Ableton Live 7 LE
Reference ManualLive LE for Windows and Mac OS
Created by Bernd Roggendorf, Gerhard Behles, Robert Henke, Awi, Reiner Rudolph, Stefan Haller, Stefan Franke,Frank Hoffmann, Andreas Zapf, Ralf Suckow, Gregor Klinke, Matthias Mayrock, Friedemann Schautz, Ingo Koehne,
Jakob Rang, Pablo Sara, Nicholas Allen, Henrik Lafrenz, Jan Buchholz, Kevin Haywood, Dominik Wilms, Christian
Kleine, Amaury Groc, Daniel Büttner, Alex Koch, Henrik Hahn, Simon Frontzek, Torsten Wendland, Torsten Slama,
Eduard Müller, Jeremy Bernstein, Bernard Chavonnet, Carl Seleborg, Claes Johanson, Bernhard Bockelbrink, Nico
Starke, Jörg Kluÿmann.
Reference Manual by Dennis DeSantis, Kevin Haywood, Rose Knudsen, Gerhard Behles, Jakob Rang, Robert
Henke, Torsten Slama.
Content provided by:
SONiVOX www.sonivoxrocks.com
Big Fish Audio www.big shaudio.com
Chocolate Audio www.chocolateaudio.com
Puremagnetik www.puremagnetik.com
Physical Modeling technology provided by:
Applied Acoustics Systems www.applied-acoustics.com

Copyright 2008 Ableton AG. All rights reserved.
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance withthe terms of such license. The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice,and should not be construed as a commitment by Ableton. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in thismanual is accurate. Ableton assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book.
Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, edited, stored in a retrieval system ortransmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
Ableton.
Ableton, Live and Live Pack are trademarks of Ableton AG. Apple, the Apple Logo, Mac, the Universal Logo, Mac OS, the
Audio Units Logo, the QuickTime Logo and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple, Inc. Windows, Windows XP and Windows Vista
are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Intel is a registered trademark ofIntel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. SONiVOX is the brand name trademark of Sonic
Network, Inc. VST and ASIO are trademarks and software of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. ReWire, ReCycle, REX and
REX2 are trademarks of Propellerhead Software AB. AAS is a trademark of Applied Acoustics Systems DVM Inc. Mackie Control isa trademark of LOUD Technologies, Inc. OggVorbis and FLAC are trademarks of Xiph Org. All other product and company names
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

1

Chapter 1

Welcome to Live
1.1

The Ableton Team Says: Thank You

Live is the result of musicians wanting a better way to create, produce and perform music
using a computer. A great deal of effort has been put into making Live easy and fun touse, yet at the same time capable of helping you create music with unlimited depth andsophistication. This effort continues even as you read these lines... in fact, a new, improved
Live version might already be available for download! Please check on our website now1 ,or choose the Check for Updates command from the Help menu.
We hope you enjoy using Live and that it enhances your creative process. Should you havesuggestions about how we can improve Live, please let us know2 .

Your Ableton Team.

1 http://www.ableton.com/downloads
2 contact@ableton.com

CHAPTER 1. WELCOME TO LIVE

1.2

What's New in Live 7?

1.2.1

Multiple Time Signatures2

 Work with multiple time signatures in both Arrangement and Session view

1.2.2

Multiple Automation Editor Lanes View and edit multiple automation envelopes for a track simultaneously in the Arrangement View

1.2.3

Better Tempo Control

 Map song tempo to multiple controllers for coarse and ne adjustments

1.2.4

Ableton Effects and Instruments

 Drum Racks expand the Rack family with integrated return chains, choke groups, andother functions optimized for building drum kits Compressor replaces the former Compressor I and II devices with three compression
models, feedback, sidechaining and more.
 Spectrum performs realtime frequency analysis of incoming audio signals.

1.2.5

Device Improvements

 Sidechaining is available in the new Compressor effect, as well as the Gate and Auto
Filter
 EQ Eight is updated with a larger display, a new notch lter, larger parameter ranges
and an optional 64-bit hi-quality mode

CHAPTER 1. WELCOME TO LIVE Hi-Quality modes have also been added to the Dynamic Tube and Saturator effects

3

4

Chapter 2First Steps
Note: This manual has been adapted for Live LE. Speci cally, this means that features which
are not available in Live LE have not been included. To learn more about the differences
between Live LE and the full version of Live, please see the feature comparison chart or
download the full Ableton Reference Manual from the Ableton website1 . The full-version
reference manual also contains information about all of Ableton's add-on instruments.
When you install Live and run it for the rst time, you will be presented with a dialog asking
for your Live serial number. Please see the chapter on unlocking Live should you havequestions or concerns during the authorization process.
If you do not (yet) own Live, you can still try out all of Live's features, but you will not be able
to save or export your work.

2.1

Learn About Live

Live comes with a set of interactive lessons to take you step by step through the key featuresof the program. The lessons are organized in a table of contents, which can be opened
1 http://www.ableton.com/downloads

CHAPTER 2. FIRST STEPS

5

directly in the program via the Help menu. We highly recommend following the lessons.
Many users have told us that the lessons helped them become familiar with the program
very quickly.
We also recommend that you read the Live Concepts chapter, which encapsulates everything that Live is and can do, and is therefore a worthwhile read for both beginners andexperienced users. The remaining chapters of this manual serve as in-depth reference forthe material introduced in Live Concepts.

2.1.1

Using the Info View and Index

Live's Info View tells you the name and function of whatever you place the mouse over. For
certain items, you can create your own text and it will appear in this window.

The Info View and its
Show/Hide Button.

If you require more information on a speci c user interface element or topic, please consult
this reference manual. The index, found at the end of the manual, contains the names of alluser interface elements and will lead you to the relevant section.

CHAPTER 2. FIRST STEPS

2.2

6

Setting up Preferences

Live's Preferences window is where you can nd various settings that determine how Livelooks, behaves and interfaces with the outside world. This window is accessed from thePreferences command, which in Windows is available in the Options menu and in OS X
, (PC) /is available in the Live menu. Preferences can also be accessed with the Ctrl
, (Mac) shortcut.
Live's Preferences are distributed over several tabs:
 In the Look/Feel tab, you can make various settings, including the language used fortext display and the color scheme, or skin, for the Live user interface.
 The Audio Preferences are used to set up Live's audio connections with the outside
world via an audio interface. Please take the time to follow the program's built-in
Setting up Audio I/O lesson, which will walk you through all the steps required to
set up and optimize the settings for any given system. To access the lesson, use theLessons Table of Contents command from the Help menu.
 The MIDI/Sync Preferences are used to help Live recognize MIDI devices for two
separate and distinct purposes:

Playing MIDI notes. To learn how to route an external device into Live for MIDI
input, please see the Routing and I/O chapter.
Controlling parts of the interface remotely. This subject is covered in detail in the
MIDI and Key Remote Control chapter.
 The File/Folder Preferences pertain to Live's le management and the location ofplug-in devices.
 The Record/Warp/Launch Preferences allow customizing the default state for new Live
Sets and their components, as well as selecting options for new recordings.
 The CPU Preferences include options for managing the processing load, including
multicore/multiprocessor support.
 The Authorizations/Trial Preferences are used to manage licensing and installation of
the Live platform, and add-on components like the Operator instrument.

CHAPTER 2. FIRST STEPS

2.3

7

The Main Live Screen

Most of your work in Live happens in the main Live screen. This screen consists of a numberof views, and each view manages a speci c aspect of your Live Set, which is the type of
document that you create and work on in Live. Since screen space is usually limited, theLive views can't all be displayed at the same time.
Each one of the selector buttons at the screen borders calls up a speci c view; clicking thisone, for instance, opens Live's Device Browser:

The Device Browser
Selector.

To hide one of Live's views and free up screen space, click on the triangle-shaped button
next to it. To restore the view, click the button again.

A View Show/Hide
Button.

You can run Live in Full Screen Mode by selecting the Full Screen command from the View
menu. To leave Full Screen Mode, click the button that appears in the lower right corner ofthe screen. Full Screen Mode can also be toggled by pressing F11 . (Note: On Mac OS
X, this key is assigned by default to Exposé, and will not toggle Full Screen Mode unless
Exposé has been deactivated or assigned to a different key in OS X's System Preferences.)
If one of the browser views is open, you can adjust the main window's horizontal split bydragging.

CHAPTER 2. FIRST STEPS

8

Adjusting the Main
Window Split.

9

Chapter 3

Unlocking Live
Live is protected against illegal use by a copy protection scheme. This scheme has been
designed to meet the highest security standards while avoiding hassles for our customers. If
you nd this procedure to be an inconvenience, please understand that the copy protection
secures your investment: It allows Ableton to provide you with support and to continue
developing Live.

3.1

Step 1: Entering Your Serial Number

The rst time you run Live, you will be prompted to enter your serial number.
As an owner of Live LE, you have received a serial number from Ableton, either via e-mail (ifyou ordered directly from Ableton), or on a card as part of the Live LE package.
The serial number is composed of numbers 0..9 and letters A..F. If you accidentally typethe wrong string into a eld, the eld will turn red. When you have successfully entered
the serial number, you can choose to either unlock online or from a le. Both options are
explained below.

CHAPTER 3. UNLOCKING LIVE

10

Please note that products such as Operator and Sampler are sold separately from Live but
are unlocked using the same procedure described here. You can always enter any new serial
numbers and unlock additional products in the Authorizations/Trial tab in the Preferences
window. Live's Preferences are available via the Options menu (or the Live menu in Mac OSX).
The serial number identi es your ownership of Live. Because your serial number is a valuable
good, you should keep it in a safe place and out of reach of unauthorized hands. Please
be aware that sharing your serial number will render it unusable. The only way for Ableton
technical support to help you get back your serial number if you lose it is via your registration
data. Therefore, please register your product1 , as otherwise you might lose your property!

3.2

Step 2: Unlocking Live

The second step of authorizing Live is called unlocking. Unlocking means associating yourserial number with a speci c computer. Please be aware that the standard Live license grants
you the right to use Live on only one computer at a time. You can, however, unlock Livewith your serial number more than once under the legal and technical conditions describedlater.

3.2.1

The Unlock Key

For unlocking, you require an unlock key that can only be created by the Ableton server.
Unlocking therefore requires access to the Internet. The computer from which you connect
to the Internet does not have to be the same computer for which you wish to unlock Live,but it does make things easier.

3.2.2

The Challenge CodeThe Ableton server creates the unlock key from your serial number and a so-called challenge
code. The challenge code is a ngerprint that Live takes of your computer's components.
1 http://www.ableton.com/register

CHAPTER 3. UNLOCKING LIVE11

For details, please see the corresponding section.

3.2.3

Unlocking Online

If the computer you want to unlock Live for is connected to the Internet, the only thing youneed to do is press the Unlock Online button. Live will then create a connection to the
Ableton server, send your serial number and challenge code, and receive the unlock keyfrom the server. No information other than this is exchanged between your computer andthe Ableton server.

3.2.4

Unlocking Of ine

Unlocking Live Of ine.

If the computer you want to unlock Live for is not connected to the Internet, you can use
any other computer to access the Ableton server's web interface2 . This is a website withelds for entering your serial number and the challenge code, which you can copy fromLive's Unlock dialog.
If you have entered your serial number and challenge code correctly, another website willappear to provide you with the unlock key. Follow the weblink to download the unlock key
as a le. Transfer the le to the target computer via some form of storage media, such as a
USB drive or CD-ROM. Then, press the Unlock dialog's Load Unlock Key button to load theunlock key le.

2 http://www.ableton.com/unlock

CHAPTER 3. UNLOCKING LIVE

12

3.3

Copy Protection FAQs

3.3.1

Can I Use Live or Other Ableton Products Without a Serial Number?

If you do not (yet) own Live or its add-on products, you can still try them out, but saving andexporting will be disabled.
If trying Live or another product raises your interest in purchasing it, please visit the Ableton
webshop3 . This site contains information about Ableton's distributor and dealer network. It
also offers you the opportunity to buy Ableton products online.

3.3.2

What if I Change My Computer's Components?

If the challenge code of your computer changes for some reason, Live will indeed ask
you to unlock the software another time. The challenge code does not change, however,when computer peripherals are replaced (audio or MIDI hardware, printers, modems). The
challenge code may change if the motherboard, processor or network card is replaced. On
some computers, reformatting a hard drive also changes the challenge code.

3.3.3

Can I Unlock Live More than Once?

The standard Live license allows you to use Live on only one computer at a time. However,
if you have registered your product4 , the Ableton server will provide you with two unlock
keys in good faith that you will use Live on only one machine at a time. Just proceed as
described in the corresponding section.
You can therefore run Live on both a studio desktop computer and a tour laptop, but not at
the same time.
Should the Ableton server reject your demand for another unlock key, please contact Ableton's technical support.
3 http://www.ableton.com/shop
4 http://www.ableton.com/register

CHAPTER 3. UNLOCKING LIVE

13

They can be reached by: E-mail5 ; Telephone: +49 (0)30 - 288 763 151 (available Monday to Friday 11 to 15hrs CET); Fax: +49 (0)30 - 288 763 11.

To speed up the process, please: Register your copy of Live6 ; Include a brief explanation of the circumstances.

To use Live on more than one computer at a time, you require a secondary license or a site
license. Ableton offers these licenses at special rates. Please contact the sales team7 fordetails.

3.3.4

Can I Play my Set from a Computer That Is Not Unlocked?

Even if Live is not unlocked, you can still load and perform a Live Set with no time limitation.
You cannot, however, save or export your work. When you go on tour, consider taking
along your Live program CD and a CD with the last state of your Live Set(s). In case of an
emergency, you can install and run Live on any computer available and play your backup
Live Set(s).

3.3.5What Do I Do About Problems or Questions Regarding Copy Protection?

Please contact technical support8 . They are happy to help!

5 support@ableton.com
6 http://www.ableton.com/register7 orders@ableton.com
8 support@ableton.com

14

Chapter 4

Live Concepts
This chapter introduces the essential concepts of Live. We advise you to read this chapter
early in your Live career, as a solid understanding of the program's basic principles will help
you fully exploit Live's potential for your music-making.

4.1

Live Sets

The type of document that you create and work on in Live is called a Live Set. Live Sets
reside in a Live Project a folder that collects related materials and can be opened either
through the File menu's Open command or via the built-in File Browsers.

A Live Set in the FileBrowser.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

15

Selecting the Library bookmark in Live's File Browser will take you to the Live Library ofcreative tools. There are a number of Demo Sets here, and double-clicking a Live Set's
name in the Browser will open that Live Set.

4.2

Arrangement and Session

The basic musical building blocks of Live are called clips. A clip is a piece of musical material:a melody, a drum pattern, a bassline or a complete song. Live allows you to record and alter
clips, and to create larger musical structures from them: songs, scores, remixes, DJ sets or
stage shows.
A Live Set consists of two environments that can hold clips: The Arrangement is a layout ofclips along a musical timeline; the Session is a real-time-oriented launching base for clips.
Every Session clip has its own play button that allows launching the clip at any time and inany order. Each clip's behavior upon launch can be precisely speci ed through a number ofsettings.
Clips in the Session View
(Left) and in the
Arrangement View
(Right).

The Arrangement is accessed via the Arrangement View and the Session via the Session
View; you can toggle between the two views using the computer's Tab key or their respective
selectors. Because the two views have distinct applications, they each hold individualcollections of clips. However, it is important to understand that ipping the views simply
changes the appearance of the Live Set and does not switch modes, alter what you hear orchange what is stored.

The Arrangement andSession View Selectors.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

16

The Arrangement View and the Session View interact in useful (though potentially confusing)ways. One can, for instance, improvise with Session clips and record a log of the improvisation into the Arrangement for further re nement. This works because Arrangement andSession are connected via tracks.

4.3

TracksTracks host clips and also manage the ow of signals, as well as the creation of new clips
through recording, sound synthesis, effects processing and mixing.

A Track in the
Arrangement View.

The Session and Arrangement share the same set of tracks. In the Session View, the tracks
are laid out vertically from left to right, while in the Arrangement View they are horizontal
from top to bottom. A simple rule governs the cohabitation of clips in a track:
A track can only play one clip at a time.
Therefore, one usually puts clips that should play alternatively in the same Session View
column, and spreads out clips that should play together across tracks in rows, or what wecall scenes.

A Scene in the Session
View.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

17

The exclusivity of clips in a track also implies that, at any on time, a track will either play a
Session clip or an Arrangement clip, but never both. So, who wins? When a Session clip
is launched, the respective track stops whatever it is doing to play that clip. In particular, if
the track was playing an Arrangement clip, it will stop it in favor of the Session clip evenas the other tracks continue to play what is in the Arrangement. The track will not resume
Arrangement playback until explicitly told to do so.
The Back to
Arrangement Button.

This is what the Back to Arrangement button, found in the Control Bar at the top of theLive screen, is for. This button lights up to indicate that one or more tracks are currently notplaying the Arrangement, but are playing a clip from the Session instead.
We can click this button to make all tracks go back to the Arrangement. Or, if we like what
we hear, we can capture the current state into the Arrangement by activating the Record
button. Disengaging Record Mode or stopping Live using the Stop button leaves us withan altered Arrangement.

4.4

Audio and MIDI

Clips represent recorded signals. Live deals with two types of signals: audio and MIDI. In thedigital world, an audio signal is a series of numbers that approximates a continuous signal
as generated by a microphone or delivered to a loudspeaker. A MIDI signal is a sequenceof commands, such as now play a C4 at mezzo piano. MIDI is a symbolic representationof musical material, one that is closer to a written score than to an audio recording. MIDI
signals are generated by input devices such as MIDI or USB keyboards1 .
It takes an instrument to convert MIDI signals into audio signals that can actually be heard.
Some instruments, such as Live's Simpler, are for chromatic playing of one sound via the
keyboard. Other instruments, such as Live's Impulse, have a different percussion soundassigned to each keyboard key.

1 For an introduction to digital audio and MIDI, please see http://img.uoregon.edu/emi/emi.php andhttp://www.midi.org/

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

18

Audio signals are recorded and played back using audio tracks, and MIDI signals arerecorded and played back using MIDI tracks. The two track types have their own corresponding clip types. Audio clips cannot live on MIDI tracks and vice versa.
Information about inserting, reordering and deleting audio and MIDI tracks is found here.

4.5

Audio Clips and Samples

An audio clip contains a reference to a sample (also known as a sound le or audio le )or a compressed sample (such as an MP3 le). The clip tells Live where on the computer's
drives to nd the sample, what part of the sample to play and how to play it.
When a sample is dragged in from one of Live's built-in File Browsers, Live automaticallycreates a clip to play that sample. Prior to dragging in a sample, one can audition orpreview it directly in the Browser; the switch in the Browser with the headphone icon
activates previewing.

Samples Are Dragged infrom Live's File Browsers.

Live offers many options for playing samples in exciting new ways, allowing you to create anabundance of new sounds without actually changing the original sample all the changes
are computed in real time, while the sample is played. The respective settings are made in
the Clip View, which appears on screen when a clip is double-clicked.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

19

An Audio Clip's
Properties as Displayedin the Clip View.

Many powerful manipulations arise from Live's warping capabilities. Warping means changing the speed of sample playback independently from the pitch so as to match the song
tempo. The tempo can be adjusted on the y in the Control Bar's Tempo eld.
The Control Bar's Tempo
Field.

The most elementary use of this technique, and one that usually requires no manual setup,
is synchronizing sample loops to the chosen tempo. Live's Auto-Warp algorithm actually
makes it easy to line up any sample with the song tempo, such as a recording of a drunken
jazz band's performance. It is also possible to radically change the sonic signature of asound using extreme warp settings.

4.6

MIDI Clips and MIDI Files

A MIDI clip contains musical material in the form of MIDI notes and controller envelopes.
When MIDI is imported from a MIDI le, the data gets incorporated into the Live Set, andthe original le is not referenced thereafter. In the Live File Browsers, a MIDI le appears
as a folder that can be opened to reveal its individual component tracks, which can beselectively dragged into the Live Set.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

20

MIDI Files Are Draggedin from Live's FileBrowsers.

As you'd expect, a MIDI clip's contents can be accessed and edited via the Clip View, forinstance to change a melody or paint a drum pattern.

A MIDI Clip's Properties
as Displayed in the Clip
View.

4.7

Devices and the Mixer

A track can have not only clips but also a chain of devices for processing signals. Doubleclicking a track's title bar brings up the Track View, which shows the track's device chain.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

21

The Track View
Displaying a MIDI Track's
Device Chain.

Live's built-in audio effects, MIDI effects and instruments are available from the Device
Browser and can be added to tracks by dragging them from there into the Track View, or
into a Session or Arrangement track.

Live's Built-in Devices
Are Available from theDevice Browser.

You can also use plug-in devices in Live. VST and Audio Units (Mac OS X only) Plug-ins areavailable from the Plug-In Device Browser.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

22

Plug-In Devices Are
Available from the
Plug-In Device Browser.

Consider an audio clip playing in an audio track. The audio signal from the clip reaches
the leftmost device in the chain. This device processes (changes) the signal and feeds theresult into the next device, and so on. The number of devices per track is theoreticallyunlimited, (although there is a limit of eight instruments and twelve audio effects within asingle set when using Live LE). In practice, the computer's processor speed also imposes alimit on the number of devices you can use at the same time, a topic that deserves separate
discussion. Note that the signal connections between audio devices are always stereo, but
the software's inputs and outputs can be con gured to be mono in the Audio Preferences.
When the signal has passed through the device chain, it ends up in Live's mixer. As theSession and Arrangement share the same set of tracks, they also share the mixer. The mixer
can be shown in both views for convenience. To optimize the screen layout, the individual
mixer sections can be shown or hidden using the View menu's entries.

The Live Mixer in the
Arrangement View (Left)and Session View (Right).

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

23

The mixer has controls for volume, pan position and sends, which adjust the contribution
each track makes to the input of any return tracks. Return tracks only host effects, and notclips. Via their sends, all tracks can feed a part of their signal into a return track and shareits effects.
The mixer also includes a crossfader, which can create smooth transitions between clips
playing on different tracks. Live's crossfader works like a typical DJ mixer crossfader, exceptthat it allows crossfading not only two but any number of tracks including the returns.

Live's Crossfader.

Devices that receive and deliver audio signals are called audio effects. Audio effects are theonly type of device that t in an audio track or a return track. However, two more types ofdevices are available for use in MIDI tracks: MIDI effects and instruments.
Consider a MIDI track playing a clip. The MIDI signal from the clip is fed into the track's device
chain. There, it is rst processed by any number of MIDI effects. A MIDI effect receives
and delivers MIDI signals. One example is the Scale effect, which maps the incoming
notes onto a user-de ned musical scale. The last MIDI effect in the chain is followed by an
instrument. Instruments, for instance Live's Simpler and Impulse, receive MIDI and deliver
audio. Following the instrument, the signal can be additionally processed by audio effects
as in an audio track.

A MIDI Effect, an
Instrument and an Audio
Effect in a MIDI Track.

If a MIDI track has no instrument (and no audio effects), then the track's output is a plain
MIDI signal, which has to be sent somewhere else to be converted into audio. In this case,CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

24

the track's mix and Send controls disappear from the mixer.

The Mixer for a MIDI
Track without an
Instrument.

4.8

Presets and Racks

Every Live device can store and retrieve particular sets of parameter values as presets. As
presets are stored independently from Live Sets, new presets become part of a library thatany project can draw from.
Live's Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks allow saving combinations of devices and their
settings as a single preset. This feature allows for the creation of powerful multi-device
creations and effectively adds all the capabilities of Live's MIDI and audio effects to thebuilt-in instruments.

4.9

Routing

As we have seen, all tracks deliver signals, either audio or MIDI. Where do these signals
go? This is set up in the mixer's In/Out section, which offers, for every track, choosers to
select a signal source and destination. The In/Out section, accessible through the View
menu's In/Out option, is Live's patchbay. Its routing options enable valuable creative andtechnical methods such as resampling, submixing, layering of synths, complex effects setups
and more.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

25

Track Routing Is Set up
Using the In/Out Sectionin the Arrangement (Left)or Session View (Right).

Signals from the tracks can be sent to the outside world via the computer's audio and MIDI
interfaces or to other tracks or devices within Live.
Likewise, a track can be set up to receive an input signal to be played through the track's
devices. Again, tracks can receive their input from the outside or from another track or
device in Live. The Monitor controls regulate the conditions under which the input signal isheard through the track.

4.10

Recording New Clips

Audio tracks and MIDI tracks can record their input signal and thereby create new clips.
Recording is enabled on a track by pressing its Arm button (Hold down the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er to arm several tracks at once). If the Exclusive Arm option is enabledin the Record Preferences, inserting an instrument into a new or empty MIDI track willautomatically arm the track. When the Control Bar's Record button is on, every armed trackrecords its input signal into the Arrangement. Every take yields a new clip per track.

Track Arm Buttons, as
They Appear in the
Session View.

It is also possible to record into Session View slots on the y. This technique is very
useful for the jamming musician, as Session recording does not require stopping the music.
When a track is armed, its Session slots exhibit Clip Record buttons, and clicking one of

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

26

these commences recording. Clicking the Clip Record button again de nes the end of
the recording and launches the new clip. As these actions are subject to real-time launchquantization, the resulting clips can be automatically cut to the beat.
The Control Bar's
Quantization Chooser.

Session recording in conjunction with the Overdub option and Record Quantization is themethod of choice for creating drum patterns, which are built up by successively adding
notes to the pattern while it plays in a loop. It only takes a MIDI keyboard (or the computer
keyboard) and a MIDI track with Live's Impulse percussion instrument to do this.

4.11

Automation Envelopes

Often, when working with Live's mixer and effects, you will want the controls' movements
to become part of the Arrangement. The movement of a control across the Arrangement
timeline is called automation; a control whose value changes in the course of this timeline is
automated. Automation is represented in the Arrangement View by breakpoint envelopes,
which can be edited and drawn.

The Automated Pan
Control and its
Envelope.

Practically all mixer and effect controls in Live can be automated, even the song tempo.
Creating automation is straightforward: All changes of a control that occur while the Control
Bar's Record switch is on become automation.
Changing an automated control's value while not in Record Mode is similar to launching a
Session clip while the Arrangement is playing: It deactivates the control's automation (infavor of the new control setting). The control will stop tracking its automation and restwith the new value until the Back to Arrangement button is pressed, which will resume
Arrangement playback.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

4.12

27

Clip Envelopes

Envelopes are found not only in tracks but also in clips. Clip envelopes are used to modulate
device and mixer controls. Audio clips have, in addition, clip envelopes to in uence theclip's pitch, volume and more; these can be used to change the melody and rhythm ofrecorded audio. MIDI clips have additional clip envelopes to represent MIDI controller
data. Clip envelopes can be unlinked from the clip to give them independent loop settings,
so that larger movements (like fade-outs) or smaller gestures (like an arpeggio) can besuperimposed onto the clip's material.

An Envelope for Clip
Transposition.

4.13

MIDI and Key Remote

To liberate the musician from the mouse, most of Live's controls can be remote-controlled
via an external MIDI controller. Remote mappings are established in MIDI Map Mode, whichis engaged by pressing the MIDI switch in the Control Bar.
In this mode, you can click on any mixer or effect control, and then assign it to a controller
simply by sending the desired MIDI message (for example, by turning a knob on your MIDI
control box). Your assignments take effect immediately after you leave MIDI Map Mode.
Session clips can be mapped to a MIDI key or even a keyboard range for chromatic playing.
MIDI keys and controllers that have been mapped to Live's controls are not available forrecording via MIDI tracks. These messages are ltered out before the incoming MIDI ispassed on to the MIDI tracks.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

28
The Key/MIDI Map
Controls.

Session clips, switches, buttons and radio buttons can be mapped to computer keyboard
keys as well. This happens in Key Map Mode, which works just like MIDI Map Mode.
Live offers, in addition to this general purpose mapping technique, dedicated support for
Mackie Control-compatible mixer surfaces, which allows for mouse-free operation of the
program.

