“We wanted to make something simpler, more immediate, more joyful”: How Ableton built MoveA tiny-but-mighty travel buddy. A pint-sized production station. A mini, mobile, music machine. What are we talking about? Ableton Move, of course.
In October, seemingly out of nowhere, the Berlin-based outfit dropped its latest foray into the world of standalone hardware – and this time it’s all about portability. “We wanted to make something more accessible to enable music makers of all experience levels to create with Ableton hardware,” says Johannes Russ, Ableton’s head of product, Move. “We wanted something simpler, more immediate, more joyful.”
Appealing to the small, but not insignificant, demographic of music makers who want to regularly produce on the go, Move boasts in-built speakers, a rechargeable battery, a microphone for quick and gritty sampling, some premium pads, buttons, and dials, and a solid selection of instrumental sounds. It’s also surprisingly robust at just under 1kg, with a tough, slab-like feel that seems to promise longevity, and while there are no immediate plans to weather-proof the Move – “maybe in future generations” Russ laughs when asked – this is a groovebox that will be as much at home on a park bench as on a couch cushion.
Ableton’s vision is for Move to serve as a starting point – ideal for catching a rough idea on the fly, building it up into something with legs, and then taking it to the next level in Ableton’s recently refreshed desktop DAW, Live 12. Once you’re familiar with the unit’s largely intuitive layout, the journey from a vague idea to fully realised production can happen surprisingly fast.
Ableton Move, photo by Simon Vinall
This is no accident. To ensure that Move will become your go-to device for rapid musical ideation, Ableton has taken pains to ensure you can blast past those irksome creative roadblocks “We have this design principle of immediacy,” Russ explains. “We want to get you creating super quick. But something we learned, from talking to people about Push and Live, is that when you start a new idea there can be this feeling of decision paralysis; this is something we wanted to address.”
The team’s solution was to build in some creative variation at the foundational level. Boot up Move and each new set you make will come populated with four randomly selected instruments broadly providing melody, harmony, percussion and bass. It’s a simple but surprisingly effective way of avoiding the decide-o-phobia that can come with a blank canvas “Honestly, it started as a hack when we were quickly building and prototyping,” Russ says of the design feature. “But everyone just loved it, and so we stuck with it. Now people want it for Push and Live as well because it’s such a great idea starter.”
Of course, Russ points out that if you already have a strong idea, or just prefer to start from scratch, then Move can also provide you with a clean slate. “It’s not for everyone,” he concedes. “We certainly don’t want to overrule your creativity – but in the context of Move, it’s just a great way to get started super quickly.”
You might think a device that prioritises accessibility would primarily interest young producers who are still learning their craft, but Russ says that, surprisingly, the people initially seizing on Move’s potential have been the power users.
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
“It’s interesting,” he muses. “The first wave of people that bought it are on the very prolific end of things; existing Live users that view it as this kind of idea machine.” Russ points out that users have already gotten busy hacking still-experimental features to export Drift and Drum Rack presets to Move from Live – with one user exporting a whopping 196 Drift presets and sharing them with the Ableton community. “There’s a Discord channel where people are starting to share these presets, I have to say it all happened much faster than I expected.”
While the pros are already pushing Move’s limits, Russ says that over the longer term, he sees the device having lots of potential for producers who are just starting out – or even as a tool for music education. “It’s a great way to teach concepts around how loops work, how drum machines work,” he enthuses. “I’ve given it to younger people in my family and they had a great time because there’s this immediate sense of ‘Hey, I can play this!’ So, we are looking into how Move can work in education; we have a partnership with Melodics, and we’ve included some lessons with Move so that you can use Melodics to start playing finger drums.”
Move invites a number of comparisons with its hardware big brother, 2023’s Push 3 standalone, but, in truth, initial ideas for the instrument started percolating through Ableton in 2016 with the release of Push 2.“The question of how to make standalone hardware was quite important at that time,” Russ recalls. “One answer to that is Push, which is based on Live, but we also began building up a completely new technology platform, which now powers Note and Move.”
For this reason, Russ says the frequent characterisations of Move as a ‘mini Push’ miss the mark: “The connotation there is that Move can do everything Push can do. We borrow concepts from Push, obviously, but the better comparison is to see it as Note in hardware form.”
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Ableton’s Note app for iOS has fast become a favourite for producers on the go – offering a boiled-down version of Live’s clip-centric Session View, some nice input methods for capturing beats and melodies, and the ability to export projects and port them over to Live via Ableton Cloud. As it’s built on the same engine, it’s no surprise that Move harnesses the same instruments, effects, and workflow – but where the iOS app served as a digital notepad, Move is more of a full-fledged sketchbook.
There’s a row of nine endless-scroll, touch-sensitive encoders, thirty-two velocity-sensitive pads, lots of navigation buttons which give a very satisfying ‘click’ when pushed, and, in contrast to Note, a nicely featured offline sequencer section. Where touchscreen-based music production can still feel a bit cramped and uninspiring, Move takes those same foundations and makes them feel liberating.
“It has this tactility in its workflow,” says Russ of the hardware’s design. “The pads have polyphonic aftertouch so you can express yourself in a much richer way, there are all these direct access buttons, different modifiers, and shortcuts. It’s for people who really enjoy playing an instrument.
“There’s also something about the immersion you get when sitting down on the couch with Move on your lap,” Russ continues. “Speaking for myself, I could easily spend an hour with it and I get really immersed – the Note app is great for shorter moments, like when you want to put down an idea or quickly try out a couple of things.”
