Ableton Live 12 - First Look - Sonic LAB Presentation

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We had a visit from Ableton Certified Trainer Tom Glendenning, who showed us round the new features of the Ableton Live 12 which is just about to be launched into Public beta. Full release will be early next year, a free update to all who buy at the currently discounted 20% off.
Log in to your Ableton account when the time comes to see what your upgrade is if you already own Live 11 or earlier.
There are new UI features, new scales and tunings, new devices and new MIDI tools as well as numerous other tweaks.
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#soniclab
#abletonlive #version12
00:00:00 Start
00:00:31 UI Changes
00:03:21 Browser
00:06:44 Keys and scales
00:10:18 MIDI Tools
00:17:35 New Devices
00:24:56 CC Control
00:26:51 When and how much
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[@buyukberber]

I can't express how happy I am to finally see the accessibility support in Ableton live! as a legal blind professional musician, the lack of this kind of support created a love and hate for Ableton Live for me. Better late than never! Super excited to trying it out and giving feedback as a disabled power user since v1!

[@dr.gregoryf.maassen2637]

How does Bitwig offer accessibility? This is more important than fancy modulators and the rest. One would hope for industry accessibility standards.

[@lordchive8944]

Do u have a link to any of your music mate?

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

I’m not legally blind, but my eyesight is pretty flipping poor! I am interested 11:13 in this. The only DAW I have is FLstudio and Davinci Resolves, so I’m looking at them, I just watched a guy upload from Blackbox into Ableton (I don’t know what version) and he had to manually find each upload! That’s unacceptable for me. I have to tag all new uploads or something, does 12 do that? If no, I’ll have to keep searching!

[@fray3dendsofsanity]

Let's be honest, this is what Live 11 should've been. This could've been a .5 update. But, the new MIDI tools, search tools and layout definitely make it worth getting as it seems so streamlined.

[@auxorion]

I'm into the new distortion. Looks very useful.

[@RubenDari]

Shouldn’t been a .5. “Accessibility” is amazing but that could have been a free update. And the scale stuff is just finishing what they started with the scaled clips.

[@maxmeyer6395]

this update should be free for everyone that bought live 11, change my mind...

[@auxorion]

@@maxmeyer6395 I prefer a world where Ableton exists. If supporting them by paying for an update they worked hard on keeps them in business, it's worth the measly $180 or whatever it costs. It's the price you pay to have a world with Ableton, rather than a world where Ableton used to exist. Cracking the whip and saying "BE BETTER" over and over, and then when they do saying "THIS SHOULD BE FREE".. that's the kind of stuff that makes a world where Ableton no longer exists. I don't need to change your mind, but having used Live since like 2005 or so.. almost 20 years now.. I like a world with Ableton in it.

[@rman4539]

@@maxmeyer6395 every single update, some people say what you say. Ableton is a COMPANY, they make money. So no, it shouldn't be free. Pay or stay in 11, you can still make great music with 11.

[@justingoers]

Full keyboard navigation is something I’ve wanted for so so so long. It’s crazy it took so long to be able to completely control Ableton with just the keyboard. All the other updates look incredible.

[@AliColak]

I wish it was a .5 update not a whole version change 🥲

[@justingoers]

After watching the whole video I think it definitely justifies a full version update. But I think the accessibility options should come to every version that could be updated. Feels like the right thing to do.@@AliColak

[@BigPlasticPlant]

14:50 Without fail, Nick will always have that one question where the answer is a slightly disheartened “er no it doesn’t do that” 😂

[@MrCowfood]

Ya, I am guessing Nick was thinking ‘can it do what Bitwig does?’ In that moment.

[@matthewwhitaker4849]

So happy that Ableton is finally accessible for blind users. Can't wait to test it out.

[@ProdByThatGuyFace]

Looks decent but is definitely more of a update than an upgrade IMO. I really wish Ableton would add more mixer updates. For instance when you mix in Ableton and you have multiple tracks with the same plugins and you want to A/B the mix with and without the plugins you have to click on each track individually and bypass/enable the plugin. In every other DAW you can highlight all tracks and bypass/enable plugins at once. We should be able to go from clip view to mix view where the clips would basically turn into plugin slots.