4.14

Saving and Exporting

Saving a Live Set saves everything it contains, including all clips, their positions and settings,
and settings for devices and controls. An audio clip can, however, lose the reference to its
corresponding sample if it is moved or deleted from disk. The links between samples andtheir clips can be preserved with a special command, Collect and Save, which makes a copyof each sample and stores it in a project folder along with the Live Set.
A separate Save button in the Clip View saves a set of default clip settings along with thesample, so that each time the sample is dragged into the program, it will automaticallyappear with these settings. This is especially useful if you have made warp settings for a clip
and want to use it in multiple Live Sets.
Exporting audio from Live can be done from both the Session and Arrangement Views.
Live will export the audio coming through on the Master output as an audio le of yourspeci cations via Export Audio.
Live can also export individual MIDI clips as MIDI les.
Exporting and saving material for later use in Live can be done very conveniently with theLive Clip format. Session View clips can be dragged back out of a Live Set to the FileBrowsers, and thereby exported to disk as Live Clips.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

29

A Live Clip in the FileBrowser.

Live Clips are a very powerful way of storing ideas, as they save not only the clip's Clip View
settings, but also the corresponding track's instruments and effects chain. Live Clips in the
Browser can be previewed and added to any open Live Set just like sample les. In the Live
Set, they restore the original clip's creative options.
Using Live Clips, you can build your own personalized library of: MIDI sequences with matching instruments and effects, e.g., a MIDI drum pattern withthe associated Impulse and effects settings;
 Different regions or loops referencing the same source le; Variations of a sample loop created by applying Warp Markers, clip envelopes andeffects; Ideas that may not t your current project but could be useful in the future.

4.15

The Library

The Live Library acts as a repository of sounds that are available to all projects. In Live'sFile Browsers, the Library is accessible through a bookmark. Bookmarks can be selected byclicking the Browser's title bar to open the Bookmark menu:CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS

30

Choosing the Library
Bookmark.

The rst time you run Live, it will automatically install its Library to your standard user folder.
You can, of course, move it to a new location. After installation the Library will alreadycontain a few sound ideas, courtesy of Ableton. We encourage you to experiment with thismaterial to get a sense of what the program can do, but we do not recommend removing
or changing the contents of the factory Library.
Ableton provides additional Library content in the form of Live Packs which are available
from installation CDs, DVDs or the Ableton website2 . Owners of a boxed version of Live canenjoy the Essential Instrument Collection, a multi-gigabyte library of meticulously sampled
and selected instruments.

2 http://www.ableton.com/downloads

31

Chapter 5

Managing Files and Sets
Various types of les are used in making music with Live, from those containing MIDI andaudio, to more program-speci c les such as Live Clips and Live Sets. This chapter will
explain everything you need to know about working with each of these le types in Live.
However, we should rst take a look at Live's File Browsers, through which most les arrivein the program.

5.1

Working with the File Browsers

Live offers three File Browsers which can be accessed via their selector buttons.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

32

The File Browser
Selector Buttons.

Each Browser can point to a different disk location, which Live will remember across sessions.
The Browser display is divided into columns corresponding to Name , Date, etc., which
you can show and hide using the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu options.

Showing/Hiding Browser
Columns.

Columns can be reordered by drag and drop. To resize the columns, drag their divider lines
horizontally.

Resizing Browser
Columns.

5.1.1

Browsing the Folder Hierarchy

Each of the three File Browsers has its own root directory, shown at the top of the Browser,
the contents of which are available for browsing below.

33

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

Library Is thisBrowser's Root.

The Browser root can easily be changed: The topmost Browser item, called Parent Folder,will move the Browser root up one step up in the disk hierarchy when double-clicked.

The File Browser's
Parent Folder Item.

You can also set the Browser root to any folder in the Browser via the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu, by double-clicking the folder, or by selecting it and pressing Return .

A Folder in the Browser.

Moving through the les in Live's Browser can be done with either the mouse or the computer
keyboard:
 Scroll up and down in the Browser withAlt
and dragging while holding the Ctrl
 Close and open folders with

and

and
, the mousewheel, or by clicking
Alt(PC) /(Mac) modi er.

.

 Jump to the parent folder of any closed folder using. (Hint: If executed on a
top-level folder, this is an alternative to selecting the Parent Folder item, and will
move the Browser root up one level.)

To clean up the Browser, use(PC) /

Ctrl(Mac) to access the context menu, andCHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

34

then select the Close All Folders option to show only top-level folders. Double-clicking a
File Browser's selector button will do the same.

5.1.2

Browser Bookmarks

Using bookmarks, you can quickly save and recall frequently used folder locations in the
Browser. Clicking in the Browser's title bar will open the Bookmark menu.

The Bookmark Menu.

The Bookmark menu lists a number of preset bookmarks such as Desktop and Library.
Selecting the latter will bring you to the Live Library. To bookmark the current Browser root,choose the Bookmark menu's topmost item, the Bookmark Current Folder command. Notethat if the current Browser root is already bookmarked, the topmost option in the Bookmark
menu will remove the bookmark. All File Browsers share the same set of bookmarks; abookmark stored in one Browser can be accessed from another.

5.1.3

Searching for Files

Live's File Browsers are equipped with a search function for nding les. Clicking theF (PC) /Search button in the upper right corner of the Browser or using the Ctrl
F (Mac) shortcut will open the Browser's Search Mode.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

35

Activating Browser
Search Mode.

After entering your search terms, begin the search by clicking the Go button or pressing
Return on your computer keyboard.

The Search Field and Go
Button.

Live will search the entire Browser root for your search terms. The results will include lesthat match all search terms, as opposed to any. For example, if you search for acoustic
bass, the search will yield all acoustic bass sounds not all acoustic sounds and all bass
sounds.
By default, the search function matches the entered criteria not only to any part of a le'sname and suf x (e.g., .wav ) but also to any part of its le path. This means that a searchfor bass, for example, will yield not only les with names containing the word bass
but also those located in folders with names containing the word bass. Compressed
sample metadata tags are also included in the search, making it possible to search forsongs from a speci c album or artist, for example. Searching le paths and metadata canbe deactivated with the Search In Path and Search In Metadata settings, available in the
Preferences' File/Folder tab. The names of MIDI tracks within multitrack MIDI les are also
included in searches.
Live maintains an index of the hard disk so that it can deliver search results instantly. The
index is kept up to date as you create, install, delete, rename and move les within Liveit has no way of knowing, however, what you are doing outside of Live. If you havesubsequently moved les using programs other than Live, the initial results of a searchmight be incomplete. The Go button's label will change to Rescan. If you can't nd a lein the search results, or need to be sure that the results are comprehensive, click the Rescan
button (or Return once more), and Live will rebuild its index for the current Browser root.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

36

The Rescan Button.

Automatic rescanning for new searches can be activated and deactivated in the File/Folder
Preferences.
While a search/rescan is going on, the adjacent search button is labeled Stop. Rescanning
happens in the background, and you can keep making music while Live does its work, but
you can also abort the search with this button if the disk traf c is bothering you.
You can go back to the Browser's folder view at any time by closing the search eld.

Closing the Search
Field...

If you select a le from the search results and then close the search eld, Live makes surethat le remains selected in the folder view, opening folders as required:... Locates the File Last
Selected Among the
Search Results.

If a search is in progress, closing the eld immediately stops the search, although navigating
to other Browsers does not. In fact, while you're waiting for a search to nish in one Browser,
you can initiate separate searches in the others. A Browser that is in an active search will

37

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

indicate this via a small rotating ring on the Browser button.

The Rotating Ring
Means That a Search isin Progress.

For mouse-free searching, we suggest the following sequence of shortcuts:
1)

Ctrl

F

(PC) /F(Mac) to open the search eld;2) Type your search terms;
3)

Returnto Go ;

4)

to jump to the search results;

5)

and

6)

to scroll the search results;

Ctrl
F (PC) /back to the folder view.

5.1.4

F

(Mac) to close the search eld and go

Previewing Files

Live allows you to preview les in the File Browser before they are imported into the program.
Previewing is activated using the Browser's Preview switch.

The Preview Switch.

Hint: You can preview les even when the Preview switch is not activated by pressing
Return .

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

38

Click on the les (or use
and) to select and listen to them. If the transport is running,
Live tries to preview les in sync with the current Live Set, so that you can better judge
which samples will work for you. If the transport is stopped, les will preview at their original
tempo.
The previewing volume can be adjusted using the mixer's Preview Volume knob.

The Preview Volume
Knob.

If your audio hardware offers multiple audio outs, you can privately audition, or cue, lesvia headphones connected to a separate pair of outs while the music continues to play.
To learn how to set up Live for cueing, please refer to the relevant section of the Mixing
chapter.

5.1.5

Adding Clips from the Browser

There are several ways to add clips to a Live Set:
 Files can be dragged and dropped from the File Browsers into tracks in the Session or
Arrangement View. Dragging and dropping material from the Browser into the space
to the right of Session View tracks or below Arrangement View tracks will create a new
track and place the new clip(s) there.

39

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

Dropping a Clip toCreate a New Track.

 In the Session View, double-clicking or pressing Return on a le in the Browser willautomatically create a new track to the right of the other tracks and load it with theclip.
 Files can be dropped directly into Live from the Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac).

5.1.6

File Maintenance in the Browser

You can use Live's File Browsers for all of the le maintenance activities that you are familiar
with on your operating system.
 Move les and folders by dragging and dropping, or by copying/cutting and pasting.
Copying, cutting and pasting can be done with either Edit menu commands or keyboard shortcuts. A le can be moved from one File Browser to another by dragging itover the target Browser's
button.
 Rename les and folders using the Edit menu's Rename command or theR (Mac) shortcut. Cancel renaming with the Esc(PC) /
key.
 Create folders by opening the context menu withselecting the Create Folder command.

(PC) / Ctrl

Ctrl

R

(Mac), and then Delete les and folders using the Edit menu's Delete command or your computer'sor Delete key. Deleting items within Live moves them to the system trash; ifnecessary, you can recover items from the system trash via your computer's operating
system.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

5.1.7

40

Hot-Swap Mode

In addition to the drag-and-drop method of loading les from the Browser, Live offers a
Hot-Swap Mode to save you mouse travel. Hot-Swap Mode establishes a temporary link
between the Browser and, for example, a virtual instrument. While in Hot-Swap Mode,
you can step through samples or presets to audition them in place, that is, within the
instrument. Hot-swapping for presets is covered in the Live Device Presets section. Let's gothrough an example of hot-swapping samples:Live's built-in Impulse instrument features eight sample-player slots that can be lled bydropping samples into them. Alternatively, we can click the Hot-Swap button that appears
as we move the mouse over a slot.

The Hot-Swap Button in
an Impulse Slot.

Clicking the Hot-Swap button engages Hot-Swap Mode: Live's Hot-Swap Browser opens,
and the Hot-Swap icon appears next to one of the les shown.

The Hot-Swap Browser.

While in Hot-Swap Mode, pressing the Return key loads that le into the Impulse slot(presumably while Impulse is playing incoming MIDI notes); pressing, then Return loads
the next sample, and so on. Instead of using the keys, we can also double-click on a sample
to load it. The link between the Browser and the instrument will be broken if a different view

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

41

is selected, or if the Hot-Swap button is pressed again. Hot-swapping can also be cancelledwith a press of the Esc
key.
When Hot-Swap Mode is re-entered, the Hot-Swap Browser will try to reconstruct what you
saw when you loaded the current le into the Impulse slot. If, for instance, the current
le was found by searching for gretsch kick, the Hot-Swap Browser will come up withthat search string in the search eld. In our example, we were hot-swapping for an empty
Impulse slot, so Live came up with something appropriate: a search for Drum Kick in
Library/Samples/Waveforms.

5.2

Sample Files

A sample is a le that contains audio data. Live can play both uncompressed le formats(WAV, AIF and Sound Designer II for Mac) and compressed le formats (MP3, AAC, Ogg
Vorbis, Ogg FLAC and FLAC).
A note on using Variable Bit Rate (VBR) les: Please install QuickTime for decoding purposes
if you do not already have it on your system. It can be downloaded from the Apple website1 .
As Live plays the samples directly from disk, you can work with a large number of (large)
samples without running into RAM memory limitations. Please note, however, that you may
run into disk throughput problems if your disk is nearly full, and/or (on Windows systems)
highly fragmented. Hard drive rotation speed can also affect disk performance. Refer tothe section on managing the disk load for more information.
Live can combine uncompressed mono or stereo samples of any length, sample rate or bit
depth without prior conversion. To play a compressed sample, Live decodes the sample andwrites the result to a temporary, uncompressed sample le. This usually happens quickly
enough that you will be able to play the sample right away, without waiting for the decoding
process to nish.
Note: When adding a long sample to a project, Live might tell you that it cannot play the
sample before it has been analyzed. Please see the section on analysis for an explanation.

1 http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

5.2.1

42

The Decoding Cache

To save computational resources, Live keeps the decoded sample les of compressed
samples in the decoding cache. Maintenance of the cache is normally not required, as Liveautomatically deletes older les to make room for those that are new. You can, however,impose limits on the cache size using the File/Folder Preferences' Decoding Cache section.
The cache will not grow larger than the Maximum Cache Size setting, and it will always leave
the Minimum Free Space on the hard disk. Pressing the nearby Cleanup button will delete
all les not being used by the current Live Set.

Preferences for the
Decoding Cache.

5.2.2

Analysis Files (.asd)

An analysis le is a little le that Live creates when a sample le is brought into the program
for the rst time. The analysis le contains data gathered by Live to help optimize thestretching quality, speed up the waveform display and automatically detect the tempo oflong samples.
When adding a long sample to a project, Live might tell you that it cannot play the sample
before it has been analyzed. This will not happen if the sample has already been analyzed(i.e., Live nds an analysis le for this sample), or if the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences'
Auto-Warp Long Samples preference has been deactivated. To prevent waiting for analysis
of longer samples, you can pre-analyze them via the Browser, as we will see in a moment.
An analysis le can also store default clip settings for the sample:
Clicking the Clip View's Save button will store the current clip's settings with the sample's
analysis le. The next time the sample is dragged into Live, it will appear with all its clip
settings intact. This is particularly useful for retaining Warp Marker settings with the sample.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

43

Storing default clip settings with the analysis le is different from saving the clip as a Live
Clip.
While analysis les are a handy way to store default information about a particular sample's
settings, keep in mind that you can use different settings for each clip within a Live Set
even if those clips refer to the same sample on disk. But if you drag a new version of thesample into a Live Set, Live will use the settings stored in the analysis le for the newly
created clip.
The analysis le's name is the same as that of the associated sample, with an added .asd
extension. Live puts this analysis le in the same folder as the sample.
Samples that have an .asd le are displayed like this in the Browser.
Samples without an .asd le look like this.
The analysis les themselves do not appear in Live's Browsers.
Note that you can suppress the creation of .asd les by turning off the Create Analysis Files
option in the File/Folder Preferences. All data (except for the default clip settings) can berecreated by Live if the .asd le is missing, however this will take some time for longer
samples.

5.2.3

File Pre-Analysis

To avoid waiting for longer samples to be analyzed the rst time they are imported into Live,you may want to pre-analyze them.
To pre-analyze all the les contained in any folder in the Browser, use the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu's Analyze Audio command. This process can also be cancelled via thecontext menu.

5.2.4

Exporting Audio

The File menu's Export Audio command allows you to export Live's audio output as new
samples. The resulting les can be used to burn an audio CD for listening purposes or aCHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

44

data CD, which could serve as a backup of your work or be used with other digital audio
applications.
Which Signal Will Be Rendered?

The Rendered Track
Chooser.

The Export dialog's Rendered Track chooser offers several options for which audio signal torender: Master the post-fader signal at Live's Master output. If you are monitoring the Master
output, you can be sure that the rendered le will contain exactly what you hear.
 All tracks the post-fader signal at the output of each individual track, including return
tracks and MIDI tracks with instruments. Live will create a separate sample for eachtrack. All samples will have the same length, making it easy to align them in othermultitrack programs.
 Individual tracks

the post-fader signal at the output of the selected track.

When Export Audio is invoked while the Arrangement View is up, Live will render theselected time range.
If you would like to render the current Arrangement loop, choose the Select Loop commandfrom the Edit menu prior to choosing Export Audio. If you choose Export Audio while theSession View is up, Live will ask you to specify the length of the sample to be rendered.
The Export Audio dialog will come up with a bars-beats-sixteenths eld where you can typein the desired length. Live will capture audio starting at the current play start position forwhichever duration you have speci ed.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

45

Remember a rendered audio le contains only what you heard prior to rendering. So, forexample, if you're playing back some combination of Session View clips and Arrangement
material, then that is what will be captured in your rendered le regardless of which viewis active when you render.
Audio Rendering Options

Audio Rendering
Options.

The Export dialog offers several audio rendering options: Normalize If this is activated, the sample resulting from the render process will benormalized (i.e., the le will be ampli ed so that the highest peak attains the maximum
available headroom).
 Render as Loop If this is activated, Live will create a sample that can be used as aloop. For example, suppose your Live Set uses a delay effect. If Render as Loop is on,
Live will go through the rendering process twice: The rst pass will not actually write
samples to disk, but add the speci ed delay effect. As the second pass starts writingaudio to disk, it will include the delay tail resulting from the rst pass.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

 File Type, Bit Depth, Sample Ratecreated.
 Convert to Monole.

46
These options specify the type of sample to be

If this is activated, Live will create a mono le instead of a stereo

 Dither Options If you are rendering at a bit depth lower than 32-bit, choose one ofthe dither modes. Dithering adds a small amount of noise to rendered audio, but minimizes artifacts when reducing the bit depth. By default, Triangular is selected, whichis the safest mode to use if there is any possibility of doing additional processing
on your le. Rectangular mode introduces an even smaller amount of dither noise,
but at the expense of additional quantization error. Note that dithering is a procedurethat should only be applied once to any given audio le. If you plan to do further
processing on your rendered le, it's best to render to 32-bit to avoid the need for
dithering at this stage.
 Create Analysis File If this is activated, Live will create an .asd le that contains
analysis information about the rendered sample. If you intend to use the new sample
in Live, check this option.

5.3

MIDI Files

A MIDI le contains commands that prompt MIDI compatible synthesizers or instruments,
such as Live's Simpler, to create speci c musical output. MIDI les are exported by hardware
and software MIDI sequencers. Importing MIDI les into Live works differently than withsamples: MIDI le data is incorporated into the Live Set, and the resulting MIDI clips lose allreference to the original le. MIDI les appear as folders in the File Browser; opening thefolders gives you access to the le's individual tracks (also called voices or instruments ).

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

47

A MIDI File and its
Tracks in the Browser.

Note that while you can rename or delete entire MIDI les via the Browser, this is notpossible with the individual MIDI tracks contained within them. This is also the case with theindividual components of Live Sets.

5.3.1

Exporting MIDI Files

Live MIDI clips can be exported as Standard MIDI les. To export a MIDI clip, use the Filemenu's Export Selected MIDI Clip command. This command will open a le-save dialog,
allowing you to choose the location for your new MIDI le.
Exporting a MIDI le is different from saving the clip as a Live Clip.

5.4

Live Clips

Individual clips can be exported to disk in the Live Clip format for easy retrieval and reuse inany project. Because they only contain references to samples on disk (rather than the audio
data itself), Live Clips are very small, which makes it easy to develop and maintain your own
collection.
To save a clip from the open Live Set to disk, simply drag it to the File Browser and drop it
into any folder. You can then type in a new name for the clip or con rm the one suggested
by Live with Return .

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

48

A Live Clip in the
Browser.

Live Clips are a great way of storing your ideas for later use or development, as they save
not only the original clip, including all its clip and envelope settings, but also the original
track's devices. In order to recreate a Live Clip's device chain, either import it into a track
containing no clips or devices, or drag it into the space in the Session or Arrangement View
containing no tracks. Note that Live Clips that are imported into tracks already containing
devices or clips will appear with their clip settings but not their devices. You could, forinstance, drop a bassline Live Clip on an existing track that drives a bass instrument, rather
than creating a new track.
Clips belonging to any Live Sets already on disk are also Live Clips. Please see the section
on merging Sets for more on this topic.
Note that storing default clip settings with a sample's analysis le is different from saving a
Live Clip. The default clip in the .asd le annotates the sample with sensible default values(warp, gain and pitch settings) so that it will play in a de ned way when it is added to a Set.
Live Clips, on the other hand, are stored on disk as separate musical ideas. For example, you
could create a number of variations from the same audio clip by using different warp, pitch,envelope and effect settings, and store them all as separate Live Clips. In the Browser, you
could then independently sort and preview these clips, even though they are all referring to
the same source sample.

5.5

Live Sets

The type of document that you create and work on in Live is called a Live Set. Think ofthis as a single song. Sets must be saved inside projects, so that Live can keep track ofCHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

49

and manage all of the various components of the Live Set: Live Clips, device presets, any
samples used, etc.

5.5.1

Creating, Opening and Saving Sets

Use the File menu's New Live Set command to create new Live Sets, and the Open or Open
Recent command to open existing ones. In the File Browser, you can double-click or press
Return on a Live Set to open it.
The File menu's Save command saves the current Live Set exactly as it is, including all clips
and settings.
You can also use the Save As command to save the current Live Set under a different name
and/or in a different directory location, or the Save a Copy command to create a copy ofthe current Live Set with a new name and/or new directory location.

5.5.2

Merging Sets

Live makes it easy to merge Sets, which can come in handy when combining work fromdifferent versions or pieces. To add all tracks (except the return tracks) from one Live Set
into another, drag the Set from the File Browser into the current Set, and drop it onto any
track title bar or into the drop area next to or below the tracks. The tracks from the dropped
Set will be completely reconstructed, including their clips in the Session and Arrangement
View, their devices, and their automation.

Session View Drop Area
for Importing Live Sets.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

50

Arrangement View Drop
Area for Importing LiveSets.

If you prefer to import individual tracks from a Set, you can unfold the Live Set in the FileBrowser just as if it were a folder.

Unfolding a Set toReveal its Tracks.

You can now drag the individual tracks and drop them as described at the beginning of thissection.
Of the three tracks contained in the Tango Set shown in the following gure, two contain
Session View clips. These can be accessed by unfolding the tracks:

Revealing the Session
View Clips Contained ina Set.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

51

You can browse, preview and import Session View clips from the Set as if they had been
stored as individual Live Clips. This, basically, means that any Live Set can serve as a poolof sounds for any other, suggesting creative reuse and crossover.

5.5.3

Exporting Session Clips as New Sets

You can export a selection of Session View clips as a new Live Set by dragging them to theFile Browser. To export a Set, rst click and drag, or use theor Ctrl(PC) /(Mac) modi ers, to select more than one Session View clip. Then, simply drag the clips toa folder in the File Browser, where you can either con rm Live's suggested name or type in
one of your own.

5.5.4

Template Sets

Use the File/Folder Preferences' Template Save button to save the current Live Set as atemplate. Live will use these settings as the initialized, default state for new Live Sets. You
can use this to pre-con gure: Your multichannel input/output setup.
 Preset devices, like EQs and Compressors, in every track.
 Computer key mappings.
 MIDI mappings.

The template Live Set, Template.als, is located in Live's Preferences folder and can becopied or deleted from there. The easiest way to locate this folder is to search your disk for
Template.als.

5.5.5

Viewing and Changing a Live Set's Sample References

To view a list of the samples referenced by the current Live Set, choose the Manage Files
command from the File menu, click the Manage Set button, and then click the View Samples
button. Live will display one line for each sample used by the Live Set, regardless of how

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

52

many clips or instruments within the Live Set are using that sample. Here is what you cando: Replace a sample Dragging a sample from the File Browser and dropping it on aline in the list makes the Live Set reference the new sample instead of the old one. For
samples used in audio clips, Live retains the clip properties; the Warp Markers are kept
if the new sample has the same or a greater length as the old sample and discarded
otherwise. Please note that replacing a sample will change all clips in your set thatreference this sample.

Every Line in the Sample
Reference List is a Drop
Target for Samples.

 Hot-swap samples Using the Hot-Swap button at the left-hand side of each line,
you can quickly browse through alternatives for the sample that is currently beingreferenced. This is like dragging samples here, only quicker.
The Sample Reference
List's Hot-Swap Button.

 Edit a referenced sample using an external application (which can be chosen in the
Preferences' File/Folder tab). Clicking the Edit button will open the referenced sample
in the external application. The sample will remain of ine as long as the Edit switch isengaged. For samples used in audio clips, the current set of Warp Markers is retained
only if the sample length remains the same as before.
The Sample Reference
List's Edit Switch.

 View a sample's location The Location column states if a sample is missing, or if it
resides in the Live Library, a Project or somewhere else ( external ).

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

53

The Sample Reference
List's Location Column.

5.6

Live Projects

A Live Project is a folder containing Live-related les that belong together. Consider, forexample, work on a piece of music: You start out with an empty Live Set; you record audio
and thereby create new sample les; you drag in samples from collections; you save different
versions of the Live Set along the way so that you can go back and compare. Perhaps you
also save Live Clips or device presets that belong to this particular musical piece. The
project folder for this Live Project will maintain all the les related to this piece of musicand Live's File Manager will provide the tools you need to manage them.

5.6.1

Projects and Live Sets

You can manually create a Project by clicking(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) in the Browser andselecting Create Project from the context menu. Usually, Live takes care of this automatically.
When you save a Live Set under a new name or in a new folder location, Live will create a
new project folder and store the Live Set there unless you are saving the Live Set into an
existing Live Project. Let's look at an example to illustrate this process:We have recorded some audio into a new Live Set. We now save the Live Set under thename Tango on the Desktop. Here is the result as displayed by the Live Browser:

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

54

A Live Set and its
Recordings in a Live
Project Folder.

The project folder ( Tango Project ) contains the Live Set ( Tango.als ) and a Samples folder,which in turn contains a Recorded folder with two samples in it. Note that the current Projectis also indicated in the title bar of Live's application window.
Next, we record another track into our Project. We save the modi ed version of the LiveSet under a new name so that we do not lose the previous version. Accepting the Save As
command's default suggestion, we store the new version of the song in the Tango Project
folder.

A Second Version of theLive Set Has Been
Added to the Project.

The Tango Project now contains two Live Sets, and its Samples/Recorded folder contains
the samples used by both of them.
And now for something completely different: We choose the File menu's New command
and record a samba tune. As this has nothing to do with our tango dabblings, we decide

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

55

to save it outside the Tango Project folder, say on the Desktop. Live creates a new project
folder named Samba Project next to Tango Project.

A New Project Was
Added Next to Tango
Project.

So far we have seen how to create Live Projects and save versions of Live Sets into them.
How do we open a Project? Simply by opening any of its contained Live Sets. Doubleclicking Tango with Piano.als opens that Set and the associated Project as displayed inLive's title bar.
Let's suppose that, in the course of our work on Tango with Piano.als, we get sidetracked:
The piece evolves towards something entirely different, and we feel that it should live in a
Project of its own. So, we Save As... under a new name and in some location outside thecurrent Project, say the Desktop:

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

56

A New Project Was
Added by Saving a LiveSet Outside its Original
Project.

Note that the new project folder has no Samples folder (yet). Electro with Piano.als is
still referencing the piano sample from the original Tango Project. There is nothing wrong
with this except for when the Tango Project is moved away or deleted; then Tango with
Piano.als will be missing samples. You can prevent this by collecting samples. Even after
the fact, Live's tools for searching missing samples can help solve this problem.
There is actually no need to keep a Project's Live Set exactly one level below the Project
itself. Within a project folder, you can create any number of sub-folders and move lesaround to organize them as desired, although you many need to use the File Manager toteach the Project about the changes you've made.
In general, Live will do what it can to prevent situations such as orphaned (Project-less) Live
Sets (and Live Clips and presets), which have the potential of confusing both the user andLive's le management tools. It cannot, however, control situations in which Sets or les are
moved out of order and become disorganized via the Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac).
A note for users of older Live versions: Live 7 does not allow overwriting Live Sets that werecreated by older versions to prevent compatibility problems. Instead, you will be requested
to Save As... . Doing this will insure that the newly saved Live Sets reside in project folders.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

5.6.2

57

Projects and Presets

By default, new instrument and effect presets are stored in the Live Library, making themavailable to any project. At times however, it may make more sense to save a preset withthe current Project. You might, for example, want to keep a number of alternative masterEQ settings for a given piece. These EQ presets are speci c to the piece and of little use
to other Projects. For this reason, every device in the Device Browser has a Current Projectsub-folder. You can drag a preset to this folder after saving it, or simply drag the title bar ofthe device and drop it there directly.

Project-Speci c Presets
Appear Under Current
Project in the Device
Browser.

5.6.3

Managing Files in a Project

Live's File Manager offers several convenient tools for managing Projects. Once you've
opened a Live Set that is part of the Project you wish to manage, choose the Manage Files
command from the File menu, and then click the Manage Project button. The File Manager
will present you with an overview of the Project's contents and tools for:
 locating samples that the Project is missing; collecting external samples into the Project;

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

58

 listing unused samples in the Project; packing a Project in Live Pack format;
 exporting the Project's contents to the Library.

5.7

The Live Library

The Live Library acts as a repository of commonly used les, such as samples, clips and Live
Device Presets, that are available to all Live Projects. In Live's File Browsers, the Library isaccessible through a bookmark:Choosing the Library
Bookmark.

Clips can be conveniently saved in Live Clip format for later reuse by dragging them fromthe open Live Set into the desired folder in the Library. Device presets are saved in the
Library by default (but you can also save them with a Project).
Ableton delivers Library content that can serve as a starting point for creative exploration.
Content is shipped in the form of Factory Live Packs. Factory Live Packs are available frominstallation CDs, DVDs or the Ableton website2 . To install a Factory Live Pack in the Library,
double-click the Live Pack le (.alp), drag it into the Live main window, or locate it via theFile menu's Install Live Pack command.
A list of the currently installed Factory Live Packs is available from the Preferences' Live Packs
tab. Here you can select individual Live Packs from the list and click the Uninstall button toremove them.
2 http://www.ableton.com/downloads

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS59

By default, the Live 7 Library contains the following sub-folders: Ableton Project Info contains les that Live uses to identify the Library as a Project,which allows it to be manageable using the File Manager. It also contains logs thatkeep track of what Live Packs have been installed.
 Clipscontains the Live Clips that are installed as part of the Live 7 Basics pack.

 Defaults presets placed into the default device folders will load in place of Live's
generic device settings. Additionally, the Defaults folder contains special folders
corresponding to user actions such as sample dropping. Presets placed in thesefolders de ne what Live will do when you perform the action.
 Lessons all of Live's built-in lessons, as well as any additional images and Live Sets
that the lessons refer to. You should not change anything in this sub-folder.
 Presetscontains all of the factory presets for Live's devices.

 Samples

contains all of the samples that are used by Live's presets.

 Setsall of the demo songs and the samples that are used by them.

After you've been using Live for a while, you'll probably nd that there are additional
folders in your Library. This is normal. Installing Live Packs, recording your own samples, or
performing other common procedures will change the folder structure over time.

5.7.1

Changing the Library Location, Upgrading an Old Library

The Library can reside in the hard drive location of your choice. In the Preferences'
File/Folder tab, you will nd the Library Location chooser, which contains a list of Librarylocations that you've used in the past:CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

60

The Library Location
Chooser.

If any of these previous Library locations are now unavailable (perhaps because of an
unattached external drive, a moved or renamed folder, or an angry roommate) these willappear greyed-out in the list. If you know that these unavailable locations are gone forgood, you can remove them by using the Clear Unavailable Locations option at the bottomof the chooser:

Unavailable Library
Locations can be
Cleared from the List.

You can also use the Browse button next to this chooser to create a new Library by pointing
to an empty folder or creating a new one. Once you've selected a Library path, one ofseveral possibilities will occur, depending on the new location:
 If the target location is an empty folder on a different hard drive, you will be given theoption to copy your current Library to this new location. Live will then offer to open a
Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac) window so that you can delete the Library from theold location.
 If the target location is an empty folder on the same hard drive, you will be given theoption to move your current Library to this new location.
 If the target location is not empty but does not contain a Library, Live will create asubfolder called Library at this location, and then offer to copy/move the old LibraryCHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

61

contents.
In all three of these cases, you may also choose to create a new Library, without copying
or moving any content from the previous location. Live will then offer to install any default
packages to the new location.
 If the target location is a Library that was made with an older version of Live, you will
be warned about possible compatibility issues. It is generally not a good idea to try
to share a single Library between two different versions of Live.

Note: Live will not allow you to create a Library inside an existing Project.

5.7.2

Importing Projects into the Library

You can merge the contents of a Live Project into the Library to make them available to any
Project. To do this,(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on a Project folder in the File Browser andselect the Manage Project command.

5.8

Locating Missing Samples

If you load a Live Set, Live Clip or preset that references samples which are missing from theirreferenced locations, Live's Status Bar (located at the bottom of the main screen) will display
a warning message. Clips and instrument sample slots that reference missing samples willappear marked Of ine, and Live will play silence instead of the missing samples.
Live's File Manager offers tools for repairing these missing links. Click on the Status Bar
message to access these. (This is actually a shortcut for choosing the Manage Files commandfrom the File menu, clicking the Manage Set button, and then clicking the Locate button
found in the Missing Files section.) The File Manager will present you with a list of themissing les and associated controls.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

62

The File Manager's Listof Missing Samples.

5.8.1

Manual Repair

To manually x a broken sample reference, locate the missing sample in the File Browser,drag it over to the File Manager and drop it on the respective line in the list of missing les.
Note that Live will not care if the sample you offer is really the sample that was missing.

5.8.2

Automatic Repair

Live offers a convenient automatic search function for repairing sample references. To send
Live on a search, click the Automatic Search section's Go button. To reveal detailed options
for guiding the automatic search function, click the neighboring triangular-shaped button.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

63

Automatic Repair
Options in the FileManager.

 Search Folder includes a user-de ned folder, as well as any sub-folders, in the search.
To select the folder, click the associated Set Folder button.
 Search Project

includes this Set's project folder in the search.

 Search Library

includes the Live Library in the search.

For each missing sample, the automatic search function may nd any number of candidates.
Let's consider the following cases: No candidate foundsample manually.

you can choose another folder and try again, or locate the One candidate foundLive accepts the candidate and considers the problem solved.

 Several candidates found Live requires your assistance: Click the Hot-Swap button(i.e., the leftmost item in every line of the list of missing samples) to have the FileBrowser present the candidates in Hot-Swap Mode. You can now double-click the
candidates in the File Browser to load them, as the music plays if you like.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

5.9

64

Collecting External Samples

To prevent a Live Set from containing broken sample references, Live provides the optionof collecting (i.e., copying) them into the Set's project folder. This is accomplished via theFile Manager: Choose the Manage Files command from the File menu
 Click the Manage Set button Unfold the triangular-shaped fold button in the External Samples section.

Options for Collecting
External Samples.

65

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

Separated by location (the Library, installed by factory Live Packs, other Projects and elsewhere sample collections from external drives, for example), the File Manager provides: A sample count and the associated disk space used; A Show button that will list the samples in the File Browser;
 A Yes/No toggle for engaging or disengaging collection.

Note: Make sure to con rm your choices by clicking the File Manager's Collect and Save
button!
The File Manager'sCollect and Save Button.

The File menu's Collect All and Save command is a shortcut that collects and saves all
external samples referenced by the current Set, including those from the Library. Note that
this can cause a lot of copying, especially if your Live Set uses large multisample collections!

5.10

Aggregated Locating and Collecting

Instead of having to deal with problems while you are in a creative mode, you might preferputting aside some dedicated housekeeping time to solve all the problems in one go. Using
Live's File Manager, you can nd missing samples and collect external samples not only forthe current Live Set but also for:
 The Library choose the Manage Files command from the File menu; then click theManage Library button.
 The current Live Project choose the Manage Files command from the File menu;
then click the Manage Project button.
 Any Live Project(PC) / Ctrl
choose the Manage Project option.

(Mac) on a Project in the Live Browser, and All Projects found in a speci c folder (and its sub-folders)(PC) / Ctrl
on a folder in the File Browser, and choose the Manage Projects command.

(Mac)CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

66

 Any selection of Live Sets, Live Clips, Live Presets(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on therespective items in the File Browser, and choose the Manage Files command.

Remember to click the Collect and Save button at the bottom of the File Manager when
you are nished. Otherwise your changes will be discarded.

5.11

Finding Unused Samples

Live's File Manager can nd the unused samples in a Project for you. You can then review
them and decide to delete them individually or collectively. When searching for unused
samples, Live will inspect each sample in a project folder, checking if it is referenced by anyof the Live Sets, Live Clips or device presets in the Project. If not, the sample is regarded asunused even if other Projects or programs still use it.
To nd the unused samples for the currently open Project, choose the Manage Files command from the File menu, click the Manage Project button, and then click on the triangularshaped fold button next to Unused Samples to access a summary and the Show button.
Clicking the Show button makes the File Browser list the unused samples; there, you canpreview the samples and delete them if you like.
Note you can also nd the unused samples from the Library: choose the Manage Files
command from the File menu, then click the Manage Library button, and then see theUnused Samples section.
Last but not least, you can nd the unused samples for all Projects found in a speci c folder(and its sub-folders):(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on a folder in the File Browser and choose
the Manage Projects command, then see the Unused Samples section. Live inspects each
Project individually and labels a sample unused even if another Projects in the same folder
does use that sample. To prevent losses, you may want to rst collect the samples into theirrespective Projects and then purge the Projects of unused samples.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

5.12

67

Packing Projects into Live Packs

Live's File Manager provides the option of packing a Live Project in Live Pack format for
convenient archiving and transfer. To do this, choose the Manage Files command from theFile menu, click the Manage Project button, and then click on the triangular-shaped foldbutton next to Packing. Click the Create Live Pack button to bring up a le-select dialog
where you can specify the name and location of a new Live Pack le. Creating a new Live
Pack from a Project does not affect the Project. If you want the Project deleted, you candelete it using the File Browser.
Live employs lossless compression techniques to minimize the le size of Live Packs. Depending on the audio materials in a Project, this saves up to 50 percent in le size.
To unpack a Live Pack (i.e., to restore the original Live Project), double-click the Live Packle (.alp), drag it into the Live main window, or locate it via the File menu's Install Live Pack
command. Live will then request that you choose a location for the new Project. Note:
Factory Live Packs (those provided by Ableton) will automatically be installed in the Live
Library.

5.13

File Management FAQs

5.13.1

How Do I Create a Project?

A Project is automatically created whenever you save a Live Set, except when you save it into
the Library or a preexisting Project. You can also manually create a Project by clicking(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) in the Browser and selecting Create Project from the context menu.

5.13.2

How Can I Save Presets Into My Current Project?

As long as you're working in a Project (meaning that you've saved your current Live Set),
every device in the Device Browser will show a Current Project sub-folder. You can copy
presets from other Browser locations to the current project by Ctrl
(PC) / Alt(Mac)dragging them. You can also save presets directly to the current project by dragging fromCHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

68

the device's title bar and dropping into the Current Project. You can then use the FileManagement tools, collect any referenced samples, etc.

5.13.3

Can I Work On Multiple Versions of a Set?

If you'd like to work on different versions of the same Live Set, save them into the same
Project. This will usually be the Project that was created when you saved the rst versionof the Live Set. If a Project contains multiple Live Sets it will only collect one copy of any
samples used by the various versions, which can save disk space and help with organization.

5.13.4

Where Should I Save My Live Sets?

You can save Live Sets anywhere you want, but saving to the Library or pre-existing Project
folders can cause problems, and should be reserved for special cases. You should only save
Live Sets in the Library if you intend to use them as templates for other Live Sets. Likewise,
you should only save a Live Set to an existing Project if it is somehow related to the Project
for example, an alternate version of a song that's already in the Project.

5.13.5

Where Should I Save My Live Clips?

If you'd like to have your Live Clips available in all of your Projects, create a Library sub-folder
and save your clips there. You can also save clips anywhere else on your computer.

5.13.6Can I Use My Own Folder Structure Within a Project Folder?

You can organize your les any way you want within a Project, but you'll need to use the FileManager to relink the les that you've moved around:1) In Live's Browser or via your operating system, reorganize the les and folders
within your Project folder.

CHAPTER 5. MANAGING FILES AND SETS

692) Navigate to the Project folder in the Browser and choose Manage Project via the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu.
3) If you've changed the original location of any samples used in the Project, theMissing Samples section of the File Manager will indicate this. Click the Locate
button to search for the samples.
4) Since you know that your samples are all in the Project folder, unfold Automatic
Search. Then enable the Search Project and Fully Rescan Folders options. Finally,
click Go to initiate the search.
5) When searching is complete, click Collect and Save at the bottom of the FileManager to update the Project.

5.13.7

How Do I Export A Project to the Library and Maintain My Own
Folder Structure?

If you export a Project to the Library, Live will look in the Library to see if the folder names
there match those in your Project, and will create any missing folders as necessary. For
example, if your Project folder contains samples in Samples/My Samples, Live will look in
the Library for a Samples folder (which it will nd, because it's part of the standard Library)
and then for a My Samples sub-folder (which it will not nd, but will then create).

70

Chapter 6

Arrangement View
The Arrangement View displays the Arrangement, which contains music laid out along asong timeline, like a multitrack tape.

A Piece of Music in the
Arrangement View.

The Arrangement View is a powerful editing tool that easily lets you combine and arrange
MIDI, loops, sound effects and complete pieces of music.

71

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

6.1

Navigation

Live offers several fast methods for zooming and scrolling the Arrangement display:
6

1

2

3

4

5

Navigating the
Arrangement View.

1. To smoothly change the zoom level, click and drag vertically in the beat-timeruler at the top of the Arrangement View (you can also drag horizontally to scroll
the display).
2. To zoom in and out around the current selection, use the computer keyboard's +Altand - keys. To pan the display, click and drag while holding the Ctrl
Alt(PC) /(Mac) modi er.
3. The Arrangement Overview is like a bird's-eye view of your music. It always
shows the complete piece, from start to end. The black rectangular outline represents the part of the Arrangement that is currently displayed in the Arrangement
display below. To scroll the display, click within the outline and drag left or right;
to zoom out and in, drag up and down.
4. To change the displayed part of the Arrangement, drag the outline's left andright edges.
5. To see a speci c part of the Arrangement in more detail, click on it in the Overview
and drag downwards to zoom in around that part. Note that you can also dragCHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

72

horizontally to scroll the display. Using this method, you can zoom and scroll tofocus around any part of the Arrangement with just one mouse motion.
6. To have the Arrangement display follow the song position and scroll automatically, turn on the Follow switch, or use the Follow command from the Options
menu.

6.2

Transport

There are a number of ways to control Live's transport with the computer keyboard andmouse:
1. You can start Arrangement playback by clicking the Control Bar's Play button,and stop playback by clicking the Stop button. Arrangement playback can also
be toggled on and off by pressing the keyboard's space bar.

The Play and Stop
Buttons in the Control
Bar.

2. You can set the Arrangement playback position by clicking anywhere along the
Arrangement to place the ashing insert marker. Double-clicking the Stop button
will return the Arrangement play position to 1.1.1.

Arrangement Playback
Begins from the Insert
Marker.

To continue playback from the position where it last stopped, rather than fromthe insert marker, hold down themodi er while pressing the space bar.
3. Clicking in the scrub area above the tracks will make playback jump to that point.
The size of these jumps is quantized according to the Control Bar's Quantization
menu setting. While the mouse is held down over the scrub area, a portion of

73

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

the Arrangement the size of the chosen quantization setting will be repeatedly
played. With small quantization settings, or a setting of None, this allows you
to scrub through the music.

Scrubbing Arrangement
Playback.

4. The song position can be adjusted numerically using the Control Bar's Arrangement Position elds.

The Arrangement Position elds show the song position in bars-beats-sixteenths.
To change the values: Click and drag up or down in any of these elds.
 Click and type a number, then hit Return .
 Click and decrement or increment the value withand.

5. Arrangement playback can be started at a particular point in one of your clips
using the scrub area in the Clip View.
6. Several Arrangement playback positions can be set using launchable locators.
Note that any computer keyboard key or MIDI message can be mapped to the transport
controls, as described in the respective chapter.

Setting the Play Positionin the Arrangement
Position Fields.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

6.3

74

Launching the Arrangement with Locators

Using Locators to
Launch Play in the
Arrangement.

Locators can be set at any point in the Arrangement. This can be done in real time during
playback or recording with the Set Locator button, and will be quantized according to theglobal quantization value set in the Control Bar. Clicking the Set Locator button when the
Arrangement is not playing will create a locator at the insert marker or selection start. You
can also create a locator using the context menu in the scrub area above the tracks or via theInsert menu. Note that the position of a new locator is quantized according to the Control
Bar's Quantization menu setting.

The Locator Controls.

You can recall (jump to) locators by clicking on them, or with the Previous and Next Locatorbuttons on either side of the Set button. Locators can also be recalled using MIDI/key
mapping. Note that locator recall is subject to quantization. Double-clicking a locator will
select it and start Arrangement playback from that point.
After jumping to the rst or last locator in the Arrangement, the Previous and Next Locatorbuttons will jump to the Arrangement start or end, respectively.
Locators can be moved by clicking and dragging, or with the arrow keys on your computer
keyboard.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

75

To name a locator, select it by clicking its triangular marker, and choose the Rename Edit
R (PC) /R (Mac) shortcut). You can also enter
menu command (or use the Ctrl
your own info text for a locator via the Edit Info Text command in the Edit menu or in
the locator's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu. Locators can be removed with yourcomputer'sor Delete key, the Insert menu, or the Delete Locator button.
(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu offers a quick way of looping
Note that the locator
playback between two locators with its Loop To Next Locator command.
The locator(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu's Set Song Start Time Here command
can be used to overrule the default play starts at selection rule: when this command ischecked, play starts at the locator.

6.4

Time Signature Changes

Time Signature
Changes.

Live's time signature can be changed at any point in the Arrangement by using time signature
markers. These can be added at the locator position via the Insert menu, or anywhere in(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu. Time signature markers
the scrub area using theappear just below the beat time ruler, but this marker area is hidden if a set contains nometer changes, freeing up additional space at the top of the scrub area.
In many ways, time signature markers look and function like locators; they can be moved withthe mouse or with your computer keyboard's arrow keys, and their value can be changed
R (PC) /R (Mac)using the Edit menu's Edit Value command (or with the Ctrl
shortcut). They can be also be deleted using theor Delete key, or via deletecommands in the Edit and Insert menus.
The time signature marker(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu offers a number offeatures, including a Delete All Time Signature Changes command and options to loop or

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

76

select the area up to the next time signature marker.
Any time signature with a one- or two-digit numerator and a denominator of 1, 2, 4, 8 or
16 can be used as a time signature marker value. The numbers must be separated by adelimiter such as a slash, comma, period, or any number of spaces. These marker values
can also be set by adjusting the time signature elds in the Control Bar, either by typing
in values or dragging the numerator and denominator sliders. This will change the time
signature marker value at the current play location, and works either with the transport
stopped or during playback. When the Arrangement contains time signature changes, thetime signature editor displays an automation LED in the upper left corner.
The Time Signature
Editor Can Change Time
Signature Marker Values,and Shows an
Automation LED.

Time signature markers are not quantized; they may be placed anywhere in the timeline,
and their positioning is only constrained by the editing grid. This means that it is possible
to place meter changes in impossible places - such as before the end of the previous
measure. This creates a fragmentary bar, which is represented in the scrub area by acrosshatched region. Live is happy to leave these incomplete measures as they are, but if(PC) /
you'd like your Set to conform to the rules of music theory, you can use the two
Ctrl(Mac) context menu options to correct incomplete bars.

A Fragmentary Bar and
its Resolution Options.

 Delete Fragmentary Bar Time deletes the duration of the fragmentary bar from the
Arrangement, thereby moving any audio or MIDI on either side of the deleted area
closer together in the timeline. The next time signature marker will now fall on alegal barline.
 Complete Fragmentary Bar inserts time at the beginning of the fragmentary bar, sothat it becomes complete. The next time signature marker will now fall on a legalbarline.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

77

Please note that these resolution options affect all tracks - deleting and inserting timechanges the length of the entire Arrangement.
If you import a MIDI le into the Arrangement, you'll be given an option to import any
time signature information that was saved with the le. If you choose to do this, Live willautomatically create time signature markers in the correct places. This makes it very easy towork with complex music created in other sequencer or notation software.

6.5

The Arrangement Loop
The Control Bar's Loop
Switch.

For Live to repeatedly play a section of the Arrangement, activate the Arrangement loop by
clicking on the Control Bar's Loop switch.

The Loop Start Fields(Left) and the Loop
Length Fields (Right).

You can set loop length numerically using the Control Bar elds: The left-hand set of elds
determines the loop start position, while the right-hand set determines loop length.
The Edit menu's Loop Selection command accomplishes all of the above at once: It turns
the Arrangement loop on and sets the Arrangement loop brace to whatever timespan isselected in the Arrangement.

The Arrangement's Loop
Brace.

The loop brace can be selected with the mouse and manipulated with commands from thecomputer keyboard:

78

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEWandnudge the loop brace to the left/right by the current grid setting.

andshift the loop brace left/right in steps the size of its length.

 The Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er used with the arrow left and right keys shortensor lengthens the loop by the current grid setting.
 The Ctrl
(PC) /
halves the loop length.

(Mac) modi er with the arrow up and down keys doubles or

You can also drag the Arrangement's loop brace: Dragging the left and right ends sets theloop start and end points; dragging between the ends moves the loop without changing its
length.
The loop's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu's Set Song Start Time Here command
can be used to overrule the default play starts at selection rule: when this command ischecked, play starts at the loop start.

6.6

Moving and Resizing Clips

A piece of audio or MIDI is represented in the Arrangement View by a clip sitting at somesong position in one of Live's tracks.

Moving a Clip.

Dragging a clip moves it to another song position or track.

Changing a Clip's
Length.

Dragging a clip's left or right edge changes the clip's length.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

6.7

79

Selecting Clips and TimeWith the exception of moving and resizing clips, Arrangement editing in Live is selectionbased: You select something using the mouse, then execute a menu command (e.g., Cut,
Copy, Paste, Duplicate) on the selection. This editing method lends itself to an ef cientdivision of labor between the two hands: One hand operates the mouse or trackpad, while
the other hand issues the keyboard shortcuts for the menu commands. The menu eventuallyis only used as a reference for looking up the keyboard shortcuts.
Here is how selection works:
 Clicking a clip selects the clip;
 Clicking into the Arrangement background selects a point in time, represented by aashing insert mark; Clicking and dragging selects a timespan.
 To access the time within a clip for editing, unfold its track by clicking thenext to the track name.

buttonAdjusting an Unfolded
Track's Height.

Notice that you can adjust the height of the unfolded track by dragging the split line
below the Unfold Track button. Clicking and dragging in the waveform display below
the clip's horizontal strip allows you to select time within the clip. Note that you can(PC) / Altactually unfold all of your tracks at once by holding down the Alt(Mac) modi er when clicking the
button.
 Clicking on the loop brace is a shortcut for executing the Edit menu's Select Loopcommand, which selects all material included within the loop.
 Holding
tracks.

while clicking extends an existing selection in the same track or across

80

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

Clicking the Loop Braceto Select the Loop for
Editing.

6.8

Using the Editing Grid

To ease editing, the cursor will snap to grid lines that represent the meter subdivisions of
the song tempo. The grid can be set to be either zoom-adaptive or xed.
You can set the width of both zoom-adaptive and xed grid lines using the(PC) /
Ctrl(Mac) context menu available in either the Arrangement View track area or the
Clip View display.
The following shortcuts to Options menu commands allow quickly working with the grid:1 (PC) /1 (Mac) to narrow the grid, doubling the density of the Use Ctrl
grid lines (e.g., from eighth notes to sixteenth notes).
2 (PC) /2 (Mac) to widen the grid, halving the density of the grid
 Use Ctrl
lines (e.g., from eighth notes to quarter notes).
3 (PC) /3 (Mac) to toggle triplets mode; this would, for instance, Use Ctrlchange the grid from eighth notes to eighth note triplets.
4 (PC) /4 (Mac) to turn grid snapping on or off. When the grid is Use Ctrl
off, the cursor does not snap to meter subdivisions.

 Use

Ctrl

5

(PC) /

5(Mac) to toggle xed and adaptive grid modes.

The current spacing between adjacent grid lines is displayed in the lower right corner of the
Arrangement View or Clip View.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

6.9

81

Using the ...Time Commands

Whereas the standard commands like Cut, Copy and Paste only affect the current selection,
their ... Time counterparts act upon all tracks by inserting and deleting time. Any time
signature markers within the selected region will also be affected.
 Cut Time cuts a selection of time from the Arrangement, thereby moving any audio
or MIDI on either side of the cut area closer together in the timeline. This command
reduces the length of your Arrangement by whatever amount of time you have cut.
Note that the Cut Time command affects all tracks, not only the selected ones.

A Gap Between Clips
Has Been Deleted byFirst Selecting It, Then
Executing the Delete
Time Command.

 Paste Time places copied time into the Arrangement, thereby increasing its overall
duration by the length of time you have copied.
 Duplicate Time places a copy of the selected timespan into the Arrangement, thereby
increasing its overall duration by the length of the selection.
 Delete Time deletes a selection of time from the Arrangement, thereby moving any
audio or MIDI on either side of the deleted area closer together in the timeline. This
command reduces the length of your Arrangement by the amount of time you havedeleted. Note that the Delete Time command affects all tracks, not only the selectedones.
 Insert Silence inserts as much empty time as is currently selected into the Arrangement,
before the selection.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

6.10

82

Splitting Clips

The Split command can divide a clip or isolate part of it.
To split a clip in two halves, do the following:
1. Unfold the track;
2. In the waveform or MIDI display, click at the position where you want the clip tobe split;
3. Execute the Split command.
To isolate a part of a clip, do the following:
1. Unfold the track;
2. In the waveform or MIDI display, drag a selection over the part of the clip you
want to isolate;
3. Execute the Split command to divide the original clip into three pieces.

The Result of Splitting a
Clip.

6.11

Consolidating Clips

The Consolidate command replaces the material in the Arrangement View selection with
one new clip per track. This is very useful for creating structure.

CHAPTER 6. ARRANGEMENT VIEW

83

Consolidating Several
Clips Into a New Clip.

Suppose you have, by editing or improvising, come up with a layout of clips that soundgood in Arrangement Loop mode. Selecting that part of the Arrangement, for instance byusing the Edit menu's Select Loop command, and then executing the Consolidate command
creates a new clip that can be treated as a loop. You can now, for instance, drag the clip
edges to create more repetitions. You might also want to drag the new loop via the Session
View selector into a Session View slot for real-time arrangement purposes.
When operating on audio clips, Consolidate actually creates a new sample for every trackin the selection. The new samples are essentially recordings of the time-warping engine's
audio output, prior to processing in the track's effects chain and mixer. Hence, the new
sample incorporates the effects of in-clip attenuation, time-warping and pitch shifting, andof the respective clip envelopes; however, it does not incorporate the effects. To create a
new sample from the post-effects signal, please use the Export Audio command.
The new samples can be found in the current Set's Project folder, under Samples/Processed/
Consolidate. Until the Set is saved, they remain at the location speci ed by the Temporary
Folder.

84

Chapter 7

Session View
In Live's Arrangement View, as in all traditional sequencing programs, everything happens
along a xed song timeline. For a number of applications, this is a limiting paradigm:
 When playing live, or when DJing, the order of pieces, the length of each piece andthe order of parts within each piece is generally not known in advance.
 In the theatre, sound has to react to what happens on stage.
 When working along with a piece of music or a lm score, it can be more ef cient andinspirational to start with an improvisation, which is later re ned into the nal product.

This is exactly what Live's unique Session View is for.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

7.1

85

Session View Clips

The Controls for a
Session View Clip.

1. Each clip in the Session View has a triangular button at the left edge. Click the
button with the mouse to launch clip playback at any time, or pre-select aclip by clicking on its name, and launch it using the computer's Return key. You
can then move on to the neighboring clips using the arrow keys. Please refer
the manual section on clip launch settings for details on how to customize thisbehavior.
2. Click on a square Clip Stop button to stop a running clip, either in one of the
track's slots, or in the Track Status eld below the Session grid.
Clips can be controlled remotely with the computer keyboard or a MIDI controller. They caneven be mapped to MIDI note ranges so that they play chromatically.
Clips can be played at any time and in any order. The layout of clips does not predetermine
their temporal succession; the Session grid offers random access to the clips it contains.
Notice that, even if you stop playback for a Session View clip, the Play button in the Control
Bar will remain highlighted, and the Arrangement Position elds will continue running.
These elds keep a continuous ow of musical time going, so that you can always know yourposition in song time during a live performance or while recording into the Arrangement,
regardless of what your individual Session clips are doing.
You can always return the Arrangement Position elds to 1.1.1 and stop playback for theentire Live Set by pressing the Control Bar's Stop button twice.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

86
The Arrangement
Position Fields and theStop Button.

7.2

Tracks and Scenes

Each vertical column, or track, can play only one clip at a time. It therefore makes sense to
put a set of clips that are supposed to be played alternatively in the same columns: parts ofa song, variations of a drum loop, etc.

Resized Session View
Tracks.

For convenient access to more clips at once, you can resize Session View tracks by clicking
and dragging at the edges of their title bars. Tracks can be narrowed this way so that only
Clip Launch buttons and essential track controls are visibile.

A Scene in the Session
View.

The horizontal rows are called scenes. The Scene Launch buttons are located in the rightmost
column, which represents the Master track. To launch every clip in a row simultaneously,
click on the associated Scene Launch button. This can be very useful in organizing the live
performance of a song with multiple parts.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

87

The scene below a launched scene will automatically be selected as the next to be launchedunless the Select Next Scene on Launch option in the Launch Preferences is set to Off.
This allows you to trigger scenes from top to bottom without having to select them rst.
Computer keys or a MIDI controller can be used to launch scenes and scroll between them.
Scenes can be renamed using the Rename command in the Edit menu or the(PC) /
Ctrl(Mac) context menu. One can quickly rename several scenes by executing theRename command and using the computer's Tab key to move from one scene to the next.
You can also enter your own info text for a scene via the Edit Info Text command in the Editmenu or in the scene's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu.
Scene names can be both descriptive and functional; if Live detects a viable tempo and/ortime signature as part of a scene name, the project will automatically adjust to these parameters when the scene is launched. To assign a tempo to a scene, select the scene andrename it with a viable tempo (e.g., 96 BPM ). Any tempo can be used, as long as it iswithin the range allowed by Live's Tempo control (20 999 BPM). To assign a time signature
to a scene, rename the scene with a meter in the form of x/y (e.g., 4/4 ). Any time
signature can be used, provided it has a numerator between 1 and 99 and a denominatorwith a beat value of 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16.
Tempo and time signature changes can coexist within a single scene name, and can appear
in any position as long as they are separated from each other by at least one character. For
example, 2/4+108 BPM , 72 BPM;7/8 and 60 BPM Chorus 3/4 are all scene namesthat will cause simultaneous meter and tempo changes.

These Scenes Will
Change the Tempo andTime Signature.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

7.3

88

The Track Status Fields

You can tell a track's status by looking at the Track Status eld just above the active track's
mixer controls:
A Track Playing a
Looping Session Clip...

The pie-chart icon represents a looping Session clip. The number to the right of the circle
is the loop length in beats, and the number at the left represents how many times the loop
has been played since its launch.

... A One-shot Session
Clip...

The progress-bar icon represents a one-shot (non-looping) Session clip. The value displays
the remaining play time in minutes:seconds.

... Monitoring the
Input...

A microphone icon appears in an audio track that is set to monitor its input. A keyboard
icon appears in a MIDI track under these same circumstances.

... Playing the
Arrangement.

If the track is playing clips from the Arrangement, a miniature display representing the
Arrangement clips being played appears.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

7.4

89

Setting Up the Session View Grid

Clips arrive in the Session View by being imported from the File Browsers or throughrecording.

Dropping Multiple Clips
Into the Session View.

If you are dragging multiple clips into the Session View, Live defaults to arrange themvertically, in one track. Hold down Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) prior to dropping them so as
to lay the clips out in one scene.
Clips can be moved around the Session grid by drag-and-drop. To move several clips- or Ctrl(PC) /(Mac)-modi er before
at once, select them by using the
dragging. You can also click into an empty slot and rubber-band select from there. Scenes
can be reordered by drag-and-drop as well.

7.4.1

Select on Launch

By default, clicking a Session View clip's Launch button also selects the clip, since you will
typically want the Clip View to show the newly launched clip. However, some power-users
don't want the current focus (e.g., a return track's devices) to disappear just because a clip
has been launched, especially when starting a clip in order to try it with the return trackdevice settings. Turn off the Select on Launch option from the Launch Preferences if you
prefer the view to remain as is when you launch clips or scenes.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

7.4.2

90

Removing Clip Stop Buttons

Slots Without Clip Stop
Buttons.

You can add and remove Clip Stop buttons from the grid using the Edit menu's Add/Remove
Stop Button command. This is useful for pre-con guring the scene launch behavior: If, forinstance, you don't want scene 3 to affect track 4, remove the scene 3/track 4 Stop button.

7.4.3

Editing Scenes

In addition to the standard Edit menu commands such as cut, copy, paste and duplicate,
there are two useful commands in the Insert menu that apply speci cally to scenes:
 Insert Scene inserts an empty scene below the current selection.
 Capture and Insert Scene inserts a new scene below the current selection, places
copies of the clips that are currently running in the new scene and launches the newscene immediately with no audible interruption. This command is very helpful whendeveloping materials in the Session View. You can capture an interesting moment as
a new scene and move on, changing clip properties and trying clip combinations.

Please note that the number of scenes is limited to eight in Live LE.

7.5

Recording Sessions into the Arrangement

Your Session View playing can be recorded into the Arrangement, allowing for an improvisational approach to composing songs and scores.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

91
The Control Bar's Record
Button.

When the Record button is on, Live logs all of your actions into the Arrangement: the clips launched; changes of those clips' properties;
 changes of the mixer and the devices' controls, also known as automation;
 tempos and time signature changes, if they are included in the names of launchedscenes.

To nish recording, press the Record button again, or stop playback.

The Arrangement
Selector.

To view the results of your recording, bring up the Arrangement View. As you can see, Livehas copied the clips you launched during recording into the Arrangement, in the appropriate
tracks and the correct song positions. Notice that your recording has not created new audio
data, only clips.
The Session clips and the Arrangement clips in one track are mutually exclusive: Only one
can play at a time. When a Session clip is launched, Live stops playing back the Arrangementin favor of the Session clip. Clicking a Clip Stop button causes the Arrangement playback
to stop, which produces silence.
The Back to
Arrangement Button.

Arrangement playback does not resume until you explicitly tell Live to resume by clicking
the Back to Arrangement button, which lights up to remind you that what you hear differsfrom the Arrangement.

CHAPTER 7. SESSION VIEW

92

The Stop All Clips
Button.

To disable all Arrangement clips simultaneously, click on the Stop All Clips button in the
Master Track Status eld. The clips in the Arrangement and in the Session View exist
independently from one another, which makes it easy to improvise into the Arrangement
over and over again until it's right.
Furthermore, you can move clips not only within the Session grid, but also from the Session
View to the Arrangement and vice versa by using Copy and Paste, or by dragging clips overtheorselectors.
When pasting material from the Arrangement into the Session View, Live attempts to preserve the temporal structure of the clips by laying them out in a matching top-to-bottom
order. Moving through the scenes from the top down, you can reconstruct the original arrangement. This is useful for taking a composed piece of music back to the improvisational
stage.

93

Chapter 8

Clip View
The Clip View is where clip properties can be set and adjusted.

The Clip View.

The Clip View is opened by clicking on the Clip Overview or double-clicking a clip in the
Session or Arrangement View.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

94

Clicking the Clip
Overview Opens the
Clip View.

In the Session View, clicking on a Track Status Field opens the Clip View for editing the clipthat is currently running in the track.
Clicking a Session View
Track Status Field Opens
the Clip View.

The properties of more than one clip can be edited collectively in the Clip View as a multiselection. To create a multi-selection, click and drag to highlight the clips, or select one clip
and use the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) ormodi ers to add to your selection. The
properties available in the Clip View for a multi-selection depend on the contents of theclips; generally only properties which the clips have in common are shown.

Creating a Clip
Multi-Selection.

Controls such as sliders and knobs behave slightly differently when they are part of a multiselection. If the clips in a multi-selection have differing values for any particular knob orslider parameter (clip transposition, for example), the range of these values will be displayedand can be adjusted with the control. Dragging the knob or slider to its absolute maximum
or minimum value will make the clips' settings thereafter identical, adjustable as a single
value.
MIDI clips and audio clips in Live have different sets of properties and, consequently, do
not share the same set of Clip View controls. The two types of clips do have the following

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

95

in common:
 The Clip box contains basic clip settings.
 The Envelopes box and the Envelope Editor manage the clip's envelopes, which areused to modulate the effects, mixer, and clip or MIDI controls. Clip envelopes andtheir associated Clip View components are covered in detail in a separate manual
chapter.
 The Launch box controls clip launch behavior and, as such, only appears for Session
View clips. Setting Session View clip launch properties is covered in detail in a separate
manual chapter.

Audio clips have these additional Clip View controls: The Sample Display toggles with the Envelope Editor on the right-hand side of theClip View, and controls Live's sample-warping capabilities and clip playback settings.
 The Sample box contains settings pertaining to how the clip plays its sample anddisplays it in the Sample Display.

The Clip View for an
Audio Clip.

MIDI clips have these additional Clip View controls: The MIDI Editor toggles with the Envelope Editor on the right-hand side of the Clip
View, and allows editing and creating MIDI notes and velocities.
 The Notes box contains settings pertaining to how Live plays a MIDI clip and what it
displays in the MIDI Editor.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

96

The Clip View for a MIDIClip.

To make best use of the screen real estate, you can show or hide the Launch, Envelopes,
and Sample or MIDI boxes using the Clip View Box selector in the Clips box. You can also
toggle between the Sample Display/MIDI Editor and the Envelope Editor by clicking in thetitle bars of the Sample/Notes box and the Envelopes box, respectively.

The Clip View Box
Selector Shows andHides Various Clip View
Components.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

8.1

97

The Clip Box

The Clip Box.

8.1.1

Clip Activator Switch

Using this switch, you can deactivate a clip so that it does not play when launched in the
Session View or during Arrangement playback. Clips can also be activated/deactivated(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context
directly from the Session or Arrangement View with theirmenus.

8.1.2

Clip Name and Color

The Clip Name eld allows naming the clip. By default, a clip's name matches the name of
the le it references but, in general, the clip name is independent from the le name.
You can also rename a clip by selecting it in the Session grid or Arrangement View andusing the Rename command in the Edit menu or the clip's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context
menu. This method also allows you to create your own info text for the clip via the Edit Info
Text command.
Renaming an audio clip does not rename the referenced sample le. To rename a le, selectit in Live's File Browsers, and then choose the Edit menu's Rename command.

98

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

The Clip Color chooser allows choosing a clip color.

8.1.3

Clip Signature

Using the Clip Signature elds, you can specify the time signature of a MIDI or audio
clip. This setting is relevant only for display; it does not affect playback. Please note that
Clip Signature is completely separate from the project's time signature, and can be set
independently for each clip. This makes it easy to create complex polymetric textures bysimultaneously triggering clips with different meters and/or loop lengths.

8.1.4

GrooveThe Clip Groove chooser selects the type of groove used for the clip.
example, applies an 8th-note groove.

Swing 8,for
The Control Bar's Global
Groove Control.

The Global Groove control de nes the amount of the groove for every clip in the Live Set.
So, how does it work? Imagine a simple one-bar MIDI clip that has a time signature of 4/4.
Our MIDI clip is made up of 8th notes eight of them that play either on or between eachof the four beats. With a Clip Groove setting of Swing 8, the timing of our one-bar clip
becomes a bit like a rubber-band that is pinned down at each beat but exible in between.
The 8th notes that fall between beats can shift slightly forward. With a Global Groove settingof 50, for example, the notes will wait until 2/3 of the way through the beat to play, where
an 8th-note triplet would normally fall.
16th- and 32nd-note swing works similarly, but on a smaller scale: Every other note shifts
forward, toward the nearest 16th- or 32nd-note triplet position.
Returning to our rubber-band analogy, we can see that Swing 8 can actually affect morethan just 8th notes. Actually, any notes that do not lie directly on a beat will be affected
when the rubber-band is stretched including 16th and 32nd notes. By the same token,
Swing 16 (where our rubber-band is anchored to positions just an 8th note apart) can affect32nd notes.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

99

Groove can be applied to both MIDI clips and audio clips. Applying groove to audio
clips does require that the Warp switch be activated and a Warp Mode other than Re-Pitch
selected. If an audio clip is in Beats Mode, the Transients setting must be greater than orequal to the Clip Groove chooser's swing setting (e.g., with a Transients setting of 1/16,
Swing 8 and Swing 16 can be used, but not Swing 32).
Because of this feature's dependency on note timing, we recommend that you quantize
MIDI clips prior to applying groove provided you want predictable results. For audio clips,
any swing contained within the original sample can be removed by appropriately setting
Warp Markers prior to applying the arti cial swing of the Groove setting.

8.1.5

Clip Offset and Nudging

To jump within a playing clip in increments the size of the global quantization period, you
can use the Nudge buttons in the Clip box.

Using the Nudge
Buttons to Jump
Through a Clip.

These buttons can also be mapped to keys or MIDI controllers. In MIDI Map Mode, a scrub
control will appear between the Nudge buttons and can be assigned to a rotary encoder
wheel for continuous scrubbing.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

100

The Scrub Control in
MIDI Map Mode.

With quantization set to values less than one bar, it is easy to offset clip playback from Live's
master clock by launching clips, using the Nudge buttons or scrubbing within the clip.

8.2

The Sample Box

8.2.1

Warp Controls

The Sample Box Warp
Controls.

When the Warp switch is off, Live plays the sample at its original, normal tempo, irrespective of the current Live Set tempo. This is useful for samples that have no inherent rhythmic
structure: percussion hits, atmospheres, sound effects, spoken word and the like. Turnthe Warp switch on to play rhythmically structured samples (such as sample loops, music
recordings, complete music pieces, etc.) in sync with the current song tempo.
The Control Bar's Tempo
Field.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

101

To verify this, note that a warped sample's speed follows the tempo as you change theControl Bar's Tempo control.
Live offers a number of controls to adjust the time-warping engine for optimal stretchingquality. For accurate warping, Live needs to know the sample's metrical structure. For
properly prepared loops, tempo and duration are calculated automatically; most of the time
this is accurate enough that the sample is immediately ready for use in Live. For othersamples, you may have to provide some hints. We will examine these topics thoroughly in
the Tempo Control and Warping chapter.

8.2.2

Sample Loop/Region and Display

Zooming and Scrolling

The Clip Zoom/Scroll
Area.

Zooming and scrolling in the Sample Display work much like they do in the Arrangement
View. Using the zoom/scroll area in the top half of the waveform, you can click and dragvertically to smoothly change the zoom level, and horizontally to scroll the display.

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102

The Clip Overview.

The Clip Overview provides additional zoom/scrolling functionality. It always shows thecomplete clip, from start to end. The black rectangular outline represents the part of theclip that is currently displayed. You can click within the outline and drag horizontally or
vertically to scroll or zoom.
To have the Sample Display follow the play position and scroll automatically, turn on the
Follow switch, or use the Follow command from the Options menu.
The Follow Switch.

Playing and Scrubbing Clips
The section of the sample that plays when a clip is launched is set with the clip's region andloop controls. An unlooped clip will play from its start marker to its end marker or until it isstopped.

The Clip Start and End
Markers.

These markers can be clicked and dragged to new positions in the Sample Display, or they
can be moved with theandkeys. To move the entire clip region (i.e., both the start

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CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

and end markers), select the start marker, hold down

, and use the arrow keys.

Using Clip Start and End
Controls to Change Clip
Length.

You can also adjust the clip start and end numerically using the respective value elds tothe left of the Sample Display. For warped clips, these elds display values as bars-beatssixteenths; for unwarped clips, the display is in minutes-seconds-milliseconds. Notice thatyou can use the Set buttons here to place the markers during playback. Setting markers thisway is quantized according to global quantization.
Clicking in the scrub area in the lower half of the waveform or above the beat-time ruler will
make clip playback jump to that point.

The Clip Scrub Area.

The size of this jump is quantized by the global quantization setting, which can be quickly
6 (PC) /6 (Mac), 7 , 8 , 9 and 0 shortcuts. Whilechanged using the Ctrl

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CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

the mouse is held down over the scrub area, a portion of the clip the size of the chosen
quantization setting will be repeatedly played. With small quantization settings, or a settingof None, this allows you to scrub through the music.
Looping Clips
To have the clip play as a (potentially in nite) loop, turn on the Loop switch. Note that
the Warp switch must be activated before the Loop switch is accessible, as unwarped clips
cannot be looped.
You can click and drag to change the position and length of the loop brace in the Sample
Display, or you can type exact values into the Loop Length and Position elds to the left ofthe display.

The Clip Loop Controls.

The loop brace can be selected with the mouse and its position changed with commands
from the computer keyboard:andnudge the loop brace to the left/right by the current grid setting.

andshift the loop brace left/right in steps the size of its length.

Ctrl(PC) /
current grid setting.



Ctrl

(PC) /(Mac) shortens or lengthens the loop brace by the(Mac) doubles or halves the loop length.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

105

Regardless of the position of the loop brace, clip play upon launch will begin at the position
marked by the start marker, which means you can set up the clip to run into a loop.

Setting the Clip to Run
Into a Loop.

The Loop Length and Position elds are equipped with Set buttons, which can be used tocreate loops spontaneously during playback: Playing the clip and then clicking the Set Loop Position button moves the beginningof loop to the current playback position (rounded to the global quantization setting)and engages the loop. Then, clicking the Set Loop Length button moves the end of
the loop to the current playback position. This lets you capture the music in a loop on
the y.
 While the loop is still off, you can click the Set Loop Length button to set the loop
to end at the current playback position without changing its preset length. This
simultaneously activates looping.

The Set buttons, the Loop switch, the loop brace and the start/end markers can all bemapped to MIDI controls. You could, for example, use a rotary encoder to move the loop
through a sample in increments the size of the chosen quantization interval.

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106

Clip Pitch and Gain

The Clip Pitch and Gain
Controls.

The Transpose control shifts the clip pitch in semitones.
The Detune eld ne-tunes the clip in cents (100 cents = one semitone).
The Clip Gain slider, calibrated in dB, changes the clip gain.

8.2.4

Destructive Sample Editing

The Launch Sample
Editor Button.

The Edit button opens the sample in an external sample editing application, which you canspecify in the File/Folder Preferences. To process a sample in an external program, you haveto stop Live's playback. When you return to Live, the edited version of the sample will beplayed back. The current set of Warp Markers is retained only if the sample length remains
the same as it did prior to editing. Remember that changes made to one sample may affectother clips that play the same sample.

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107

Saving Default Clip Settings with the Sample

The Save Default Clip
Button.

The Save Default Clip button saves the current clip's settings with the sample. Once saved,
Live will restore the current clip settings whenever you drop the sample into a Live Set. Thisis especially useful with regards to the Warp Markers, which have to be set correctly forLive to play long les in sync. Note that you can use the Save button without affecting any
existing clips; Save just saves default settings for future clips using this sample.
The clip data becomes part of the analysis le that accompanies the sample.
Note that storing default clip settings with the sample is different from saving the clip as a
Live Clip, which also saves devices and device settings.

8.2.6

High Quality Interpolation

The High Quality Switch.

If the High Quality switch is on, Live uses an advanced sample-rate conversion algorithm
that provides better sound quality at the expense of a higher CPU load. Samples processedwith the Hi-Q algorithm generate less distortion, particularly at high frequencies, whentransposing a sample and/or matching an imported sample's sampling rate to the system's
sampling rate. With this mode enabled, samples can be transposed roughly 19 semitonesin either direction before aliasing is likely to be audible.
Note: In Live 7, the Hi-Q mode now uses an algorithm that produces even smaller audible
artifacts than in previous versions. We think it sounds great. But any Sets that used Hi-Q
mode and were made in previous versions of Live may now sound different when loaded in

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Live 7. For this reason, we have provided a Legacy Hi-Q Mode option, which is enabled bydefault in the Options menu whenever you load an old Set that has Hi-Q enabled for any
clips. Simply disable this option if you wish to use the new mode.

8.2.7

Clip Start and End Fades

The Clip Fade Switch.

The Clip Fade switch, when enabled, applies a short fade to the clip start and end to avoid
clicks at the clip edges. The length of the fade is signal-dependent and ranges from 0-4
milliseconds.

8.2.8

Clip RAM Mode

The RAM Mode Switch.

If the RAM Mode switch is on, Live is loading the audio referenced by the clip into thecomputer's memory rather than reading it from disk in real time. RAM Mode can help withthese problems: Your computer's hard disk is too slow to deliver audio for as many tracks as desiredin real time. For more information on disk-related problems, please refer to therespective section.
 You are experiencing audio dropouts when playing clips in Legato Mode.

Use RAM Mode with care, as RAM is usually a scarce resource. Your computer is using thehard disk for swapping out RAM contents that have not been used in a while. The more
clips you are running in RAM Mode, the higher the likelihood for them to be swappedCHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

109

out. Live can handle disk overloads more gracefully than swapped-out audio arriving late:
Disk overloads result in unwanted mutes, whereas RAM overload results in both mutes andrhythmical hiccups.

8.2.9

Reversing Samples

The Reverse Button.

This function creates a new sample by reversing the sample referenced by the current
clip. It then reapplies the old clip's settings (according to some rules that we will explain
in a moment), and replaces the original sample with the reversal in the Clip View. The
new sample can be found, after saving the Live Set, in the Set's Project folder, under
Samples/Processed/Reverse. Until the Set is saved, new samples remain at the location
speci ed by the Temporary Folder.
There are a few rules for the reversing process. First, any Warp Markers will remain xed
to their positions in the sample. This means that a Warp Marker on the downbeat of thesecond bar of a clip will end up on the downbeat of the second-to-last bar after reversal.
Clip loop/region settings are similarly ipped. Second, clip envelopes remain xed to theirposition in time. Therefore, a mixer volume envelope that lowers the volume of the rst halfof a clip will continue to do exactly that after reversal.
The reversal process is quite fast (about as fast as copying), but for very long samples it mighttake a little time. When this is the case, the Status Bar in the lower portion of the Live screen
will give you a progress display, and further actions in the program will be temporarily locked(though running clips will continue to play). You can play the reversed clip and perform otheractions in the program as soon as Live begins to draw the new waveform into the Sample
Display. Once a sample is reversed, a link to the reversed sample will be maintained until
you quit the program, and reversing the same clip again (or a copy) will be instantaneous.
It is not recommended that you reverse clips in a live performance situation, as a slight glitch
can sometimes occur while Live reapplies the warp and loop settings.

CHAPTER 8. CLIP VIEW

8.2.10110

Cropping Samples

The Sample Display's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu includes the Crop Sample
command. This function creates, similarly to the Reverse function, a new sample by copying
the sample currently in use - but only the excerpt that is actually used plus a 50 millisecond
safety margin on both ends. The new sample can be found, after saving the Live Set, in the
Set's Project folder, under Samples/Processed/Crop. Until the Set is saved, the new sample
remains at the location speci ed by the Temporary Folder.

8.2.11

Replacing and Editing the Sample

To replace the sample referenced by the clip with a different one, drop the new sample
directly from the File Browser into the Clip View. Clip settings like pitch and volume will
be retained. The Warp Markers will be retained only if the new sample has the exact samelength as the old sample.
The Sample Display's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu includes the Manage Sample
File command. This opens the File Manager for the current Set with the sample referenced
by the clip selected. From there, you can replace and destructively edit the sample, in sucha way that all clips and instruments referencing the sample will be affected. You can also(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu to reveal
use the Show in Browser command in thethe le in the Browser.

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8.3

111

The Notes Box

The Notes Box.

8.3.1

Tempo Controls

The Orig. BPM eld displays Live's interpretation of the tempo at which the clip's MIDI
was recorded. When dragging up or down in the Original BPM eld, or clicking the :2 and*2 buttons, you will see that the notes in the MIDI Editor are correspondingly stretched
or compressed. This is useful for aligning notes that you have recorded without a tempo
reference, like Live's metronome.

8.3.2

Bank and Program ChangeLive can send MIDI bank/program change messages to external devices and plug-ins that
support MIDI program change messages. According to the settings in these controls,
launching a clip also sends its bank/program change message. If you are using Live to send
MIDI to your synth, this means that each MIDI clip in your Live Set can play a different soundon your synth. Live offers messages for 128 banks with 128 sub-banks, each of which has
128 programs. Please see the documentation that came with your synthesizer to determine
how many of these messages it can use. If you do not want your clip to send program orbank change messages, simply set the bank/program choosers to None.
Please note that Live LE cannot send MIDI information to external synthesizers.

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112

MIDI Loop/Region

These controls manage how the contents of a MIDI clip are played and shown in the MIDI
Editor. They work the same way as those for audio clips.
In the MIDI Editor, the zoom/scroll area is located above the beat-time ruler, the scrub area
just below.

8.4

Clip Defaults and Update Rate

You can change the rate at which Live applies your Clip View settings to a running clip. Clip
View changes will be quantized by the rate selected from the Clip Update Rate chooser inthe Record/Warp/Launch Preferences. Certain clip settings, such as Launch Mode and Warp
Mode, can be set up as defaults for all new clips. This is also done in the Record/Warp/LaunchPreferences.

113

Chapter 9

Tempo Control and Warping
Unlike music stored on tape or in a traditional digital audio workstation, the music in Liveremains elastic at all times. Live is capable of time-warping samples while streaming themfrom disk so as to synchronize them to the current Live Set's tempo. This happens without
affecting the pitch, which can be changed independently. Mixing and matching audio fromdifferent origins is therefore extremely easy.

9.1

Tempo

9.1.1

Setting the Tempo
The Control Bar's Tempo
Field.

The Control Bar's Tempo eld allows you to change the playback tempo of your Live Set
at any time, in real time. You can even automate the tempo to create smooth or sudden
tempo changes along the song timeline. For maximum tempo control during performance,
you can MIDI map separate controllers to the Tempo eld on both sides of the decimal

CHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING

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point. Setting one knob to control coarse tempo in BPM and another to control ne tempo
in hundredths of a BPM allows for enough precision to adjust to live performers or otherunsynchronized sources.

9.1.2

Tapping the Tempo
The Tap Button.

You can use Live's Tap Tempo function to set the tempo at any time. As you click the Control
Bar's Tap Tempo button once every beat, the tempo of the Live Set will follow your tapping.

The Key Map Mode
Switch.

It is better to assign the Tap button to a computer key than using the mouse. Click on theControl Bar's KEY switch to enter Key Map Mode; then select the Tap button; press the key
you would like to use for tapping; click the KEY switch again to leave Key Map Mode. The
assignment will take effect immediately. The Tap button can also be assigned to a MIDI
note or controller, like a foot switch, in a similar fashion. Although Live responds to yourtapping immediately, it does apply some degree of inertia to prevent sluggish behavior in
the software. The more taps Live receives in a row, the more precisely it will be able toconclude the desired tempo.
You can also use tapping to count in: If you are working in a 4:4 signature, it takes four taps
to start song playback at the tapped tempo.

