A huge range of new Partner Instruments custom-made for Ableton Live are now available at the Ableton Web shop. As the name implies, Partner Instruments are those created by Ableton's partners -- among them are Puremagnetik, e-instruments, SonArte, Sample Logic, Toontrack, Soniccouture, and Flatpack.

Partner Instruments cover a wide range of sounds, including sampled grand pianos, Balinese gamelan, EBow guitar, boutique vintage synthesizers, found objects, acoustic and electronic percussion, atmospheres, soundscapes, and more. This offering makes a number of different instruments from different makers available from one convenient spot at ableton.com. All partner instruments work with Suite 8, Live 8, or Live Intro, and many of them are exclusive to Ableton Live.

The instruments integrate completely with Ableton Live and use the same workflow and controls with which Live users are familiar. Most of the instruments use Live's Rack format, with the eight Macro Controls mapped to provide powerful, top-level control for instant tweaking. Within the Racks, carefully selected Ableton effects provide additional sound design options. Going further, all Partner Instruments provide instant mapping to controller hardware.

Partner Instruments for Ableton Live include:

• Flatpack Electronik Drums ($49): synthetically generated drum samples
• Flatpack Scope ($49): soundscapes, pads, and textures
• Flatpack Synthetik Loops ($49): synthetically generated beats, loops, and textures
• Flatpack Textura ($39): ambient textures
• SonArte Sound Objects ($89): found sound / sampled objects typically found in a hardware store
• SonArte Crystal Sounds ($89): consists of a Cristal Baschet and a variety of crystal glasses
• Puremagnetik Retro Synths ($79): a selection of sounds from Puremagnetik's classic analog and digital sound libraries
• Sample Logic Acoustix ($99): cinematic organic instruments, percussives, atmospheric pads, and audio loops.
• e-instruments Studio Grand Uptown ($99): a concert grand recorded in a spacious orchestra hall
• e-instruments Studio Grand Downtown ($99): a concert grand for pop, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and blues productions
• e-instruments Studio Grand West Village ($99): a concert stage grand piano
• e-instruments Studio Grand East Village ($99): a legendary concert grand with an expressive dynamic range
• Soniccouture Balinese Gamelan ($79): gamelan ensemble instruments
• Soniccouture Bowed Piano ($79): bowed piano sounds
• Soniccouture Pan Drum ($79): sampled Hang drum
• Soniccouture Skiddaw Stones ($79): lithophone samples
• Soniccouture Guzheng ($79): sounds from a 21-string guzheng, a traditional Chinese instrument
• Soniccouture Kim ($39): sampled sounds from the Kim, a type of dulcimer or zither from Thailand
• Soniccouture Konkrete Drums 1 ($59): 24 drum and percussion kits
• Soniccouture Konkrete Drums 2 ($59): 25 electronic drum kits
• Soniccouture Tingklik: ($49): sampled sounds from a Tingklik, a percussion instrument from Bali with tuned bamboo tubes
• Soniccouture EBow Guitar ($59): sampled EBow (energy bow)
• Soniccouture Synthi AKS ($59): EMS Synthi AKS samples
• Toontrack Bully Kit ($39): clean, modern sounds for metal, hard rock, hip-hop, and pop
• Toontrack Fibes Kit ($39): dirty, dry, vintage drums recorded Morgan Agren

For audio demos and further details, please visit Ableton online.