The small things add up in Live 11

Ableton also added a few new things that are totally new to Live 11. These include three new effects—a Hybrid Reverb that allows the user to blend convolution and algorithm-based reverbs, a Spectral Resonator plugin with a unique audio Freeze function, and a Spectral Time plugin that is as trippy as it sounds.

Live 11’s overall look will be quite familiar to long-time users, though there are a few new browser improvements that show the team behind Live 11 isn’t content to rest on their laurels. Now, plugins are grouped together by category instead of by name, and Max for Live effects are integrated with the stock Ableton plugins. Furthermore, templates are now in their own category in the left browser window, making it easier to refer to and pull up more than just one template. Live 11 has now added the option to ‘Save Live Set as Template’ straight to the File menu as well (it was previously buried in the Preferences panel). Grooves can

A GAME-CHANGER FOR MANY IS THE INTRODUCTION OF CPU METERS

now also be viewed in the main browser window, and they are now all grouped together as opposed to by source, which helps in finding the appropriate groove for your track.

Sometimes it’s the small things that really make a difference and one such game-changer for many is going to be the introduction of CPU meters on individual tracks in Live 11. Located at the bottom of each track (including busses and the master) in Session View, these small horizontal meters mean that you can see exactly which track and plugin chain is causing your computer to freeze up. Similarly, the CPU meter that you’re used to in Live’s top-right corner has been improved as well. It now shows both the average and current amount of CPU being used, and clicking on the meter gives a shortcut to the Audio Preferences panel.

One of the most essential improvements to Live 11 for many producers is going to be the new

MIDI scale functionality. Scale mode can be enabled or disabled on a per-clip basis, though when Scale mode is turned on, all subsequently created clips will start with the same scale settings as clips already created on that track. This speeds up workflow considerably. The user can choose both the scale and the root note. When editing MIDI information in the MIDI note editor window, Ableton has now made it possible to Fold the notes shown based on scale, so notes not in the scale will not be shown. Any scale information chosen is now automatically visualised on the Push, strengthening the connection between the bespoke controller and Live 11.