9.2

Time-Warping Samples

Live's ability to play any sample in sync with a chosen tempo is a unique and importantfeature. In addition, you can warp the rhythmic ow of a piece, changing its feel, oreven move notes to other meter positions.
A clip's warping properties are set in the Sample box, which is a sub-section of the Clip View.

CHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING115

The Sample Box's
Warping Controls.

The most signi cant control here is the Warp switch, which toggles a clip's warping on oroff. The Warp section of Live's Preferences will determine the default warp settings for new
clips, but they can always be overridden here on a per-clip basis.
When the Warp switch is off, Live plays the sample at its original, normal tempo, irrespective of the current Live Set's tempo. This is useful for samples that have no inherent
rhythmic structure: percussion hits, atmospheres, sound effects, spoken word and the like.
Turn the Warp switch on to play rhythmically structured samples (such as sample loops,
music recordings, complete music pieces, etc.) in sync with the current song tempo.
To direct Live's assumptions about new samples, use the Record/Warp/Launch tab of Live's
Preferences. If the Auto-Warp Long Samples preference is on, Live assumes that longsamples contain music that should be played in sync with the Live Set's tempo. If you would
rather have Live default to playing long samples as they are, disengage this preference.

9.2.1

Tempo Master/Slave

All warped clips in the Arrangement View have one further option: They can be de ned as
tempo masters by toggling their Master/Slave switches. Any number of clips can be set as
tempo masters, but only one clip at a time can actually be the tempo master. This distinctionis always granted to the bottom-most, currently playing clip in the Arrangement View.
The clip that is the current tempo master will play as if warping was off, but with one
important difference the rest of the Live Set will be warped so that it plays in sync with thecurrent tempo master.

CHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING

116

This is achieved by adding tempo automation to the Master track for the duration of thetempo master clip. You will notice that the Tempo eld in Live's Control Bar becomesdisabled in this state; this is because all tempo control is handed over to the tempo master
clip.
When toggling a clip's Master/Slave switch, or when deleting a clip that was set as tempo
master, the Master track tempo automation is removed again, restoring the proper tempo
to the region. If you wish instead to keep the generated tempo automation to continue
working with it, then(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on the Control Bar's Tempo eld, and choose
the Unslave Tempo Automation command. All clips will then be set to Slave, but the tempo
automation will remain in place.

9.2.2

Warp Markers

Think of a sample as a rubber-band that you want to pin to a (musical time) ruler. In Live,the pins are called Warp Markers. A Warp Marker forces the software to arrive at a speci cpoint in the sample at a speci c musical time. You can use any number of Warp Markers tocreate an arbitrary mapping of the piece's inherent rhythm to a musical meter.
Warp Markers are set in the Clip View's Sample Display by double-clicking any of its numericgrid markers. They can then be dragged or moved with the arrow keys to different positionsin the clip. Warp Markers can also be deleted by double-clicking them, or by pressing thecomputer keyboard's
or Delete key after selecting them.

Double-Clicking a Grid
Marker Creates a Warp
Marker.

When working with your sample, you can have Live scroll the Sample Display to follow
playback. Use the Control Bar's Follow switch to activate this feature. It also might beCHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING

117

helpful to vertically resize the Sample Display by dragging on the split line between the Clip
View and the Session View track area.
The Follow Switch in theControl Bar.

Saving Warp Markers
Your Warp Markers will automatically be saved with the Live Set, but you may also want tosave them with the sample le itself, so that they are reconstructed anytime you drag thele into Live. To do this, click the Clip View's Save button.
Note that if a sample has a saved set of Warp Markers, Auto-Warp will have no effect. When
this is the case, you can use any of the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu commands
described in this section to initiate auto-warping.

9.2.3

Using Warp Markers

In the following sections, we will look at a couple of applications for time-warping samples.
Warping is, of course, an optional property of clips.
Syncing Straight Loops
When you import a sample that represents a well-cut musical loop of 1,2,4 or 8 bars inlength, Live usually makes the correct assumptions to play the loop in sync with the chosen
tempo. It places two Warp Markers, one at the sample's beginning and one at the end.

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118

A One-Bar Loop as It
Appears in the Clip
View, by Default.

The Orig. BPM eld displays Live's guess of the loop's tempo; if you happen to know the
tempo of the loop, you can type it in here. Sometimes Live's guess of the original tempo
is wrong by half or double. If so, correct this by clicking on the buttons labeled *2 and:2, respectively. The sample plays at double speed when you press :2 because you arechanging Live's interpretation of the sample's tempo, which serves as a point of reference
for determining the required time-stretch factor.
Syncing Uncut Loops
When importing a loop that has not been edited into a well-cut loop, Live will play it out ofsync. Suppose there is a portion of silence at the sample beginning, prior to the rst beat.
You can easily correct this by moving the Warp Marker labeled with a 1 to the rst beat's
onset. Likewise, you can eliminate silence after the actual loop end by moving the Warp
Marker at the sample's right edge.

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119

Setting the Warp
Markers for a Poorly Cut
Loop.

Syncing Odd-Length Loops
If you import a sample that contains a seven-bar loop, Live initially assumes the loop is eightbars long (or four, depending on its length) and plays it out of sync. For correct playback,the last marker needs to show an eight, not a nine. To achieve this do the following:
1. Double-click on the last Warp Marker to delete it.
2. Double-click on the eight to create a new Warp Marker.
3. Drag the new Warp Marker to the sample end.
If Live's initial guess had been a four-bar loop, the eight would not have been accessible. Inthat case, you could initially drag the Warp Marker at the end toward the left until the eightbecame visible.
Theoretically this should have done the job for our seven-bar loop. Practically, though, it isvery likely that moving the markers led to a change of the loop start and end points. Thisis because the loop is tied to the meter grid and therefore moves with the Warp Markers,
which de ne the meter grid. Live makes sure the loop ts in the sample, and therefore has
to change its length if required by a Warp Marker change.

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Manipulating Grooves
You can now create any number of Warp Markers by double-clicking on one of the numericgrid markers. Drag in a straight looped sample, set a few Warp Markers, and move themaround to see what happens. Warp Markers really serve two purposes:
1. to provide a correct interpretation of the ow of musical time in the sample;
2. to mess up the ow of time in the sample.
If a single event in a percussion loop comes late, just pin it to the Warp Marker, which shows
the beat position at which you actually want to hear that event. You may want to pin theadjacent beat positions as well, to avoid affecting neighboring regions in the sample.

Using Warp Markers to
Manipulate the Groove.

Removing a sample's natural groove by applying Warp Markers is an interesting creative
method, particularly in conjunction with Live's ability to impose an arti cial groove onto clips
in real-time.
Syncing Longer Pieces
Live's Auto-Warp algorithm makes longer samples and entire songs readily available for
integration into your project. You can use the Browser to import long samples or MP3, AAC,
Ogg Vorbis, Ogg FLAC and FLAC les.
When you drag a le into Live that is too long to justify the assumption that it is a loop
or a one-shot, Live will auto-warp the clip by default (though this can be changed in the

121

CHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING

Record/Warp/Launch Preferences).
Note that, for the auto-warp mechanism to work, les which are being imported into theprogram for the rst time will need to undergo a rst-time analysis process and will not be
immediately available for playing or editing. As explained in the section in this manual on
analysis les, analysis can be batch-processed with the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context
menu's Analyze Audio command. Once analysis is nished, you can view the results ofAuto-Warp's assumptions about the le.

Auto-Warp's Results in
the Clip View.

As long as Auto-Warp made the correct set of informed guesses, the clip will be ready toplay in perfect sync with the Live Set's tempo. However, if Auto-Warp does not quite dowhat you want, you can control its results. The remainder of this section will focus on various
ways of guiding Live's auto-warping. Remember that the metronome in the Control Bar willprobably come in handy as you warp longer pieces.
The Metronome Switch.

It might happen that Auto-Warp guesses the tempo correctly but gets the downbeat wrong.
To remedy this, you can do the following: Zoom in and drag the 1.1.1 marker to the desired position;
 Use the start marker's
Here command.

(PC) /

Ctrl(Mac) context menu to select the Set 1.1.1

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Using the Context Menu
to Direct Auto-Warp.

Directing Auto-Warp is also relatively simple when you have imported a perfectly cut loop.
You can tell Auto-Warp to work accordingly using the Warp As ...-Bar Loop command. Livewill propose a loop length that makes the most sense given the current Live Set's tempo.
Decreasing the Live Set's tempo can, for instance, lead Live to assume the loop is 8 bars at
90 BPM instead of 16 bars at 180 BPM.
Sometimes more accurate control of Auto-Warp is necessary. The best way to go about
warping a clip that requires more detailed attention is in sections, working gradually from left
to right. You can set a Warp Marker by double-clicking one of the numeric grid markers to
the right of each correctly warped section, pinning it into place. The shortcuts for working
with the clip loop brace and start/end markers can speed up this process considerably.
You might also nd it helpful to select multiple Warp Markers for moving by selecting themor Ctrl(PC) /(Mac) modi ers held down.
with theThe four Warp From Here commands provide various ways of resetting Warp Markers to
the right of the selected grid marker or Warp Marker, leaving Warp Markers to the left
untouched. These commands are also available from the start marker.
 Warp From Here runs the Auto-Warp algorithm on the material to the right of theselected marker.
 Warp From Here (Start At ...) directs Auto-Warp to use the current Live Set's tempo asa starting point for tempo tracking. The strategy here is as follows:

1. Deactivate the Warp switch for the clip so that it plays unwarped;

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123

2. Use the Control Bar's Tap Tempo button to tap along, thereby setting theLive Set's tempo to match that of the clip;
3. Turn warping on again and use the Warp From Here (Start At ...) command
to tell Auto-Warp to use your tapped tempo as a reference.
 Warp From Here (Straight) tells Auto-Warp that this is a clip with no tempo variations(common in electronically produced works). Auto-Warp will then set a single Warp
Marker derived from its guess of the le's original tempo.
 Warp ... BPM From Here will also set a single Warp Marker, but in this case, Auto-Warp
is forced to interpret the clip as exactly matching the Live Set's tempo. This is usefulin cases when you happen to know the exact BPM value of an electronically-produced
work and can type it into the Control Bar before warping.

Multi-Clip Warping
When clips of equal length are multi-selected, adding or changing Warp Markers for one
clip will apply identical Warp Markers to all. This is convenient in any situation where several
tracks have the same rhythm, and you wish to alter the timing of each recording in the sameway. A common scenario would be when multi-tracking a band's performance, where themusicians all play in time with each other, yet the timing itself is in some way awed.
Copying Warp Markers
You can also selectively copy and paste Warp Markers from one clip to another. Copied
Warp Markers don't even need to be pasted into the same bar as the original.

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Three Selected Warp
Markers.

Here are the steps:
1. Select the Warp Markers that you wish to copy by clicking on them with themouse. After the rst Warp Marker has been selected, holdwhile clicking
another to select the range of Warp Markers in between, or Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac)-click to add individual Warp Markers to your selection.
2. Once your selection is complete, choose the Copy command from the Edit menu.
3. Click on the title bar of the destination clip to select it.
4. In the destination clip's Clip View, click once on any Warp Marker to select it as
the starting point for placement of the new Warp Markers.
5. Choose the Paste command from the Edit menu. The Warp Markers will bepasted into the destination clip.

9.3

Adjusting for Good Stretching Quality

Live offers a number of time-stretching modes to accommodate all sorts of audio material.
Each clip's time-stretching mode and associated parameters are set in the Clip View's Sample
Box.
The warp modes are different varieties of granular resynthesis techniques. Granular resynthesis achieves time compression and expansion by repeating and skipping over parts of

CHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING

125

the sample (the grains ). The warp modes differ in the selection of grains, as well as in thedetails of overlapping and crossfading between grains.
Let's investigate which warp modes work best for different types of signals and how toadjust the warping controls for clean stretching. It's also fun to misuse these controls
to achieve interesting artifacts instead of accurate stretching.

9.3.1

Beats Mode

Beats Mode works best for material where rhythm is dominant (e.g., drum loops as well as
most pieces of electronic dance music). The granulation process is optimized to preservetransients (attacks, note onsets) in the audio material.
Use the Transients control to guide Live's assumptions about where to nd transients inthe waveform. If there is no rhythmic activity at odd 16th notes, choose 8th, etc. For
some interesting rhythmic artifacts, choose large transient values in conjunction with pitchtransposition.

9.3.2

Tones Mode

Tones Mode serves well for stretching material with a more or less clear pitch structure, suchas vocals, monophonic instruments and basslines.
Grain Size provides rough control over the average grain size used. The actual grain size isdetermined in a signal-dependent manner. For signals with a clear sense of pitch contour,
a small grain size works best. Larger grain sizes help avoid artifacts that can occur when thepitch contour is unclear, but the tradeoff can be audible repetitions.

9.3.3

Texture Mode

Texture Mode works well for sound textures with an ambiguous pitch contour (e.g., polyphonic orchestral music, noise, atmospheric pads, etc.). It also offers rich potential for
manipulating all kinds of sounds in a creative way.

CHAPTER 9. TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING126

The Grain Size control determines the grain size used, but unlike in Tones Mode, this is asetting that Live will use unaltered, without considering the signal's characteristics.
Fluctuation introduces randomness into the process. Larger values give more randomness.

9.3.4

Re-Pitch Mode

In Re-Pitch Mode, Live doesn't really time-stretch or compress the music; instead, it adjusts
the playback rate to create the desired amount of stretching. In other words, to speed
up playback by a factor of 2, it's transposed up an octave. This is like the DJ stretching
method of using variable-speed turntables to sync two records, or what happens to samples
in samplers when they're transposed.
The Transpose and Detune controls have no effect in Re-Pitch Mode.

127

Chapter 10

Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities
A MIDI clip in Live contains notes and controller data for playing a virtual instrument in a
MIDI track's device chain. The MIDI clip provides the device with a musical score to play,specifying note pitch, length, position and dynamics (referred to as velocity in the MIDI
lexicon). MIDI is composed and edited in Live's MIDI Editor.

10.1

Creating an Empty MIDI Clip

MIDI clips are created by means of recording; or by double-clicking an empty Session slot in a MIDI track; or by selecting an empty Session slot in a MIDI track and choosing the Insert menu's
Insert MIDI Clip command; or, in the Arrangement View, by selecting a timespan in a MIDI track and choosing theInsert menu's Insert MIDI Clip command.

CHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES

10.2

128

The MIDI Editor

To bring up the MIDI Editor, double-click a MIDI clip to open the Clip View. You can use theClip View Box selector to make sure the Notes box is showing, then click in the title bar of
the Notes box to bring up the MIDI Editor on the right-hand side of the screen.

The MIDI Editor.

The MIDI Editor is comprised of two editing windows: the upper Note Editor and the lower
Velocity Editor. You can resize the Velocity Editor by dragging on the split line that runs
between it and the Note Editor. You can also show and hide the Velocity Editor using thetriangular button on the left-hand side of the split line.
The Control Bar's Draw
Mode Switch.

Switch to Draw Mode by activating the Control Bar's Draw Mode switch. You can now draw
MIDI notes into the Note Editor with the mouse. Deactivating Draw Mode allows notes tobe selected and moved around by clicking and dragging, either vertically to change theirtransposition, or horizontally to change their position in time.

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Previewing MIDI Notes.

Provided your MIDI track's device chain contains an instrument, activating the Preview switch
in the MIDI Editor allows you to hear notes as you select and move them.
Note velocity is adjusted in the Velocity Editor, by clicking and dragging on the associatedmarkers. You can also use Draw Mode in the Velocity Editor: It will draw identical velocities
for all notes within a grid tile.
After drawing a few notes and moving them around, you will probably want to know how to
get around in the Note Editor. So, before we get into detailed editing information, we will
rst explain MIDI Editor navigation.

10.3

MIDI Editor Navigation and Transport

Note Scale Position Is
Shown Vertically and
Beat-Time Horizontally.

The MIDI Editor has both vertical and horizontal navigation. Along the horizontal axis lies

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130

a time ruler, which shows note position along a musical timeline. The vertical axis contains
both the note ruler, displaying octaves C0 C10, and a representation of a piano keyboard(the piano roll). Note that if the Preview switch at the top of the piano roll is activated, you
can listen to the results of your piano roll playing.
2

1

3

5

6

MIDI Editor Navigation.

1. To smoothly change the time-zoom level, click and drag vertically in the timeruler. Drag horizontally in the time ruler to scroll from left to right.
2. Click and drag vertically in the note ruler to change which octaves are shown,or drag horizontally to change the vertical zoom size of MIDI notes and the
keyboard.
3. Click and drag over one or more notes to de ne a selection. Then, double-clickon the note ruler to automatically zoom in on your selection. If no notes are
selected, double-clicking the note ruler will zoom in on the area from the lowest
to the highest note in the clip.
4. To zoom in and out around the current selection, use the computer keyboard's+ and - keys.
5. The Clip Overview just beneath the MIDI Editor can also be used for navigation.
It always shows the complete contents of the selected MIDI clip. The black
rectangular outline represents the part of the clip that is currently displayed in
the Editor above. To scroll, click within the outline and drag left or right; to zoom

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131

in and out, drag up and down.
6. Change the length of what is shown in the Editor by dragging the left or rightedges of the outline in the Clip Overview.
7. To quickly change what is shown in the Editor, click on a section that you want
to examine in the Clip Overview, then drag downwards to zoom in, or scroll by
dragging left and right.
8. The Page Up and Page Down keys on your computer keyboard scroll the Note
Editor vertically. The Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er will change this tohorizontal scrolling.
The Control Bar's Follow
Switch.

The area displayed in the Note Editor can be set to scroll with playback using the Follow
switch from the Control Bar.

The MIDI Clip Scrub
Area.

You can click in the scrub area just below the beat-time ruler to start playback from thatpoint, rounded by the global quantization setting. Learning about the loop/region controls
and associated shortcuts can also be helpful in getting around in the MIDI Editor and playing
selections quickly and easily.
As you work with MIDI, you may nd yourself needing extra screen space. You can click anddrag vertically on the window split between the Session or Arrangement View and the Clip
View to enlarge the MIDI Editor.

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Enlarge the MIDI Editor
by Dragging theWindow Split Between
Session and Clip Views.

10.4

Editing MIDI

10.4.1

Non-Destructive Editing

You can always return your MIDI clip to its previous state by using the Edit menu's Undo
command. Furthermore, if the MIDI clip being edited originated in a MIDI le on your hard
drive, none of your editing will alter the original MIDI le, as Live incorporates its contents
into your Live Set when importing.

10.4.2

Folding and Looping

An important feature of the MIDI Editor is the Fold button, located in the upper left corner.
Activating this button will immediately hide all rows, or key tracks, that do not contain
MIDI notes. This is very useful when working with percussion kits, for example, which areoftentimes mapped out along a keyboard in sections corresponding to percussion type(e.g., snares grouped together two octaves down from hi-hat cymbals, etc.). When working
with a MIDI le created by such a mapping, sometimes only one or two of each type of
percussion sound is used, and it becomes unnecessary to view the entire keyboard range.
The Fold Button Extracts
Key Tracks Containing
Notes.

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133

When editing MIDI, you might nd that you want to change which part of the clip you arelistening to, or loop the clip in order to listen to it repeatedly. You can use the loop/region
markers for this.

Use the Loop/Region
Markers to Select a
Speci c Region of theClip to Play.

10.4.3

Grid Snapping

Most functions in the MIDI Editor are subject to grid snapping. You can hold down theAlt(PC) /(Mac) modi er while performing an action to bypass grid snapping.
Note movements will also snap to an offset, which is based on the original placement of
the note relative to the grid. This is useful for preserving a groove or loose playing style thatyou do not necessarily want to set straight.

10.4.4

Arranging and Quantizing Notes

As we have seen, notes in the MIDI Editor can be moved both horizontally (changing theirposition in time) and vertically (changing their transposition). They can be moved either byclicking and dragging, or with the arrow keys on your computer keyboard; in either case,they are subject to grid and offset snapping. If you are playing the clip while you movenotes, you can listen to them play in their new assignments as you drag them, without
waiting until you have released the mouse button.
Multiple notes can be selected and moved in unison: Rubber-band select more than one
note with one mouse motion by clicking in empty space, then dragging diagonally upward

CHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES

134

or downward to enclose the notes in the dotted line that appears.
You can use themodi er to click and add individual notes or additional rubberband selections to your current selection. You can also remove a single note from yourselection by holding down
and clicking on it. Holding
and clicking on the
piano roll selects all notes in a single key track.
There are two options for quantizing MIDI notes in Live. As previously mentioned, you canmove notes so that they snap to the visible grid lines. Alternatively, you can select a note
U (PC)or notes and choose the Quantize command from the Edit menu, or use the Ctrl
U (Mac) hotkey. This brings up a dialog box with several quantization options.
/

Quantizing MIDI Notes.

Using the options presented here, you can select a meter value for quantization and set
either the note start or end (or both) to be quantized. Quantizing the note end will stretch
the note so that it ends at the chosen meter subdivision. You can also quantize notes without
giving them that quantized feel using the Amount control, which will move notes only bya percentage of the set quantization value.

10.4.5Creating and Editing Notes

Selecting a note (or notes) makes it subject to commands from the Edit menu, such as Copy
and Paste. You can use the Ctrl
(PC) / Alt(Mac) modi er to click and drag a copy ofa note to a new location.

CHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES135

The Edit menu's Select Loop command selects all notes that begin within the loop brace.
The Select Loop command can also be executed without the menu by simply clicking theloop brace. This command can speed up editing when coupled with the loop brace's
shortcuts. Let's say you have arranged a nice 1-bar loop in the Note editor, and you want toduplicate it a couple of times. You can click the loop brace to select the notes that begin
within the loop, execute the Edit menu's Copy command, shift the loop to the right by one
loop length with, and execute the Edit menu's Paste command.

Copying (Left) andPasting (Right) a Loop.

As we have already seen, creating new MIDI notes is as simple as activating Draw Modeand drawing them into the Note Editor. MIDI notes can also be added and deleted bydouble-clicking when Draw Mode is inactive.
Vertical movements in Draw Mode correspond to velocity changes. This means that, with
one horizontal motion and one vertical motion, you can draw multiple notes and theirvelocities without releasing the mouse button. If you change velocity with this verticalmovement, Live will remember the change and use your new velocity on any notes that you
draw afterward.
You may sometimes, by dragging or by drawing, place a new note on top of one that alreadyexists. If the new note overlaps with the beginning of the original note, the original note will
vanish. The original note is invisible, but still exists, and will reappear intact if the new note
is moved away again. If the new note overlaps with the tail of the original, the originalnote's length will change so that it lasts just until the new note's beginning. This, too, is
not an irreversible action, and the old note length will be restored if the new clip is again
moved.

CHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES

10.4.6

136

Changing Note Length

Clicking and dragging on a note's left or right edges changes its length. Note length can
only be changed when Draw Mode is inactive, and will be quantized unless the Alt(PC)/(Mac) modi er is held down while dragging.

Changing Note Length.

Tip: To set a group of notes to the same length, select them all, grab the end of the longest
one, drag them all down to zero length and then extend them.
MIDI Note Stretch

Three Variations Createdwith the Stretch Notes
Command.

When multiple notes are selected in the Note Editor, the Stretch Notes command becomes
available from the context menu, if you invoke it with(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac). Note Stretchmarkers will then appear in the Note Editor, allowing notes to be scaled proportionally intime. The markers are a pair of downward-pointing indicators that snap to the beginning of
the rst and last notes in the selection.
By clicking and dragging one of the markers horizontally, the selected notes will move andstretch so that they continue to occupy the same proportion of time that they did when they
were initially selected. The Note Stretch markers will always snap to the Note Editor's grid

137

CHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES

lines unless the grid is not shown, or the Alt
dragging.

(PC) /(Mac) modi er is held while

If one marker is dragged beyond the boundary of the other, then the order of the stretchednotes will be re ected in relation to their initial sequence; this is sometimes referred to as
retrograde behavior.
Any changes occurring to the notes included in the Note Stretch before the mouse button
is released will cancel the stretch operation. This can occur, for example, if the MIDI clip issimultaneously being overdubbed with new notes.

10.4.7

Editing Velocities

To change velocity for a MIDI note, click and drag on the associated marker in the Velocity
Editor. (To help you locate the velocity marker belonging to a MIDI note that may be stacked
vertically with others, Live highlights the velocity marker for whichever note your mouse ishovering over.) Velocity changes will be shown numerically in a small display in the timeruler.

Changing Note Velocity.

As in the Note Editor, you can select multiple velocity markers to change by clicking with
themodi er held down.
Tip: To set a group of notes so that they all have the same velocity, select their markers inthe Velocity Editor, drag them up to maximum velocity and then decrease velocity to thedesired value.
As we saw earlier, Draw Mode allows drawing identical velocities for all notes within a gridtile. Velocity drawing can be limited to only those notes that are currently selected if theCHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES

138

modi er is held. To draw markers individually (as you would want to with a crescendo,
4 (PC) /4 (Mac) shortcut, orfor instance) deactivate grid snapping with the Ctrl
simply hold down the Alt(PC) /(Mac) modi er.

Drawing Identical
Velocities (Left) and a
Crescendo (Right).

Tip: To draw a velocity ramp with notes that are all in the same key track, press
andclick on the piano roll to select all notes within the desired key track, make sure Draw Modeis activated and draw the ramp into the Velocity Editor while holding themodi er,so that you affect only the selected notes.
Tip #2: To draw a linear velocity ramp across a selection of notes, rst select the notes thatshould be affected (using themodi er to select non-adjacent notes if necessary).
Make sure Draw Mode is not activated and draw the line into the Velocity Editor while
modi er.
holding the Ctrl
Notes in the Note Editor display their velocity in their coloring light notes play softly,
and vice versa. To change the velocity of notes without the Velocity Editor open, click any
selected note and drag vertically while pressing the Alt(PC) /(Mac) modi er.
Note-Off Velocity
By default, the Velocity Editor allows you to adjust note-on velocities. But you can toggle
the editor to show note-off velocities via options in the editor's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac)
context menu.

CHAPTER 10. EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES139

The Velocity Editor
Showing Note-Off
Velocities.

Please note that note-off (or release ) velocity is a somewhat esoteric parameter, and is
only supported by certain devices. Ableton's Sampler instrument, for example, provides
note-off velocity as a controller for a variety of parameters.

10.4.8Deactivating Notes(PC) / Ctrl
To deactivate, or mute, a note (or notes) in the MIDI Editor, select it and(Mac) to access the context menu. The Deactivate Note(s) command will mute the note,making it appear gray in the display. To reactivate notes, use the context menu's Activate
Note(s) command.

140

Chapter 11

Launching Clips
The Live Session View is set apart by the fact that it gives you, the musician, a spontaneousenvironment that encourages performance and improvisation. An important part of how
you take advantage of the Session View lies within how you con gure your various Session
View clips. This chapter explains the group of settings used to de ne how each Session
View clip behaves when triggered, or launched.

11.1

The Launch Box

Remember that clips in the Session View are launched by their Clip Launch buttons or remotecontrol. Clip launch settings are made in the Launch box. The Launch box only applies to
Session View clips, as Arrangement View clips are not launched but played according totheir positions in the Arrangement.
To view the Launch box, open the Clip View of a Session View clip by double-clicking theclip, then activating the leftmost Clip View Box selector panel.

CHAPTER 11. LAUNCHING CLIPS

141

Use the Clip View Box
Selector to Bring up the
Launch Box.

Note that you can edit the launch settings of more than one clip at the same time by rst
selecting the clips and then opening the Clip View.

11.2

Launch Modes

The Clip Launch Mode
Chooser.

The Launch Mode chooser offers a number of options for how clips behave with respect tomouse clicks, computer keyboard actions or MIDI notes:
 Trigger: down starts the clip; up is ignored.
 Gate: down starts the clip; up stops the clip.
 Toggle: down starts the clip; up is ignored. The clip will stop on the next down.
 Repeat: As long as the mouse switch/key is held, the clip is triggered repeatedly at
the clip quantization rate.

