Ableton Move Offers Standalone Music Making Plus Live Integration

Ableton today introduced Move, a new standalone instrument that they say is designed for capturing ideas whenever they appear.

Ableton Move is designed to be portable, offering a core library of over 1500 sounds and a simple workflow. It comes with 32 polyphonic aftertouch pads, a 16-step sequencer, a built-in speaker and a microphone for sampling.

Move is also designed to integrate with Ableton Live software, so you can start ideas on Move and then finish them in Live. Wi-Fi connectivity means you can transfer Sets to Live and Note with Ableton Cloud and Move Manager. Once you’ve moved a Set to Live, you can use Move as a compact control surface.

Key Features:

  • Standalone – Up to 4 hours of music making per charge.
  • Four tracks – Set up any or all of Move’s tracks in Drum Mode, Melodic Mode, or as a sampler.
  • Session Mode – Mix and match your musical ideas, using Move’s pads to trigger clips.
  • Sampling – Use the built-in microphone or stereo line input to sample directly into Move — plus resample your tracks internally.
  • Repeat – Quickly create a series of repeating notes.
  • Capture – Move remembers what you just played, so you never lose an idea.
  • Parameter automation – Tweak the encoders to record dynamic changes to your sounds in real time.
  • Instruments – Drum Sampler, Wavetable, Drift, Melodic Sampler
  • Effects – Reverb, Delay, Saturator, Chorus-Ensemble, Phaser-Flanger, Redux, Channel EQ, Compressor

Hardware Specifications:

  • 32 velocity-sensitive, backlit silicone pads
  • Touch-sensitive, clickable jog wheel
  • 16 backlit multifunctional buttons
  • 9 high-resolution encoders
  • 1.3″ white OLED display
  • Stereo Line Out and Stereo Line In (3.5mm)
  • Built-in microphone and speaker
  • Built-in WiFi
  • 64GB Internal storage
  • USB-C Port to connect to computer
  • USB-A Port to connect MIDI devices
  • Dimensions: W313.5 x D146.3 x H34mm
  • Weight: 0.97kg / 2.1lbs

Ableton Move Demo Videos:

Pricing and Availability:

Ableton Move is available now for 449 USD / 449 EUR / 399 GBP

13 thoughts on “Ableton Move Offers Standalone Music Making Plus Live Integration”

  1. Back to 4 tracks baby!

    Nice design, strong specs, reasonable price for a standalone device. This could be pretty neat.

    Love when a demo starts with how to update. Basically saying our software is Agile, expect the first versions to be unpolished.

    1. This seems like it competes directly with the Novation Circuit boxes, and it could be the ‘Circuit 2’ that a lot of people want, offering both synthesis and sampling in a single box.

      Anybody know if you can sync patches back and forth to this from Live? I’ve always thought that patch editing was the weakest link in the Circuit workflow.

      1. They mention you can send a Set to Live (one way) but it’s bidirectional with Note. So really this is more like a standalone, 4 track, version of Note (as well as a controller for Live). Which IMHO is very cool. I guess you could use Note as the instrument preset editor since it has the GUI for it. But you have to go back and forth through Ableton Cloud. Maybe they’ll add preset editing to Move Manager, but I doubt it since it’s more of a file manager that’s served from the device.

        I agree that it’s similar to “Circuit 2” since it’s a groovebox in the same price range, with a similar layout. But the added value of the eco-system integration with Live/Note/Cloud/Push (they’re adding Cloud to Push) would be very hard to match with the Circuit offering.

        All my info is from the SonicState video

        1. Thanks for the additional info. I’m going to check this out further after work tonight.

          Depending on how deep the ability to sync with Live goes, Move seems like it could be a great option.

          Ideally, you’d be able to automatically sync patches with Note/Live so that you’d always have your sound library no matter which option you’re using. To me, that would be a huge advance over the Circuit workflow.

    2. I commented on a loopop video that if he doesnt review something from a company he usually reviews for, its probably because the software isnt ready for an honest review. Although you see tons of youtubers with the Move reviewing it, I noticed a bunch of folks I’ve never seen before in my feed. I know the usual bunch so I wondered how all of these people for a Move with like 1,000 subscribers and even less.

  2. hmm, interesting ‘move’ by Ableton. i’m ussuming it’s just 4 tracks you can see at a time but you can scroll down to access more tracks? surely it’s not 4 total. it has a lot of tough competition, including very powerful phone and ipad apps.

  4. I was a bit underwhelmed when I first saw it, given that you can pick up a used MPC live for a similar price. But on closer inspection it’s a very nice clean design and seems to have very well balanced feature choices. If it has a good selection of onboard sounds (and it probably does) it could be a classic. Poly AT pads, 8 knobs, a step sequencer, and Live integration already make it a compelling choice for anyone traveling with a laptop.

    1. I think you’re right.

      People criticized the Circuit when it first came out – it didn’t have a screen, it didn’t let you edit patches, it only had four tracks, etc. And it ended up being a huge hit.

      This looks like it will be a lot of fun to use, and have a lot of good workflow integration with Live.

  5. The sequencer is far too basic to keep things interesting

    Can it slice up samples Simpler style? Doesn’t look like it

    I could nearly go for it if it had slicing, probability and per note automation p-lock style

    As it is you’d be making static loops and be bored in a week

  6. Looks polished, and good as a sketchpad for Live. Well done Ableton for putting a decent amount of memory in it.

    However, deliberately crippled (as is so often the case nowadays):

    No TRS/Din MIDI, hard to use with other boxes.

    No Sync In/Out, ditto, hard to sync and sample POs etc.

    No multi-channel MIDI in, limited use as a standalone sound-module/sampler.

    Comes with Wavetable, which is not included with Live Intro, meaning any projects you make with it, won’t play correctly, unless you have Live Suite.

    All designed perfectly to encourage you to buy Live Suite.

    This -could- have been a stunning addition to the world of grooveboxes. However it comes across as a bit of a crap move by Ableton.

    Finally, audio out on only a single 3.5mm jack? Really? Not sturdy or reliable, again seemingly designed to limit it’s use as much as possible.

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