The folks over at touchAble, the premier iOS app for controlling your Ableton Live session, have announced the upcoming release of touchAble 2 for the iPad. Offered as a free upgrade to those who already use touchAble, version 2 is a full overhaul of the old software featuring even more of what Ableton is capable of (such as drum sequencing and chord play modes).
Users can also expect better compatibility with older iPads, which is great news for iPad 1 owners, as well as the ability to use touchAble 2 with both Live 8 and Live 9. Other features in version 2 include:
- Complete rebuild of the app
- New and faster Engine
- New Graphics interface
- New server
- New Template editor module : build your own controller pages
- New Midi editor/ step sequencer
- New Isomorphic keyboard
- New Browser lets access to your library
- Complete rebuild of XY pad module
- Hundreds of new features, changes, and improvements
No official release date has been given yet, but according to developers we should be seeing touchAble 2 available for download “within a few weeks”. Though the iPad still lacks some of the tactile sensation of physical hardware, this latest version of touchAble gives the Ableton Push a run for its money. Check out many of touchAble 2’s new features in the teaser below:
if your going to use an use touch osc, its what i use n its the bomb I also have the launchpad’s a mf classic and a mf spectra soon a 3d 2 with macbook i5 (needs more ram tho) also kontrol2 witch messes up my mappings for everything so i don’t use it much, but more to the point instead off paying 100’s and 100’s of pound/dollar/whatever else buy less than 5 BGP get the touch osc app as it does most of what all my fancy push pads 2 and it runs thru wifi
but this is just my opinion do what you want to do
peacy DJ Al Side / ProjectAl
I have had Touch OSC for years and its been a good trooper for a lot of random tasks, but TouchAble is on another planet when it comes to controlling Ableton… JMHO
Thank god i didn’t bought lemur for its sequencer. since i have touchable this is free xd
I think this is a great usage for the iPad. Until the day we can add buttons and knobs to our UIs on our own, I think this is a very wise control surface for DAWs.
I do not believe that apps are good replacements for physical buttons. Convenient, yes, a solid alternative to Push or APC40, no. I will still grab it when it comes out, but its still a minor utility compared to real hardware.
I feel the same way regarding touch screens not being good replacements for physical buttons, because; buttons, sliders, and knobs are something you can train your body (fingers) to operate while you’re not looking at them. When I said “Until the day we can add buttons and knobs to our UIs on our own” I meant *physical buttons*… hopefully they’ll be smart buttons that display LED monitor-like images of motion graphics and handle knob-like functions at the same time as physical translation across a surface.
I still think this application is slightly better than the Ableton Push for functionality because the user can use the zoom-to-size-of-screen functionality and direct display on buttons, which (other than color and blinking) doesn’t exist on the Push. Please note I still advocate for the use of buttons, I wouldn’t have purchased my Remote 25 SL Mk2 had I not wanted a myriad of controls.
That being said, there really is something special about being able to use touch interfaces.
Both have their limitations both have their strengths.. so use.. BOTH ;-P… Ipad is rough in a sweaty club with wet hands and certainly no replacement for hardware rotaries and faders.. its more an additive cherry on top then anything.. but in the studio 4 ipad 1’s running TouchAble reveals more feedback and toolsets of Ableton then ANY hardware can produce. You can literally reveal ALL of a rack’s parameters at once while working with a given synth for example… often times you can see more with TouchAble then you can reveal with your laptop or desktop (no digging through tabs etc) everything instantly at your fingertips! When I need to automate with faders DJ-Style or make very small adjustments a rotary I grab for the old trusty APC 40… They work very well together. As we move towards larger ipads (coming soon) this will make more and more sense in the studio….
Yeah, the APC 40 is a good tool, but I really like the size of the Novation gear. I like the new LaunchControl paired with the LaunchPad and it just may be something I’ll add to my Novation (plus Maschine) house of music.
hardware is limited software is not, i do get your point tho
Touchable deals with velocity sensitivity quite well actually…. I think its one of the only apps like this that I have seen address the issue on a touch surface…