CHAPTER 11. LAUNCHING CLIPS

11.3

142

Clip-Level Quantization

The Clip Quantization
Chooser.

The Clip Quantization chooser lets you adjust an onset timing correction for clip triggering.
To disable clip quantization, choose None.
To use the Control Bar's Global Quantization setting, choose Global. Global quantization
6 (PC) /6 (Mac), 7 , 8 , 9 and 0
can be quickly changed using the Ctrl
shortcuts.
Note that any setting other than None will quantize the clip's launch when it is triggered
by Follow Actions.

11.4

Velocity

The Velocity Amount
Field.

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143

The Velocity Amount control allows you to adjust the effect of MIDI note velocity on the
clip's volume: If set to zero, there is no in uence; at 100 percent, the softest notes play theclip silently. For more on playing clips via MIDI, see the respective section.

11.5

Legato Mode

The Legato Mode
Switch.

Suppose you have gathered, in one track, a number of looping clips, and you now want totoggle among them without losing the sync. For this you could use a large quantization
setting (one bar or greater), however, this might limit your musical expression.
Another option, which works even with quantization turned off, is to engage Legato Modefor the respective clips. When a clip in Legato Mode is launched, it takes over the playposition from whatever clip was played in that track before. Hence, you can toggle clips at
any moment and rate without ever losing the sync.
Legato Mode is very useful for creating breaks, as you can momentarily play alternative
loops and jump back to what was playing in the track before.
Unless all the clips involved play the same sample (differing by clip settings only), you
might hear dropouts when launching clips in Legato Mode. This happens because you areunexpectedly jumping to a point in the sample that Live has had no chance to pre-load fromdisk in advance. You can remedy this situation by engaging Clip RAM Mode for the clips inquestion.

11.6

Follow Actions

Follow Actions allow creating chains of clips that can trigger each other in an orderly or
random way (or both). A clip's Follow Action de nes what happens to other clips in theCHAPTER 11. LAUNCHING CLIPS

144

same group after the clip plays. A group is de ned by clips arranged in successive slots ofthe same track. Tracks can have an unlimited number of groups, separated by empty slots.

1

2
The Follow Action
Controls.

3

1. The Follow Action Time control de nes when the Follow Action takes place inbars-beats-sixteenths from the point in the clip where play starts. The default forthis setting is one bar.
2. The Follow Action choosers allow selecting two different Follow Actions, A andB.
3. The Chance A and Chance B controls set the likelihood of each of the two
Follow Actions occurring. If a clip has Chance A set to 1 and Chance B set to0, Follow Action A will occur every time the clip is launched. As we can see
from this example, a Chance setting of 0 means that an action will never happen.
Changing Chance B to 10 in this scenario makes Follow Action A occur muchless often approximately once out of every ten clip launches.
There are eight Follow Actions available:
Stop simply stops the clip after it has played for the chosen Follow Action Time. Notethat this overrides clip loop/region settings.
Play Clip Again restarts the clip.
Play Previous Clip triggers the previous clip (the one above the current one).
Play Next Clip triggers the next clip down in the group. If a clip with this setting is last

CHAPTER 11. LAUNCHING CLIPS145

in a group, this Follow Action triggers the rst clip.
Play First Clip launches the rst (top) clip in a group.
Play Last Clip launches the last (bottom) clip in a group.
Play Any Clip plays any clip in the group.
Play Other Clip is similar to Play Any Clip, but as long as the current clip is not alone
in the group, no clip will play consecutively.
There is also the possibility to have no Follow Action by selecting No Action, or leaving
the chooser blank.
Note that a Follow Action happens exactly after the duration that is speci ed by the Follow
Action Time controls unless clip quantization is set to a value other than None or Global.
Follow Actions circumvent global quantization but not clip quantization.
So why do you need these things? Music is repetition and change. Music based on loops or
short melodic fragments has a tendency to sound static. Follow Actions allow you to create
structures that will repeat but can also be surprising. Remember that you can always record
the results of your experiments, so this can provide a good source for new material.
In the following sections we will look at some practical examples and ideas for Follow
Actions.

11.6.1

Looping Parts of a Clip

Let's say that you want to play a longer clip, but then you want only the last eight bars toloop. You can set this up using Follow Actions:
1. Drag the clip into the Arrangement View and make sure that the Clip View's
Loop switch is not activated. Use the Edit menu's Split command to split the clip
between the non-looping and looping parts.
2. Click and drag the resulting two clips into the Session View by letting the mouse
cursor hover over the Session View selector. Drop the two clips into a track. They
now form a Follow Action group.

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146

2

3

Creating a Group Withthe Two Clips.

3. Set up Follow Actions for the rst clip. You will want to make Follow Action Timeequal to the clip's length. Set the Follow Action A chooser to Play Next Clip,
with a Chance setting of 1, leaving Follow Action B alone. Now this clip is set
up to advance to the looping clip after it plays.
4. Activate the Loop switch for the second clip.
The rst clip will now proceed to the second after it has played in its entirety; the second
clip will simply play in a loop until it is stopped.

11.6.2Creating Cycles

One of the most obvious possibilities that Follow Actions open up is using a group of
samples to form a musical cycle. If we organize several clips as a group and use the Play
Next Clip Follow Action with each clip, they will play one after the other ad in nitum, or
until we tell them to stop.
Cycles can be peppered with occasional rearrangements through the addition of other
Follow Actions, such as Play Any Clip, with smaller relative Chance settings.

11.6.3

Temporarily Looping Clips

There are some interesting applications of Follow Actions when it comes to creating temporary musical loops.

CHAPTER 11. LAUNCHING CLIPS

147

The default setting for Follow Action is actually a 1:0 chance that Nothing happens after
the Follow Action Time, which means that there is effectively no Follow Action. But now,
imagine a group consisting of one single clip. Follow Action A is set to Play Clip Again,
with a Chance of 8. Follow Action B is set to None, with a Chance of 1. The clip uses
a long sample, and Follow Time is set to one bar. Clicking on the clip will play the rst
bar, after which it will be very likely that it will play the rst bar again. However, after a few
repetitions, it will eventually come to Action B
Nothingand continue playing the restof the sample.
Or, a clip can be played from its start to a speci c point, when its Follow Action tells it toPlay Next Clip. The same le can be used in the next clip in the group, but this one canbe set to loop. This second clip can have any manner of Follow Action settings, so that it
might then play forever, for a speci ed time or until random chance leads to the next clip in
the group.

11.6.4

Adding Variations in Sync

Paired with clip envelopes and warping, Follow Actions can be used to create all sorts ofinteresting variations within a group of similar clips. You could, for example, use Follow
Actions to randomly trigger clips with different MIDI controller clip envelopes, so that ne
variations in pitch bend or modulation of an instrument or synth could occur as the clips ina group interacted. Audio clips could morph between different effect or clip transposition
settings.
Using Follow Actions and Legato Mode together provides a powerful way of graduallychanging a melody or beat. Imagine that you have several identical clips of a melody thatform a group, and they are set up to play in Legato Mode. Whenever their Follow Actions
tell them to move on to another clip in the group, the melody will not change, as Legato
Mode will sync the new play position with the old one in beat-time. The settings and clip
envelopes of each clip (or even the actual notes contained in a MIDI clip) can then be slowly
adjusted, so that the melody goes through a gradual metamorphosis.

CHAPTER 11. LAUNCHING CLIPS

11.6.5148

Mixing up Melodies and Beats

You can let Follow Actions perform unpredictable remixes and solos for you: Use a clip
containing a beat or melody, and copy it so that there are several instances of it forming agroup. Alternatively, you can use several different beats or melodies that you want to mix
together. The start and end for each clip can be set differently, as can clip envelopes andother clip settings. As long as Follow Action Time in each clip is equal to the length of theclip that you want to play, you can set up two Follow Actions with different Chance values
in each clip, launch a clip, and surprise yourself.

11.6.6Creating Nonrepetitive Structures

Follow Actions are great when it comes to sound installations, as they allow you to create
structures that play for weeks or months and never exactly repeat. You can set the Follow
Action Time controls in a series of clips to odd intervals, and the clips will interact with eachother so that they never quite play in the same order or musical position. Remember thateach clip can have two different Follow Actions with corresponding Chance settings... have
fun!

149

Chapter 12

Routing and I/O
In the context of Live, routing is the setup of the tracks' signal sources and destinations(i.e., their inputs and outputs). Most routing happens in the mixer's track In/Out section,
which offers, for every track, choosers to select a signal source and destination. The mixer's
In/Out section is Live's patchbay.
The In/Out section can be independently shown or hidden from the Session and Arrangement Views. Toggle its visibility using the I/O Mixer Section selector, or via the View menu's
In/Out option.

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150

The Mixer's In/Out
Section and Mixer
Section Selectors.

For every track (except the Master), the In/Out section has the same layout: The upper chooser pair ( Audio/MIDI From ) selects the track's input. Audio tracks
have an audio input, and MIDI tracks have a MIDI input. Return tracks receive their
input from the respective sends.
 The Monitor radio button selects the monitor mode: the conditions under which the
track's input is heard through the track.
 The lower chooser pair ( Audio/MIDI To ) selects the track's output. All tracks haveaudio outputs, except for MIDI tracks without instruments. Remember that instruments
convert MIDI to audio.

Within a chooser pair, the upper chooser selects the signal category ( Ext., for instance,
for external connections via an audio or MIDI interface), and is called the Input/Output Typechooser. If this signal type offers sub-selections or channels, they are available from thelower chooser, or the Input/Output Channel chooser. In our Ext. example, these would
be the individual audio/MIDI inputs and outputs.

12.1

Monitoring

Monitoring, in the context of Live, means passing a track's input signal on to the track's
output. Suppose you have set up an audio track to receive its input signal from a guitar.
Monitoring then means that the signal from your live guitar playing actually reaches theCHAPTER 12. ROUTING AND I/O

151

track's output, via the track's device chain. If the track's output is set to Master, you canhear the guitar signal, processed by whatever effects are used (and delayed by whateverlatency the audio hardware interface incurs), over your speakers.
The In/Out section offers, for every audio track and MIDI track, a Monitor radio button withthe following three options: The default Auto-monitoring setting does the right thing for most straightforward
recording applications: Monitoring is on when the track is armed (record-enabled),
but monitoring is inhibited as long as the track is playing clips.

Audio and MIDI Track
Arm Buttons.

 To permanently monitor the track's input, regardless of whether the track is armed orclips are playing, choose In. This setting effectively turns the track into what is called
an Aux on some systems: the track is not used for recording but for bringing in asignal from elsewhere. With this setting, output from the clips is suppressed. An In
monitoring setting can be easily recognized even when the In/Out section is hiddenby the orange color of the track's Activator switch.
 Monitoring can be turned off altogether by choosing the Off option. This is usefulwhen recording acoustic instruments which are monitored through the air, whenusing an external mixing console for monitoring or when using an audio hardwareinterface with a direct monitoring option that bypasses the computer so as to avoid
latency. Generally, it is preferable to work with an audio interface that allows fornegligible latencies (a few milliseconds). If you are recording into Live with monitoring
set to Off, you may want to make the Audio Preferences' Overall Latency adjustment,
which is described in the built-in program tutorial on setting up the Audio Preferences.

CHAPTER 12. ROUTING AND I/O

12.2

152

External Audio In/Out

An audio interface's inputs are selected by choosing Ext. In from the Input Type chooser ofan audio track. The Input Channel chooser then offers the individual input channels. Entries
in this chooser each have meters next to their names to help you identify signal presence
and overload (when the meter ashes red). Setting up the audio interface's outputs works
the same way via the output chooser pair.
The list of available inputs and outputs depends on the Audio Preferences, which can bereached via the Input and Output Channel choosers' Con gure... option. Note that
the Audio Preferences also provide access to the Channel Con guration dialogs, which
determine which inputs and outputs are used, and whether they are available to Live as
mono or stereo pairs. Essentially, the Channel Con guration dialog tells Live what it needs
to know about how the computer is connected to the other audio components in yourstudio.
Please note that there is a limit of four inputs and outputs available in Live LE.

12.2.1

Mono/Stereo Conversions

When a mono signal is chosen as an audio track's input, the track will record mono samples;otherwise it will record stereo samples. Signals in the track's device chain are always stereo,
even when the track's input is mono or when the track plays mono samples.
Mono is turned into stereo simply by using the identical signal for left and right channels.
When a track is routed into a mono output, the left and right signals are added together
and attenuated by 6 dB to avoid clipping.

12.3

External MIDI In/Out

MIDI from the outside world is routed into Live just like audio. From the Input Type chooser
of a MIDI track, you can either select a speci c MIDI input port or All Ins, which is themerged input of all external MIDI ports. The Input Channel chooser offers the individual
input channels of the selected MIDI port and the merged signal of all channels, All. As is

CHAPTER 12. ROUTING AND I/O

153

the case with audio inputs, the Input Channel chooser also has meters next to every entry
to represent activity on the respective input channel.

12.3.1The MIDI Ports List in the Preferences

The MIDI Ports List in
the Preferences.

You can con gure which MIDI ports are made available to Live using the MIDI Ports sectionof the MIDI/Sync Preferences. All available input and output ports are listed here. For Live's
tracks to receive/send MIDI from/to a speci c MIDI port, the corresponding switch in the
Track column must be set to On. You can use any number of MIDI ports for track input andoutput; the mixer's In/Out choosers allow them to be addressed individually.

12.3.2

Playing MIDI With the Computer Keyboard

The computer keyboard can be used as a pseudo-port for generating MIDI notes fromcomputer keyboard strokes. Using this pseudo-port, you can generate MIDI even without areal MIDI input port. To turn the computer MIDI keyboard on, use the Control Bar's ComK (PC) /K (Mac) shortcut
puter MIDI Keyboard button, or the Ctrl
to the Options menu entry.
Activating the Computer
MIDI Keyboard.

The center row of letter keys on the keyboard will play notes corresponding to the white keys
on a piano, beginning on the left with the note C5. The black keys on a piano correspond to
the upper row of computer keys. The four leftmost letters on the lower row of the keyboard
are used to transpose the note range and to set velocity. The results of changing thesevalues are displayed in the Status Bar at the bottom of the Live screen.
As it happens, when the computer keyboard is set to send notes between C3 and C4, thekeys are mapped to MIDI notes such that the center row of the keyboard (ASDF...) addressesCHAPTER 12. ROUTING AND I/O154

the Impulse percussion sampler's sample slots. This means that you can play and record
drum patterns right off the computer keyboard.
Note that when the computer MIDI keyboard is activated, it will steal keys that may haveotherwise been assigned to remote-control elements of the Live interface. To prevent this,you can turn the computer MIDI keyboard off when it is not needed.

12.3.3

MIDI In/Out Indicators

Live's Control Bar contains two pairs of indicator LEDs that tell you about incoming andoutgoing MIDI. These indicators tell you not only about the presence of signals, but also
about their use. In both pairs, the upper indicator ashes when a MIDI message is received,
and the lower indicator ashes when a MIDI message is sent.
The Control Bar's MIDI
Indicators.

The two indicator pairs represent, from left to right:
1. MIDI messages that are used for remote-controlling Live's user-interface elements;
2. MIDI messages coming from and going to Live's MIDI tracks.
MIDI messages that are mapped to remote-control Live's user-interface elements are eaten
up by the remote control assignment and will not be passed on to the MIDI tracks. This is
a common cause of confusion that can be easily resolved by looking at the indicators.

12.4

Resampling

Live's Master output can be routed into an individual audio track and recorded, or resampled.
Resampling can be a fun and useful tool, as it lets you create samples from what is currently
happening in a Live Set that can then be immediately integrated. It can be used to record
tracks that include processor-intensive devices, so as to delete the devices, or for quickly
previewing before rendering to disk.

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The Resampling option in any audio track's Input Type chooser will route the Master
output to that track. You can then decide on what exactly you will be resampling and mute,solo or otherwise adjust the tracks that are feeding the Master output. You will probably
want to use the Master Volume meter to make sure that your level is as high as possible
without clipping (indicated by red in the meter). Then you can arm the track and record into
any of its empty clip slots. Note that the recording track's own output will be suppressed
while resampling is taking place, and will not be included in the recording.
Samples created by resampling will be stored in with the current Set's Project folder, under
Samples/Recorded. Until the Set is saved, they remain at the location speci ed by the
Temporary Folder.

12.5

Internal Routings

Live's mixer allows for inter-track routings. These routings, albeit potentially confusing,enable many valuable creative and technical options. Via the mixer, inter-track routing canwork two ways:
1. Track A is set up to send its output signal to Track B. This is possible because
every track that can receive an output signal of the appropriate type from Track
A shows up in its Output Type chooser.
2. Track B is set up to receive its input signal from Track A. This works because every
track that delivers a signal of the appropriate type appears in Track B's Input Typechooser.

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Two Ways to Route Track
A into Track B.

Both approaches result in Track A's output being fed into Track B. Approach 1 leaves Track
B's in/out settings alone, and we can, at any time, add more tracks that feed their output
into Track B. This is the method of choice for many-to-one routings such as submixes orseveral MIDI tracks playing the same instrument. In this scenario, soloing Track B will stillallow you to hear the output of the tracks that are feeding it. Also, you can still solo Track A
and hear its output signal. In this case, all other tracks are muted, including those that mightalso feed into Track B. Technically, what you hear is the output of Track B, with everything
except Track A's signal removed.
Approach 2, on the other hand, leaves Track A unaffected except for Track B tapping its
output. We can easily add more tracks like Track B that all tap Track A's output. Instrument
layering is a good example of such a one-to-many routing setup.

12.5.1

Internal Routing Points

Signals travel from Live's tracks into their respective device chains and then into the track
mixer, where they might become panned or have their levels altered by the tracks' faders.
Whenever a track's Audio From input chooser is set to another track (as described in theprevious section's Approach 2), the signal received can be tapped from one of three different
points chosen from the Input Channel chooser: Pre FX, Post FX or Post Mixer.

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Tap Points for Track
Routing.

 Pre FX taps the signal that is coming directly from a track, before it has been passed
on to the track's device chains (FX) or mixer. Therefore, changes that are made to thetapped track's devices or mixer have no effect on the tapped signal. Soloing a trackthat taps another track Pre FX will allow you to hear the tapped track.
 Post FX taps the signal at the output of a track's device chains (FX), but before it
has been passed back to the track mixer. Changes to the tapped track's devices will
therefore alter the tapped signal, but changes to its mixer settings will not. Soloing a
track that taps another track Post FX will allow you to hear the tapped track.
 Post Mixer taps the nal output of a track, after it has passed through its device chainsand mixer. Soloing a track that taps another track Post Mixer will not allow you to hear
the tapped track.

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Routing Points in Racks

Tap Points for Every
Chain in a Track.

If a track has one or more Instrument or Effect Racks in its device chain, internal routing
points (Pre FX, Post FX and Post Mixer) will also be available for every chain within the Rack.
If a track contains one or more Drum Racks, internal routing points will be available for anyof the Rack's return chains. Each Rack will also be listed in the Input Channel chooser: (Rack Name) | (Chain Name) | Pre FX The signal will be tapped from the point that itenters the Rack, before it reaches the chain's devices.
 (Rack Name) | (Chain Name) | Post FX The signal will be tapped from the end of thechain, but before it passes to the chain's mixer.
 (Rack Name) | (Chain Name) | Post Mixer The signal will be tapped from the output of
the chain's mixer, just before the point where all of the chains in the Rack are summed
together to create the Rack's output.

Soloing a track that taps a Chain at any of these points will still allow you to hear the output
at that point.

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12.5.2

159

Making Use of Internal RoutingThis section presents several internal routing examples in more detail.
Post-Effects Recording
Let's say that you are feeding a guitar into Live, building up a song track by track, overlaying
take onto take. It is certainly powerful to have a separate effects chain per track for applying
different effects to different takes after the fact. You might, however, want to run the guitar
signal through effects (a noise gate or an amp model, for instance) before the recording
stage, and record the post-effects signal.

An Example Setup for
Post-Effects Recording.

This is easily accomplished by devoting a special audio track for processing and monitoring
the incoming guitar signal. We call this track Guitar and drag the desired effects into its
device chain. We do not record directly into the Guitar track; instead we create a couple
more tracks to use for recording. Those tracks are all set up to receive their input Post FXfrom the Guitar track. Note that we could also tap the Guitar track Post Mixer if we wished
to record any level or panning from it.
As for monitoring, we set the Guitar track's Monitor radio button to In, because we always
want to listen to our guitar through this track, no matter what else is going on in Live. The
other tracks' Monitor radio buttons are set to Off.

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Recording MIDI as Audio
When working with MIDI and complex software instruments, it is sometimes more usefulto record the resulting audio than the incoming MIDI. A single MIDI note can prompt, forexample, Native Instruments' Absynth to produce something that sounds more like a pieceof music than a single tone. This output lends itself more to representation as an audio
waveform than a single note in a MIDI clip, particularly when comparing the editing options.

Recording the Output of
a Complex Instrument in
Audio Tracks.

A setup similar to the one described above accomplishes the task. We have one MIDI track
hosting the virtual instrument, and we use additional audio tracks to record the audio resultof playing the instrument.

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Creating Submixes

Submixing the IndividualDrums of a Drum Kit.

Suppose we have the individual drums of a drum kit coming in on separate tracks for
multitrack recording. In the mix, we can easily change the volumes of the individual drums,
but adjusting the volume of the entire drum kit against the rest of the music is less convenient.
Therefore, we add a new audio track to submix the individual drums. The drum tracks are
all set to output to the submix track, which outputs to the Master. The submix track gives
us a handy volume control for the entire drum kit.
Several MIDI Tracks Playing the Same Instrument
Consider a MIDI track containing a virtual instrument a Simpler playing a pad sound, forexample. We have already recorded MIDI clips into this track when we realize that we would
like to add an independent, parallel take for the same instrument. So we add another MIDI
track. We could now drag another Simpler into the new track, but we would really like toreuse the Simpler from the pad track, so that changing the pad's sound affects the notesfrom both tracks.

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Feeding an Additional
MIDI Track Into an
Existing MIDI Track toReuse its Instrument.

This is accomplished by setting the new MIDI track's Output Type chooser to Pad. Notethat the Output Channel chooser now offers a selection of destinations: We can either feed
the new track's output into the input of the pad track, or we can directly address the Simpler.
The Track In option in the Output Channel represents the pad track's input signal (thesignal to be recorded), which is not what we want. We instead select Simpler Ch. 1 tosend the new track's MIDI directly to the Simpler, bypassing the recording and monitoringstage. With this setup, we can choose to record new takes on either track and they will allplay the same pad sound.

The Instrument Has
Been Isolated in a
Dedicated Track.

We might be bothered by the fact that muting the pad track (by turning off its Activator

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switch) also mutes the other MIDI track. To be precise, the other track keeps playing, but its
MIDI is played by an instrument that is out of the mix. This can be easily remedied by cutting
the clips from the pad track and pasting them into a third track that can be independently
muted (and that can hold its own MIDI effects). The original pad track now acts as a mere
instrument container. As we are not recording new clips into this track, we can set its Input
Type chooser to No Input, which makes its Arm button disappear and helps to avoid
confusion when the mixer's In/Out section is hidden.
Tapping Individual Outs From an Instrument
Some software instruments, like Live's Impulse percussion sampler, offer multiple audio
outputs for the signals they produce. By default, Impulse mixes the output of its eightsample slots internally and delivers the mix at the instrument's audio out. Any audio effects
following Impulse in the same track process the composite signal. Sometimes it is desirable
to take an individual drum sound out of the mix for individual effects processing and mixing.
This is possible because Impulse offers its sample slots as audio sources to other tracks.

Using Impulse's
Individual Outs to
Separately Process
Sample Slots.

We simply create an audio track and select from its Input Type chooser the track with the
Impulse. The Input Channel chooser now offers, in addition to Pre FX, Post FX and Post
Mixer, Impulse's eight individual outputs, labeled according to the sample used in each slot.

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Notice that routing an individual output from Impulse into another track automatically takes
this signal out of Impulse's own internal mix. This convenience is not standard behavior ofmost plug-in instruments, however. Soloing a track that taps one of Impulse's sample slots
will still allow you to hear the output of that slot.
Using Multi-Timbral Plug-In Instruments
Many plug-in instruments support multi-timbral operation. A multi-timbral instrument is likeseveral instruments in one, with each component part (or whatever term the manufactureruses) receiving MIDI on a separate MIDI channel. Usually, the multi-timbral instrument
offers individual outputs so that the parts can be separately routed into the mixer. Or, theinstrument might offer a submixer of its own.

Tracks Feeding MIDI toand Tapping Audio
From the Parts of aMulti-Timbral
Instrument.

Sending MIDI from the mixer to a multi-timbral instrument is a variation of a case describedabove. One MIDI track hosts the multi-timbral instrument, and additional MIDI tracks areused to feed its individual parts. Each additional MIDI track has its Output Type chooser
pointed to the track that contains the instrument, and its Output Channel chooser referencing the target MIDI channel. Additional audio tracks can then be used to tap the instrument's
individual outputs, as described earlier.

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Feeding Sidechain Inputs
Some effects have so-called sidechain inputs. A vocoder, for instance, imposes spectral
characteristics taken from one signal (say, spoken word) onto another signal, for instance astring pad. The vocoder is inserted as an audio effect into the string track. It has a sidechain
input for the speech signal, which has to be delivered from another track. So, we create an
additional audio track named Speech and set its Output Type chooser to the Strings
track. From the Output Channel chooser, we select the vocoder's sidechain input.

Routing a Speech Signal
Into a Vocoder's
Sidechain Input.

Some vocoder plug-ins include a built-in synthesizer to generate the carrier signal. In
this case, the only difference from the above procedure is that the vocoder instrument isdragged into a MIDI track. Feeding the side-chain audio input works as described above.
Please note that Ableton's Auto Filter, Compressor and Gate devices have their own
sidechain controls with integrated routing choosers that match those found in tracks. Thus
when using these devices, it is not necessary to follow the above procedure - you can simply
select the sidechain source from within the device itself.
Layering Instruments
Suppose that we have a MIDI track containing an instrument playing a string sound, which
we would like to augment by adding a brass sound playing the same notes. This can beeasily done by adding a MIDI track that contains an instrument playing the brass sound andsetting its Input Type chooser to tap the string track's Post FX signal.

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Using an Auxiliary MIDI
Track to Layer
Instruments.

Perhaps you wonder why this works, given that the string track's output is audio and not
MIDI. When routing MIDI in from another track, we are tapping the MIDI at the latest possible
stage, which is after any MIDI Effects, and just before the instrument.

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Chapter 13

Mixing
13.1

The Live Mixer

Live includes a mixer section that is accessible from two views:

The Arrangement View
Mixer.

In the Arrangement View, the mixer appears as a horizontal strip to the right of the track
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168

its name, and adjust its height accordingly.

The Session View Mixer.

The Session View is a standard vertical mixer layout. You'll likely nd the Session View mixer
more intuitive than the Arrangement mixer, which comes in handy when you work with
automation. Note that the Tab key toggles between the Arrangement and Session Views.
The View menu options listed below show or hide mixer components. You can use different
mixer view setups in the Session View and in the Arrangement View:
 In/Out Sends
 Returns
 Mixer Track Delays
 Crossfader

The Mixer Section selectors on the right-hand side of the screen duplicate the View Menu
commands, making it possible to quickly show or hide different mixer components.

169

CHAPTER 13. MIXINGThe Mixer Section
Selectors.

Let's look at the mixer controls:
5

6

4

3

1

2
4
5

1

6

2

3

The Mixer Controls.

