Some important announcements came down the pipe this week and both have big implementations for the future of djing. Traktor Pro, which was announced yesterday, continues shifting its fundamental philosophy more in the Ableton direction and farther away from the traditional 2 deck paradigm. Not to be outdone, Serato has countered with their own release which might suggest they don’t plan on being left behind.
Today a press release announced that Ableton and Serato are “happy to announce a partnership, which will pave the way for the future of Digital DJing”. While its not clear just what that means exactly, some info can be gathered from the statements:
“Ableton and Serato take different approaches to modern musical performance,” says Ableton CEO Gerhard Behles, “But both companies live by the philosophy that software should be straightforward, easy to use, and most importantly, reliable and stable onstage and in the studio. Ableton has never had an answer for the DJ who wants vinyl control, and rather than try to emulate what Serato do so well, we simply make sure that our products work well together.”
Without more details its hard to render a judgment on this one but we are told a video will be released next week which will will show what they have in mind. In the mean time we can only speculate.
Its doubtful the two will engage in the creation of the end-all dj app that truly does everything. Instead I would imagine they are working on a full integration of their respective audio engines along with some form of tempo mapping. This would certainly interest a lot of people and continue to bring more djs into the digital fold. Its worth mentioning however that BentoSan and Nico published several ground breaking articles here on dj tt about how to essentially do that using Traktor and Ableton. Be warned, they are not for the feint of heart, but i there are some amazing things that can be done with the tools available now. That being said, a plug and play solution that bridges the gaps between dj flexibility and studio precision is the dj holy grail. Who brings that cup home however, remains to be seen and this strategic alliance just made the race even more interesting.
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1. Simplicity
2. Functionality
3. Stability and quality of work
4. A presentable external image midi the interface (the professional technics should not look as a New Year tree where a heap of names and advertising, to users do not pay for that that they are engaged in advertising of a product of the company, therefore the price for the device should be hardly above than the budgetary version of the equipment under Ableton)
For a long time already has come it is time to make the union of these giants. I prefer Serato because there there is nothing superfluous, the pleasant not loaded interface, in it it is convenient to play, Ableton will give multifunctionality and more possibilities for creative growth and quality of game, and Traktor is begun too to whirl by the superfluous information, it is easy that or to break and then long to search for the reason, and in Serato all is simple and easy, near at hand all that is necessary)))
To everyone the))) I for Serato and Ableton)))))))))))
Good blog! It likely have specially written what to understand for this purpose what to do, and as to that prefer and why)))) That’s all more… And at whom to ask as not DJs which use these units)))
1. Simplicity
2. Functionality
3. Stability and quality of work
4. Presentable appearance midi the interface (the professional technics should not look as a New Year tree where a heap of names and advertising, ??? to users do not pay for that that they are engaged in advertising of a product of the company, therefore the price for the device should be hardly above than the budgetary version of the equipment under Ableton)
Traktor is still my favorite, although I wish it would offer a couple more options that Serato and Ableton do. Waveform display options suit my liking better in Serato Scratch, and it might be neat if Traktor had an auto bar-matching option, such as Ableton. Either way, I am definitely interested to see what Ableton and Serato put together! This topic inspires me to write a blog entry. If interested, click the link in my name.
I am interested to see it working but more than happy with my traktor an ableton set up thanx to the guide that I found on here,
More than happy
For me, this collaboration is quiete exciting. Im using Ableton a lot to DJ with it, and is love Serato for its playlist managment and file system. I hope they develop a program or plugin for Ableton, that brings me the benefits of Serato in Abelton…
If also tried Traktor, but thats not my piece of Software… i love the simplicity of Ableton or SSL.
Traktor is tops with the Pro versions coming out but let's see what the SSL & Ableton Live partnerships conjures up. I also agree with the line "SSL needs Ableton Live more then Live needing SSL!" I've been a traktor user since day one and I've seen (&tried SSL) but for me, Traktor has more to offer… as of the moment with the pro versions coming out the future looks bright!
We need some subscription system that does not require posting a comment.
Here, I'm poisoning comments just to get next updates via email.
Traktor already beat serato to the punch because Traktor Pro will have according to a quote: "Actually, with Traktor Pro you can seamlessly slave Ableton Live even in timecode mode, thanks to the new automatic master clock feature and the extended MIDI clock functions.
The same thing also works the other way around, with Traktor Pro in slave and Ableton in master mode.
Starting November 1st…"
Long live the king Traktor
I wonder if Ableton will change their pitch algorithm to Serato's as part of all this – that could be a good thing for Ableton users.
[quote]Im very curious about stability.. merging 2 software packages together will bring a nice weird sideeffect towards stability.[/quote]
No side effects this time. They've had the same code base for quite a while.
all of this is very exciting stuff. i am a ssl user and would love a simple and stable way to intergrate ableton to push ssl more towards the needs and wants of the edm dj.
[quote comment=""]
im a Final scratch user since 0.9 (yes the good old linux version).[/quote]
nice one- I can remember those days. people think digital djing is confusing now. Try installing an entirely new operating system just to run FS and not knowing if its even compatible with your computer!
Im very curious about stability.. merging 2 software packages together will bring a nice weird sideeffect towards stability.
im a Final scratch user since 0.9 (yes the good old linux version) and i can remember the time NI got involved into the development. buggy as hell. With FS2 it was the same story… then NI and Stanton decided to stop their cooperation. THANK YOU!!!
Since NI released Traktor Scratch, I finally can say I´m having a stable digital dj system…
As many have always said Ms. Pinky integrates with Ableton well.
VST plugin style.
@Bento: Yeah, I would be using exclusively ableton if they had basic transport controls per clip and a playback head (or floating cue point). And you've got deckadance's pinned: it is missing some critical functionality.
