Live 8 is now officially out – for download versions, that means you can go grab the thing right now; retailers are also offering the software in boxed form today. See my previous look at top features.

The sorts of things that might make you like this new version:

• Groove extraction and dynamic groove quantization
• Live loop recording instrument (this one with the ability to set your tempo based on your loop length, for what’s called “first loop capability” a la the LoopStation)
• Some lovely new effects — Vocoder and Frequency Shifter being my two favorites
• Collision, a physically-modeled percussion instrument
• Lots of improvements to Operator
• A cleaned-up, expanded, improved sound Library

And quite a few other things, as well.

Curiously, I can’t find any information on what Share, the file sharing feature, will cost. I’ll try to find out.

Live 8

For those of you eagerly awaiting Max for Live – the environment that lets Max/MSP/Jitter patches appear natively in Live – that’s a separate release, expected later in 2009. (No beta is yet available of Max for Live, either.)

Update: Bits of the Ableton site haven’t been updated as I write this, but we do have the previous download/upgrade page (thanks, @plasticsounds on Twitter)

http://www.ableton.com/live-8-upgrades

Updated Ableton did update their site and the upgrade is now available for purchase and download.

I won’t comment yet on pricing as it’s a bit complex, but see some discussion in comments.

I’m finally editing some videos we have of tips for using the new version, so stay tuned right here.

Now, everyone go and write about / link to Live 8, as it’s getting really close to beating out the Live 8 concert event on Google (pictured at top).

You’ve seen the splashy “sound just like –” headlines in various music magazines. But imitation is, after all, an essential form of musical development. Something magical happens as you try to imitate something – you begin to hear it differently. Sometimes you wind up nailing something exactly, and in the process discover how you might make your own, unique sounds. And sometimes, the process of translation falls apart, and instead of an imitation you go somewhere else altogether. But I do think you learn something by imitating, however successful you may be. You also often gain new appreciation for the track.

By popular demand, our friend and Live performance guru Gustavo Bravetti has unveiled the secrets behind a sound in his own performances, reminiscent of a tune that’s well-loved in certain circles:

How to program a “M.A.N.D.Y vs Booka Shade – Body Language” like sound, on Ableton Live’s Operator.

Note that I’m using Live8’s Operator. Fortunately all used parameters are backward compatible, so you can perform it on Live7’s Operator, and it will sound the same.

As Gustavo points out in comments, this is all about using a simple example as a window into learning Operator. And just as you might learn to solo on the piano from listening to Horace Silver over and over again, this can be a great way to sharpen your ear and learn more about synthesis.

I really happen to love the sounds from these artists and the Gustavian twist in this variation. I’m also struck, as I was when it came out, by the extent to which Ableton’s Operator is economical in its layout and synth parameters. I have other go-to soft synths, but I think Operator is remarkably fast to program – a testament to Robert Henke and the early Operator prototypes in Max/MSP.

Hope this is useful to your synth programming. Gustavo, keep them coming.

Gustavo Bravetti Blog [in Spanish]

The simple interface of Ableton’s Operator belies some truly lovely soundmaking capabilities. Our friend Francis Preve, a principle Ableton sound designer who has contributed hundreds of presets since 2004, has a new single out that makes use of some of those sonic possibilities, combining Operator with juicy spectral and granular effects in Live 7. As a gift to Ableton users on CDM, he’s giving us both the rack he used and some tips on squeezing noise out of the Ableton instrument. (By the way, I’m open to tips for other platforms, not just Ableton — ask for what you want!)

First, the EP: “Hasown / Less Cowbell” is out as a Beatport exclusive on Josh Gabriel’s new label, Different Pieces.
Hasown / Less Cowbell EP

Lots of the sound of “Less Cowbell” comes from some creative recreations Fran made of the 808 Cowbell, using Operator and Live effects (hello, grains). This is the actual patch he used. If you think this is some generic cowbell preset, think again: give the knobs a twist, and some wild sounds come out. I asked Fran to walk us through the patch: