ableton-live

Files (15)

• SKILL.md
• audio-effects.md · references/
• automation-and-envelopes.md · references/
• controllers.md · references/
• devices-plugins-racks.md · references/
• instruments.md · references/
• keyboard-shortcuts.md · references/
• max-for-live.md · references/
• midi-editing-and-tools.md · references/
• midi-effects.md · references/
• routing-mixing-recording.md · references/
• setup-browser-and-files.md · references/
• sync-performance-and-audio-facts.md · references/
• views-and-clips.md · references/
• warping-bounce-comping-stems.md · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Ableton Live 12

## Overview

This skill distills the Ableton Live 12 Reference Manual into an operating reference for helping a producer get things done in Live on macOS. SKILL.md holds the mental model, a router to the detailed references, the recipes people ask for most, and the gotchas that waste the most time. The `references/` directory holds chapter-level detail: exact menu locations, every parameter that matters, and per-device notes.

Keys are written for macOS: CMD, ALT (Option), SHIFT, CTRL.

## When to use this skill

Use it for any "how do I X in Live", "which device for Y", "why does Z not work", or "give me a workflow for W" question, and when writing instructions a producer will follow inside Live. For a pure music-theory or mixing-theory question with no Live-specific execution, you don't need it.

## How to answer well

1. **Name the exact UI location and the shortcut.** "Clip View > Audio Utilities > Warp" beats "turn on warping". Include the macOS shortcut when one exists; the full table is in `references/keyboard-shortcuts.md`.
2. **Say which view the user must be in.** Many commands and keys are context-dependent (CMD+E splits clips in Arrangement, chops notes in the MIDI editor, and adds a stop button in Session). State where focus must be.
3. **Prefer stock devices and name them.** When recommending a sound or effect, name the Live device, the mode or algorithm, and the two or three controls that matter. Device details live in `references/audio-effects.md`, `references/midi-effects.md`, and `references/instruments.md`.
4. **Flag edition and version limits.** Sampler, Max for Live, some MIDI Tools and devices are Suite (or Standard plus add-on) only. Stem separation arrived in Live 12.3. Say so when it matters.
5. **Give the gotcha with the instruction.** Most Live frustrations are a hidden state: a gray automation LED, a track still on a Session clip, a mapped MIDI note that no longer plays, an unwarped clip that can't loop. The gotcha lists below are the checklist.

## Where to look

| Question is about | Read |
|---|---|
| Settings, Learn/Info View, the browser, tags, Collections, Packs, Splice, Cloud, User Library, projects, Collect All and Save, missing files, export dialog, templates and default Set | `references/setup-browser-and-files.md` |
| The Session/Arrangement mental model, Control Bar, arrangement editing, locators, loop brace, fades, linked tracks, scenes, scene tempo, Clip View panels, clip properties, Launch Modes, Legato, Follow Actions | `references/views-and-clips.md` |
| Warp markers and modes, tempo leader, tap tempo, Bounce to Audio, comping and take lanes, stem separation, video | `references/warping-bounce-comping-stems.md` |
| MIDI Note Editor, velocity and probability, Pitch and Time Utilities, MIDI Tools (Transform and Generate), MPE editing, audio-to-MIDI, Groove Pool, tuning systems | `references/midi-editing-and-tools.md` |
| In/Out section, monitoring, external audio and MIDI, resampling, track-to-track routing recipes, mixer, groups, returns, cue, crossfader, track delay, arming, Session and Arrangement recording, overdub, Capture MIDI, step recording, count-in | `references/routing-mixing-recording.md` |
| Recording, drawing, editing and deleting automation, automation shapes, lanes, Re-Enable, tempo automation, clip envelopes, modulation vs automation, unlinked envelopes as LFOs | `references/automation-and-envelopes.md` |
| Device View, chain order, presets, hot-swap, A/B compare, defaults, delay compensation, VST/AU setup, Configure Mode, plug-in sidechain, Racks, zones, Drum Racks, Macros, Macro Variations | `references/devices-plugins-racks.md` |
| Any stock audio effect, Amp to Vocoder | `references/audio-effects.md` |
| Arpeggiator, CC Control, Chord, Note Length, Pitch, Random, Scale, Velocity | `references/midi-effects.md` |
| Analog, Collision, Drift, Drum Sampler, Electric, External Instrument, Impulse, Meld, Operator, Sampler, Simpler, Tension, Wavetable | `references/instruments.md` |
| What Max for Live is, editing devices, the Drum Synths, LFO/Shaper/Envelope Follower modulators, MPE Control, Note Echo | `references/max-for-live.md` |
| MIDI and Key Map Mode, control surfaces, takeover modes, Push 1 and Push 2 operation | `references/controllers.md` |
| Link, Link Audio, Tempo Follower, MIDI Clock and Timecode, CPU meter, buffer size, Freeze, what is and isn't audio-neutral, MIDI timing | `references/sync-performance-and-audio-facts.md` |
| Keyboard navigation, accessibility, the full shortcut tables | `references/keyboard-shortcuts.md` |

