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Almost three years after the release of the tenth version of the program, Ableton introduced a major update to Ableton Live 11. The developers added new features and devices to the program, and also improved existing functions. According to the creators, the update focuses on providing new capabilities for “recording, performing and experimentation.”
The first notable innovation was the updated Comping function for combining audio. The DAW now organizes multiple repeats of audio files and MIDI regions into separate takes, and users can mix different parts of different takes together to get the “perfect” part. In addition to this, Ableton Live has learned to link two or more tracks together for simultaneous processing.
Ableton Live 11 has received full support for the MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) standard. The program has a new Expression View workspace, which allows you to work with different envelopes to achieve the desired level of expression. The built-in sampler, arpeggiator and wavetable editor also receive full MPE support.
As for new devices, the program has been replenished with ten new devices. Hybrid Reverb will allow you to create algorithmic and convulsive spatial effects. Spectral Resonator will split the audio into several parts to further change them over time based on the frequency of the sound. In turn, Spectral Time can work with broken parts and create interesting delay effects based on them.
For lovers of creative and experimental processing, the creators of the update have added a collection of tools and effects called Inspired By Nature. The collection’s devices were inspired by various natural and physical sound phenomena. In addition to this, the program received the PitchLoop89 tool, which combines glitches, delay and vibrato.
For stage and concert needs, Ableton Live 11 received the Live Tempo Following function. According to the developers’ description, the program has learned to “listen” to incoming audio from other performers and instruments on stage and automatically adjust the tempo based on the received signal. If someone plays faster or slower, Ableton will automatically adjust the tempo so that the parts sound coherent.
The new Macro Snapshots feature allows you to save copies of macros for later use. Up to 16 macros can be stored within a rack, and their launch and operation can be completely randomized.
The developers expanded the automation system by introducing the Follow Actions tool. With its help, users can specify exactly what actions will be taken after a certain event.
Another innovation is the Note Chance function, aimed at humanizing performance. The function sets the probability of any sound within a project or part being triggered and heard, allowing Ableton Live to generate multiple variations of a single pattern. Moreover, Note Chance can be configured so that the pattern changes over time.
Along with Note Chance, the program introduced the Velocity Chance function, which changes the speed of sound extraction in MIDI regions based on the specified settings. Working simultaneously with Note Chance and Velocity Chance will create unique and non-repetitive patterns, and will also make it easier to animate MIDI parts.
Other updates to Ableton Live 11 include Voice Box tools for creating vocal-based instruments and racks, Mood Reel and Drone Lab for texture generation. The software will also include the Upright Piano virtual piano, as well as the Brass Quartet and String Quartet. The last three instruments were created in collaboration with Spitfire Audio.
The developers note that the new version will bring improved tools and devices from previous versions, as well as an updated and expanded content library. A number of improvements also affected the editing of clips and the system for measuring the load on the computer processor. In the MIDI editor, hints with scales, modes and scales have appeared, indicating which notes will “suit” the current key of the project.
Live – New features and improvements
- Reduced the number of audio dropouts when running Live on Windows machines with processors that have performance and efficient cores, e.g., Intel Alder Lake.
- Introduced the option to create new audio clips in a Live Set via the Max for Live API, given a valid audio file path. This was achieved by adding two new endpoints: a Track.create_audio_track function and a ClipSlot.create_audio_track function, which create clips respectively in the Arrangement and Session View.
- The Song object in Max for Live now has a name property and a file_path property. Both properties are get-only.
- When using the APC64 Control Surface, it is now possible to lock device control with the [Shift] + [Device] combination. Additionally, the Quantize button LED now always reflects the record quantization state.
- In the AKAI APC64 Control Surface script, the cursor buttons now navigate the session ring in the Project mode.
- In the Komplete Kontrol S Mk3 Control Surface script, turning the 4D encoder will now scroll the song time when not in the DAW page (e.g., when the MIDI page is selected).
- When connecting several MIDI controllers of the same type, Live will add numbers to the names of their ports so that the ports can be addressed separately.
- The bundled Max version has been updated to 8.5.8.
- The following Drift device properties are now available in the Max for Live API:
- • mod_matrix_target_1_index
- • mod_matrix_target_1_list
- • mod_matrix_target_2_index
- • mod_matrix_target_2_list
- • mod_matrix_target_3_index
- • mod_matrix_target_3_list
Live – Bugfixes
- Live now detects 32-bit integer PCM .wav files and displays a warning dialog stating that such files cannot be loaded.
- Live now accepts all MIDI CCs (0-127) sent by VST3 plug-ins.
- Drift’s LFO will no longer reset after a period of inactivity when LFO Retrigger is off.
- Fixed a bug that occurred when opening a Set, where in some cases the software text to the right of devices in the Device View would say “Drop an Instrument or Sample Here” instead of “Drop Audio Effects Here”, and would only update after adding or removing devices.
- Fixed an issue in the Novation Launchpad and Launchkey MK3 Control Surfaces where pressing the Play button could result in clips being inaudible.
- Fixed a performance issue in macOS ARM-based desktop machines, where increasing the buffer size would lead to degraded performance.
- Fixed a crash that occurred when loading a device Rack preset that included a plugin that either did not exist or was deactivated.
- Fixed an issue where Live would hang when loading a Set containing a large number of video clips on Apple Silicon machines.
- Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when undoing a track deletion where the track contained a plug-in and automation or modulation envelopes.
- Fixed an issue where the meters would incorrectly show a different CPU load when playing a test tone with the CPU Usage Simulator option in Live’s Audio Preferences set to below 35%.
- When the “Show Downloadable Packs” option is switched off in Live’s Library Preferences, no details about available Packs will be shown in the browser.