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
While Move may be most closely related to Note, the instrument also fits seamlessly into Ableton’s larger product ecosystem. Achieving that tight integration was a significant design challenge in itself. “It meant many iterations and many conversations with designers from Live, Push, and Note,” allows Russ. “You always need to think about what can easily be transferred to these other products. So, there were prototypes where we had a fantastic feature idea that worked well on Move, but we just couldn’t make them work with the existing concepts of Live. Those ideas we had to take out.”
For the most part, Ableton’s pursuit of seamless integration has paid off. The new Move Manager, a browser-based tool for handling sets, samples, presets, and recordings, lets you wirelessly sync projects to your computer via a local area network, and everything you do on Move can be continued on Live. Of course, taking your projects in the opposite direction – from Live to Move – is not currently feasible, but Russ makes clear that the links between these devices will only get tighter in the future.
“How these products connect and collaborate with each other is something we will look into over the coming years,” he states. “That’s really the next phase because we have these four products now; two based on Live and Push, and two based on the new platform that powers Move and Note. They’re always going to be in slightly different worlds, but there are ways to connect these things.”
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
It’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to open a fully-fledged Live project on Move, but a safer bet would be a streamlined process for loading on your own presets and samples – something Russ clearly sees as essential. “Move is not just a preset machine,” he emphasises. “There’s a real need for people to personalise it, to enable people to bring their own sounds to it and make it their own.”
Slotting Move into the Ableton software ecosystem was tricky, but perhaps the biggest hurdles lay on the hardware side. Balancing weight, power, portability, and real-time audio performance, while keeping the unit affordable – compared to the mighty Push, which comes in at £1669 for the standalone version, Move’s £399 price point is downright cheap – presented plenty of challenges. Hell, even fine-tuning Move’s wireless connectivity system took the better part of a year, says Russ.
“In all honesty, figuring out the hardware stack took us much longer than expected,” he reflects. “In the end, we realised we were trying to build a computer – with everything that entails.”
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
Move employs a low-power Quad-core ARM CPU with a bare 2GB of RAM, and has to balance its capabilities against a four-hour battery life. With those kinds of real-world limitations, the team behind Move at times had to sacrifice more expansive feature sets to ensure that the instrument retained the fast and immediate workflow they were aiming for.
“We know there’s a big conversation around why Move has four tracks and not eight,” Russ concedes. “Our top priority was that Move would feel very fluid and very snappy; the UI shouldn’t lag, there needs to be really fast loading times, you can automate any parameter and there’s never any performance issues or audio dropouts. That’s something we prioritised over feature breadth.”
What’s important about those trade-offs is that the team weren’t working in a bubble when they made them; from conception, to design, to prototyping, to production, Russ says user involvement is key. “There’s a whole process around how we think about UX and usability,” he says. “We iterate a lot, we do a lot of user testing to really make every interaction as intuitive as possible, and we listen a lot to community feedback. Our Discord server is open and people put up their wish lists, and it’s something that we actively look at.”
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
The importance of user feedback doesn’t end on launch day either, Russ makes clear that during the post-release period, users have a lot of power to steer future updates: “The community can really help us shape the future. Of course, we’re always going to factor in our own product vision, our design principles, and things like feasibility — but we actively look at that user feedback to see what the community is wishing for.”
So do people wish for? And what might Ableton deliver? On that front, Russ says we’ll have to wait and see. “Obviously people ask us ‘when is feature XYZ’ coming,” he says ruefully. “That’s something we don’t disclose for a simple reason: we just don’t want to disappoint people. Things are often more complex than people expect, and they just take longer.”
“We are actually not a big team,” Russ continues. “I feel that sometimes people think of Ableton as this huge company which, in the grand scheme of things, we’re not. So, we need to go step by step and take time to get things right.”
He might opt for discretion when it comes to specific features or timeframes, but Russ is unequivocal about the potential Move has to grow in the coming months and years. “It is a very modern software platform that’s powering it,” Russ says as he considers Move’s future. “There’s a lot of potential to bring new instruments and effects and add to the workflow. There’s still a lot of things we want to unfold in the future.”
Image: Simon Vinall for MusicTech
It’s hard not to love Move once you get your hands on it. It identifies and addresses a musical niche few other companies are touching, and does so with style. For people who want to get creative on the morning commute, sit under a tree and jam some beats, or just need an affordable Live controller that won’t eat up too much desk space, Move is an intriguing option. As Ableton continues to refine and expand its capabilities, it could become an essential.
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From GEMA’s copyright lawsuit against OpenAI to Hipgnosis’ $1.47bn ABS deal… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest stories from the past week – all in one place…
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Jin of BTS is the latest artist to launch an interactive hub on TikTok to promote new solo album, ‘Happy’TikTok has partnered with K-Pop superstar Jin on a new multimedia campaign in support of his first solo album, Happy,
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Spotify extends Musicians Wrapped deadlineSpotify extends Musicians Wrapped deadline to November 2Oth. Learn what every musician should do to prepare.
The post Spotify extends Musicians Wrapped deadline appeared first on Hypebot.