[@intheblink]

I am pretty underwhelmed by the changes, but I am excited for the new mixer stuff, the “keep latency” option per track, and the one click freeze and flatten. Just wish now that I could freeze groups and returns. And, of course, ARA2 would be amazing for Melodyne. If those two things were included, I’d be buying today. As it stands… I may wait for a 12.3 or so before making my move to see if they add anything else that really makes the upgrade worth the $183.

[@AlonKoval]

100%

[@justingoers]

I think the updates on the video are incredible. But, I also really really wish we could freeze groups.

[@auxorion]

It's one of those things.. you pay to remain in the current version. It's not because the features were worth it. It's basically a bill we're paying to stay current, so that when new updates DO come, we're there.

[@auxorion]

@@gagaxueguzheng almost never works this way unfortunately. You might get SOME discount, but not the full discount. I just take the L and hope for better updates DURING 12.

[@evanwilster]

let me guess your musics amazing to. what a joke those updates are insane . what was 10 to 11

[@mrclaytron]

Looks like a great upgrade - Tom did an exceptional presentation too! I'm looking forward to instrument/sound tagging coming to Push standalone... It will make finding sounds much easier - more like Maschine sort of tagging and browsing I hope

[@Makebelieve123]

Nice Tom! Keep that SA flag high brother 🇿🇦

[@gentleapache]

I want to see vocals edited real time pitch and key on a piano role.

[@stevenicholsonproducer]

Where is ARA Support? The most asked for feature of the last few years ☹️

[@testerc7078]

We should wait few more years;(

[@matiasoepen1531]

Seriously not there?! Wow

[@anterdogan]

I can't believe it 😕

[@gusmcbean9474]

Ableton's upgrade pricing system and the way that they are holding off on real quality of life features (like comping) until the version number changes is getting pretty old. As someone who upgraded to live 11 about 6 months ago i'm basically put in a shit position where someone now can upgrade from 10 for less than i did a couple months back and ALSO get the new version of live for free, basically giving people who are earlier adopters the worst possible deal.

[@JEFFMAN90]

Exactly. I’m not upgrading either. Ableton needs to stop charging ripoff prices for their products.

[@robalison09]

Tom, how awesome to see you demonstrate this! Looks like an amazing update, can’t wait!

[@josephmorrell5336]

the midi tools look sick ! really excited to see them flesh out more piano roll features down the road. it would be really awesome to be able to integrate the scale features with user built harmonies (bIII, subV, hybrid chords, cadences), and to have a shortcut for moving notes in specific intervals other than octave up/down. THANKS ABLETON!!

[@soarermusic]

Excellent overview and demo. Great to see a well prepared and professional demonstrator. Very cool features and though I'm mainly using hardware I am recording and arranging in Live.

[@louiswarynski9039]

07:35 : beware of the confusion. There is no "Global Key". Key and scales are per clip.

[@hvhvgitaar]

Good presentation, thanks. Some interesting improvements, but a bit puzzling how they believe they can charge for this upgrade. It's fairly modest, and some of the improvements are just fixes of shortcomings (mixer in the arrangement view, duh....) Anyway, thanks to @sonicstate

[@mathieupe666]

I would have been interested in seeing how do you manage scale changes project wide.

[@moreausylvain]

First time I see midi editing more interesting then in cubase ! dam Steinberg has to update it's old midi transform and logical editor pretty seriously.

[@friendwithin]

A lot of nice stuff in there. Especially all the MIDI tools Custom shortcuts please and the ability to hit tab and move between automation points.

[@cockur]

16:49 Thank you - I suggested this way back when the probability tools were first added to the piano roll - seemed like a massive oversight at the time

[@hellodavidryan]

Wonderful demo. This tipped me from “mmm maybe pass this time” to “okay that’s excellent”. Great work mate, so well presented

[@inspector-tech]

Wow wow wow! Didn’t expect that 😄 So glad I got my Push 3 now!!

[@rolandlopez7763]

Excellent presentation! Thank You!

[@expander3710]

Tag based browsing is long overdue, especially on push - Thank god it’s here finally.

