Ableton Live 13 adds step sequencing and a drum synth

The step sequencer lets users adjust velocity, timing, chance, length and repeats for individual steps. Tracks can also have separate lengths, playback rates and directions, enabling patterns that change and evolve. Ableton’s Push controller already had a dedicated step sequencer, but the desktop app did not.

ARA support will allow compatible plugins to work directly on audio in Live. Ableton gives Melodyne as an example: instead of moving audio out of Live for pitch correction or time-stretching and rendering it back, users will be able to edit vocal takes within Live’s interface.

A redesigned mixer view displays a track’s devices in a compact vertical column. Users can drag devices between tracks or copy and paste them, and the view is intended to make large sessions easier to scan. Looplet, an experimental looping instrument, has four playheads and offers granular processing, filtering, and pitch and speed controls. Each playhead can be routed to a separate track for further processing.

Other additions include a drum synth with more than 20 models across nine categories, from classic drum machines to experimental percussion. Capture will record automation as well as MIDI notes. Contextual browsing will let users swap instruments and presets in the device view; multiband racks will route different frequencies through separate effect chains; and a transient shaper will be available for drum sounds. Return tracks will gain envelope clips for effect automation, racks will support up to 32 macros and custom mapping curves, and Push 3 will get custom layouts combining mixers, note grids and step sequencers.