Seasoned users who have their own established workflows and favourite control gear may take more persuading. This is a no-brainer for anybody buying into Live for the first time: there will be a new generation of Push/Live users who take the entire setup at face value and just get down to it. You'll have your own view but we think Push is still a controller - albeit one that integrates very tightly with Live.Īll hype aside, however, Push is a fantastic tactile interface for programming with Live and one that goes way beyond the beat-making archetype. To us an instrument is something that makes a sound of its own without having to be plugged into a computer to make it. The question remains, though: is Push truly an instrument? Strictly speaking, we'd say no.
Push bridges the gap between MIDI hardware sequencing of the past and modern music software while staying mobile and flexible. There will definitely be some Max For Live and Max/MSP devices created for this!
Push is about creating a workflow and moving out of the box.Īlthough Push requires Live 9 if you want full functionality it can be put into User mode, where it functions as more of an everyday MIDI controller that can be used with other versions of Live (or, indeed, any other software). You can argue that some of its functions can be used faster if you use your computer trackpad, but that's missing the point. The depth of control from Push is really impressive. Once a few parts have been created the Session button flips back into controlling the clips, which is where we came in. Of course, there are controls to handle keyboard recording - to restrict clip lengths, change octaves, enable automation recording, quantize, undo the last recording or even remove the entire clip. In this mode, the touch strip functions as a pitchbend control. The default scale is C major, but a tap of the Scales button lets you dial up any one of many scale types, and in any key.Īgain the touch sensitive pads come into play depending on your choice of instrument. When an instrument is loaded rather than a drum rack all of the Push pads are illuminated and they are ready to play, like a keyboard, with the lower left note being C1.
You can also go into Record mode and record your pad hits in real time, quantising them afterwards or undoing if necessary, all from Push. Some buttons, such as Repeat, are active when pressed and held, but also latch when tapped and released quickly. The illegible buttons make sense now - they're backlit when needed, so they only light when the action you're performing at the time requires it. There's also a repeat button so when a pad is held down, notes can continue to play at the interval determined by the note buttons. These pads really are touch-sensitive and you can hear it when you're adding your drum parts.Ī touch strip at the left of the pads navigates through drum rack pads in blocks of 16. It's possible to audition drum rack sounds, set loop lengths and program sequences from the pads. When a drum rack is loaded Push goes into drum programming mode.
All of which means you're going to be able to spend plenty of time not looking at your computer screen. You can add Audio, MIDI, and return tracks although, as far as Push is concerned, audio tracks aren't that important this is a programming machine. It's possible to add tracks, as well as browse and load devices of all types, from Push. Open a new Live set, however, and things get really interesting. There are, of course, transport controls, along with a tempo knob.Īll very nice so far. Again, this is nothing we haven't seen on previous controllers.Ī combination of track- and device-selection buttons allows muting and soloing of tracks, as well as the editing of device parameters. The Shift button jumps between blocks of clips, while four navigation buttons allow track-by-track or Scene-by-Scene realignment of the view. Press the pads to launch clips and use the buttons at the right to launch Scenes - it's what you'd expect if you've come from using other controllers. Press the Session button on Push and the pads light to show the colours and positions of clips in the set. We dived in by opening an existing Live 8 set. Push is supposed to work as a controller for your Live set, a drum programming device and a keyboard interface.