Ableton PUSH 2 and Ableton 9.5 Announced

The Ableton PUSH 2 has just been announced by the tech company alongside LIVE 9.5 which is a free update for all registered LIVE users.

There’s an added incentive for existing PUSH owners too. The company is offering a worldwide trade-in for owners of the original PUSH which is really unique and very smart of them.

And there’s more still…

Ableton is also introducing LINK which enables one to play in time with multiple instances of LIVE and will connect with an ongoing number of iOS apps too.

But there’s even more….

Ableton PUSH 2 Workshop

Cape Town producers can check out the new Ableton PUSH 2 this weekend (Sat, 7 November) at Red Revenge in Bellville where Certified Ableton Trainer and the facilitator of the monthly Ableton User Group meetings, Thomas Glendinning will be hosting a workshop on the PUSH and running through all the new LIVE 9.5 features.

The new Ableton PUSH 2

The new Ableton PUSH 2 will continue to offer the same hands-on creativity for producing melody, harmonies and beats as well as complete song structures. But the new unit is now completely designed and engineered by Ableton themselves, which they say has introduced a new level of playability that puts even more elements of song creation at your fingertips.

Notable new features include…

Large multicolour display

The new Ableton PUSH 2 has a crisp, colourful new display which can adapt easily to show you what you need and keep you in the creative flow. Things like library navigation, sample waveforms, effects parameters and mixer levels are all visible on the screen and can be tweaked via the touch-sensitive encoders.

Sampling workflows

Ableton PUSH 2 is faster and more flexible when it comes to sampling workflows. You can slice samples across the pads and play back single hits and time stretched samples with ease. Create looping instruments on the fly, chop up drum kits from recordings, or play longer rhythmic samples back in tempo – all without taking your hands off Push.

More musical and expressive pads

The new pads on the Ableton PUSH 2 have been given a lot of attention to ensure the right tactile and responsive feel for musicians. It’s all about being expressive and these softer, smoother, and more responsive should provide the perfect playing experience for creating beats and melodies.

Ableton LIVE 9.5

This free update for Ableton Live 9 is now available for all Live 9 users.

Here’s what’s new and improved in Live 9.5:

Redesigned Simpler

Simpler, LIVE’s sampling instrument has had an overhaul and now features a new interface, warping and slicing capabilities, and new analog-modeled filters. Much like Propellerhead Reason’s REX, with Simpler you can now slice samples mapped to your keyboard which means being able to play single hits and even warp long samples which will always stay in time with your track. Nice!

Analog-modeled filters.

Live 9.5 has some great new filters which have been based on classic vintage hardware that will self-resonate, produce feedback, and distort with an analog feel. These have been designed in collaboration with Cytomic and are included in Simpler, Sampler, Operator, and Auto Filter.

Better meters and waveforms.

The mixer volume meters now show both peak and RMS levels, indicating both sudden changes in level, as well as perceived loudness. What’s handy with this is that it makes controlling your track’s dynamics easier. The more visual the detail of your audio samples the more control you have and the new look offers smoother zooming and scrolling.

New instruments

If you’re a Live 9 Suite owner there are three new Max for Live synthesizers. These include Bass, a monosynth designed for… erm, you guessed it – bass sounds; Poli, a polyphonic synth – great for strings, pads, and stabs; and Multi, a synth they say is designed for immediate tweakability from Ableton PUSH 2.

Link – What is it?

Link is no yet available but they’ve given us a heads up on what it’s all about.

Link is a new technology that lets you play in time with multiple instances of LIVE s well as selected iOS apps. As the name suggests it will sync all devices’ timing over a wireless network, so you can set up almost instantly and jam with others as freely as a live band.

Ableton PUSH 2 will include Ableton Live Suite – Unique to South Africa

This awesome new release of the Ableton PUSH 2 gets even better if you’re in South Africa. Aside from being able to trade-in your existing PUSH, once you purchase an Ableton PUSH 2 and register the product online you will be eligible to download a full version of Ableton Live Suite 9. Look for a sticker on the box confirming this special deal.

Expect to pay: R 13,999.00 incl. vat