Live 12.1 is Out Now

Ableton Live 12.1 is available now.

Free for all Live 12 users, this update brings major additions and improvements to all editions of Live, including Live Lite.

Auto Shift – real-time pitch tracking and correction device

Live 12.1 now allows for native, real-time pitch correction with Auto Shift. Use scales to keep every note in tune with your track, create harmonies from monophonic signals using MIDI sidechain, and add vibrato and modulation to your sound using MPE or the device’s LFO.

Drum Sampler – compact one-shot sampler with built-in effects

This flexible device pairs essential sampling controls with effects such as 8-Bit, time stretch, ring modulation, FM, pitch envelope, and punch: giving you a faster way to flip, mangle and fine-tune your beats.

Auto-tagging for all your samples

Searching your library is faster with Live 12’s filters – and now there’s no need to tag the samples yourself. Live 12.1 automatically assigns new tags to any sample in your library under 60 seconds long, and VST3 plugins will also be assigned tags based on metadata. 

Improved Limiter and Saturator

Limiter gets a complete overhaul – with a smoother release curve to reduce distortion, updated metering, and the addition of Mid/Side routing, True Peak, Soft Clip, and Maximize modes. Saturator sees the addition of a Bass Shaper curve ideal for low-end processing, as well as a more focused UI.

MIDI editing improvements

You can now use the MIDI Editor’s toolbar to filter and select notes by time, pitch, velocity, chance, duration, and several other properties. Live 12.1 also introduces two new MPE-specific MIDI Transformations – Glissando and LFO – allowing you to create curves for the MPE parameters of selected notes.

Create more intuitively on Push

Live 12.1 comes with a host of updates to Push. Design sounds with more detail and control with Push 2 and 3 using Macro Variations, and add instant groove to all MIDI clips in your Set with a single twist of an encoder on Push 3.

The new update brings Live 12’s filtering system to the browser on Push 2 and 3, as well as auto-tagging for samples on Push 3 standalone. Plus, you can now save Default Sets and Template Sets on Push 2 and 3, and organize your Sets by moving tracks and scenes. 

Check out the Push release notes for more information on what you can do with Push and Live 12.1.

MIDI Tools by Philip Meyer

This Pack of MIDI Generators and Transformations from Max for Live developer Philip Meyer opens up myriad rhythmic and melodic possibilities. Three MIDI Generators let you create tumbling, stuttering patterns (Phase Pattern), work with evolving, multitrack Euclidean rhythms (Polyrhythm), and play with stage-based sequencing (Stages), while Retrigger and Slice Shuffler offer novel ways to repeat, rearrange and refresh existing MIDI clips.

Sequencers by Ableton

This Pack of sequencers from Ableton instrument designers Marco Tonni and Christian Kleine incorporates creative new approaches to step sequencing with fundamental features inspired by hardware systems and classic Live devices.

Apply arpeggiated patterns across several MIDI parameters with StepArp. Use SQ to generate complex sequences through MIDI step recording and its unique Condition feature. And reach for the percussion-focused Rhythmic Steps with its four lanes and nested subsequences – all with the option of individual loop lengths – to generate endlessly evolving and polyrhythmic patterns.

Please note that both the MIDI Tools and Sequencers Packs are only available for users of Live 12.1 Suite or Live 12.1 Standard with Max for Live.

Take the tour to learn more about Live 12, and head to the Ableton shop to get your license now.

Live 12.1 is a free update for all Live 12 users and will be installed the next time you open Live. If auto-update is turned off, go to your user account to download. 

For full details on Live 12.1 check out the release notes*

*Note: Release notes are only available in English