For many of us, finishing something is still a task best left to a laptop. The precision and familiarity of a desktop interface, the favorite suite of plug-ins, a big monitor in the studio, and tools like Ableton Live all add up to something that mobile just can’t beat.
But that’s finishing. Starting and sketching are tasks that are ideal for mobile – for those moments when inspiration strikes.
Everyone knows this, but the workflow between platforms is often limited to bouncing out audio stems and the like. It’s primitive enough that you might simply not try at all.
So that’s why Blocs Wave’s new Ableton Live export is fairly exciting stuff. And it’s dead-simple – watch:
Some detail went into how this would work, keeping in mind that Blocs Wave is a really different animal. While it’s also loop based, it’s built from the ground-up for mobile, not just a Live clone running on your iPad. So, the developer says the “enhanced integration” they’ve built “names your pads, converts them to clips, sets the tempo, clip size, and arranges the sounds neatly onto the powerful Ableton Live Session grid.”
In other words, Blocs Wave just became an Ableton clip generator.
Project Export isn’t limited to Live. If you use it without the Live project option, you still get a folder full of audio clips from your creation, ready to use in other apps on desktop or mobile.
Sharing works with other apps, too, including support for iOS’ standard sharing interface.
Export in the new Blocs Wave version 9 – just tap the option for Ableton and go.
Novation’s not alone, either. They’re joining another favorite brand of Ableton users, KORG, who offered Live export in their apps and hardware. That includes:
- electribe, electribe sampler (the current generation electribe2 series)
- iKaossilator for iPhone/iPad
- KORG Gadget for iPad
And while KORG was a test for this sort of interoperability, now there’s an SDK for everyone:
Ableton Live export comes to an SDK, plus Triqtraq, Patterning
I’m very interested to see how these kinds of partnerships evolve. I think the producer-centric, rather than studio-centric, paradigm in music technology is encouraging more collaboration. It’s clearer than ever that music product makers benefit when they work together, rather than cut off their products from one another.
There’s more to be done – I’d love to see this sort of seamless mobile workflow extend across all Novation’s apps, for instance. We’ll be watching.