Cycling '74 and Ableton to Codevelop New Products

The world of creative media software tools is about to get a lot more interesting. A new strategic partnership between Ableton and Cycling '74 promises exciting developments on the horizon for digital media creators, producers, and performers. Ableton CEO and cofounder Gerhard Behles and Cycling '74 CEO David Zicarelli are pleased to announce this unique alliance between the two dynamic and innovative audio/video software companies.

"We've been excited by the idea of bringing the worlds of Ableton and Cycling '74 together for a long time," says Behles, who has been a fan of Zicarelli's company for many years. "In our own musical work," Behles says, "we have been avid users of Cycling '74's products since long before Ableton existed."

Behles and the rest of the Ableton team have long been inspired by Cycling '74's commitment to empowering creative people. "Cycling '74 represents the idea that artists should be free to create the tools to match their unique creative vision--that the making of the tools can become part of the creative process," says Behles. "That's an inspiring thought, and we admire the Cycling '74 team for delivering on this fascinating promise."

Zicarelli was first introduced to Ableton through musician, composer and conceptualist Robert Henke. "Robert was a big Max user," says Zicarelli, referring to Cycling '74's graphical development tool for music and multimedia. "He introduced us to the people at Ableton, and he suggested almost immediately after Live was released that he would love a way for the companies' products to work together." Zicarelli found Henke's suggestions hard to resist. "Robert can be very persuasive when he talks about what he would love to see."

Zicarelli expresses admiration for the care and sheer effort that has gone into the creation of Ableton's flagship product, Live. "One of the things we've come to appreciate about Live," says Zicarelli, "is that its ease of use comes out of incredible attention to detail. Ableton works very hard to make it seem as if the software just works. That has been very inspiring to try to apply to our own product development."

Behles describes the creative vision and hopeful spirit behind the collaboration: "We feel the Cycling '74 approach to designing software for the creative community perfectly complements Ableton's. By integrating the technologies in a meaningful way, both companies can stay focused on their key strengths, avoid diluting their product philosophies, and bring the best of both worlds to the creative user."