Ableton Live Creative Extensions

Live 10 users can grab this pack of creative extensions for free through their accounts. Noah Pred has a number of excellent reasons why you should do so...

Ableton Live 10 Creative Extensions Alp
Ableton Live 10 Creative Extensions
Ableton Live Creative Extensions
Ableton Live 10 Creative Extensions Download
Ableton Live 10 Creative Extensions Alp

Not content to merely release a whole new version of their widely-adopted DAW, Ableton continues to add premium content by way of powerful new Max devices. Max for Live has provided the potential for radical extensibility in studio, on stage, and beyond – and with Live 10, it’s more seamlessly integrated than ever, particularly in terms of look, feel, and overall experience.
Offering a powerful bundle of creative instruments, MIDI devices and audio effects as a free pack for registered users, Creative Extensions effectively expands the suite of core devices at any user’s disposal. Ableton’s Pack architecture works as a smooth delivery system: once installed with a simple double-click of the downloaded file, all Creative Extension devices are easily located in the Pack section of the Live 10 browser.

Creative Extensions is included in Live 10 Suite. To buy or upgrade to Live 10 Suite, head to the Ableton Shop. Keep up with ELPHNT on his website, Facebook and YouTube. Ableton Live 10: Creative Extensions Creative Extensions, a collaborative effort between Ableton and Amazing Noises, comprises eight tools designed to enhance and expand the punch, color and texture achievable with Live. Creative Extensions: 8 Inventive Free Max for Live Devices by Ableton Ableton have just released a new free Max for Live Pack. Creative Extensions includes eight tools designed for new sound design features in Live 10 Suite and was created in collaboration with Amazing Noises.

MIDI Effects: Melodic Steps

Short on ideas or just looking for quick inspiration with minimum effort? Melodic Steps is a streamlined implementation of step sequencing with handy randomization and acyclic elements to rapidly generate sprawling patterns with ease.
Five parameters of up to 16 steps comprise the core of the device: Octave, note Transpose, note Length, note Velocity, and Chance of note occurrence. Each step can be drawn in via mouse, set to default with the X toggle at far right, fully randomized for extreme variations, or slightly randomized for more subtle mutations.
Each of these can be set to a length of less than the full 16 steps, allowing for polyrhythmic cycling that can extend the time before a full re-convergence of all parameters with even just a slight stagger. Editing the chance of each note occurring adds a welcome degree of surprise even once you’ve settled on the other parameters and lengths.

Melodic Steps with multiple parameter lengths and MIDI mode engaged.

These can all be fed through a standard selection of classical Western scales with a full range root key, while the default step size of 16th notes can be halved or doubled via the :2 and x2 toggles familiar from the clip detail view; a Triplets toggle and Swing slider provide additional rhythmic options. A Re-Sync button resets all parameter lanes to the first step simultaneously, regardless of their respective current positions, while the MIDI toggle allows for sequence transposition via incoming MIDI notes.
There could certainly be a number of additional features, but the point here seems to be keeping things quick and easy – and it succeeds mightily on both counts. By ignoring Octave and Transpose parameters you can quickly deliver uniquely expressive, dynamic percussion patterns with randomized Length, Velocity, and Chance. Randomizing all five parameters with different step lengths – especially combined with incoming MIDI transposition for a continuous through-line – results in mesmerizing synth sequences that would be nothing short of painstaking to program by hand.

Instrumentalism

Ableton Live 10 Creative Extensions Alp

Likely familiar to those who installed Live 9’s free Max Essentials pack, the Bass and Poli instruments have been significantly overhauled for inclusion here. Both are modelled to emulate classic analog synthesizers of the subtractive variety.
Notably, oscillators are now tunable for chords and clusters, while enhanced Sub oscillator treatment and additional Ring Modulation features provide welcome new textural possibilities. With optimized processing and great sound quality, these two instruments are perfect for classic monophonic and polyphonic sounds on the go.

Dynamically Effective

A clever multi-band transient processor, Re-Enveloper provides intricate control over the amplitude shape of three frequency bands, defined by two frequency Split dials, sprucing up dull input with clarity and tone.
Once your three bands have been dialled in via the pair of crossover frequencies, each has a set of Attack and Release dials to soften and extend onsets, followed by a C/E Factor control that compresses a band at positive values or expands it at negative values. Each band comes with its own Volume control and mute toggle as well.
The simple interface encourages meticulous manipulation, easily transforming drums, synths, or any suitably transient-rich material by boosting, reducing, sharpening or softening precisely as needed in the frequency spectrum. Go for extreme settings and then dial it back with the Dry/Wet blend to add just a hint of sharpened character.

Speaking of character, sometimes it’s nice to add some to your master output. While most conventional limiter plug-ins focus on transparent peak reduction, the Color Limiter is designed to add optional non-linear harmonics while reliably lopping off unwanted peaks.
Loudness determines the amount of boost, Ceiling controls the maximum output and Lookahead and Release adapt the contour and behavior over time. But it’s the Saturation and Color controls that add analog warmth, boom, and crunch without ever hitting the reds – perfect for lo-fi productions or anyone seeking to emulate classic tube limiters of yore.

