Ableton has announced the latest update for the Live DAW, and it's a big one. Now in public beta, Live 12.1 arrives with Auto Shift, a new real-time pitch correction device, Drum Sampler, a one-shot sampler for drums, and much more.
Auto Shift brings Auto-Tune-style pitch tracking and correction to Live for the first time, allowing users to tune vocals according to a scale of their choice. The device supports MIDI input, so you're able to create polyphonic harmonies by sending chords into Auto Shift, or add vibrato using the onboard LFOs. It's MPE-compatible, too, opening up an array of possibilities for expressive performances.
“A generous update stuffed with ideas and real potential”: Ableton Live 12 Suite review
That's not the only new device in 12.1; Drum Sampler is a convenient one-shot sampler that's designed to be used in Drum Rack. Along with all the typical controls you'd expect in a sampler of this kind, the device is kitted out with a multi-mode filter, sub-oscillator, and an effects section that'll let you time-stretch samples, add punch or dial in frequency and ring modulation.
Live's Limiter and Saturator devices have both received an overhaul, while the MIDI Editor benefits from an improved workflow that'll let you search for and select notes using various filters. Ableton has also introduced automatic sample tagging to Live, making it easier to find the sounds you're looking for in your library; all samples longer than a minute will be automatically scanned and tagged with relevant categories.
Ableton has a little something for users of its Push controller in the 12.1 update, too. Those that own Push 2 or Push 3 can now map Macros to Push's encoders and even work with Macro Variations, which let you quickly switch between different Macro configurations. Push's browser now supports the filtering and tagging system implemented in Ableton Live 12, and Groove can now be applied across an entire Live Set instantly using the controller's Timing encoder.
