Ableton Live: Meld

Screen 1: The Meld synthesizer features a complete modulation matrix above the main panel.

New in Live 12, Ableton’s Meld synthesizer is far more complex than you might think.

Meld is a new polyphonic, two‑oscillator wavetable‑type synthesizer introduced with Live 12. But can it offer anything new in a world packed full of synthesizers of every type? Ableton say that “it is a bi‑timbral synthesizer that specialises in textural, evolving sounds,” which doesn’t exactly make you drop your chocolate HobNob in the sheer excitement of it all! However, this is a lovely little synth, seemingly simple at first glance, which reveals its power in some novel ways.

Bi‑timbral Design

Meld is indeed bi‑timbral, meaning it has two complete synths within it, each with its own independent oscillator, filter, envelope generators, LFOs and more. The ‘meld’ part occurs when modulations are patched from ‘Synth A’ to ‘Synth B’ and back again. However, the two halves cannot be super‑melded by cross‑modulating their audio as you can in synths like the Prophet‑5 or Jupiter‑8, or through use of FM or ring modulation.

Despite this, a wide range of sounds can still be achieved. It’s definitely an ‘electronic sounds’ kind of synth, capable of creating some lovely synthetic tones, but it’s not your string‑ensemble replacement, go‑to piano and keys VST, or bread‑and‑butter session synth. But it is great for when you want to dial up a sound, have a play, and see where the muse takes you, much like a good modular synth session would.

Sonically, it plays in the ballpark of synths like the Arturia MiniFreak, Korg Wavestate, and modular synth voices like the Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas, E‑RM Polygogo and Mutable Instruments Plaits. If you like pulse‑width type modulating sounds and pure electronic tones that can be further manipulated in a host of ways, this will satisfy!

Screen 2: Most of Meld’s parameters are available in the main screen, with tabs for the A and B synths.

More Than the Sum Of Its...