Live 9, place your bets!

[Machinesworking]

A Live 9 announcement is going to happen in the next couple months,
I really don't see any way Ableton can avoid announcing something when Bitwig goes beta,
so it's a perfect time to guess on improvements and new features.
Harmless speculation is IMO much better than complaining.

Here's mine, Live 9 will have:

Automation curves,
New instruments and FX, including an improved Sampler.
64 bit,
Take Comping,
Touch automation as well as the current Latch style,
New controller partnerships,
Some sort of take on Autotune/Melodyne style pitch correction.

I don't think Ableton will:
Implement dual monitor support,
change the GUI,
Get SysEx or OSC support,
Change the Session View or really do much to it at all.

IMO Ableton are moving towards a full fledged DAW, but keeping some of the simplicity/laptop orientation they've always had.
I don't think they're that interested or that worried about live performance beyond controllers that fire clips in an intuitive way.
Not based on a company choice internally but more on what the market demands.

[aisling]

as a dp user what are your thoughts on dp going windows?

[LoopStationZebra]

I don't think Ableton will:
Get SysEx or OSC support,

You're probably right and therein lies the biggest problem for me with Ableton: A remarkable apathy towards full spectrum MIDI/SysEx/OSC support.

The MIDI routing is so utterly lacking that it boggles the mind. You should be able to set absolutely any MIDI parameter and ESPECIALLY route MIDI wherever you want it to go within the program itself. Having to rely and 3rd party scripts and whatnot for better flexibility is total ASS. Having to rely on motherfucking M4L for anything MIDI related is a joke.

The lack of OSC support will be unforgivable, should your prediction prove correct.

meh. Probably no matter anyway because, Thank God, by the time the iPad5 gets here you'll have unbelievable live looping capabilities within apps that cost $10. It's already started; albeit on a limited scale.

[stringtapper]

You're probably right and therein lies the biggest problem for me with Ableton: A remarkable apathy towards full spectrum MIDI/SysEx/OSC support.

The MIDI routing is so utterly lacking that it boggles the mind. You should be able to set absolutely any MIDI parameter and ESPECIALLY route MIDI wherever you want it to go within the program itself. Having to rely and 3rd party scripts and whatnot for better flexibility is total ASS.

+1

Personally I don't share a belief in MW's prediction because I think it would be incomprehensible for them not to completely overhaul the entire way MIDI (and audio) is routed and assigned. To leave out OSC at this juncture would be sheer madness, IMO.

Having to rely on motherfucking M4L for anything MIDI related is a joke.

+1 again.

M4L should strictly be for advanced types of functions and not simple shit that all the regular people use ( ) and that should be native to the program in the first place.

I'm not worried about it though. I think the fact that it's been so long since version 8 is a good indication that they're about to bring some serious upgrades to the table. *fingers crossed*

[arctic ranger]

dont want....18 gb of samples or another partner rompler

what i would put money on...some sort of dual screen or modular gui setup

[Tarekith]

My own guess is that we'll see OSC and a more modular interface actually. I think the M4L partnership we've seen so far was only the first step on this path, I think more of that will start working it's way into the core Live app very soon. That partnership always seemed like a lot of work for just the hardcore tweakers.

Other guesses would be:

- Session view automation. Been the #1 request from so many people for so long, given how long this update has taken I can't imagine there's not a lot that's been redone under the hood to accommodate this and more.
- 64bit (which really will be the most underwhelming feature for most people, despite the hype)
- better automation modes, trim, bezier, etc.
- completely revamped library and browser views/organization.
- much better multi-core/cpu support.
- a consolidated delay device.
- better reverb, perhaps a IR device that fills that role and much more.
- More "mastering" related tools, ie MP3 export, perhaps DDP export and/or CD arranging. Perhaps a master channel device with better metering that can always stay on the screen, unlike Spectrum now.
- A new analog modelled synth. Yawn.
- Partnership with a soundcard manufacturer to deliver a dedicated Live soundcard.
- More options in how the app looks. I think the minimal interface will always be an option, but I think we'll see something a little different as a choice soon too.

