Video: Ableton The Bridge

The Bridge by Ableton in action

Ableton, the developers of the sequencer that redefined automated time stretching called Live, has released some new software called The Bridge.

Knowledge ripped this video off the Ableton homepage:

So, what does it do?

Quite simply, The Bridge lets you mix individual parts of a track - just the bassline, drums or vocals of a production, for example - via the kind of interface usually reserved for mixing only two tracks; it lets you control the transport bar of Ableton Live with vinyl.

Here is some official information from the Ableton website:

The Bridge spans the gap between music production and DJing, creating a natural link between Ableton Live and Serato Scratch Live or ITCH. The Bridge provides a powerful fusion of DJ and production tools, opening a world of opportunities for DJing, remixing and live performance.

You can "cross the Bridge" in either direction:

Ableton to Serato
The Bridge provides Ableton Transport Control (ATC), giving you turntable-style control of your own multitrack productions. Simply drag an Ableton Live Set to a deck in Scratch Live or ITCH and use your turntables, CDJ or ITCH controller to control the transport.

Serato to Ableton
DJs can perform mixes in Serato Scratch Live or ITCH and save them as an Ableton Live Set. This way, the DJ can still perform the mix - better than cut and pasting it together in a DAW - but also has detailed editing options.

So, the Bridge is basically being billed as the next generation of mixing technology, and the ultimate mixtape-creation tool.

It certainly lives up to its name, in that the software provides a bridge, or a window, into Ableton Live from Serato Scratch Live or ITCH, where you can see all your individual Ableton tracks.

Here is The Bridge in action:

The Bridge is free for anyone who owns registered versions of both Serato Scratch Live or ITCH hardware and Ableton Live 8 or Suite 8.

There isn't a release date yet, but we'll keep you informed as soon as we hear something.

Known drum & bass users of Live include DJ Fresh; and Serato Scratch Live DJ Marky.

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