Live Lite, the entry-level version of Ableton's innovative loop-based DAW, has been updated to version 11. The update, which follows last year's announcement of v11 of the full-fat Live, adds comprehensive support for MPE, a number of new effects, an increased number of Scenes (users can now add up to 16 per Session), and the ability to lock to the tempo of an audio or MIDI stream in real time.
The new effects comprise Phaser-Flanger, a modulation effect that's also capable of producing short delays; Limiter, a brickwall-type dynamic range processor; and Saturator, which Ableton describe as a “waveshaping distortion for adding dirt, punch and warmth”.
In addition, Live Lite 11 expands on the Core Library to offer yet more loops, samples, drum kits, rack presets, grooves and MIDI clips.
Other improvements include some of the refinements we saw in the v11 update of Live proper, such as the ability to assign up to 16 Macros to your racks for controlling multiple parameters simultaneously (and also to randomise those parameters), and updates to the Redux and Chorus-Ensemble effects.
As ever, Live Lite 11 will be bundled for free with a plethora of hardware products — making it perhaps the most accessible way to get into MPE — and owners of previous versions of Live Lite will be able to upgrade to Lite 11 for free.
