Ableton Live
is a brilliant piece of software, but aside from some great presets in
the new Operator synth (sold separately), you'll find yourself very
quickly starved for some usable effects presets, drum kits,
instruments, and the like. (Oh, I know, SOME of you are synthesizing
that using hand-built oscillators, but come on, haven't you ever
sketched a song?)
Trackteam Audio has a solution: cheap, high-quality (24-bit audio!)
sets of loops, MIDI clips, patches for Live's Simpler (sampler) and
Impulse (drum kit), and — finally — some effects presets that don't
make your music sound immediately like Monolake.
Trackteam is up to three LiveFills currently:
- Tacklebox: Bread-and-butter content and ubercool vintage synth samples. (see our original scoop)
- Beatbox: All about drum kits.
- Travelbox: Exotic samples from around the world. (now with Operator presets)
Not into loops? Just uncheck them in the installer. You can opt in or
out of whatever you want to install. And these guys are pushing the
envelope when it comes to using Live: Beatbox uses clever audio-slicing
tricks, while Travelbox makes use of Operator and even uses the MIDI
scale effect to constrain your playing to accurate foreign scales.
Cost: US$29-$39 each
Compatibility: Mac/Windows
Availability: Now, via download or CD