Bending Time

Three exquisite delay and reverb effects round out the pack.
Employing a similar sequencer grid as Melodic Step, forward and reverse delay triggers can be toggled on a per-step basis; either pattern can be independently randomized or reset via the familiar die and X controls on the right. The global length is controlled by the Steps, while step size is controlled by the Rate dial.
Where it gets interesting is with the Delay settings. Delay time is controlled by a whole or fractional multiplier of the current step size determined by the Rate dial – while the Random dial introduces increasing fluctuation to the multiplication factor for dynamically shifting rhythmic delay patterns.
You can quickly program subtle glitchy ornamentations or full-on reconfigured rhythms in flux, with optional Smooth amount available to prevent unwanted clicks in transition. Feedback, Delay Volume and Dry/Wet controls help tame the result while Insert or Gate modes, combined with optional Ducking, govern the length and behavior of delay tails.
With a little bit of time – or randomization – Gated Delay is another powerful tool to generate creative structures that expand far beyond the frame of the source fed into it.

Gated Delay on a standard downbeat Clap, introducing subtle transforming delay times in the background with a reversed sound every third time around.

For fans of classic Eventide pitch delays, Live has long lacked a comparable effect. Pitch Hack answers the call with a streamlined interface and a few additional features to make it easier than ever to generate the classic crystallized pitch delays of the Harmonizer family.
The central pitch dial determines the interval to which delay repetitions are pitched up or down, in semitones, with a Fine tune control allowing for more naturalistic detuning effects. The Variance control introduces semitone randomization for more scattered results. A synchronized Rate dial provides access to a wide range of straight, dotted, and triplet delay times, from 128th notes up to four full bars – though unsynchronized millisecond delay times are curiously unavailable.
A Reverse dial controls the probability of individual repetitions being played backward, while Recycle boosts the feedback regeneration up to a healthy 95% that stops just short of spilling over; output Level and Dry/Wet combine to control the mix balance. Whether adding melodic sparkle in the upper register or demonically pitching vocals into subterranean nether regions, Pitch Hack is a brilliantly designed classic pitch delay solution with a modern twist.

Providing a fresh approach to reverberant textures, Spectral Blur deploys a frequency-specific grain smearing algorithm to generate expansive ambience based on a selection of tonal input.
With the default In mode, the two Freq dials specify the spectral band within which grains are extended; in Out mode, it’s frequencies outside the two bands that are decayed, resulting in distinctive notch-type effects. A Residual dial boosts the amount of initial, un-smeared grains.
Halo determines the decay of reverberations – but if toggled into Freeze mode, the currently buffered grain will continue unhindered, regardless of your Halo setting. Wet Gain and Dry/Wet balance provide ample mix control, while optional Delay Compensation helps correct rhythmic inconsistencies if needed.
With Spectral Blur’s tidy interface, uniquely haunting tones and glacial atmospherics are just a few dials away; try side-chaining the results for instant techno magic.

Fully Extended

Combined with a selection of well-programmed Racks to help users get started, Creative Extensions is a promising, well-themed pack that showcases the degree to which Ableton’s recent acquisition of Cycling ‘74 – and deepening integration with Max – is sure to benefit Live users for years to come. Taken on its own, this pack constitutes significant added value to those considering an upgrade to 10 – and if you’re already a 10 user, you should grab it for free immediately through your account on Ableton.com.

Learn Ableton Live inside out: https://ask.audio/academy?nleloc=category/audio/application/ableton

MIDI Effects

Melodic Steps

Melodic Steps is a fast and intuitive MIDI sequencer that creates evolving melodies with just a few clicks of the mouse. Use it to create quick melodic variation, polyrhythmic melodies or simply randomize your results. Its interface is designed for play, encouraging experimentation and new discoveries.

Audio Effects

Pitch Hack

Pitch Hack is a one-stop device for various pitch-related effects. At its heart, Pitch Hack is a single delay line with transposition control in both semitones and cents. Besides pitching the incoming signal in real time, Pitch Hack can reverse the audio, randomize the transposition interval and fold the delayed signal back into the delay line.

Gated Delay

Gated Delay creates sequenced delay effects. A gate sequencer sends the incoming signal to a delay line on activated steps. This is like a send effect that is turned on and off in a defined rhythm in sync to the music.

Controls allow you to adjust the length and rate of the steps, as well as whether the dry signal is audible on deactivated steps, the ratio of the delay rate to the step rate, step randomization, feedback and more.

Color Limiter

Color Limiter offers another flavor of limiting inspired by the gritty sounds achievable with hardware limiters. Controls are provided for input level (Loudness), threshold (Ceiling), Lookahead, Release and the all-important Saturation and Color parameters that are the key to its characterful sound.

Re-Enveloper

Re-Enveloper is a multiband envelope processor. The input signal is first divided into three adjustable frequency bands. Unlike with compressors, it is the envelope of the signal can be compressed or expanded.

Ableton Live 10 Creative Extensions

The C/E (Compression / Expansion) Factor knob provides detailed dynamics control. With positive values, the envelope is compressed. With negative values, the envelope is expanded.

Spectral Blur

Spectral Blur creates sounds and textures that are best described as reverb-like. A user-defined frequency range of a signal is blurred to create a dense cloud of sound. This device is great for sharp filtered effects with narrow bandwidths, or to spread your sound across the whole spectrum.

The Halo control adjusts the length of the blurred grains. The Residual control adjusts the level of the unprocessed signal. Lastly, The Freeze button holds the affected signal until the button is switched off.

Instruments

Bass

A monophonic virtual analog synthesizer that provides the entire palette of bass sounds in one device – from classically deep and clean to heavily distorted, rumbling tones.