[@frankwalders]

Wow now you can see the mixer in the arrangement view, sounds a bit like wow now we have usb c on an iPhone

[@sweet__dyl]

Finally a note split tool!!! Thank you Ableton

[@jordyandj6196]

love these updates! don't want to be that guy but any news on ableton being able to make use of apple m1/2/3 efficiency cores? as of right now ableton and logic pro can only use apples performance cores while reaper and cubase can use all cores to full potential. it's something that is not being talked about much but effectively if you “upgrade“ from a m1 pro with 10 cores to a m2 pro with 10 cores ableton will perform worse..

[@hoagy_ytfc]

Given the way greater performance of the efficiency cores in M3, this will be something worth addressing (I didn’t actually know about this, but then I have an M1 Ultra so no shortage of performance cores)

[@valdir7426]

I didn't even know that. Is that why logic performs better? Live is still pretty powerful on a base M1 though

[@microfx]

@@valdir7426for me it's close to unusable but still very very usable ^^

[@Daniel-ot8gg]

Well all extra cores added at the M1 ultra are not in use, that is the problem.

[@BeatsAndGuitars]

This!! They need to take advantage of those cores! Ableton would run so much better.

[@IsotonikStudios]

Great job Tom and Nick!!

[@HumanTouchArt]

The midi tools looks very intresting i love the new update cant wait to try it out ...

[@ABOKASTOUR]

This is really dope, love all the new built in midi features! Going to be a game changer.

[@gelatinous6915]

I was really hoping for an overhauled audio engine. Ableton has always been a very slow DAW in my opinion. It takes a long time to start up and it crashes if you accidentally unplug your headphones (depending on your interface/computer.) Ever since I switched to Bitwig I've been amazed at how much faster it is. I miss Ableton, I think the plugins and ecosystem are better as well as the Max4Live support, but Bitwig is just so much faster and more stable. This just feels like they're playing catch up with the Bitwig Grid/modulation setup, which is second to none IMO.

[@AetherState]

Right there with you. Switch to Bitwig and the GUI and Audio/Midi engine is solid as a rock. If a plugin crashes it doesnt crash the whole app. Gui runs at full fps where Ableton feels so choppy. Clocking external devices is rock solid. The amount of modulators is insane and the grid feels so much more fleshed out then max for live

[@supernatural802]

The new midi functions are amazing! cant wait to mangle beats with these. so many possibilities.

[@Delston05]

So excited for this. So many adds that I’ve been hoping for. This is looking like a great update.

[@valdir7426]

a lot of nice little things; as always with updates still hard to justify the cost (even at a discount this runs me 160 euros for suite). I'm curious to know if the transform or generate thing will feature rythmic generation (the kind of feature you find on polyend play would be really neat).

[@Xmies23]

Amazing update! So much good stuff

[@jethrobrewin]

some absolute brilliant additions, just from a workflow point of view.

[@farty555]

Those accessibility features weren't really expanded on but I see those navigation tools as a massive new feature, super excited for those

[@ashtyler8]

Thanks for the vid sonicstate!

[@danielleohallisey4218]

As someone with partial visual impairment, I’d love to see more options for basic things like color, contrast and line thickness for the interface. We seem to still have light grey and dark grey as our standard options…

[@hoagy_ytfc]

Looks like a very decent update. Well demoed here, too.

[@kid.forever]

Stoked! Great demo

[@Apuat]

Hmmm. Well? The new fruity loops is offering a revolutionary way to generate stems, also is offering Mastering and distribution through distrokid. The new version of logic is also offering new mastering tools. Don’t see many audio upgrades, and the midi upgrades, while cool seem like you have to dive into to benefit from instead of features which could used in an improvisational fashion. Overall, it seems like Ableton seems like they’ve decided to their focus on sound design which isn’t bad but I remember a few years ago when native instruments had the option to provide their customers with instruments and ways of creation, which had greater playability, or dive more into the Reaktor sound design approach. Thankfully, they went with creative playability. While these updates will make life a little easier for experienced Ableton users (me being one of them since version 1.0), I’m not seeing anything that’s making me excited about creating music in a new way. Meld is kind of cool though. As the presenter stated it is going to be interesting to see what tools MAX for live creators come up with which drive these new abilities in a more playful fashion. I am eternally, grateful that Ableton hasn’t jumped on the subscription bandwagon.