@The Beat Worx: Really? I've warped enough tracks in ableton that I'm pretty quick, but it's still tedious and even ableton 7 seems to warp tracks less accurately than traktor.
@FatLimey: Move away from vinyl control? Why? If you want to control the velocity and position of a short sample in real time it's the way to go (scratching). There's nothing wrong with wanting to take a good way to manipulate a sound and make it interact with more modern technologies.
I think the best thing that could come from this is a standard midi format to describe record movement to send timecode from SSL to scratch a sample or track in Ableton.
I'd love to see a commercial offering from Ableton offering functionality similar to jackdmp, even if it only works between ableton and other applications (like ReaRoute for Reaper). Just a commerical ASIO audio pipe.
I love Serato for it's simplicity… the UI is fast but it does lack the bells and whistles of Traktor…
I would love to see the warping ability of Ableton integrated into Serato, and I would love to see the VINYL control in Ableton. (Not everyone wants to move away from vinyl!!!) Say what you want about today's controllers, but no one really has gotten turntablist scratching "right" without vinyl and active platters…
I never liked the beat grids in Traktor… I felt it was always easier to warp files in Ableton… If Traktor Pro makes a leap in the Ableton direction, that'd be a HUGE thumbs up in my book…
One thing can be said… All this competition and synergy makes US (the DJs) the winner…
[quote comment="nem0nic"]… or Serato have decided to expand on their old Scratch plugin and offer it up to the Ableton gods.
[/quote]
That was actually my first thought. Screw Ms Pinky!
[quote comment="nem0nic"]Over all, this is a very cool development![/quote]
It remains to be seen what this will really pan out to be, but I agree with your statement nonetheless.
Big thing ppl. Les c what they come up with. But I do not personaly like the way Serato works. I have nothing against the company though. if they bring out something that works better for me, cors i'll use it!
Exciting times for us DJs to be living in.
No VST support in Traktor Pro, Chilly.
I've been thinking about this announcement more while at work. At first read, I was thinking that what it would be is MIDI clock support in Serato, as well as some kind of virtual MIDI routing (so no 3rd party software is needed to send MIDI to and from Live). But the more I think about it, in order to deliver something substantial (and announcement worthy), it needs to be more. Many DJ programs either already offer master clock and MIDI clock in and out, or have announced it for their next release. So if that's all it is, then it's kind of a yawner. And I don't think they would partner up unless it's bigger than that.
So what, then? I'm thinking either one of two things. Either Serato are implementing some kind of ReWire-like hook into Live (to handle routing both MIDI and audio into Ableton Live, then out of the Rane interface), or Serato have decided to expand on their old Scratch plugin and offer it up to the Ableton gods. Either way it's cool stuff. Another benefit of the 2 applications joining forces would be if Live could somehow take advantage of the file browser in ScratchLive. This is one of the bigger shortcomings of Live when used in a DJ application.
Over all, this is a very cool development!
I swear to God a lot of you eat NI's cornbread way too much.
This is HUGE for people like me who use Ableton + [Traktor or Serato]. In that equation, I am a 98% Traktor user, and a 2% Serato. I love Traktor, and I have no issues with Serato (when I've used it). Don't hate on another company just because they're not 'your' company.
I was hoping for some information in regards to Traktor Pro in relation to vst support, or anything else that might make routing in Ableton easier. I'm not going to pass any judgment yet until I get a chance to play with Pro, but it goes without saying that Serato + Ableton will make people think more about switching.
Or at the very least make you more interested in their products.
Didn't we just talk about this yesterday Bento? 😉
@Bento, dude, I could get by if Serato and Ableton would come together and produce some kind of "rewire" alternative. 😀
Wow, this is exciting, both the new traktor and this collaboration. I wonder what this will mean for future midi controllers? Will there be new controllers at NAMM, dedicated to work with the new/updated software? Who knows, go serato though, a New Zealand company competing/working with the big berlin-based (i think) companies, we only have a population of 4 mill! Awesome, Kiwi ingenuity all the way!
very exciting, although i have no doubt i will stick with traktor!
When Ableton announced closer ties to Cycling74, that was the kind of forward thinking deal we all need and admire. This one sounds like a sidetrack and a non-event in the digital DJ world – vinyl control is what we're trying to move beyond, and Live is one of the key tools for pushing the boundaries of live performance.
What an enormous step backwards for Ableton Live, that kind of hook-up sounds like a large cash injection from desparate Serato's marketing department. When marketing trumps technology you know there will be some piss-poor "cross branding" ideas being thrown around.
It's like retrofitting a buggy whip holder to your Chevrolet.
"Serato needs Ableton more that ableton needs serato." lol aint that true.
I would be excited, but both Serato and Ableton fail to address the reason i use Traktor in the first place – advanced deck transport controls.
Traktor routing into Ableton will still have the 1up i think, but that's just speculation. As more dj software starts blurring the boundaries between djing and production the better off we will be.
My personal opinion is it will be like deckadance, in that it will be a piece of software that has potential but has key functionality missing.
This is good for increasing competition though, bigs up to Serato – hopefully this puts more pressure on other players in the market to compete with this functionality *cou* Traktor *gh*.
"NO COMMENT"
[quote comment=""]WoW! What's next Virtual Dj & Acid?
Serato needs ableton more that ableton needs serato.
Bento they beat you to the punch…so much for showing NI how to route it into ableton…[/quote]
WoW! What's next Virtual Dj & Acid?
Serato needs ableton more that ableton needs serato.
Bento they beat you to the punch…so much for showing NI how to route it into ableton…
Traktor Pro still wins. LOVE IT! Ableton is great, but i just grew up using Traktor. Once i add a focus on sampling and creating beats, i'll start delving into Ableton, but for now, Traktor does everything i want and in a beautiful way, cannot wait for Traktor pro.