Ableton Live is a loop-based software music sequencer for Macintosh and
Windows by Ableton. The latest major release of Live, Version 6, was
released in September 2006. Relative to other software sequencers, Live
is designed around the notion of being as much an instrument for live
performances as a tool for composing and arranging.
Much of
Live's unique interface comes from being designed to use in live
performance. As such the interface is more compact than most sequencers
and clearly designed for use on a single screen. There are no pop up
messages or dialogs at all, aside from an options dialog consisting of
five tabs. Portions of the interface are hidden and shown based on
arrows which may be clicked to show or hide a certain segment (e.g. to
hide the instrument/effect list or to show or hide the help box).
Additionally, because of the performance aspect of Live's design, all
of the processing is done in real-time, rather than rendering effects
prior to playback as is typical in many sequencers and sample editors.
A freeze feature introduced in version 4 allows for some pre-rendering
of effects to reduce CPU load and a deep-freeze feature introduced in
version 6 allows for manipulation of effect parameters on pre-rendered
clips.
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