Play together with Ableton Live: how Circle of Live sets up for improvisation

“It’s okay to not have a plan — it’s okay to just jump and see what happens”: Circle of Live is an event that brings together artists for spontaneous improvised performance. Ableton filmed Clark, Rival Consoles, Sebastian Mullaert, and the organizers at a recent event. Here’s what we can learn from how they work (plus some more Circle of Live selections).

How MPE can work on hardware synths: a look at Sequential OB-6, Prophet 6 updates

Chicken and egg problem, no more. MIDI Polyphonic Expression is now in commonly available controller hardware and software like Ableton Live 11. So let’s check in at the synth maker of the father of MIDI – Dave Smith’s house Sequential and see what happens when you add it to classic synthesizers.

Peter Kirn - January 8, 2021

Like a studio onstage: Orbital tells us their live rig synth secrets

It’s a dazzling audiovisual show, with eye-popping visuals, plus an overflowing connection of synths. Orbital share their secrets for live performance and jamming with CDM’s David Abravanel.

David Abravanel - January 4, 2019

Techno symphonies: Watch Carl Craig make synthesis an ensemble art

Peter Kirn - August 20, 2018

What the new Dave Smith instruments sound like, no talking

Peter Kirn - January 23, 2017

Dave Smith Prophet 6 Synth: 6 Analog Voices, and a Dilemma

Peter Kirn - January 26, 2015