[@wernerxldata]

Love the gui changes, looking forward to this version

[@BiPolar_Bear_Music]

❤ I suggested the the group midi function, sure others did to, but still 😅. So randomness could be applied to a group of notes.

[@bigdap100]

🤔 Can you Edit Audio in Session View?? Nope! This is silly at this point. Thanks @Bitwig for caring ✅✅✅

[@D-One]

Cant wait for the new browser and MIDI tools! 😍

[@sancessounds]

Really wish they would add plugin tabs on the meter view just like logic and pro tools. That would make Ableton the best overall daw. Bypassing multiple / all plugins on different channels is HUGE for mixing and production even to A/B and see what you are doing to the sound.

[@adrianconsta1139]

Live actually has that feature, it is almost like a hidden feature, but I can't remember how you activate it because I don't needed it / use it.

[@kriss12loverap]

Wonder if impulse rack has a update. I love how they have implanted a scale across the whole board.

[@pdm67]

Hope those generative tools get onto Push standalone soon - it’s the perfect platform for that way of working.

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Bitwig is so far ahead of Ableton in this respect… obviously can’t run that on a standalone Push. But anyone who likes generative tools, might want to look into Bitwig because it’s pretty amazing. I barely use Ableton any more.

[@medenine4828]

Exactly.

[@zuur303]

The grouping of probability is something I was really yearning for! 🎉

[@groovindj]

Oh yes! Here we go!

[@elliotjg]

The UI update is great but there's not really anything mindblowing here. And still no ARA in 2023 is a huge oversight

[@Nik_Rubin]

Has the PDC been fixed or do we still have to compensate oscilloscopes manually in the year 2024?🤔

[@valdir7426]

also it means you can now take control of parameter from inside m4l in a relative way while retaining direct control? that's interesting

[@MadelnMachines]

Can we change midi bank names now when mapping 3rd party VSTs to push? I love how you can label banks for oscillators, filters, envelopes, lfos etc with Lives own instruments.

[@isweartofuckinggod]

Interesting. Nothing too exciting imo, but a lot of necessary additions like tags, accessibility, and midi upgrades. Solid.

[@josephjfk4755]

The new features are exciting, but I'm shocked that Push 3 is such an afterthought/ignored. Are they trying not to sell these things?

[@SynthgodXXX]

Yes!!! I love Ableton Live!!!

[@neilomac]

It's impressive that Tom can remember all these new features straight off the top of the dome, but you know what they say, an ELPHNT never forgets. ;-)

[@sonicstate]

Yeah he was impressive

[@EazyG2002]

Pretty dull update for me. Should just be another update on version11. Not sure what I was expecting but I was definitely hoping for more.

[@blackmoofou6385]

Fantastic Video thanks for this! Sonic State on the Ball as usual!

[@1pauluzz1]

Meh, not a lot that couldn't be done already in Suite + Max. Not that it makes a difference because I'll update eventually, as I always do, if only for the minor GUI updates. To be honest it even makes me feel a bit relieved, knowing that there isn't a whole lot that I'm not able to do yet and would need to learn.

[@rolandgerard6064]

Many Thanks!

[@juschu85]

I switched to Bitwig a year ago. It's nice to see Ableton getting some features that Bitwig already had. Now I want to see Bitwig getting Ableton features it still doesn't have. For example Bitwig's piano roll still doesn't know scales. But what I would really want to see is both companies working together to release Abletwig or Biton. All features of both DAWs.

[@adrianconsta1139]

Bitwig's lack of the scale feature within their piano roll is actually my main reason for not switching from Ableton. There are also some other minor things, but the switch will eventually happen I think. 😁

[@juschu85]

@@adrianconsta1139 I just went back to doing it like I already did in Ableton before its piano roll had scales. Just make a clip with really long notes, make a super chord of all the notes in your scale, copy those notes to a few octaves, and select this clip together with other clips for editing with those notes in the background. Unfortunatrly, when you use the equivalent of Ableton's fold feature, the different clips are stacked vertically in the UI and you loose the rows where you didn't place a note yet, even though they're in the scale. In that case, copy the notes from the multiple octaves super chord clip to the clip you're actually editing, (optional:) make the notes shorter again, and place them before the start of the clip. But you only really need that when you want to transpose a bunch of notes within the scale.

