The latest update to Ableton Live is making the workflow smoother than ever before and also introduces new devices to play with.

A year since the launch of the giant Live 12, Ableton are launching their second big update to 12. As with 12.1, the new 12.2 update brings improvements to the workflow for a faster creative process and some new devices to play with.

The update is free for all Live 12 users and has already launched in public beta. As well as updating and adding to Live, Ableton’s new update brings new features to their hardware controller Push. So, let’s get into what’s new.

Bounce to New Track

Ableton have made it easy to bounce clips or time selections from any MIDI or audio track over to a new audio track. Simply select a portion of the track and right click to select ‘Bounce Track in Place’ to copy that segment over to a new audio track.

The feature will convert that section to audio, allowing users to manipulate and play with isolated segments of other tracks. The new clip will remain at the same place in the track or loop, allowing you to easily keep time. See it in action below.

Search, Tag and Browse More Easily

The Browser in Live has been redesigned, making it easier to find and organise content. A new ‘Quick Tags’ panel lets users easily view and modify their tags within the browser.

Ableton have simplified the ‘Filter View’, replacing the title bar with a toggle to the right of the search bar. There is also a a drop-down menu next to the Filter View Menu, containing opions to show various filter groups, enable auto tags, and more.

All this expands on their tagging feature, making library exploration easier. 12.1 added auto-tagging, an option that allows Ableton to automatically assign tags to samples. This allows users to then simply filter samples by tag to find exactly what they need.

New Devices and Updates

Auto Filter

Ableton’s Auto Filter has been around since the beginning, launching in the very first version of Ableton Live. With Live 12.2 it is evolving, with new filter types including “Vowel, DJ, and Comb”.

An updated modulation section gives users greater control and accuracy over the sounds their shaping. New mixing controls offer more function and real-time visualisation will help users to perfect the precise sound shape they’re after.

Auto Filter will be coming to Ableton Move and Note “later this year”.

Expressive Chords

You don’t have to have an understanding of chords or music theory to know what sounds good. That’s why Ableton have launched Expressive Chords, making it easy to experiment with interesting chords and scales for those who can’t play them themselves.

Expressive Chords is an MPE-enabled Max for Live Device. It provides control over how chords are played and will produce interesting harmonies and articulations from simple note inputs. Check it out in action below.

Roar

A bunch of new features expand the possibilities with their saturation and modulation device Roar. Roar gets a new Delay routing mode, Dispersion filter type, and an external audio and MIDI sidechain.

Meld

Expand your chordplaying abilities again with Meld. The Chord oscillator lets you play chords from a single MIDI note. The device will play four sawtooth waves to produce a chord.

Ableton say that Meld’s “scale awareness” keeps everything in key whilst you play with the chord shape and inversion. A LFO effect called Scrambler also provides more potential for sound transformation.

Spectral Resonator and Resonators

These devices now support the scale awareness and tuning systems introduced in Ableton Live 12.

New Creative Features on Ableton Push

Ableton’s beloved MIDI controller and beatpad Push has gained a bunch of new features. Follow Actions provides an easier way to perform sets and structure songs on the Push, allowing users to automatically play the clip or scene below the one that is playing. Users can toggle Follow Actions on and off using the play button.

The Groove Pool has become more available, with access to it at all times for switching up the timing and feel to your beats. If there is no groove added to your Set, the option will be there to add one.

The new 16 pitches layout allows users to play a drum pad of Simpler slice melodically. It will adhere to the key scale settings for your selected clip and can be adjusted up and down using the Octave Up or Down button.

As mentioned above, updates to devices will also be coming to Push. You can find a full set of the new features and fixes for Push in Live 12.2 in the release notes here.

You can view all of the fixes and new releases available in Live 12.2 in the software release notes here. The update is available in Beta now; head here to find out more about their Beta program and to join.