- Fixed a bug that caused the currently selected clip slot not to be brought into focus when renaming the clip or clicking the Clip View header in some scenarios.
- Fixed a bug that caused Live to reset its Preferences and other software settings if the program was started during the auto-update process.
- Fixed a performance regression that occurred particularly with smaller buffer sizes.
- Fixed a crash that occurred at startup on Windows 11 for computers with more than 64 CPUs.
- Fixed a bug where starting to edit an automation value and pressing return without typing in a value would create unnecessary breakpoints.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when changing the type of an automated Max for Live parameter for a device loaded onto the Master track.
- Improved some MIDI note selection descriptions in the Status Bar:
- • The velocity range of MIDI notes with negative velocity is now displayed correctly.
- • Time ranges with a granularity lower than 1/16 are indicated with the “+” sign.
- Fixed a bug that caused Simpler to produce no sound after enabling the device’s filter.
- The Chain Selector modulation envelope for Racks no longer shows modulation units in “st”.
- Fixed a bug that caused muted MIDI notes to become unmuted when extracting chains from a Drum Rack into a new MIDI track.
- Text within the Groove Pool is now aligned properly.
- When importing a sample from a Factory Pack which was created prior to 2014, Live will not launch a modal dialog which cannot be cancelled.
- Fixed a bug that could cause erratic behavior in the DS Sampler device.
- Drum Rack chain Preview Buttons in Session View now use the correct color when chains are unfolded for the first time.
- Fixed a bug on macOS Sonoma that caused the tempo to be set to 20 bpm when clicking in the tempo field if Live was in full screen mode.
- The alignment of the MIDI Ports settings in the Link, Tempo & MIDI Preferences has been corrected.
- The display of the tick and label markers in the Arrangement View Time Ruler now depends only on the zoom factor. Previously, the current view size could change the appearance of these markers as well.
- In the MiniLab 3 Control Surface script, a more accurate tempo is now displayed when using the Tap Tempo feature.
- Fixed a bug that would cause live.device to output id 0 instead of the newly created MIDI clip’s ID in response to a call to the previously-available ClipSlot.create_clip function.
- Fixed a potential crash that could occur when editing an automation breakpoint value via its context menu.
- On macOS, Live now uses the hardware-accelerated Metal renderer in more situations, leading to improved UI performance with large window sizes on large low-DPI displays.
- On macOS, fixed a crash that occurred when dragging long Arrangement clips while zoomed in a lot and when the Live window was very large.
- Fixed an issue where some newer Control Surfaces (such as the one for APC64) could interfere with Push’s auto-arming behavior.
- Fixed a crash that occurred when attempting to stretch an Arrangement clip by [Shift]-dragging its edge while in automation mode and while the insert marker or a time selection was on an automation lane above the clip.
- After copying later parts of unwarped clips from take lane to main lane, the take lane would not show the copied region highlighted. This behavior is now fixed.
- Fixed an issue where playback of MPE curves would sound audibly different from the original performance when recording those curves.
- Fixed a performance problem with Windows 10 on computers using Intel Alder Lake processors.
- In previously affected Sets, fixed missing automation segments, glitches, hangs and crashes associated with broken automation curve coefficients. The Sets will now work correctly when they are loaded.
- Simpler will no longer load empty audio files that Live created for slot recordings.
- Gain reduction meters no longer flicker when using large buffer sizes.
- Improved performance of Sets containing Max for Live devices.
- On macOS, fixed a crash that could occur when the Live window was moved between displays.
- Resizing to the left an unwarped Arrangement audio clip with tempo automation will now shift its audio to the right of the previous start position.
- Fixed an issue where Live’s zoom level, and additionally the display scale setting on Windows, would affect the speed of moving automation breakpoints and the Knee parameter of Compressor’s transfer curve.
- Fixed an issue that occurred on Windows 11 machines with P-cores and E-cores such as Intel Alder Lake processor, where more worker threads than necessary would get created.
- When setting Live’s thread affinity via third party tools or the Windows Task Manager, Live would have tried to override it for audio calculation threads instead of adopting the settings. This behavior is now fixed.
- Fixed an issue that caused vertical scrolling to move too fast when adjusting values in the MIDI Note Editor’s MPE and Envelopes view modes.
- Fixed a bug that caused Live’s meters to stay permanently red after a signal of “infinity” level loudness was received in the audio engine.
- Fixed an issue that caused high CPU usage or audio dropouts when the scene tempo was updated very frequently while using Link.
- Fixed a crash that could potentially occur when pressing the arrow up, arrow down, page up or page down keys in the Session View while the main track was highlighted.
- On macOS, fixed a bug which would cause the contents of the Live window to disappear when moving the window from one display to another.
Live 11 Release Notes History
- Install Ableton Live 11 Suite Installer.exe
- Place the file ABLETON PATCHER.exe_in the folder with the installed program and run. Default folder with the program
The code
C:\ProgramData\Ableton\Live 11 Suite\Program
Note: If you changed the installation folder, then the file must be placed in it. (*\Ableton\Live 11 Suite\Program)
- Launch Ableton Live Suite and in the window that appears, click “No internet on this computer”. From the window that appears, copy “Your hardware code”.
Note: When you click on “Save”, you can get a text file with the code.
- Run the file Ableton_KeyGen.exe, paste the copied code, click “GENERATE” and save the resulting file.
- Drag the resulting file (Authorize.auz) into the registration window “Authorizing your software offline”
Note: If you cannot drag the license file into the program window, then close Ableton Live Suite and run the resulting license file – “Open with” > Ableton Live Suite.
- Disable updating: Options > Preferences > Licenses Maintenance > Get Automatic Updates > Never
