Ableton Move: New standalone controller records music ideas on the go
The music manufacturer Ableton has released a small controller that can be used to record musical ideas and samples without any additional tools.
(Image: Ableton)
Ableton will be selling its Move controller from Monday. Musicians can use it to capture musical ideas on the go without having to connect it to a smartphone or notebook. Thanks to an internal battery, the device is said to last up to four hours. Musicians can record four tracks with instruments, drums and samplers. The latter record sounds via a jack input (line signal) or the built-in microphone. Playback is via a headphone connection or the built-in speaker.
The instruments are played via 32 touch-sensitive pads. Although they do not register the finger positions as MPE parameters like the large Push 3 controller, they do register polyphonic aftertouch. This allows individual notes of a held chord to be changed subsequently. If you prefer to play on a real keyboard, you can connect a MIDI keyboard via USB. You can also quickly program sequences on the 16 keys in the bottom row. A small display at the top left provides feedback on the effects and instruments that have been set.
In its press release, Ableton states that Move should load a "core library" with 1500 sounds and presets that can be customized. According to Ableton, Move's internal memory has a capacity of 64 GB. The entire sound library of the included Ableton Live 12.1 Intro has 50 GB of instruments, samples and presets.
(Image: Ableton)
Their parameters can be changed using the Move's eight touch-sensitive endless controllers, as can the eight included effects. The instruments include the drum and instrument rack, the drum sampler and the drift synthesizer. The effects include Channel EQ, Chorus Ensemble and Phaser Flanger, Redux and Saturator for distortion as well as Delay and Reverb. Further interchangeable effects are to be added later.
A song mode, with which finished songs with different sections can be played automatically, is probably not on board – at least Ableton does not mention it in the release, and the button layout does not give any indication of this either.
(Image: Ableton)
This means that Move's range of functions is similar to that of the mobile iOS app Note. Songs sketched in Move can simply be uploaded to Ableton Live via WLAN. You can also use Move as a controller for Ableton Live or play live sets without a laptop. The device is about half the size of the Push controller, which also costs four times as much as Move in the stand-alone version at 1900 euros. Ableton is now selling Move for 450 euros.
Ableton Live 12.1
Ableton is also releasing version 12.1 of its Live music software. In addition to Move support, this includes an auto-shift effect that allows singers and notes to be straightened or retuned in real time. This means that an entire harmonious choir can be created from a single singer.
The internal limiter and sampler have been expanded and new MPE parameters for MIDI tracks have been added. In addition, Live now also analyzes and tags the user's samples to find suitable sounds more quickly. This should also work in the stand-alone version of Push 3. Details can be found in the release notes.
(hag)
