Ableton has announced that Live 11.3 is now in public beta, and it turns out that update has a strong MPE flavor. There’s a new MPE-compatible synth, known as Drift, and other Live instruments now also support MIDI polyphonic expression.
Drift is said to be able to generate sounds “from all eras of modern music” and has a minimalist design that Ableton says makes it beginner-friendly. However, we are assured that there is also enough depth to interest experienced sound designers.
The new instrument takes inspiration from classic hardware, but also nods to more modern synths and Eurorack modules. The good news is that Drift is included in all versions of Live 11 – even the modest Live Lite, which comes bundled with other software and hardware products.
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Live’s Analog, Collision, Electric and Tension instruments are now also MPE compatible, giving you more expressive possibilities. Along the same lines, the MPE Control device has received a lick of paint and now offers increased functionality and reduced CPU load.
The Note Echo device also supports MPE, with feedback controls for each control dimension. This means that the MPE modulation can change over time.
There’s even more expressive content in the updated core library – check out the Live Beta 11.3 Release Notes (opens in a new tab) for a full list of what’s new.
The Live 11.3 Public Beta has just been released, and is available to all Live 11 license holders. Once beta testing is complete, all Live 11 license holders will be able to download the Live 11.3 update for free.
Learn more about the Ableton (opens in a new tab) website.