[nathannn]

i agree with everything tarekith said minus the sound card thing.
also i really dont see how they can go another version without proper tempo mapping!
i see this mentioned all the time usually from people not knowing what they want is called tempo mapping.
i also see some scoring feature in the future along with multi monitor support.
also video, i really think live is going to step it up when it comes to video for live use.

[Machinesworking]

as a dp user what are your thoughts on dp going windows?

Off topic? in my Lounge?

Well it makes sense from a business perspective, x86 OSX makes porting to Windows easier for sure.
Plus Apple screwed MOTU out the door with AU, they tweaked it initially to run in Logic which meant that AU's didn't run as well in hosts that actually followed Apples published guidelines. That coupled with the fact that at that point DP had been the premier Mac only DAW, then Apple bought Logic and dumped the PC version.
Now rumors are that Apple will either drop entirely the Mac Pro line or update it slowly which is already happening. DP isn't much of a laptop DAW. I really don't see how MOTU could continue to only compete against Logic without getting more and more marginalized simply on the basis of branding and peoples assumption that Logic will be the best choice because Apple owns it.

The negative is that it will take them longer to get new features in, and there will be things that MOTU can do with Apple that they won't be able to with Windows that I know of, MIDI is tied directly to Core MIDI etc. Personally I think it's probably a much easier task to deal with just one OS, but if they can make it work.

The positive is that Windows users are in the large part going to be more appalled that DP doesn't really do certain DAW standards that they will take for granted coming from Cubase etc. Things like freeze being in real time, and freeze being the only way to render all tracks as separate audio tracks, no snap to grid with MIDI notes unless you quantize them, no easy way to split a controller keyboard and use two different AU/VSTs etc. It's my belief that MOTU will have to get these things straight because of the pissing and moaning that Windows users will do. Most DP users are recording audio or scoring for film so any shortcomings are made up for by it's strong points and the loyalty people feel towards it for being the underdog.

[Machinesworking]

I admit OSC support would be the obvious way for them to go, so it's possible that they do a controller partnership with OSC support.
I'm just not convinced that OSC is going to take off, it's been fucking years and years that it's been out and only a few devices support it, certainly no cheaper devices, and hardly any DAWs.

[beats me]

I'm just hoping it comes with 3,684 new drum samples because the 4,564,766 already on the market aren't cutting it. I hope this is also an extra purchase that inspires potential buyers to ask if it's worth the purchase.

[Machinesworking]

I'm just hoping it comes with 3,684 new drum samples because the 4,564,766 already on the market aren't cutting it. I hope this is also an extra purchase that inspires potential buyers to ask if it's worth the purchase.

This will go along nicely with the Rompler arctic ranger predicted they're planning.
I t will have only 128 presets though to make it compatible with their MIDI implementation.

[Sepp Ultura]

I'm just really hoping they're waiting for another couple of months. I don't have the money yet..

For the rest, I don't really care, I'm happy with it the way it is at the moment.

[Machinesworking]

I'm just really hoping they're waiting for another couple of months. I don't have the money yet..

For the rest, I don't really care, I'm happy with it the way it is at the moment.

Well personally I'm too cautious to just jump into upgrades anymore, so beta testing new features and eventually waiting for the more rational complainers on the forum to say it's stable is how I'm playing this out. Also, nothing I'm predicting will be that big of a deal to me, as is obvious from the Digital Performer talk I'm a bit of a DAW slut.

[LoopStationZebra]

I'm just not convinced that OSC is going to take off, it's been fucking years and years that it's been out and only a few devices support it, certainly no cheaper devices, and hardly any DAWs.

I'd agree with that to a certain extent. The obvious advantage with OSC right now would be in the interfacing with mobile devices like the iPad and (maybe someday) Android tablets. But it's been out for ages and only the serious geeks have really cared...

Kinda like USB 3.0

[regretfullySaid]

interfacing with mobile devices

I was looking for an answer to this yesterday when I was updating a homemade TouchOsc template to use with a Clyphx X-Control script I'm working on. Sure, controls read the values, but not names. I need it to read Rack names, and that's only possibly with OSC, right?
The latest update to TouchOsc has a Bridge which means you don't need PD as a middle man, which is great, but my script would almost be better than LiveControl if it could read names:/