Exp DSP releases FREE Exp Filtertable Lite for Windows
Exp DSP released the Exp Filtertable plugin, plus the free Lite version, for Windows only. Both versions of the plugin are 64-bit only releases available in CLAP and VST3 formats. The full version is currently available for $36.75, which is a 25% off Black Friday deal down from the list price of $49.  This deal [...]
View post: Exp DSP releases FREE Exp Filtertable Lite for Windows

Hard Truths For Musicians: You may not like them, but…11 Hard Truths For Musicians has been the subject of much discussion in the last couple of weeks. We have not been able to find the origin of the list,. Continue reading
The post Hard Truths For Musicians: You may not like them, but… appeared first on Hypebot.

HeadRush Flex Prime, FRFR-GO & ReValver Amp Cloner HeadRush have expanded their product range with three new guitar-focused releases.

Why Podcasts for Marketing Music is a game changerPodcasts for marketing music is an underutilized and powerful tool, reaching engaged audiences and niche fans. Learn how artists, labels and publishers can use podcasts to boost visibility and grow a fanbase.
The post Why Podcasts for Marketing Music is a game changer appeared first on Hypebot.

Intel introduces FREE OpenVINO AI-powered plugins for Audacity
Intel created the OpenVINO toolkit (open source) to more efficiently integrate AI into a typical workflow (no internet connection required). OpenVINO aims to deliver accurate results while optimizing hardware use by running AI models on supported accelerators, like CPU, GPU, and NPU. Intel’s Audacity plugin suite includes AI-powered effects, generators, and analyzers. These AI tools [...]
View post: Intel introduces FREE OpenVINO AI-powered plugins for Audacity

Shel Talmy, producer for The Who and The Kinks, dies aged 87Shel Talmy, the legendary producer known for his work with British icons like The Who and The Kinks, has died at the age of 87.
Songwriter Alec Palao, whom Talmy had worked with, said the musician “died peacefully in his sleep” at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday (13 November) from “complications due to a stroke” [via Sky News].
Talmy’s career, which spanned several decades, played a pivotal role in defining the sound of early British rock, particularly during the vibrant 1960s.
Born in Chicago in 1937, Talmy moved to the UK in 1962, where he quickly made a name for himself at Decca Records. His early work included producing some of The Kinks’ most memorable hits, such as You Really Got Me, Tired of Waiting for You, and Waterloo Sunset. Music journalist Robert Christgau once dubbed Waterloo Sunset “the most beautiful song in the English language.”
In addition to his work with The Kinks, Talmy produced The Who’s groundbreaking debut album, My Generation, whose title track remains one of the most influential songs in rock history. The producer also played an important role in some of David Bowie’s early recordings, contributing to the foundation of what would become one of music’s most celebrated careers.
In a poignant statement released posthumously, Talmy expressed gratitude for his long life and career: “Hi to all, and many thanks to all of you who have been reading my rock stories for all this time, it has been greatly appreciated! Please note, that if you’re reading this now, this is my final vignette, as I am no longer residing on this plane of existence, and have ‘moved on’, to wherever that may be,” Talmy wrote.
“I’d like to think there is something beyond where I was to where I am now, assuming that the millions of suppositions as to what is next, are accurate. I’d like to think that I’m thoroughly enjoying my new ‘residence’, and that the countless rumours that there is a big working ‘studio in the sky’ are true, and that we are, dare I say, making heavenly music!”
“I’ve had a good run, and I am delighted it lasted as long as it did. I’m also delighted that I am told I have a legacy that will last even longer.”
The producer joked, “I look forward to meeting some of you in the future who are reading this, but LOL, don’t hurry to get here, I’m not going anywhere!”