[@mathieupe666]

This concept of non destructive quantization was there in ableton live almost 10 years ago with the Groove Quantization. (Still not available in Bitwig btw) Now they generalized the concept to every midi parameter. Nice job.

[@cockur]

It was in Cubase 25 years ago

[@LeslieDugger]

Yeah most of these “new features” here were already in ableton but not as directly accessible via UI. I guess it’s a win for newcomers who don’t know the tricks

[@vatogomareli]

Tom is such a great guy!

[@nectariosm]

Are there custom key commands? Is there proper PDC on the channels? Per clip inserts? Is there multiple audio clip editing? Built in bounce in place? Built in delta solo for every plug in instance? Feels like a Live 11.4.x update rather than a Live 12 update. But seeing these updates come so fast I'll do what I did with updating from Live 9 to Live 11 and get Live 10 for "free".

[@nrosko]

It definitely isn't like a 11.4 update. It might not have some of the feature you would like but that doesn't mean its 0.4.

[@77advanced]

@@nrosko you mean that set of features everybody raving about for decade, but get screwed everytime?)

[@nectariosm]

@@nrosko I am basing my view on what other DAWs offer with regards to major version (paid) updates. I am not talking about Logic Pro ("free updates" where you are "forced" to update macOS and thus a new computer sooner than later), or FL Studio by the way. And much of the stuff I mentioned have been around for literally, ages in other DAWs.

[@neqkk]

I don’t understand the comment about PDC, there’s already plugin delay compensation in Live since a couple of releases

[@nectariosm]

@@neqkk put Auto Filter on a channel. Assign the square LFO to modulate cut off at every beat. Listen. Then do the same but add Soothe or Ozone or Acustica or some plug in that induces latency, *before* auto filter and have another listen.

[@binarysun_]

Nice look into the next version. Makes me lean forward with interest. I am sad though that there seem to be no updates to the Push Standalone when there is so much (basically everything that makes it useful) still missing after like half a year. I still see no reason to spend 2k on a device that's a glorified Casio keyboard in the state it is in now. Very sad. Won't bring me back to Live anytime soon.

[@overtonesnteatime198]

im so happy the upgrade to live 12 is free with live 11.... This looks awesome

[@jm6734]

«Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!»

[@jm6734]

Btw. Kudos to this presenter. Very professional and not least pleasing to follow along 👍🏻

[@Rockky67]

No ARA2, MIDI out of plugins still merges to channel 1 so kneecaps a lot of my favourite use cases (like routing MIDI from VCV to my modular from my PC), upgrade too expensive for this window dressing.

[@mttlsa686]

They should absolutely release an update with the possibility to automate all the midi tools! Btw, i hope they implemented a very simple but useful thing in simpler: copy to siblings for EVERY parameter of the device.

[@macmoll]

I agree. If you can adjust a parameter in real time with the mouse there should be no reason not to make those parameters automatable. Or at least MIDI mappable.

[@mttlsa686]

@@macmoll i think they're midi mappable but you can't do automations...

[@AnnaSibirskaja]

Did they solve the CPU overload? It's all MIDI now?

[@tobiasc.c.2281]

sold!

[@kristofferbjerke428]

One of the things have missed in Live is a good tool for vocal tuning. Native in Ableton, not as a vst, something in the line of what Logic has done (in a very good way). I know there are tutorials about how to use the tuner in Live for this, but it simply cannot compare to how it's done in other daws, like Logic. Does Live 12 bring any news her?

[@HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

You know you’re a seasoned gentleman of synthesis when every knob you see has your internal LFO salivating

[@Youxitube]

Nice, when is the Reaper 7.0 first look coming?

