentertainer]

I often find myself struggling to identify the scale that a song/sample is in, as you did in this video. Is there a way for Ableton to autodetect this?

[@matttinklermusic]

Unfortunately not! That would be a really handy feature, especially with all the new scale awareness features!

[@coentertainer]

@@matttinklermusic That's a shame, I'd find this really useful when making mashups

[@kpie2450]

auto-key is a useful tool from antares

[@skiphonproduction]

Hope Ableton will put the sample listing buttons in Drum Sampler, like Sitala has.

[@matttinklermusic]

Yeah there are definitely some necessary features missing from Drum Sampler at the moment.

[@vinx98]

why would you use mid side routing on a limiter?

[@matttinklermusic]

This is a great question! By using M/S routing you can apply limiting to the signals mide and side channels separately. What this means is that if the signals 'mid' channel exceeds the ceiling of the limiter, then only that 'mid' channel will be limited and the side channels will remain untouched. Vice versa for the side channels. Otherwise, in a standard stereo limiter, if the 'mid' channel exceeds the threshold, then the 'side' channel will be limited also, even if it doesn't exceed the ceiling. In short, it can allow for more transparent limiting on certain material. :)

[@fumarolas]

I wonder how the Auto Shift harmonizer sounds compared to Harmony Engine

[@matttinklermusic]

I haven't used harmony engine, but you can jump to neat the end of the Auto Shift chapter in the video where I test it out using MIDI input! :)

[@fumarolas]

@@matttinklermusic yes yes heard it :) I'll compare them. the sweet stuff harmony engine has is the glide.

[@matttinklermusic]

Ah cool! I don't know about gliding in Auto Shift but I know that in mono mode with a MIDI input you can set the glide time between notes, so that could be similar!

[@morten1]

How do I update my Ableton? thanks

[@matttinklermusic]

This is a beta version, so you have to sign up for the beta program and them download through Centercode. :)

[@morten1]

@@matttinklermusic Ok thank you. This will be features for a public release soon you think?

[@matttinklermusic]

I'd say sometime within the next month or two! :)

[@objectpdfmov]

would be cool if they added bezier curves to this new breakpoint behavior

[@matttinklermusic]

It would be cool for sure, but I think it might get very confusing for people new to the software, and with all of the ways you can curve automation you can get pretty close to anything you'd want to create with bezier curves anyway.

[@johnqpublic4662]

The Auto Shift with MIDI brings to mind Jason Derulo’s “Watcha Say.”

[@matttinklermusic]

It's a really cool sound!

[@jultdi5273]

Sad you didn't recognize it as imogen heap..

[@ddobr]

Ableton surely have ex Blender developer hahaha, seeing features like splitting notes and chaining midi effects reminds me of Blender's loop cutting and modifiers)

[@matttinklermusic]

I haven't done much 3d before, but I can definitely see how that kind of stuff would work in that area! So it makes sense, haha

[@Paculiar]

How come mines didn’t update I have 12 standard

[@fumarolas]

it's a public beta

[@matttinklermusic]

As @fumarolas said, this is a public beta. You have to be signed up to the beta program to download and test, but you can do this if you own a copy of Live 12. :)

[@eliastristan1831]

@@matttinklermusic I joined the beta program and downloaded the beta version but when I open it there are no features available. How can I access all the new plugins?

[@thelolmighty]

@@eliastristan1831 The beta and release versions of Ableton run separately, so if you downloaded and installed the beta, but opened up your release version, you'll still only be opening up your release version. You'll have to open up the beta from wherever you installed it. Also, I think the beta only gives access to features available in your release version of 12, so if you don't have Suite, you might not have all of the new features that are Suite-only. Many of these are for all versions, though, so as long as you're opening up the Live 12.1(?) beta version, you should have access to them.

[@DanJohnson]

I'm pretty sure Chat GPT could handle those JSON text files for chords.

[@matttinklermusic]

I'd say so! I still think it'd be nice to be able to 'learn' the stacks tool in some way rather tan having to use a JSON file to import custom chords.

[@MarianoPerez]

Can we have more instruments and patches. :)

[@matttinklermusic]

From Ableton or from me? 😅

[@MarianoPerez]

Oh no, I mean from Ableton lol. I like your educational ableton videos.

[@matttinklermusic]

@@MarianoPerez Haha, I was a bit confused for a second! 😂 Thanks for watching the videos! :)

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

The Tinkler goes scorched earth 😂

[@matttinklermusic]

How so? 😂

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

@@matttinklermusic hahah, you covered like every feature there is in the release note 🔥 and I’m here for it 🤙🏽🖤🕺

[@matttinklermusic]

@@ItsWesSmithYo Ah I get it! Ha, clearly I'm a bit slow. 😂 Glad you enjoyed the video! 😁

[@YAEMusic]

Do we need to pay for this update? 😅

[@matttinklermusic]

This will be a free update if you own Live 12. :)

[@YAEMusic]

@@matttinklermusic Awesome! Do you know the release date for it?

