Ableton releases 'NOTE', playable iOS app for music producers

A new music sketching app from Ableton will to allow users to create tracks on the go.

Ableton has launched Note, an iOS app for mapping beats, sketching melodies, recording samples and more. After starting a track on the app, you’re able to upload your ideas to Ableton Cloud and continue working in Ableton Live.

Note, compatible for iPhone and iPad, boasts a comprehensive selection of drum kits, melodic instruments and synths from Ableton Live, also making use of its device’s microphone for taking samples and field recordings.

The app’s grid-based Session View layout means you can audition a variety of layer combinations and structures for tracks. Loops can be doubled to create variation within clips, and clips can be duplicated to create different versions of ideas.

Note’s Drum Sampler and Melodic Sampler promise to be among the app’s standout features. You can record, cut, filter, re-pitch and add effects to samples all from within the app to create new kits and instruments.

56 Drum Sampler kits are available for playing on Note’s 16-pad grid. You can quantise patterns or nudge individual notes from right inside the app, while layers of rhythm and repetitions via Note Repeat can be added.

261 synth sounds and 36 Melodic Sampler instruments are also available in Note, playable polyphonically either with its 25-pad grid or via a piano roll. You can then overdub and shape sounds on the fly by adjusting parameters and applying affects from within Note.

Session View can then be exported as an audio file and shared straight from the app. Sending a Note Set to Ableton Live via the Ableton Cloud allows all the sounds, samples, and effects active in Note to appear, fully editable, in the Live browser.

Note appears to be Ableton’s answer to Elf Audio’s Koala Sampler app and BandLab’s Sampler feature. Both apps also allow you to slice samples and apply effects, and BandLab’s offering allows you to browse a plethora of free sample packs. Ableton’s Note, however, goes a step further by providing a piano roll and a more comprehensive Ableton Live export.

Note is available now for iPhone and iPad, downloadable through the App Store for £4.99 / $5.99 / €6.99. Find out more at ableton.com.

[H/T Music Tech]