What’s Great About Ableton’s Push 2

Ableton’s Push 2 is a midi controller and the 2nd of series.  It is one of the instruments that you see in a lot of producer’s setups and one of their main tool’s to create music.  Albeit expensive, new at $799,00, it has a lot of great great features.

Step Sequencer:

One of the best things about the Push 2 is that you can use it as a step sequencer – programming sounds into 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and their triplet counterparts, allows producers to really automate and create interesting rhythms and grooves.

You can not only layer drum sounds, but also overlay chords and melodies and then record the midi directly into your DAW.

64 Pads

One thing that separates the Push 2 from a lot of other MIDI controllers is that it has 64 pads to work with.  One of the most popular instruments is the AKAI MPC, and those typically come with only 16 pads.  Having the ability to load or chop into 64 pads allows for a lot more variation in sound and progression.

Notes and Chords

The Push 2 makes it incredibly easy to play notes and chords in the 64 pad mode.  On top of that, you can play in both Chromatic or In-Key modes – the In-Key mode makes it extremely easy to play triad or even create some interesting chord variations. For someone who is not classically trained in piano, this feature was one of the things that really made the Push 2 worth purchasing.

Chop Samples

Load a sample and chop it visually within Push 2 over all 64 pads.  The intuitive design and illuminated screen make it really clear on where to chop the transients.  With a turn of a knob, you can easily zoom into to the slightest sound wave to get that exact chop.

Intuitive

As a novice beat maker, the Push 2 has really been a great tool because of its intuitive design.  I was able to figure out how to do most of the functions of the Push 2 right out of the box without much reading of the manual of looking up tutorials.  It was really designed to make music creation simple and easy for everyone.

Watch Ableton tutorials here.