## The mental model

- A **Live Set** (`.als`) is the document and lives in a **Project** folder that also holds recorded and processed samples. Audio is referenced, not embedded, so **File > Collect All and Save** before moving or archiving a project.
- **Tracks** host clips and a device chain. **Clips** hold the music: an audio clip references a sample plus non-destructive playback settings; a MIDI clip holds notes and needs an instrument to make sound.
- **Session View** is a grid of launchable clips (columns are tracks, rows are **scenes**). **Arrangement View** is the linear timeline. Both share the same tracks, mixer and devices. Tab switches between them.
- **One clip per track at a time.** Launching a Session clip takes that track away from the Arrangement until you press **Back to Arrangement**. This is the single most common "my song disappeared" cause.
- Device chains run **MIDI effects > instrument > audio effects**, left to right. The engine is 32-bit float, so nothing clips between devices; only the physical outputs, the Main track and exported files can clip.
- **Returns** hold shared effects fed by sends. **Group tracks** are submix buses. The **In/Out section** is the patchbay for everything else.
- **Automation** sets absolute values (red). **Modulation** from clip envelopes offsets relative to the current value (blue). Both can act on one parameter.
- Live 12 is **scale-aware**: set a scale on a clip or in the Control Bar and the MIDI editor, MIDI Tools and devices with "Use Current Scale" work in scale degrees.

## Recipes people ask for most

### Make a loop follow the tempo
Double-click the clip, open **Audio Utilities**, turn **Warp** on. Live auto-warps; if it reads double or half tempo, press **x2** or **÷2**. Pick the Warp Mode for the material: **Beats** for drums, **Tones** for mono pitched sources, **Texture** for pads and noise, **Re-Pitch** for turntable-style speed changes, **Complex Pro** for full mixes. An audio clip must be warped before it can loop.

### Fix a badly cut loop or a full song
Put the insert marker on the first downbeat, right-click > **Set 1.1.1 Here**, then **Warp From Here**. For hard material work left to right, pinning each correct section with a warp marker (CMD+I) before moving on. Turn the metronome on while checking.

### Sidechain compression from the kick
On the bass track, add **Compressor**, open the sidechain panel (toggle in the title bar), set **Audio From** to the kick track, choose **Post FX**, and pull the threshold down. The sidechain signal is never heard. For a pumping effect with no trigger, use **Auto Pan-Tremolo** with Invert on instead.

### Resample the master
Set an audio track's **Input Type** to **Resampling**, arm it, record. The recording track's own output is excluded. Keep the Main meter out of the red.

### Print a track to audio
**Bounce Track in Place** (track title bar) replaces the track and bounces both views; this replaced Freeze and Flatten in Live 12. **CMD+B** bounces the selection to a new track and mutes the source. Both print devices but copy the mixer settings rather than printing them. **Freeze** (CMD+ALT+SHIFT+F) is the reversible version for saving CPU.

### Record MIDI into a one-bar loop
Set Global Quantization to 1 Bar, double-click an empty slot to create a clip, arm the track, press **Session Record**. Each pass overdubs. Forgot to record? Press **Capture MIDI**: Live always listens on armed and monitored MIDI tracks and will also detect the tempo in an empty Set.

### Build a drum pattern fast
Drop a kit into a **Drum Rack**. In the clip, press **F** to fold to used rows. Use the **Rhythm** generator (Transform/Generate tabs) for one pad, deselect, pick another pad, generate again. Add swing from the **Groove Pool**, humanize with **Velocity Deviation** and the **Chance** lane.

