Ableton Live is an audio and music production program that gives users the ability to spontaneously compose, capture, remix, improvise and edit musical ideas - Live on their Macs (Ableton Live for Windows is here).

Live allows users to mix in electronic, acoustic and virtual instruments, as well as digital audio recordings and samples, together in one intuitive interface. Users can then focus more on music instead of the gears.

Ableton Live Demo is also available for download, it allows for a 30 day trial that users can use as long as they have internet connection.

Click to see the Ableton Live 8 Manual

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Don't miss these Free Ableton Retro Synths from Puremagnetik

Ableton Live's simplified interface allows users to focus on inspiration and creativity instead of focusing on setting up gear for performance or recording. Users can capture and cut samples on the fly, mix and match audio with differing tempo, and audio effects, all while the music is playing Live. The whole music making process happens in real time.

The latest version of Live, includes revamped warping, reworked MIDI editor, a new groove engine, live looping, new effects and crossfades in the Arrangement View.

Ableton Live is also featured in our roundup of the best Music Production Software

Features:

• Multitrack recording up to 32-bit/192kHz
• Powerful and creative MIDI sequencing of software and hardware instruments
• Complete nondestructive editing with unlimited undo
• Real-time time-stretching and warping of AIFF, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and MP3 files, for improvisation and instant remixing
• A comprehensive selection of built-in audio effects, including a host of creative delays, filters, distortions, studio compressors and EQs
• Built-in software instruments: Simpler for creative sample-based synthesis, Impulse for sampled drums
• Instrument-, Drum-, Effect Racks for creating and managing complex performance setups, drum kits and multi-effects
• VST and AU effects and instruments support; automatic plug-in delay compensation
• REX file support and native sliced audio file creation
• Video import and export for scoring to picture or warping picture to music
• Real-time control of parameters with any MIDI controller—just MIDI-map it or choose from a list of popular supported controllers for instant mapping
• Full ReWire support
• Single-screen user interface for simple, creativity-focused operation
• Multicore and multiprocessor support

Related Hardware:
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To record audio you will need an Audio Interface: See our review of USB Audio Interfaces here.

Changes in 8.3.4:

• Word size is now shown in splash screen
• About Window now shows Email address of user
• Authorization dialogue improved
• Various bugfixes
• (8.3.3)Minor changes for usage data reporting.

Changes in Ableton Live 8.4 Beta:

• 64-bit native support

Changes in Ableton Live 8.3.1:

• Added support for Mac OS 10.8 "Mountain Lion".
• Improved performance when recording many MIDI CC data into MIDI clips.
• The default takeover mode for control surfaces has been changed to "none" (this will only affect new installations).
• Minor changes for usage data reporting.
• Bugfix for issue which could lead to degraded resolution of automation data when recording automation for VST plugins running in Novation's Automap shell.
• Bugfix for issue which prevented samples from being opened in an external sample editor.
• Fixed a crash which could occur when importing two identical audio files into Live.
• Bugfix for issue which could lead to two undo steps when freezing a track.
• Bugfix for issue which could cause the save dialogue to disappear in OS X Lion.
• Under certain conditions, Live's splash screen wouldn't appear on OS X Lion.
• Opening an alias file of a Live set wouldn't work on OS X Lion.
• Bugfix for login problems in the SoundCloud uploader on Windows.
• Bugfix for a rare crash which could occur with automatic updates on certain Windows computers.

Changes in Ableton Live 8.2.8:

• Added Ableton Improvement Program Participation
• Bugfix for high CPU load when Receiving MIDI CCs on a MIDI track's input on OS X Lion.
• Bugfix for "Beats" warp mode which could lead to unwanted clicks in rare cases.

Changes in Ableton Live 8.2.5 for OSX:

• Now compatible with Mac OSX 10.7 Lion
• MIDI sync was improved when Live is used as a MIDI clock slave.
• To prevent Live from crashing, users are prevented from choosing the Windows root folder for their plugins location.
• Tracks are now routed properly when imported.
• The Takeover default mode in MIDI Preferences is now set to Value Scaling and not Pick-up.
• Other bugfixes can be found at Ableton Live's website

Changes in Ableton Live 8.2.1 for OSX:

• Improvements to Amp presets including better folder organization, additional guitar and bass amp presets and various other changes.
• Improvements to sound quality in Drum Machines.
• Performance optimizations on many Rack presets.
• Many delay devices now use the "Fade" Delay Transition mode, to avoid clicks.
• All Latin Percussion sounds are additionally available as chromatically tuned Simpler presets.

Bug fixes:

• Amp is now available in the trial version of Ableton Suite.
• Removed duplicate Amp presets.
• Fixed Hot-Swap behavior for a number of Session Drums and Drum Machines presets.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the use of soundcards with only one input on OS X.
• Fixed a crash that occurred when using a ReWire slave such as Reason and manipulating devices in the slave that were referred to by clips in Live.