Ableton have announced the launch of a new standalone instrument designed for capturing ideas and making music on the go. Featuring a compact, portable design and up to four hours of battery life, the Move comes packed with sounds and instrument presets, and also includes onboard sampling and sequencing.
Move
The instrument is equipped with 32 polyphonic aftertouch pads that make it possible to play beats, melodies and chords, as well as triggering clips and samples. Nine touch-sensitive endless encoders offer detailed hands-on control over instrument and effects parameters, while a set of 16 multi-function buttons provide control over the built-in sequencer as well as functions such as Keys and Scales modes, quantisation, groove and tempo settings.
The Move comes loaded with over 1500 sounds and presets that include the likes of drum hits, Instrument Racks, Audio Effect presets, one-shots and loops. Three of Ableton Live’s instruments are presets: Drift Wavetable and Drum Sampler, and are joined by a new Melodic Sampler. You get four tracks to work with, each of which can be loaded with up to two effects that include Reverb, Delay, Saturator, Chorus-Ensemble, Phaser-Flanger, Redux, Channel EQ and Dynamics modules — two effects can also be applied globally.
It’s possible to capture additional samples either via a built-in mic or a 3.5mm stereo input, and the Move can be paired up with other devices thanks to USB MIDI I/O. As you might expect, sessions can be imported into Ableton Live, allowing users to continue ideas started on the instrument in their DAW, and the device will also function as a compact Live control surface.
The integration is possible with Live 11.2 or later, although it's worth mentioning that the Drum Racks in Move contain the Drum Sampler instrument which has been introduced in Live 12.1. As such, opening a Move Set that contains Drums presets in Live 11, or a version of Live 12 earlier than 12.1, will result in Drum Sampler being converted to Simpler. This can cause Sets to sound different in Live, especially if Drum Sampler’s playback effects were used in the Move Set.
Ableton Live 12.1
The company have also announced the release of an update that brings a range of major improvements and additions to all versions of Live, including Live Lite.
Live 12.1 now offers native, real-time pitch-correction with Auto Shift. The feature makes it possible to ensure every note stays in tune, as well as creating harmonies from monophonic signals via a MIDI side-chain, and adding vibrato and modulation using either MPE or the device’s LFO. Drum Sampler then offers a simple one-shot sampler with built-in 8-bit, time-stretch, ring modulation, FM, pitch envelope and punch effects.
Limiter and Saturator have been kitted out with some new features, too, with the former gaining a smoother release curve to reduce distortion, updated metering and Mid/Side routing as well as True Peak, Soft Clip, and Maximize modes, and the latter benefitting from a new Bass Shaper curve and a GUI overhaul.
The update introduces a range of MIDI editing improvements, including the ability to filter and select notes by time, pitch, velocity, chance, duration and several other properties. It also adds two new MPE-specific MIDI Transformations: Glissando and LFO, making it possible to create curves for the MPE parameters of selected notes. Push users gain a range of new features, too, and a selection of new Packs deliver a range of new MIDI tools and sequencing capabilities.
To find out more about Ableton Live 12.1, take a look at the release notes on the Ableton website.
Pricing & Availability
The Move is available now, priced at $449£399 including VAT / €449. Ableton Live 12.1 is also available now as a free update for all existing users.