### Make a part evolve without editing notes
Session clip > **Envelopes** tab > **Unlink** the envelope, give it an odd length (3.2.1 against a 1-bar loop), loop it. An unlinked looped envelope is a tempo-synced LFO on any device or mixer parameter.

### Layer two synths on one MIDI part
Set the second track's **MIDI From** to the first track (Post FX). Or group both instruments into an **Instrument Rack**, where every chain receives the same input and Macros control both.

### Split a sample into playable slices
Right-click the clip > **Slice to New MIDI Track** (128 slices max), or load it into **Simpler** in **Slicing** mode. Edit transients before slicing; notes split at the transient markers.

### Extract vocals or drums from a mix
Right-click the clip or browser file > **Separate Stems to New Audio Tracks**. **High Quality** runs separate passes and is better; crop the clip first (CMD+SHIFT+J) to save time. Expect some bleed between stems.

### Turn a performance into a song
Perform in Session with **Arrangement Record** on. Live records clip launches, mixer and device moves and tempo changes into the Arrangement. Press **Back to Arrangement** afterwards. **Capture and Insert Scene** (CMD+SHIFT+I) saves a good combination while jamming.

### Share a project
**File > Collect All and Save**, then **Manage Project > Create Pack** for a compressed `.alp`. External files are not included unless collected.

## Which device?

| Want | Reach for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fast analog bass, lead, pad, low CPU, MPE | **Drift** | Shark Tooth and Saturated shapes; Type II filter for Moog-ish lows |
| Evolving pads, supersaws, growls, custom wavetables | **Wavetable** | drag any WAV onto the display; Position is the control to modulate |
| Bells, e-pianos, FM basses, synth drums | **Operator** | integer ratios are harmonic; the noise LFO makes hats and snares |
| Strange, scale-aware, texture and swarm sounds | **Meld** | two macro-oscillator engines, each with its own matrix |
| Vintage polys, brass, PWM | **Analog** | two filters with flexible routing; more CPU than Drift |
| Mallets, bells, physical hits | **Collision** | Resonator type plus Material and Decay set the character |
| Strings, pianos, plucked or bowed physical models | **Tension** | many settings go silent or very loud; start from presets |
| One sample, chopping, loops in tempo | **Simpler** | Classic / One-Shot / Slicing; warp works inside it |
| Multisampled instruments, round robin, deep modulation | **Sampler** | Suite; Distribute Ranges Around Root Key maps samples fast |
| Drum kits | **Drum Rack** with **Drum Sampler** pads | choke groups, 6 return chains, Save as Default Pad |
| Compression | **Compressor** (general), **Glue Compressor** (bus glue), **Multiband Dynamics** (mastering, de-ess, upward expansion) | keep bus gain reduction under about 6 dB |
| Saturation and distortion | **Saturator** (simple), **Roar** (routed, modulated, feedback), **Pedal** (guitar), **Drum Buss** (drum group) | Roar's Tone with Color Compensation keeps bass punch |
| Delay | **Echo** (main creative delay), **Delay** (simple stereo), **Spectral Time** (freezes), **Grain Delay** (granular) | Echo sleeps about 8 s after silence unless Noise and Gate are on |
| Reverb | **Hybrid Reverb** (convolution plus algorithms), **Reverb** (cheap classic) | Prism algorithm with tiny Decay and Size gives gated 80s snares |
| Filter sweeps, auto-wah, rhythmic filtering | **Auto Filter** | LFO, envelope follower, sidechain; Morph and Vowel types |
| Pitch correction, harmonies, formant shift | **Auto Shift** | MIDI mode only sounds while notes play |
| Stutters | **Beat Repeat** | Insert mode is the classic stutter |
| Width, mono bass, gain staging | **Utility** | Bass Mono with Audition; Mute before a reverb keeps the tail |
| Loudness ceiling | **Limiter** last on Main, Main fader at or below 0 dB | True Peak mode for release masters |
| Vocoder, talking synths | **Vocoder** on the modulator track | External carrier from the synth track Post FX |

## Live 12 features worth knowing

- **Scale Mode** and **Use Current Scale** across the editor, MIDI Tools and devices (Arpeggiator, Chord, Pitch, Random, Scale, Auto Shift, Meld, Resonators, Spectral Resonator).

From maragudk/fabrik, MIT.

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