Ableton Live 8 Software

New groove engine

Groove patterns dynamically influence the timing and velocity/volume of audio and MIDI material. This can add life and swing to straight patterns, give a track more drive, or lend a piece an easy, laid-back feeling.
groove_browser

Live 8 enhances Live's existing groove power with some important new features:

* Apply groove patterns to any audio or MIDI clips in real time. Change the feel of the whole piece or just selected clips.
* Choose from an extensive library of groove patterns, captured from songs played by some of music's most original, expressive and soulful drummers.
* Extract groove patterns from any audio or MIDI source to build your own groove library from your favorite tracks.
* Quantize audio and MIDI in real time: non-destructive velocity and timing adjustments for rhythmic correction.
* Randomize audio and MIDI timing for a more human feel.
New warping engine

Live 8 is the next logical step in warping evolution with a new, more intuitive warping paradigm and some important Warp Mode enhancements.
warping

* New, intuitive warping allows you to adjust events on the timeline instead of stretching and squeezing the timeline around the events.
* Transient handles: Live analyzes and assigns handles to the transients in audio files automatically.
* Slice by transient: slice audio to MIDI based on Live 8's new transient analysis.
* Enhanced Beats Warp Mode for improved warping of percussive material and new control options.
* Improved Complex Warp Mode using élastique Pro for warping complex, polyphonic material with fewer artifacts.
Looper

Looper brings the creative power of classic sound-on-sound looping to Live, without the limitations of a hardware device. Inspired by some of our favorite sample/delay devices plus a good deal of Ableton wizardry, Looper provides plenty of scope in a super-simple interface.
content

* One-touch operation: Looper is set up for remote operation, so you can record, overdub, undo and more using a single footswitch (not included) and without touching the computer.
* Endless overdubs, tape-loop style for infinite improv jams.
* First loop sync: Live reads the tempo from the length of the first loop you record and automatically syncs up. This eliminates timing issues and lets you record without the click.
* Simple loop management: drag and drop a loop from Looper into a clip slot to make a clip; drag a clip back again to reload it into Looper.
* Multiple Looper sync lets you run as many Loopers as you want without any synchronization headaches.
New effects

Live 8 includes five powerful new effects, each with a strong personality and serious "classic" potential. These effects add a special Ableton shine to the well-known aspects of these devices, giving you effects that are not only practical and easy to use but also inspiring.

Vocoder: the famous "singing robot" effect. Vocoder is classic vocoding plus advanced, intricate control for flexibility and rich sound design.
vocoder

Multiband Dynamics: effective processing plus a refreshing approach to visualizing the dynamics involved lets you really see and hear what's going on.
multiband_dynamics

Overdrive: models the circuits found in legendary stompboxes and forms a perfect complement to Saturator and Dynamic Tube.
overdrive

Limiter: an effective brick-wall limiter that will keep your peaks in check.
limiter

Frequency Shifter: frequency shifting and ring modulation for flange effects, atonal harmonics and the sound of Fifties science fiction.
freq_shifter

Also includes

* A selection of loops (box only)
* Essential Instrument Collection 2: a wide range of sampled instruments (box only)
* Printed reference manual in English, French, German or Japanese (box only)
* Built-in interactive lessons
* Localized software menus, tutorials and PDF reference manuals in English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese

System requirements

Mac: 1.25 GHz G4/G5 or faster (Intel Mac recommended), 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended), Mac OS X 10.4.11 (10.5 or later recommended), DVD-ROM drive

Windows: 1.5 GHz Pentium 4 or Celeron compatible CPU or faster (multicore CPU recommended), 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended), Windows XP or Windows Vista, Windows compatible sound card (ASIO driver support recommended), DVD-ROM drive, QuickTime recommended

The installation size of the Essential Instrument Collection 2 is 15 GB.