Talmy is survived by his wife, Jan Talmy, brother Leonard Talmy, daughter Jonna Sargeant, and granddaughter Shay Berg.
Tributes have poured in from across the music community, with many remembering Talmy for his impressive discography and legacy. Alec Palao described the producer as “truly a one-off”, stating “even the briefest survey of the most essential pop and rock recordings of the 1960s would need to include something Shel produced, and that in itself is an incredibly meaningful legacy.”
Read more tributes below.

I really loved the man. He was really crucial to the beginning of our career. I send all my love and condolences to his family. He was a really sweet gentle soul. Rest in Peace Shel Talmy
— Dave Davies (@davedavieskinks) November 14, 2024

Rest In Peace Shel Talmy. As a huge fan of his I was blessed to interview and get to know Shel, he was a lovely fellow. Hugely important to the '60s music scene! He was an American record producer and arranger who became a pivotal figure in the British Invasion and 1960s rock… pic.twitter.com/iCFh80mzlJ
— Produce Like A Pro (@ProduceLikeAPro) November 14, 2024

Farewell to the great Shel Talmy, dead at 87. He is credited as producer on the first three Pentangle albums as well as records by Roy Harper, The Who, David Bowie, Manfred Mann, The Easybeats and The Creation pic.twitter.com/0B0jbtou8x
— Stuart Penney (@StuartPenney1) November 14, 2024

What a legacy producer Shel Talmy has left us.A whole raft of classics from the likes of The Who, The Kinks, The Creation, Manfred Mann, The Easybeats, the early Bowie among many other artists that he worked with across other genres of music.
Thanks for the magic Shel…RIP pic.twitter.com/yGbeScm5bu
— Gary Crowley (@CrowleyOnAir) November 15, 2024

RIP Shel Talmy. Loved reading his thoughts on the bands he had worked with, his insights will be missed. The Creation 'Making Time' blew my younger mind on fuzzy VHS… https://t.co/J1M8OafysZ
— Gary Raine (@Octopusraine) November 15, 2024

The post Shel Talmy, producer for The Who and The Kinks, dies aged 87 appeared first on MusicTech.

Select creators can now “restyle” songs using YouTube’s experimental AI toolLast year, YouTube rolled out Dream Track, an AI tool powered by Google DeepMind’s “most advanced music generation model to date”, Lyria. The feature allowed users to create songs using AI voice emulations of famous artists, with John Legend, Charlie Puth, Sia, T-Pain, and Charli XCX among those who’ve agreed to ‘lend their voices’.
Now, the platform is adding a new feature that allows creators to remix tracks into the style they want. All you have to do is select an eligible song, enter the prompt for how you would like to restyle it, and generate a 30-second soundtrack — which can then be used in your Short.

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“For example, if you want to give a song a different genre or mood, you simply enter your vision into the ‘Restyle a track’ prompt and you’ll soon have a customised soundtrack that reimagines the music while maintaining the essence of the original song’s vocals and lyrics,” YouTube states.
Given that the feature is still in its “experimental” stage, creators in the test group are limited to a selection of official songs “made available by select music partners”.
The company also notes that all restyled soundtracks will have “clear attribution to the original song” through the Short itself and the Shorts audio pivot page, and will also clearly indicate that the track was restyled using AI.
Earlier this year, it was reported that YouTube was offering “lump sums of cash” to the “big three” major labels in hopes of rolling out AI music licensing deals with them.
According to sources who have been in contact with The Financial Times, the tech giant — which is owned by Google — has been in talks with Sony, Warner and Universal to try to convince more artists to allow their music to be used in training AI software.
But those proposals are reportedly being met with scepticism: “The industry is wrestling with this. Technically the companies have the copyrights, but we have to think through how to play it,” an executive ‘at a large music company’ told FT. “We don’t want to be seen as a Luddite.”
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From Purple Rain to Dirty Mind: Prince’s Oberheim OB-8 synth and Amek mixing board are up for auctionPrince fans take note, for two iconic pieces of recording history associated with the late legend are set to go under the hammer.
An Oberheim OB-8 synthesizer, famously used during recording sessions for Purple Rain, and an Amek mixing board that played a prominent role in crafting the sound of Dirty Mind are both poised to find new homes.

