Ableton & Serato: The Bridge
Live maker Ableton and DJ and virtual vinyl developer Serato have announced the long-awaited results of their partnership. The collaboration seeks to bridge the gap between the way DJs perform and the way Live users perform. The result focuses on the way a performance set is assembled in the two paradigms, an attempt to guide the flow of music between the two programs. Here’s a rundown on how it can be used:
You can save a DJ mix, called a ‘mix tape’, in a Serato product and export it to Live, what you then get is all of your edits in a form that can be further manipulated in Live. Waveforms and automation data from your DJ session, however they’re manipulated and transcribed by the Serato software, can now appear in Live.
You are also now able to put the Ableton Live Session View inside Serato, rather than put Serato inside Live. Ableton Live runs in the background and so integrated into the Serato interface are all your Session View clips from your Live Set. Serato’s control, via audio input from vinyl or CDJs, or an ITCH control surface, manipulates the entire transport of the Live set.
Turntablists are probably wondering, can they scratch Live? How much are those Live clips able to do? Do they behave as they do in Live? The answer appears to be yes with full ableton control within Serato. Live is, after all, running in the background and appears to have its normal capabilities.
Check out the video below for a demonstration from NAMM 2010 (sorry about the quality!):
Also keep on the lookout for more details on The Bridge and for more NAMM product news.