1. The Meter shows the track's RMS (average) and peak output level. While monitoring, however, it shows the input level.
2. The Volume control adjusts the track's output level.
3. The Pan control positions the track's output in the stereo eld. To reset the Pan
control to center, click on its associated triangle.
4. To mute the track's output, turn off the Track Activator switch.
5. The Solo switch solos the track by muting all other tracks, but can also be used
for cueing. Tracks can only be soloed one at a time unless the Exclusive Solo
option in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences is deactivated. Alternatively, you
can hold down the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er to solo more than one
track.
6. If the Arm Recording button is on, the track is record-enabled. Tracks can only bearmed one at a time unless the Exclusive Arm option in the Record/Warp/LaunchPreferences is deactivated. Alternatively, you can hold down the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er to arm more than one track. With the Exclusive Arm

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option enabled, inserting an instrument into a new or empty MIDI track willautomatically arm the track.

13.1.1

Session Mixer Features

The Session Mixer's
Possibilities.

The Mixer section of the Session Mixer has several additional features that are not visible bydefault. The mixer is resizable, and dragging upwards on the top of the mixer will extend theheight of the track meters, adding tick marks, a numeric volume eld and resettable peaklevel indicators. Increasing a track's width in this state will add a decibel scale alongside themeter's tick marks.
These enhancements are tailored for use in traditional mixing settings, but are available
anytime the Mixer section is displayed.
Because of the enormous headroom of Live's 32-bit oating point audio engine, Live's
meters can be driven far into the red without causing the signals to clip. The only timethat signals over 0 dB will be problematic is when routing to or from physical inputs andoutputs, like those of your sound card, or when saving audio to a le.

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Nevertheless, Live provides this optional visual feedback for signals that travel beyond 0 dB
in any track.

13.2

Audio and MIDI Tracks

Audio and MIDI tracks in Live are for hosting and playing clips, as explained earlier.
You can add up to 64 audio and unlimited MIDI tracks to your Live Set's mixer using theappropriate Insert menu commands.
Tracks can also be created by double-clicking or pressing Return on les in the Browser toload them, or by dragging objects from the Browser into the space to the right of Session
View tracks or below Arrangement View tracks. Devices or les loaded into Live in thismanner will create tracks of the appropriate type (e.g., a MIDI track will be created if a MIDI
le or effect is dragged in).
A track is represented by its track title bar. You can click on a track title bar to select the
track and then execute an Edit menu command, such as Rename, on the track. One canquickly rename a series of tracks by executing this command and then using the Tab key
to move from title bar to title bar. You can also enter your own info text for a track via the
Edit Info Text command in the Edit menu or in the tracks's(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context
menu.

Tracks are Represented
by Track Title Bars.

You can drag tracks by their title bars to rearrange them, or click and drag on their edges tochange their width (in the Session View) or height (in the Arrangement View).
Tracks are deleted using the Edit menu's Delete command.

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13.3

172

Return Tracks and the Master Track

In addition to tracks that play clips, a Live Set has a Master track and up to two return tracks;these cannot play clips, but allow for more exible signal processing and routing.
The return tracks and the Master track occupy the right-hand side of the Session mixer viewand the bottom end of the Arrangement View.
Note that you can hide and show the return tracks using the Returns command in the View
menu.
Like the normal clip tracks, the returns and the Master can host effects devices. However,whereas a clip track's effect processes only the audio within that track, return tracks canprocess audio sent to them from numerous tracks.
For example, suppose you want to create rhythmic echoes with a delay effect. If you dragthe effect into a clip track, only clips playing in this track will be echoed. Placing this effectin a return track lets it receive audio from any number of tracks and add echoes to them.

The Send Controls and
Pre/Post Toggle.

A clip track's Send control regulates how much of the clip track's output feeds the associatedreturn track's input. What's more, even the return track's own output can be routed to its
input, allowing you to create feedback. Because runaway feedback can boost the leveldramatically and unexpectedly, the Send controls in Return tracks are disabled by default.
(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on a Return track's Send knob and select Enable
To enable them,Send or Enable All Sends.
Every return track has a Pre/Post toggle that determines if the signal a clip track sends to
it is tapped before or after the mixer stage (i.e., the pan, volume and track-active controls).
The Pre setting allows you to create an auxiliary mix that is processed in the return track,
independently of the main mix. As the return track can be routed to a separate output, this

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can be used to set up a separate monitor mix for an individual musician in a band.
The Master track is the default destination for the signals from all other tracks. Drag effects
here to process the mixed signal before it goes to the master output. Effects in the Mastertrack usually provide mastering-related functions, such as compression and/or EQ.
You can create multiple return tracks using the Insert menu's Insert Return Track command,
but by de nition, there is only one Master track.

13.4

Using Live's Crossfader

Live includes a crossfader that can create smooth transitions between clips playing on
different tracks. Live's crossfader works like a typical DJ-mixer crossfader, except that itallows crossfading not only two, but any number of tracks including the returns.

The Crossfader andSelector.

The crossfader is accessed via the Session View's mixer selectors. It features seven different
crossfade curves so that you can choose the one that ts your style the best. To change thecurve,(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on the crossfader, then select an entry from the context
menu.

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Choose from Seven
Crossfader Curves.

The chart below details the power level and response of each crossfader curve.
A+B Power Level

Crossfader Response

Transition
DippedIntermediate
Constant
Power
Slow Fade
Slow Cut
Fast Cut

The crossfader can be mapped to any continuous MIDI controller (absolute or incremental).
In addition to the crossfader's central slider, its absolute left and right positions are separately
available for MIDI or keyboard mapping. There are two special scenarios for remote control
with respect to the crossfader: A key mapped to any one of the three assignable crossfader positions (left, center orCrossfader Curve
Properties.

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175

right) will toggle the crossfader's absolute left and right positions.
 Mapping to two of the three elds allows for a snapping back behavior when oneof the assigned keys is held down and the other is pressed and released.

Crossfade Assign
Buttons.

Each track has two Crossfade Assign buttons, A and B. The track can have three states withrespect to the crossfader: If neither Assign button is on, the crossfader does not affect the track at all.
 If A is on, the track will be played unattenuated as long as the crossfader is in the left
half of its value range. As the crossfader moves toward the right across the center
position, the track fades out. At the crossfader's rightmost position, the track is muted.
 Likewise, if B is on, the track's volume will be affected only as the crossfader moves
left across its center position.

It is important to understand that the Crossfade Assign buttons do not affect the signal
routing: The crossfader merely in uences the signal volume at each track's gain stage. The
track can be routed to an individual output bus regardless of its crossfade assignment. In
studio parlance, you can think of the crossfader as an on-the- y VCA group.
As with almost everything in Live, your crossfading maneuvers can be recorded into the
Arrangement for later in-depth editing. To edit each track's crossfade assignment, pleasechoose Mixer from the Envelope Device chooser and X-Fade Assign from the Control
chooser. The crossfader's automation curve is accessible when Mixer is chosen from the
Master track's Device chooser and Crossfade is selected from its Control chooser.

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13.5

Soloing and Cueing

By default, soloing a track simply mutes all other tracks (except in some cases where tracks
are feeding other tracks). The signal from the soloed tracks is heard through their respective
outputs, with the pan setting of each track preserved. Soloing a clip track leaves any return
tracks audible, provided that the Solo in Place option is enabled in the Solo button's context
menu ((PC) / Ctrl
(Mac)). Solo in Place can also be set as the default behavior by
selecting the entry in the Options menu.
Soloing a return track mutes the main output of all other tracks, but still allows you to hear
any signals that arrive at the return via track sends.
Live allows you to replace the standard soloing operation with a cueing operation that lets
you preview tracks as though you were cueing a record on a DJ mixer. This allows choosing
clips and adjusting effects without the audience hearing, before bringing tracks into the mix.
In order to set Live up for cueing, you must be using an audio interface with at least four
dedicated outputs (or two dedicated stereo outputs). The respective settings are accessible
in the Session View mixer. Make sure you have the Mixer and In/Out options checked in the
View menu.

4

5

3

2

1

The Cueing-Related
Session Mixer Controls.

1. The Master Out chooser selects the output on your interface to be used as themain output.

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CHAPTER 13. MIXING

2. The Cue Out chooser selects the output on your hardware interface to be used
for cueing. This has to be set to an output other than that selected for the Master.
If the desired outputs don't show up in these choosers, please check the Audio
Preferences.
3. Activate cueing by setting the Solo/Cue Mode switch to Cue.
4. The tracks' Solo switches are now replaced by Cue switches with headphone
icons. When a track's Cue switch is pressed, that track's output signal will beheard through the output selected in the Cue Out chooser. Note that the Track
Activator switch on the same track still controls whether or not the track is heard
at the Master output.
5. The Cue Volume control adjusts the volume of the cueing output.
Note that when cueing is set up and activated, the output of audio
previewing in the Browser is also heard through the Cue Out.

13.6

les that you are

Track Delays

A Track Delay control is available for every track in Live. The control allows delaying or predelaying the output of tracks in milliseconds in order to compensate for human, acoustic,
hardware and other real-world delays.
This section of the interface can be shown or hidden using its respective Mixer Section
selector.

The Track Delay Control
and Selector.

We do not recommend changing track delays on stage, as it could result in undesirable
clicks or pops in the audio signal. Micro-offsets in Session View clips can be achieved using
the nudge buttons in the Clip View, however track delays can be used in the Arrangement
View for such offsets.

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Note that delay compensation for plug-ins and Live devices is a separate feature, and is
automatic by default. Unusually high Track Delay settings or reported latencies from plugins may cause noticeable sluggishness in the software. If you are having latency-related
dif culties while recording and playing back instruments, you may want to try turning off
device delay compensation, however this is not normally recommended. You may also ndthat adjusting the individual track delays is useful in these cases. Note that the Track Delay
controls are unavailable when device delay compensation is deactivated.

179

Chapter 14

Recording New Clips
This chapter is about recording new clips from audio and MIDI input signals. Note that thisis a different kind of recording than the capturing of Session clips into the Arrangement.
For successful audio recording, please make sure the audio preferences are set up properly.
For more on this, please see the built-in program lesson on setting up Audio Preferences.
Also, keep in mind that devices such as microphones, guitars and turntables do not operate
at line level, meaning that they will need to have their levels boosted before they can berecorded. For these devices, you must therefore use either an audio interface with a preamp,or an external preamp.

14.1

Choosing an Input

A track will record whatever input source is shown in its In/Out section, which appears when
the View menu's In/Out option is checked. (In the Arrangement View, unfold and resize thetrack in order to completely see the In/Out section.)

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The Track In/Out Sectionin the Arrangement(Left) and Session View
(Right).

Audio tracks default to recording a stereo signal from the external input pair 1/2. MIDI
tracks default to recording all MIDI that is coming in through the active external input
devices. The computer keyboard is, by default, activated as a pseudo-MIDI input device,
allowing you to record MIDI even if no MIDI controller hardware is currently available.
For every track, you can choose an input source other than the default: any mono or stereo
external input, a speci c MIDI channel from a speci c MIDI-in device or a signal comingfrom another track. The Routing chapter describes these options in detail.

14.2

Arming (Record-Enabling) Tracks

Track Arm Buttons in the
Arrangement (Left) andSession (Right) Mixers.

To select a track for recording, click on its Arm button. It doesn't matter if you click a track's
Arm button in the Session View or in the Arrangement View, since the two share the same
set of tracks.
By default, armed tracks are monitored, meaning that their input is passed through theirdevice chain and to the output, so that you can listen to what is being recorded. Thisbehavior is called auto-monitoring and you can change it to t your needs.

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CHAPTER 14. RECORDING NEW CLIPS

Clicking one track's Arm button unarms all other tracks unless the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac)
modi er is held. Arming a track selects the track so you can readily access its devices in the
Track View.

14.3

Recording

Recording can be done in both the Session and the Arrangement Views. If you want torecord onto more than one track simultaneously and/or prefer viewing the recording linearly
and in-progress, the Arrangement View may be the better choice. If you want to break yourrecording seamlessly into multiple clips or record while you are also launching clips in Live,use the Session View.

14.3.1

Recording Into the Arrangement
1

6

3
4

2
5

Recording Into the
Arrangement.

1. Recording commences when the Control Bar's Record button is activated andthe Play button is pressed.

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182

2. Recording creates new clips in all tracks that have their Arm button on.
3. When the Overdub switch is on, the new clips contain a mix of the signal alreadyin the track and the new input signal. The Overdub option only applies to MIDI
tracks.
4. To prevent recording prior to a punch-in point, activate the Punch-In switch. Thisis useful for protecting the parts of a track that you do not want to record over
and allows you to set up a pre-roll or warm-up time. The punch-in point is
identical to the Arrangement Loop's start position.
5. Likewise, to prevent recording after the punch-out point, activate the Punch-Out
switch. The punch-out point is identical to the Arrangement Loop's end position.
6. When you are recording into the Arrangement Loop, Live retains the audio
recorded during each pass.
You can later unroll a loop recording, either by repeatedly using the Edit menu's Undo
command or graphically in the Clip View: After loop recording, double-click on the new clip.
In the Clip View's Sample Display, you can see a long sample containing all audio recorded
during the loop-recording process. The Clip View's loop brace de nes the audio taken in
the last pass; moving the markers left lets you audition the audio from previous passes.

14.3.2

Recording Into Session Slots

You can record new clips, on the y, into any Session slots.

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4

3

2

1

Recording a New Clip
Into the Session View.

1. Set the Global Quantization chooser to any value other than None to obtaincorrectly cut clips.
2. Activate the Arm button for the tracks onto which you want to record. Clip
Record buttons will appear in the empty slots of the armed tracks.
3. Click on any of the Clip Record buttons to commence recording. A new clip
will appear in the slot with a red Clip Launch button that shows it is currently
recording. To go from recording immediately into loop playback, press the clip's
Launch button.
4. Alternatively, you can click a Clip Stop button or the Stop button in the Control
Bar to stop recording, leaving the new clip silent.
Note that, by default, launching a Session View scene will not activate recording in empty
record-enabled slots belonging to that scene. However, you can use the Start Recording
on Scene Launch option from the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences to tell Live that you dowant empty scene slots to record under these circumstances.

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184

Overdub Recording MIDI Patterns

Live makes pattern-oriented recording of drums and the like quite easy. Using Live's Impulse
instrument and the following technique, you can successively build up drum patterns while
listening to the result. Or, using an instrument such as Simpler, which allows for chromatic
playing, you can build up melodies or harmonies, note by note.
1. Set the Global Quantization chooser to one bar.
2. To automatically quantize the notes you are about to record, choose an appropriate value for Record Quantization.
3. Double-click any of the Session View slots in the desired MIDI track (the one
containing the Impulse or other instrument). A new, empty clip will appear in theslot. The new clip will default to a loop length of one bar, but you can changethat by double-clicking the clip and changing its loop properties.
4. Arm the track.
5. Launch the clip.
6. The notes you play are added into the looping clip, and you can observe yourrecording in the Clip View.
7. By default, the Control Bar's Overdub switch is activated, so that you can build
your pattern layer by layer. However, if you would like to pause recording for a
moment to rehearse, you can deactivate the Overdub switch. The contents ofthe clip will continue to play, but you can play along without being recorded.
When you are ready to record again, simply turn on the Overdub switch.
8. Stop recording by pressing a Clip Stop button or the Stop button in the Control
Bar.
Note that holding Alt(PC) / Alt(Mac) while double-clicking the empty slot to create
a new clip will implicitly arm the track and launch the clip.
At any time while overdub recording is going on, you can use the Undo command to remove
the last take, or even draw, move or delete notes in the Clip View's Note Editor.
Note that you can also add notes to existing Session clips while the Overdub switch is on.

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185

Recording in Sync

Live keeps the audio and MIDI you have recorded in sync, even when you later decide on adifferent song tempo. In fact, Live allows you to change the tempo at any time before, afterand even during recording. You could, for instance, cheat a bit by turning down the tempo
to record a technically dif cult part, and pull it up again afterwards.
It is important to record in sync to make sure everything will later play in sync.
The Metronome Switch.

The easiest way to record in sync is to play along with or to use the built-in metronome,
which is activated via its Control Bar switch and will begin ticking when the Play button ispressed or a clip is launched.

The Preview Volume
Knob.

To adjust the metronome volume, use the mixer's Preview Volume knob.
Notice that Live's metrical interpretation of the audio being played can be edited, at any
time, using the Warp Markers. Warp Markers can be used to x timing errors and to change
the groove or feel of your recordings. Using Warp Markers, you can x things in yourrecordings that would otherwise require complicated editing or could not be done at all.
Likewise, the metrical interpretation of recorded MIDI can be changed after recording, using
the MIDI clip's Original BPM controls.

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186

Recording Quantized MIDI Notes

If you will be recording MIDI, you have the option of automatically quantizing MIDI notes
while recording. The Record Quantization chooser in the Edit menu allows selecting themeter subdivisions with which your recorded notes will align. When recording into Session
slots or into the Arrangement, record quantization is an independent step in Live's Undo
history. This means that if, for example, you recorded with Record Quantization set toEighth Note Triplet Quantization and then changed your mind, using the Edit menu's
Undo command would undo only the quantization and leave your recording otherwise
intact.
For Session and Arrangement recording, the Record Quantization setting cannot be changed
mid-recording.
When overdub recording with the Clip View Loop activated, changes to the Record Quantization take effect immediately, and they cannot be separately undone with the Edit menu
command.
Recorded MIDI notes can also be quantized post-recording with the Edit menu's Quantize
command, as described in the chapter on editing MIDI.

14.6

Recording with Count-in

A count-in for recording can be set in Live's Record/Warp/Launch Preferences. When theCount-In preference is set to any value other than None, Live will not begin recording
until the count-in is complete. The Arrangement Position elds in the Control Bar display
the count-in in orange as bars-beats-sixteenths.

The count-in runs from negative bars-beats-sixteenths (beginning at -2.1.1., for example,
with a Count-In setting of 2 bars) up to 1.1.1., at which point recording commences.

The Count-In is
Displayed in the Control
Bar.

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187

Setting up File Types

The following Preferences from the Record/Warp/Launch tab are relevant to the sample lesthat are created by recording: The sample le type you would like Live to create can be chosen from the File Typechooser in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences.
 The bit depth of the sample le you will create by recording can be chosen from the
Bit Depth chooser in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences.

You can save time by setting up reasonable defaults for the clips you are recording in the
Record/Warp/Launch Preferences tab. In particular, it is smart to indicate the rough categoryof sound to be recorded by choosing the appropriate default Warp Mode. If you decidelater on a different song tempo, the program will automatically maintain good sound quality,
usually without further adjustment.

14.8

Where are the Recorded Samples?

Recorded samples are stored with the current Set's Project folder, under Samples/Recorded.
Until the Set is saved, it remains at the location speci ed by the Temporary Folder preference
which is found in the Preferences' File/Folder tab. To make sure Live will not run out of disk
space while recording into a new Set, please make sure the Temporary Folder is on adrive/partition with suf cient free space.

14.9

Using Remote Control for Recording

Using Key Map Mode and MIDI Map Mode, you can operate Live's recording functions
without using the mouse.
You can map the Control Bar's Record and transport controls as well as the track Arm buttons.
For recording into the Session slots, you can map the individual slots as well as the relative
navigation controls to initiate recording remotely; for instance:

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The Scene Up/Down
Buttons.

One key is used to jump to the next scene...

A Track Launch Button.

... and another key to start and end recording in the respective track.

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Chapter 15

Working with Instruments andEffects
Every track in Live can host a number of devices. These devices can be of three different
sorts:
 MIDI effects act upon MIDI signals and can only be placed in MIDI tracks.
 Audio effects act upon audio signals and can be placed in audio tracks. They can also
be placed in MIDI tracks as long as they are downstream from an instrument.
 Instruments are devices that reside in MIDI tracks, receive MIDI and output audio.

The Track View is where you insert, view and adjust the devices for the selected track. To
select a track and open the Track View to access its devices, double-click the track's name.
The Track View appears in the bottom area of the Live screen.
Please note that the number of instruments and effects that can be used in a single Set islimited in Live LE.

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Devices in the TrackView.

To save space in the Track View, a device can be collapsed by double-clicking on its title bar
or by choosing Fold from its(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu.

Devices Can Be Folded.

To learn about a particular device and how to operate it, consult the Live Audio Effect
Reference, Live MIDI Effect Reference or the Live Instrument Reference.
To learn about creating and using custom groupings of instruments and effects, check out
the Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks chapter.
Get hands-on with devices by assigning their parameters to MIDI or key remote control.

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191

Using the Live Devices

The Live Device Browser.

Click on the Device Browser selector to access the palette of Live's built-in devices. You will
notice that MIDI effects, audio effects and instruments each have their own folders in the
Browser.
The easiest way to place a device in a track is to double-click on it in the Browser, which
creates a new track to hold the device. Alternatively, select a destination track by clicking
within it, then select a device or preset in the Browser and press Return to add it to theselected track.
You can also drag devices into tracks or drop areas in the Session and Arrangement Views,
or into the Track View. Dragging a sample to the Track View of a MIDI track creates a Simpler
instrument with this sample loaded.
Note: If you are using an external input signal to feed your Live track using the default
settings, the track's Arm button in the mixer must be activated in order to hear the input
through the devices in your track's device chain. On MIDI tracks, this is normally activatedautomatically when inserting an instrument.

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MIDI and Audio Track
Arm Buttons

This is how you would play live instruments through effects on a track, for example, or use
a MIDI keyboard's input to play a track's instrument. Note that you can easily move fromthis setup into recording new clips for further use in Live. If you have alternative monitoring
preferences, please see the Monitoring section to learn how to make these settings.
To add another device to the track, simply drag it there or double-click its name to append
it to the device chain. Signals in a device chain always travel from left to right.
You can drop audio effects in at any point in an audio track's device chain, keeping in mind
that the order of effects determines the resulting sound. The same is true for a MIDI track's
device chain.
If you drop an instrument into a MIDI track's device chain, be aware that signals following(to the right of) the instrument are audio signals, available only to audio effects. Signals
preceding (to the left of) the instrument are MIDI signals, available only to MIDI effects. Thismeans that it's possible for a MIDI track's device chain to hold all three types of devices: rst
MIDI effects, then an instrument, and nally audio effects.

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A MIDI Track's Device
Chain Can Contain All
Three Device Types.

To remove a device from the chain, click on its title bar and press your computer'sor Delete key, or select Delete from the Edit menu. To change the order of devices, drag adevice by its title bar and drop it next to any of the other devices in the Track View. Devices
can be moved to other tracks entirely by dragging them from the Track View into the Session
or Arrangement Views. Generally, devices can be placed, reordered and deleted without
interrupting the audio stream.

Device Activator
Switches.

Devices are turned on and off using their Activator switches. Turning a device off is like
temporarily deleting it: The signal remains unprocessed, and the device does not consume
CPU cycles. Live devices generally do not load down the CPU unless they are active. For
more information, please refer to the CPU load section.
Devices in Live's tracks have input and output level meters. These meters are helpful innding problematic devices in the device chain: Low or absent signals will be revealed by
the level meters, and relevant device settings can then be adjusted, or the device can beturned off or removed.

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The Level Meters
Between Devices in a
Chain.

Note that no clipping can occur between devices because there is practically unlimited
headroom. Clipping can occur when an overly strong signal is sent to a physical output or
written to a sample le.
Further information about track types in Live can be found in the Routing and I/O chapter, including information on using return tracks to distribute the effect of a single device amongst
several tracks. After reading about using devices in Live, it might also be interesting to look
into clip envelopes, which can modulate individual device parameters on a per-clip basis.

15.1.1

Live Device Presets

Every Live device can store and retrieve their parameter settings as presets. Presets for Live
instruments and effects are managed through the Device Browser. Each device appears
there as a folder that can be opened to reveal its presets.

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Presets in the Device
Browser.

You can browse and load presets quickly with the computer keyboard: Scroll up and down using theand Close and open device folders using the

keys.
and

keys.

 Press Return to load a device or preset.

The Hot-Swap Presets
Button.

Clicking a device's Hot-Swap Presets button will temporarily link the Browser to a device,calling up its presets in the Device Browser. With the device and Browser linked in thismanner, you can quickly browse, load and audition different presets. You can even replace
the current device with a new one by simply selecting another device's preset. To load adevice's default factory settings, select the parent folder of its presets (i.e., the one with thedevice's name) from the Device Browser.
The link between the Device Browser and the device will be broken if a different view isselected, or if the Hot-Swap button is pressed again. Preset hot-swapping can also becancelled with a press of the Esc
key.
Note that although importing via the Browser is the recommended method, presets canalso be dropped directly into Live from the Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac).

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Saving Presets
You can create and save any number of your own presets in the Device Browser.

The Save Preset Button.

Click the Save Preset button to save a device's current settings (including any custom infotext) as a new preset. You will be redirected to the Browser, where you can press Returnto use Live's suggested name, or you can type one of your own. You can also save presetsto speci c folders in the Browser (such as your Current Project folder) by dragging from thetitle bar of the device and dropping into the Browser location of your choice.
For detailed information on what can be done with the Browser, please see the Managing Files and Sets chapter. For more on how to store project-speci c presets, see theappropriate section.
Default Presets
Presets saved to the Defaults folders in Live's Library will load in place of Live's generic device
settings. There are also Defaults folders that allow you to customize how Live responds tovarious user actions such as sample dropping and slicing. (Please note that slicing is notavailable in Live LE.)The Default Presets
folders in Live's Library.

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To save the current settings of a device as a default preset, open the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu on the device's header and select Save as Default Preset. This works
for all of Live's instruments, MIDI effects and audio effects (including the various types ofRacks). If you have already saved a default preset for a particular device, Live will ask you
before overwriting it.
To specify how Live behaves when dragging a sample to a Drum Rack or the Track View ofa MIDI track: Create an empty Simpler
 Adjust the parameters as you like
 Drag the edited device to the On Drum Rack or On Track View folder, which canbe found at Library/Defaults/Dropping Samples

15.2

Using Plug-Ins

The collection of devices that you can use in Live can be extended with plug-ins. Livesupports Steinberg Media's VST Plug-ins format, as well as Apple Computer's Audio Units(AU) Plug-ins format (Mac OS X only). You can use up to two VST/AU instruments and two
VST/AU effects per Set.
Working with VST and Audio Units Plug-ins is very much like working with Live devices. VST
and AU instruments can only be placed in Live MIDI tracks and, like Live instruments, they
will receive MIDI and output audio signals. Plug-in audio effects can only be placed in audio
tracks or following instruments. Please see the previous section, Using the Live Devices, fordetails.

CHAPTER 15. WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS198

The Plug-In Device
Browser.

Audio Units and VST Plug-ins are browsed and imported using the Plug-In Device Browser,
which is accessed via its selector. Plug-in instruments can be differentiated from plug-in
effects in the Browser, as they appear with a keyboard icon.
The Browser's search functionality is only available for Audio Units Plug-ins, as is loading
presets directly from Track View devices via the Hot-Swap button. In some instances, factory
presets for Audio Units will only appear in the Browser once the device has been placed ina track and its Hot-Swap button activated.
Note: The rst time you start Live, no plug-ins will appear in the Plug-In Device Browser,
as you must rst activate your plug-in sources. Activating your plug-in sources tells Live
which plug-ins you want to use and where they are located on your computer. Informationon activating (and deactivating) plug-in sources can be found later in this chapter, in thesections on the VST Plug-in folder and Audio Units Plug-ins.
Note for Intel Mac users: Intel Macs cannot natively run VST or AU plug-ins that havebeen written for the PowerPC platform. Only plug-ins of type (Universal) or (Intel) can beused in Live.
If you install/de-install a plug-in while the program is running, Live will not detect yourchanges or implement them in the Plug-In Device Browser until the next time you start the
program. Use the Rescan button in the File/Folder Preferences to rescan your plug-ins while
Live is running, so that newly installed devices become immediately available in the Plug-In
Device Browser.

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You can also rescan if you believe that your plug-in database has somehow become corrupted. Holding down the Alt(PC) / Alt(Mac) modi er while pressing Rescan will
delete your plug-in database altogether and run a clean scan of your plug-ins.

15.2.1Plug-Ins in the Track View

A VST Plug-In in the
Track View.

Once a plug-in is dragged from the Browser into a track, it will show up in the Track View.
The original plug-in panel graphics will be replaced with a Live panel, which will usually
represent all of the plug-in parameters accurately and completely, unless they are simply
too numerous or are not modi able in real time. When this is the case, the plug-in's original
editor panel can be opened in a separate window.