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According to auction house Propstore, the OB-8 in question was used by Prince and legendary keyboardist Matt ‘Dr.’ Fink to record tracks on several albums including Around the World in a Day, Parade and Sign o’ the Times. The instrument was also used occasionally as a backup synth on tour.
Image: Propstore
The last model in the original OB series to be produced, this OB-8 (serial number C25024) features a 61-note keyboard, 8-voice polyphony, and a range of sliders, knobs and controls for various functionalities, including modulation, oscillators, filter, and envelopes. It comes from the personal collection of Fink himself and is expected to fetch between £50,000 – £100,000.
Also up for grabs is an Amex mixing board used by Prince in 1980 and 1981 in his home studio on the North Arm of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, to record his third studio album, Dirty Mind.
Image: Propstore
“Prince used this mixing board to record and track raw recordings and create rough mixes for songs on Dirty Mind,” the listing states. “These rough recordings would then be mixed into a final version, usually on a board in Hollywood Sound Recorders studio in Los Angeles.”
Like the OB-8, the Amex console comes from Fink’s personal collection: “Often, Prince would retire gear and his band members would ask permission to take it; this is how Fink acquired this mixing board.”
Built circa 1979, the mixing board was created by AMEK and comprises an extensive number of different coloured controls and switches, housed within a dark-stained wooden frame. It has 16 channels including some aux channels added to allow for FX returns. Propstore estimates that the Amek board could sell for between £30,000 – £60,000.
The Propstore Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction is set to take place in London from 14 to 17 November, with all music-related items, including Prince’s Oberheim OB-8 and the Amek mixing board, scheduled for sale on 15 November.

The post From Purple Rain to Dirty Mind: Prince’s Oberheim OB-8 synth and Amek mixing board are up for auction appeared first on MusicTech.

Director of Pharrell Williams biopic calls musician’s Blurred Lines case “one of the worst judicial decisions about creativity in history”Morgan Neville, the director of Pharrell Williams’ upcoming Piece By Piece LEGO biopic, has explained why the film does not feature Blurred Lines and the infamous plagiarism trial surrounding the track.

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Released in 2013, Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines – which Williams co-wrote and produced – was embroiled in a long-running copyright case that left both musicians owing millions to the Marvin Gaye estate.
Gaye’s family accused the pair, along with rapper T.I. of ripping off Gaye’s 1977 hit single Got To Give It Up. The court eventually ruled that Thicke and Williams were liable for copyright infringement, awarding Gaye’s estate over $7 million in damages, an amount that was later reduced to $5.3 million.
Speaking to the BBC, director Morgan Neville says he decided to leave the Grammy-award-winning track (and its controversies) out of the film’s final cut because the sequence had derailed the story he was trying to tell.
“I definitely thought about it. I even interviewed Robin Thicke,” he says. “And as a documentary filmmaker, I’m obsessed with copyright law. But every time I looked at trying to work it in, a scene about copyright law, it felt like it belonged in a different movie.”
“My take on the Blurred Lines case is that it’s one of the worst judicial decisions about creativity in history,” Neville adds. “I think Pharrell was in the right on it, and I think most creatives agree with him.”
“It’s not like Pharrell learned a big lesson from the case. I don’t know if it actually changed him in any way, which is what I’m looking for, when I’m looking at a story.”

The post Director of Pharrell Williams biopic calls musician’s Blurred Lines case “one of the worst judicial decisions about creativity in history” appeared first on MusicTech.

Qu-Bit Electronix release Stardust Qu-Bit's Stardust captures up to 10 minutes of high-quality audio (or 5 minutes in stereo) and allows users to loop and transform it through intuitive controls.

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UPD: https://musicverse.social/invite/6a284XLU invite link just in case