Ableton Live 12.3: stem separation, Splice, and smarter Push
- Noise Harmony
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
Ableton is ending the summer with a meaty point release. Live 12.3 is in public beta and it’s the kind of update that changes day-to-day workflow more than flashy feature lists might suggest. The headline is built-in stem separation for Live 12 Suite and Push 3 Standalone. Drop in a track and split it into vocals, drums, bass, and “other” directly from Session or Arrangement view, or even from the Browser. It runs on tech from Music AI (the team behind Moises), so you can carve out an acapella, isolate drums to rebuild a kit, or grab a bassline to resample without leaving Live. If you remix, make DJ edits, or sample from records, this instantly saves time.
Also check:
Right behind that is Splice integration. You can browse Splice’s full library inside Live’s Browser (subscription required), audition in key and in time with your project, then drag straight into a track. The new “Search with Sound” option lets you feed audio from your project or a clip you drop onto the panel and Splice returns matches that fit your rhythm and harmony. It’s quick, and it keeps you in the flow instead of juggling downloads and folders.
There’s also a round of practical workflow tweaks. You can now bounce whole Group tracks in place or just a selection from a Group, with all processing printed to a new track. Paste Bounced Audio lets you copy a clip (or part of it) and paste it as rendered audio anywhere, even repeatedly as you tweak settings between pastes. Device A/B arrives across all built-in instruments and audio/MIDI effects, so you can set up two states and flip between them to compare sounds without manual screenshots or duplicate devices. Auto Pan has been reworked into Auto Pan Tremolo with a tabbed layout, deeper modulation, more time modes, and a proper tremolo path for volume moves from subtle movement to sidechain style pumping and gated rhythms.
Check out our custom-made presets for Ableton Live Wavetable!
NH PAD Clouds Frequency C Dorian
NH LD Black Swan G# Minor
Push 3 gets serious attention, too. The new XYZ layout turns the pad grid into an expressive surface for racks, instruments, and effects. Slide to morph parameters and press for punch-in moves while still playing notes with the other hand. Sequencing on Push gains touch-sensitive step editing so you can adjust velocities individually or in bulk just by sliding on the pads. There’s a Rhythm Generator layout to play with generative MIDI Tools directly on the hardware. The biggest quality-of-life win: Push 3 Standalone now supports class compliant audio interfaces, so expanding inputs and outputs or using your interface’s mic pres becomes plug and play rather than a patching exercise.
Ableton’s ecosystem pieces get updates as well. Note 1.5 on iOS unlocks full control of the Drift synth as an in-app purchase, opening up its oscillators, filters, envelopes, and modulation for deeper sound design on the go. Move 1.6 adds Sliced Loop presets (drum breaks, guitars, pianos, and more), the option to reverse Drum Rack samples from the Sample Options menu, and an easier path to upload Note and Move sets to the device via Move Manager. Live Lite also benefits from the refreshed Auto Pan Tremolo, so even entry-level users see some of the fun.
There are new and refreshed Packs, too. Generators from Iftah lands in Live 12 Standard and Suite with tools like Sting, an acid bass pattern generator that’s quick to dial and surprisingly musical, plus other immediate idea starters. Expressive Chords from 12.2 adds a Chord Edit mode so you can transpose or “Learn” your own voicings, and the Sequencers Pack now supports reproducible arrangements for more predictable generative setups. More details can be found in the official Ableton beta release notes.
How do you rate the new Ableton Live 12.3 update?
FOLLOW US ON:
Comments