[@adamjackpartington8068]

Abletons ". 1" updates always go hard

[@matttinklermusic]

Totally! Sometimes the point updates feel almost bigger than the version updates, and I think this is a good example of that. 😂

[@IAMCORNHOLIOINEEDTP]

Still no ARA .. 😞

[@matttinklermusic]

Fingers crossed for one day!

[@SjarMenace]

So annoying when you dont show the info view when zooming in on the clipper. We cant read along

[@matttinklermusic]

Yeah this was an oversight on my part because I edited the video so quickly. I did read out the whole thing though. So sorry about that!

[@earlcash05]

Too bad there isn't a modulation matrix in Drum Sampler, but I guess they didn't wan't it to compete with Sampler.

[@matttinklermusic]

You can map velocity and slide to a lot of things like the volume, filter, envelope and FX parameters! But yeah, some more modulation like a simple LFO could be nice. :)

[@fumarolas]

@@matttinklermusic omg velocity mapped to the fx section is going to be so fun (and easy). Just wish we could stack those fx

[@matttinklermusic]

Totally!! Yeah being able to stack the effects would be cool. I guess the effects are all kind of just versions of the stock Live effects already though, just more limited. :)

[@DJ_MARIANO]

They will definitely update the Drum Sampler eventually

[@philongt95]

i really think the drum sampler needs proper transient shape capabilities

[@matttinklermusic]

That would be cool to see!

[@SoftClip_Q]

am i the only one who stares at the on off button in the cc control device?? when in racks?

[@matttinklermusic]

Not quite sure I understand what you mean!

[@cerebrumexcrement]

this update means i need to upgrade to 12. 😅

[@matttinklermusic]

Definitely gives a lot more reasons to upgrade from 11!

[@Divyv520]

Hey Matt , I have send you the email you haven't replied yet ?

[@matttinklermusic]

Replied. :)

[@voicesofdust4749]

Greatest DAW ever made!

[@matttinklermusic]

It's definitely an awesome DAW!

[@SjarMenace]

What is the point of putting scale awareness on clips WE WANT A KEY DETECTION ON CLIPS!!! So we dont have find out what key everything is!!!!

[@matttinklermusic]

Yeah this would be a really good feature now that we have scale awareness on audio clips especially! Could transpose audio clips in terms of scale degrees, which would be awesome.

[@johnqpublic4662]

I’m gonna let the beta testers find the bugs!

[@matttinklermusic]

We're already on it 😂

[@Marko-G-]

Being able to float the stock instruments and devices so you don't have to look to the bottom left of the screen so much is a much needed update in my opinion.

[@matttinklermusic]

It would be interesting to see this as an option, but I'm not sure it would be aligned with the design ethos of the software. I recommend leaving a suggestion in Centercode if you're a part of the beta program!

[@chrisw1462]

Glissando Gliss-ahn-doh. Not 'ann-doh'

[@matttinklermusic]

Literally tom-aa-toe and tom-aah-toe, or daance/dahnce. It's a pronunciation difference between accents, not a right and wrong like it would be with a proper noun. :)

[@zeitakulobusta9708]

Still can't cmd/select non-contiguous items on the same or multiple tracks without selecting unwanted items or decimated unintended chunks? Pfft waste of time.

[@matttinklermusic]

I'd recommend jumping into the beta platform (Centercode) and leaving a suggestion for this!

[@SjarMenace]

So funny how you say ‘note’ you pronounce it as ‘neurt’

[@Wild_D]

They're scared of FL Studio 🥭

[@matttinklermusic]

FL 24 looks awesome!

[@eye_producer]

@@matttinklermusic what a cool way to respond to a hater lol lets keep the peace going FL and Ableton best DAWs !

[@Ethan-qe7cr]

🤮🤮🤮

[@dirg3music]

Agreed, they're both great DAWs and I hope they scare each other a bit, that means more competition and better software for us!

[@SjarMenace]

Cant this accent cringes me so much

[@matttinklermusic]

I don't recommend you travel to Australia then. 😂

[@lusid_music_uk]

Yea… That’s cool and all but when can I freeze/flatten groups and strip silence? Literally this is all I want. Why have they added all this extra filler we don’t need and ignored this seemingly easy to implement major quality of life improvement? So frustrating 🫠

[@matttinklermusic]

Totally agreed! This update makes me hopeful for the future though a they've implemented some very requested feedback!

[@lusid_music_uk]

@@matttinklermusic I’ve been waiting for this since live 9. Honestly just feels like they’re trolling me at this point 😂 a man can dream🤞 coming to you in Live 56