[@kosmikmusa]

25:02 CC Control should have learn/listen button so I could use my external hardware synths to send CC control commands to Ableton device. That would be really nice to add LFO and other controls from Ableton to external synths and devices.

[@microfx]

yes I write this to Ableton every month

[@djdrwatson]

23:48 This is the exact sound I get when I used the crank the volume up and the heavy bass made things shake, vibrate and rattle in the room! 😆😂

[@patkelly8309]

Mixer in Arrangement view - Finally! Looks an all round great update.

[@aslegu]

You can have this with 11 and stacking the second window (with scene view) below the first with arr view.

[@JEFFMAN90]

It’s a dope update but it ain’t worth over two hundred bucks to update like come on now

[@redlobsta1]

@13:22 - are all these new generative midi controls midi mappable or avaialble by default with push 2?

[@jake-ul7oi]

does Kontakt support midi tunings as well? Like if we have samples and we use microtonal scales etc does that reflect in Kontakt as well?

[@sonicstate]

I think the tuning only works with internal devices

[@microfx]

lol UI overhaul and demos it with a grey color that could have been the color of the year 1986

[@Bin909able]

Would be nice to see improvement in multi screen use, especially with plugins. Very nice UI improvements already!

[@spartahill]

This was the best overview ever. I can't wait to make thousands of happy mistakes and gain a deeper appreciation of this incredible tool.

[@darrenheath23]

hey, it's ELPHNT!

[@mar-zgarcia429]

Lovely Ableton !!

[@mirosaworzechowski9239]

12 brings a lot of good :) will there be any discount for Live 11 Suite owners? but bought in March.

[@nsjx]

Firstly, huge Thanks for the preview. Stoked about these workflow improvements and new magic midi tricks. Things like this are FAB for getting rough sketch going FAST, esp if one really likes to get deeper into sound design and needs a decent clip to to design around. Excited for these features! Tagging on browser, plus the AI thing(?) or was that purely tag-based similarity... either way, Nice. YES YES YES about mixer in Arrangement View! YEARS I've desired that. Meld looks wicked and I gotta say,.... the new pop-up screen displays are MUCH appreciated, where one can see the entire MMatrix... Did Wavetable get that??? Anyway, really nice first glance. I like all the new Scale-lockinng and tuning improvements as well btw.... Killer Abes

[@valdir7426]

"plus the AI thing(?) or was that purely tag-based similarity..." from what I understood it's purely tag-based

[@_Sonicandy]

@@valdir7426 No, it's not purely tag-based as far as I understand, but based on the sounds themselves

[@contraspower6302]

Great video🔥

[@djkon10th26]

what ableton theme do you use, its so clean and vibrant

[@TwstedTV]

27:25 Ok, so what happens to the normal 30% off on Black Friday & Cyber Monday ?? Will that be eliminated and only the 20% discount is enforced? 🤷‍♀

[@vescopetcov]

At last! Real shortcuts! That was one totally nonexisting in Live feature, which is quite important for working really fast and without using mouse. A gamechanger…

[@user-gk4vz3wk9v]

for me it is a an instant upgrade ! When will it be released ?

[@BIG_PASTA]

Have they finally fixed the atrocious MIDI clock/external instrument issues which makes recording hardware with consistent and accurate timing completely impossible? When I emailed them about this they literally told me "its a bug, sorry". Really hope this bug was fixed because its my main DAW, and constantly having to readjust these settings has been really driving me insane for years.

[@elchorepunk]

Are those filtering tools also present in Push 3? I Just moved to Push from Maschine and Just hate how long it takes to reach the sounds i want due to the bad filtering database it has

[@lovet7339]

In ableton 13 we have this generative song nob. If you turn it it generates different songs in different genres. So creative!

[@tB3o3tR9o9]

can you even filter the new browser by category such as PWM?

[@gunark]

Nice to see ELPHNT!

[@BoyXx76]

Still no swing in the "Pitch & Time" section of the midi-tools??!

[@Puppetsinmyhead]

Love how we made a point to say anyone with the new push there’s nothing for you. Standalone it’s a joke. I also spent over 3k for the push and suite. Now I’m being asked to pay another 183$ so soon is Bs.