The Plug-In Unfold
Button.

You can view or hide the VST Plug-in's parameters by toggling thetitle bar.

button in the plug-in's

The X-Y control eld can be used to control two plug-in parameters at once and is therefore
especially well-suited for live control. To assign any two plug-in parameters to the Live panel
X-Y eld, use the drop-down menus directly beneath it.

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Once a plug-in is placed in a track, you can use it just like a Live device: You can edit all of its parameters and drag it to different locations in the device chain
or to other tracks, according to the rules of audio effects and instruments.
 You can map MIDI controller messages to its parameters.
 You can modulate its continuous parameters with clip envelopes.
 You can use the multiple I/O features of some plug-ins by assigning them as sources
or targets in the routing setup of tracks. See the Routing and I/O chapter for details.
 You can create custom info text for the plug-in.

Showing Plug-In Panels in Separate Windows

The Plug-In Edit Button.

The Plug-In Edit button opens a oating window that shows the original VST or Audio Units
Plug-in panel. Changing parameters on the oating window has the same effect as changing
them in the Live panel, and vice versa.
There are a few important Plug-In Preference settings for working with plug-in edit windows:
 If activated, the Auto-Open Plug-In Windows Preference assures that plug-in edit
windows open automatically when plug-ins are loaded into tracks from the Browser.
 If the Multiple Plug-In Windows option in the Plug-In Preferences is activated, you can
open any number of plug-in windows at once. Even with this option off, you can holddown the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er when opening a new plug-in window tokeep the previous window(s) from closing.
 Using the Auto-Hide Plug-In Windows preference, you can choose to have Live display
only those plug-in windows belonging to the track that is currently selected.

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Alt
P
You can use the View menu's Show/Hide Plug-In Windows command or the Ctrl
Alt
P (Mac) shortcut to hide and show your open plug-in windows. Notice(PC) /
that the name of the track to which the plug-in belongs is displayed in the title bar of theplug-in editor window.

Macintosh only: The oating editor windows of some VST Plug-ins do not receive computer
key strokes. This is generally an implementation error in the plug-in itself. If it is necessary
to type into a plug-in window, for instance for entering a serial number or unlock code, holddownwhile clicking the Plug-In Edit button. The editor window will then appear asa normal application window, rather than as a oating window, and receive your typing.
Note that this functionality is intended only as a workaround for the limitations of such plugins. We recommend closing the window after you have nished typing, then reopening it
normally before working with the plug-in parameters.

15.2.2Plug-In Performance Options

The CPU Preferences contain a Plug-In Buffer Size setting for balancing plug-in latency andperformance. Here you can set the number of samples processed at any one time by theplug-in. Higher settings may result in a noticeable performance increase but will also resultin higher latencies.
With the As Audio Buffer setting selected, the plug-in will calculate the exact number ofsamples per millisecond as the computer's sound card. This setting usually means that very
few dropouts or performance problems will occur, especially with DSP cards.
The size of the computer's sound card buffer (i.e., the number of samples it calculates per
millisecond) can be set using the Buffer Size setting in the Audio Preferences.

15.3

VST Plug-Ins

15.3.1The VST Plug-In Folder

When you start Live for the rst time, you will need to activate your VST Plug-in sources
before working with VST Plug-ins. Depending on your computer platform, you may also

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have to tell Live about the location of the VST Plug-in folder containing the devices you
want to use. In order to set up your VST sources, press the Activate button in the Plug-In, (PC) /,Device Browser, or open the File/Folder Preferences by pressing Ctrl
(Mac). There you will nd the Active Sources section.

Setting up VST Plug-In
Sources for Windows.

For Windows, proceed as follows:
1. Use the VST Plug-In Custom Folder entry to tell Live about the location of your
VST Plug-ins: Click the Browse button to open a folder-search dialog for locating
and selecting the appropriate folder.
2. Once you have selected a VST Custom Folder and Live has scanned it, the pathwill be displayed. Note that, on Windows, Live may have found a path in theregistry without the need for browsing.
3. Make sure that the Use VST Plug-In Custom Folder option is set to On, sothat your selected folder is an active source for VST Plug-ins in Live. Note thatyou can choose not to use your VST Plug-ins in Live by turning off the Use VST
Plug-In Custom Folder option.

Setting up VST Plug-In
Sources for Mac OS X.

Set up your VST Plug-ins under Mac OS X by doing the following:
1. Your VST Plug-ins will normally be installed in the following folder in your home

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and local directories: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST. You can turn Live's use of
these plug-ins on or off with the Use VST Plug-ins in System Folders option.
2. You may have an alternative folder in which you store your VST Plug-ins (perhaps
those that you use only with Live). You can use VST Plug-ins in this folder in addition to, or instead of, those in the System folders. To tell Live about the locationof this folder, click the Browse button next to the VST Plug-In Custom Folder
entry to open a folder-search dialog for locating and selecting the appropriate
folder.
3. Note that you can turn off your VST Plug-ins in this folder using the Use VST
Plug-In Custom folder option.
Once you have con gured your Plug-In Preferences, the Plug-In Device Browser will display
all plug-ins it nds in the selected VST Plug-in folder(s) as well as any sub-folders.
It is also possible to use VST Plug-ins stored in different folders on your computer. To dothis, create a Mac OS or Windows alias of the folder where additional VST Plug-ins are
stored, and then place the alias in the VST Plug-In Custom folder (or in the VST Plug-In
System folder on Mac OS X) selected in Live's File/Folder Preferences. The alias can point
to a different partition or hard drive on your computer. Live will scan the set VST Plug-in
folder as well as any alias folders contained therein.
Some VST Plug-ins contain errors or are incompatible with Live. During the scanning process,these may cause the program to crash. When you re-launching Live, a dialog will appear
to inform you about which plug-in caused the problem. Depending on what Live detects
about the plug-in, you may be given the choice between performing another scan or
making the problematic plug-in unavailable. If you choose to rescan and they crash theprogram a second time, Live will automatically make them unavailable, meaning that they
will not appear in the Plug-In Device Browser and will not be rescanned again until they arereinstalled.

15.3.2

VST Programs and Banks

Every VST Plug-in instance owns a bank of programs. A program is meant to contain one
complete set of values for the plug-in's controls.

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The VST Plug-In
Program Chooser.

To select a program from the plug-in's bank, use the chooser below the title bar. The numberof programs per bank is xed. You are always working in the currently selected program,that is, all changes to the plug-in's controls become part of the selected program.
Note that VST programs are different from Live device presets: Whereas the presets for a
Live device are shared among all instances and Live Sets, the VST programs belong tothis speci c instance of the VST Plug-in.

Renaming a VST Plug-In
Program.

To rename the current program, select the VST program chooser and execute the Editmenu's Rename Plug-In Preset command. Then type in a new program name and con rm
by pressing Return .
The VST Program/Bank
Load Button (Left) and
Save Button (Right).

VST programs and banks can be imported from les. Clicking the VST Program Load button
brings up a standard le-open dialog for locating the desired le.
Windows only: Please select from the File Type menu whether you want to locate VST
Device Program les or VST Device Bank les.
To save the currently selected program as a le, click the VST Program/Bank Save button tobring up a standard le-save dialog; select VST Device Program from the Format menu
(Macintosh)/from the File Type menu (Windows); select a folder and name. For saving theentire bank as a le, proceed likewise but choose VST Device Bank as a le type/format.

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15.4

205

Audio Units Plug-Ins

Audio Units Plug-ins are only available in Mac OS X. In most respects, they operate just like
VST Plug-ins.

An Audio Units Plug-In.

The rst time you open Live, Audio Units Plug-ins will not appear in the Plug-In Device
Browser. In order to activate your Audio Units as a plug-in source, please press the Activate
button in the Plug-In Device Browser, or go to the File/Folder Preferences by pressing
Ctrl, (PC) /, (Mac). There you will nd the Active Sources section. Turningon the Use Audio Units option activates Audio Units Plug-ins so that they appear in Live's
Plug-In Device Browser.
Note that you can always turn this option off later if you decide not to use Audio Units.

Activating Audio Units
Plug-Ins.

Audio Units Plug-ins sometimes have a feature that allows choosing between different
modes for the device. You might be able to choose, for example, between different levelsof quality in the rendering of a reverb. Choosers for these device modes can only beaccessed through the original plug-in panel, which is opened using the Plug-In Edit button.

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Opening an Audio Units
Plug-In Window.

Audio Units have presets that function just like those for the Live effects. However, someAU presets cannot be dragged to different locations in the Browser, as they are read-only.
Audio Units presets have an .aupreset extension and are stored in the following directory
according to their manufacturer's name:[Home]/Library/Audio/Presets/[Manufacturer Name]/[Plug-in Name]

15.5

Device Delay Compensation

Live automatically compensates for delays caused by Live and plug-in instruments andeffects, including those on the return tracks. These delays can arise from the time taken by
devices to process an input signal and output a result. The compensation algorithm keeps
all of Live's tracks in sync, regardless of what their devices are doing, while minimizing delay
between the player's actions and the audible result.
Device delay compensation is on by default and does not normally have to be adjusted
in any way. However, Live Sets that were created with Live 4 or earlier will open without
device delay compensation. To manually turn latency compensation on (or off), use theDelay Compensation option in the Options menu.
Unusually high individual track delays or reported latencies from plug-ins may cause noticeable sluggishness in the software. If you are having latency-related dif culties while
recording and playing back instruments, you may want to try turning off device delay compensation, however this is not normally recommended. You may also nd that adjusting theindividual track delays is useful in these cases.
Note that device delay compensation can, depending on the number of tracks and devices
in use, increase the CPU load.

207

Chapter 16

Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks
A Rack is a exible tool for working with effects, plug-ins and instruments in a track's
device chain. Racks can be used to build complex signal processors, dynamic performance
instruments, stacked synthesizers and more. Yet they also streamline your device chain
by bringing together your most essential controls. While Racks excel at handling multiple
devices, they can extend the abilities of even a single device by de ning new control
relationships between its parameters.
Racks greatly expand upon the concept of device groups introduced in Live 5. The device
groups of any Live Sets imported from Live 5 are automatically converted to Racks by Live
LE. Note that these Live Sets, once saved, can no longer be opened in older versions ofLive.
Please note that Racks cannot be edited in Live LE. You can use Racks that have been createdin the full version of Live but you will only be able to access some of their controls. To learn
more about how Racks work internally, please download the full Ableton Reference Manualfrom the Ableton website1 .

1 http://www.ableton.com/downloads

CHAPTER 16. INSTRUMENT, DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS

16.1

An Overview of Racks

16.1.1Signal Flow and Parallel Device Chains

208

Inside An Audio Effect
Rack (As It Appears in
the Full Version of Live).

In any of Live's tracks, devices are connected serially in a device chain, passing their signals
from one device to the next, left to right. By default, the Track View displays only a single
chain, but there is actually no limit to the number of chains contained within a track.
Racks allow (among other things) additional device chains to be added to any track. When a
track has multiple chains, they operate in parallel: In Instrument and Effect Racks, each chain
receives the same input signal at the same time, but then processes its signal serially throughits own devices. The output of each of the parallel chains is mixed together, producing the
Rack's output.
Drum Racks also allow multiple parallel chains to be used simultaneously, but their chainsprocess input somewhat differently: Rather than receiving the same input signals, each
Drum Rack chain receives input from only a single assigned MIDI note.
The entire contents of any Rack can be thought of as a single device. This means that adding
a new Rack at any point in a device chain is no different than adding any other device, andRacks can contain any number of other Racks. If more devices are placed after a Rack in a
track's device chain, the Rack's output is passed on to them, as usual.

CHAPTER 16. INSTRUMENT, DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS

16.1.2209

Macro Controls

The Macro Controls.

One unique property of Racks are their Macro Controls.
The Macro Controls are a bank of eight knobs, each capable of addressing any number ofparameters from any devices in a Rack. How you use them is naturally up to you whether it
be for convenience, by making an important device parameter more accessible; for de ning
exotic, multi-parameter morphs of rhythm and timbre; or for constructing a mega-synth,
and hiding it away behind a single customized interface.
For the greatest degree of expression, try MIDI-mapping the Macro Controls to an external
control surface.

16.2

Drum Racks

We've already talked a bit about Drum Racks, and most of their features are the same as
those found in Instrument and Effect Racks. But Drum Racks have a slightly different layout,some unique controls and special behavior that is optimized for creating drum kits.

CHAPTER 16. INSTRUMENT, DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS

16.2.1210

Pad View

Pad View (As It Appears
in the Full Version ofLive).

The Pad View is unique to Drum Racks and offers an easy way to map and manipulate
samples and devices. Each pad represents one of the 128 available MIDI notes. The pad
overview to the right shifts the set of visible pads up or down in octave increments, either bydragging the view selector to a new area or by using your computer keyboard's
andkeys. Use the Alt(PC) / Alt(Mac) modi er to shift the view by single rows instead.
A Rack's inner structure can sometimes be quite complicated. Pad View can make it mucheasier to work by letting you focus on only the top level: the notes and sounds. It's importantto remember that a pad represents a note, rather than a chain. More speci cally, it represents
all chains, no matter how deep in the Rack, that are able to receive that pad's note. What
you can control with each pad is related to how many chains it represents:
 An empty pad shows only the note it will trigger. When you mouse over it, the statusbar will display this note, as well as the suggested GM instrument.
 A pad that triggers only one chain shows the name of the chain. In this case, the pad
serves as a handy front-end for many controls that are normally accessed deeper inthe Rack, such as mute, solo, preview and Hot-Swap. You can also rename and delete
the chain via the pad.
 A pad that triggers multiple chains shows Multi as its name, and its mute, solo andpreview buttons will affect all of its chains. Hot-Swap and renaming are disabled for a
Multi pad, but you can delete all of its chains at once.

CHAPTER 16. INSTRUMENT, DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS211

Pad View excels as a performance interface, particularly when triggered by a hardware
control surface with pads. If your pad controller is one of Ableton's natively supported control
surfaces, simply select it as a control surface in the MIDI/Sync tab of Live's Preferences. Fromthen on, as long as you have a Drum Rack on a track that's receiving MIDI, your pad controller
will trigger the pads that are visible on your screen. If you scroll the pad overview to show
a different set of pads, your controller will update automatically.

16.3

Mixing With Racks

Any Instrument or Drum Rack that contains more than one chain can be viewed and mixed
alongside the tracks in the Session View's mixer. A track that contains these Racks will haveabutton in its title bar, which will fold the Rack's mixer in or out. Likewise, any nested
chains within the Rack will also have this button. This makes it easy to get an overview ofyour Rack's hierarchy or hide it when you just want to work on your mix.

CHAPTER 16. INSTRUMENT, DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS212

Mixing Rack Chains in
the Session View.

Chains in the Session View mixer look similar to tracks, but they have no clip slots. Additionally, opening the Mixer's In/Out section allows for some additional editing possibilities:
 Input/Output Controls. The Receive chooser sets the incoming MIDI note to which thedrum chain will respond. The list shows note names, MIDI note numbers and standard
GM drum equivalents. The Play slider sets the outgoing MIDI note that will be sent to
the devices in the chain. The Choke chooser allows you to set a chain to one of sixteen
choke groups. Any chains that are in the same choke group will silence the others
when triggered. This is useful for choking open hihats by triggering closed ones, forexample. If All is selected in the Receive chooser, the Play and Choke choosers are
disabled in this case, the chain simply passes the note that it receives to its devices.
The small Preview button above these choosers res a note into the chain, making it
easy to check your mappings away from a MIDI controller.
 In the full version of Live, Drum Racks can be built with up to six return chains. If your

CHAPTER 16. INSTRUMENT, DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS213

Rack contains them, the Audio To chooser in the mixer for return chains allows you toroute a return chain's output to either the main output of the Rack or directly to thereturn tracks of the Set. In Drum Racks that are nested within other Drum Racks, both
drum chains and return chains can route upwards to the returns of any of the Drum
Racks that contain them.
Please note that these controls provide only a fraction of the editing possibilities that areavailable when using Racks in the full version of Live.

214

Chapter 17

Automation and Editing Envelopes
Often, when working with Live's mixer and devices, you will want the controls' movements
to become part of the music. The movement of a control across the song timeline is called
automation; a control whose value changes in the course of this timeline is automated.
Practically all mixer and device controls in Live can be automated, including the song
tempo.

17.1

Recording Automation

Creating automation is straightforward: All changes of a control that occur while the Control
Bar's Record switch is on become automation. Try recording automation for a control, forinstance a mixer volume slider. After recording, play back what you have just recorded
to see and hear the effect of the control movement. You will notice that a little LED has
appeared in the slider thumb to indicate that the control is now automated. Try recording
automation for track panning and the Track Activator switch as well; their automation LEDs
appear in their upper left corners.

CHAPTER 17. AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES

215

Volume, Pan and the
Track Activator Switch
Have Been Automated.

17.2

Deleting Automation

To delete automation data,(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on an automated control to open
its context menu and select Delete Automation. The automation LED disappears, and thecontrol's value stays constant across the entire song. You can also delete automation byediting breakpoint envelopes.

17.3

Overriding Automation

In practice, you will often want to try out new control moves without overwriting existing
automation data. Well, nothing is forever in the world of in nite Undo, but it's easy todisable a control's automation temporarily to avoid overwriting existing data: If you change
an automated control's value while not in Record mode, the automation LED goes off toindicate the control's automation is inactive. Any automation is therefore overridden by thecurrent manual setting.
The Back to
Arrangement Button.

When one or more of the automated controls in your Live Set are not active, the Control
Bar's Back to Arrangement button lights up. This button serves two purposes:
1. It reminds you that the current state of the controls differs from the state captured
in the Arrangement.

216

CHAPTER 17. AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES

2. You can click on it to reactivate all automation and thereby return to the automation state as it is written on tape.

17.4 Drawing and Editing Automation
In the Arrangement View, automation curves can be viewed and edited as breakpointenvelopes.
3

5

8

1

4

6

2

Automation Envelopesin the Arrangement
View.

7

1. To show a track's envelopes, unfold the track by clicking theto the track name.

button next

2. Clicking on one of the track's mixer or device controls will display this control'senvelope on the clip track.
3. Envelopes appear on top of the audio waveform or MIDI display. An envelope's vertical axis represents the control value and the horizontal axis represents
time. For switches and radio buttons, the value axis is discontinuous.
4. The Automation Device chooser either selects the track mixer, one of the track's
devices or None to hide the envelope. It also provides you with an overview ofCHAPTER 17. AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES

217

which devices actually have automation by showing an LED next to their labels.
You can make things clearer still by selecting Show Automated Parameters
Only from the bottom of the chooser.
5. The Automation Control chooser selects a control from the device chosen in the
Automation Device chooser. The labels of automated controls have an LED.
Once an envelope has been selected on the track, several new buttons appear:
6. Thebutton moves the envelope into its own automation lane below the clip.
You can then select another automation parameter from the choosers to view it
simultaneously. If the Automation Device chooser is set to None , this button
will be hidden.
7. Thebutton hides its respective automation lane. Note that hiding a lanefrom view does not deactivate its envelope.
8. If any automation lanes have been created for a given track, you can hide orshow them all by clicking the additional
button that appears at the bottomof the track's title bar.
Clicking(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on a track name or automation lane header opens
a context menu with additional options for viewing envelopes. This context menu also
contains commands to quickly clear all automation envelopes for the track or any of its
devices.

17.4.1

Drawing Envelopes

With Draw Mode enabled, you can click and drag to draw an envelope curve.
The Draw Mode Switch.

To toggle Draw Mode, select the Draw Mode option from the Options menu, click on the
B (PC) /B (Mac).
Control Bar's Draw Mode switch, or press Ctrl

CHAPTER 17. AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES

218

Drawing an Envelope.

Drawing creates steps as wide as the visible grid, which you can modify using a numberof handy shortcuts. For freehand drawing, you can hide the grid using the Snap to Grid
4 (PC) /4 (Mac) shortcut. To temporarily enable
Options menu entry or the Ctrl
freehand drawing while the grid is shown, hold down Alt(PC) / Alt(Mac) while
drawing.

17.4.2

Editing Breakpoints

With Draw Mode off, the envelope display looks and works differently. The line segments
and the breakpoints connecting them become draggable objects. Clicking and dragging in
the envelope's background de nes a selection. Here is what you can do: Double-click at a position on a line segment to create a new breakpoint there.
 Double-click on a breakpoint to delete it.
 Click and drag a breakpoint to move it to the desired location. If the breakpoint you
are dragging is in the current selection, all other breakpoints in the selection will follow
the movement.

To Move all Breakpoints
Within the Selection,
Drag Any One of Them.

Your movement is constrained by the neighboring breakpoints unless you hold downCHAPTER 17. AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES

219

the
modi er while dragging, which will eliminate breakpoints as you wipe overthem. Holding down the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er while dragging switches
to a ner resolution.
 Click and drag a line segment between two breakpoints to move it vertically, without
affecting the breakpoint's horizontal position. If the line segment is in the current
selection, the envelope is moved vertically across the selected timespan. Live inserts
breakpoints at the selection's edges to make sure the move only affects the selectedpart of the envelope.

Dragging an Envelope
Line Segment Moves theSegment Vertically.

17.4.3

Locking Envelopes

When moving clips, Live normally moves all automation with the clip. Sometimes, you
might want to lock the envelopes to the song position rather than to the clips, and the
Arrangement View's Lock Envelopes switch does just that.
You can also choose to lock envelopes from the Options menu.

The Lock Envelopes
Switch.

CHAPTER 17. AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES

17.4.4220

Edit Menu Commands

When working with automation data, the Edit menu commands behave differently depending on whether or not your selection is within the clip track or its automation lanes.
To copy, cut, delete or duplicate automation from a track, independent of the associatedclip, make sure the parameter you want to work with is in its own lane. Any edit commands
applied to an envelope selection within a single lane will only apply to this envelope. The clip
itself will be unaffected. You can also work with envelopes in multiple lanes simultaneously.
If you want your edits to apply to both the clip and all of its associated envelopes, apply
edit commands to a selection in the clip track.
Note that Live allows you to copy and paste envelope movements not only from one point
in time to another, but also from one parameter to another. Since the parameters may becompletely unrelated, this can have unexpected (but possibly interesting) results.

17.4.5

Editing the Tempo Automation

The ability to dynamically stretch and compress audio to track any tempo or tempo variationis one of Live's specialties. In Live, the song tempo is just another automated control.
To edit the song tempo envelope, unfold the Master track, choose Mixer from the top
envelope chooser and Song Tempo from the bottom one.

The Tempo Envelope.

When adjusting the tempo envelope, you might want to scale the value axis display, whichis the function of the two value boxes below the envelope choosers: The left box sets theminimum, and the right box sets the maximum tempo displayed, in BPM.
Note that these two controls also determine the value range of a MIDI controller assigned
to the tempo.

221

Chapter 18

Clip Envelopes
Every clip in Live can have its own clip envelopes. The aspects of a clip that are in uenced byclip envelopes change depending upon clip type and setup; clip envelopes can do anythingfrom representing MIDI controller data to modulating device parameters. In this chapter, we
will rst look at how all clip envelopes are drawn and edited, and then get into the detailsof their various applications.

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

18.1

222

The Clip Envelope Editor

Use the Clip View Box
Selector to Bring up the
Envelopes Box.

To work with clip envelopes, bring up the Clip View's Envelopes box by activating therightmost Clip View Box selector panel. The Envelopes box contains two choosers forselecting an envelope to view and edit.

The Clip View's
Envelopes Box.

The top menu is the Device chooser, which selects a general category of controls with which
to work. Device chooser entries are different for different kinds of clips:
 Audio clips have entries for Clip (the clip's sample controls), every effect in the track's
device chain and the mixer.
 MIDI clips have entries for MIDI Ctrl (MIDI controller data) and every device in the
track's device chain.

223

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPESThe bottom menu, the Control chooser, selects among the controls of the item chosen in
the top menu. In both choosers, parameters with altered clip envelopes appear with LEDs
next to their names. You can simplify the appearance of these choosers by selecting Show
Modulated Parameters Only from either of them.
The quick-chooser buttons below the menus select commonly edited controls.
Clicking the menus or the quick-chooser buttons brings up the Envelope Editor showing
the selected envelope, instead of the Sample Display or MIDI Editor. You can toggle thedisplay by clicking on the title bars of the Sample/Notes and Envelopes boxes.
The techniques for drawing and editing clip envelopes are the same as those for automationenvelopes in the Arrangement View.
If you create a nice section of envelope that you want to have repeat several times, try thefollowing:
1. Enclose the desired selection in the loop brace, and click the brace so that it isselected. This will execute the Edit menu's Select Loop command, which selects
all material in the loop.
2. Copy the envelope with

Ctrl

C

(PC) /C(Mac).

3. Shift the loop brace to the right by one loop length with
4. Paste the envelope with

Ctrl

V

(PC) /V.

(Mac).

Note that you can use the arrow keys to quickly manipulate the loop brace and start/end
markers in other useful ways to expedite clip envelope editing tasks.
To delete a clip envelope (i.e., to set it back to its default value), rst go to Edit/Select All,
then to Edit/Delete.
Let us now look at some uses of clip envelopes.

18.2

Audio Clip Envelopes

Clip envelopes extend Live's elastic approach to audio and, in conjunction with Live's
audio effects, turn Live into a mighty sound-design tool. Using clip envelopes with audio

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

224

clips, you can create an abundance of interesting variations from the same clip in real time
anything from subtle corrections to entirely new and unrelated sounds.

18.2.1

Clip Envelopes are Non-Destructive

Using clip envelopes, you can create new sounds from a sample without actually affecting
the sample on disk. Because Live calculates the envelope modulations in real time, you canhave hundreds of clips in a Live Set that all sound different, but use the same sample.
You can, of course, export a newly created sound by rendering, or by resampling. In the
Arrangement View, you can use the Consolidate command to create new samples.

18.2.2

Changing Pitch and Tuning per Note

Drop a sample loop from the Browser into Live and play it. Click on the Transpose quickchooser button. You can now alter the pitch transposition of individual notes in the sample
as you listen to it.
The fast way to do this is by enabling Draw Mode and drawing steps along the grid.
Deactivate Draw Mode to edit breakpoints and line segments. This is useful for smoothing
the coarse steps by horizontally displacing breakpoints.

225

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPESThe Transposition
Envelope with Steps(Top) and Ramps(Bottom).

Note that the warp settings determine how accurately Live's time-warping engine tracks
the envelope shape. To obtain a more immediate response, reduce the Grain Size value inTones and Texture Mode or choose a smaller value for the Transients control in Beats Mode.
To correct the tuning of individual notes in the sample, hold down the Ctrl
(PC) /(Mac) modi er while drawing or moving breakpoints to obtain a ner resolution.
To scroll the display, hold down the
dragging.

Ctrl

Alt

(PC) /Alt(Mac) modi er while

Pitch is modulated in an additive way. The output of the transposition envelope is simply
added to the Transpose control's value. The result of the modulation is clipped to stay inthe available range (-48..48 semitones in this case).

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

18.2.3

226

Muting or Attenuating Notes in a Sample

Click on the Volume quick-chooser to access an audio clip's volume envelope. By drawing
steps in Draw Mode or creating shapes with breakpoints, you can impose an arbitrary volume
shape onto the sample.

Imposing a Volume
Envelope on a Sample.

The volume envelope's output is interpreted as a relative percentage of the clip volumeslider's current value. The result of the clip envelope's modulation can therefore neverexceed the absolute volume setting, but the clip envelope can drag the audible volume
down to silence.

18.2.4

Scrambling Beats

One very creative use of clip envelopes is to modulate the sample offset. Sample offset
modulation makes the most sense for rhythmical samples, and is only available for clips thatare set up to run in the Beats Warp Mode.
Try sample offset modulation with a one-bar drum loop: Make sure Beats Mode is chosen;in the Envelopes box, choose Clip from the Device chooser and Sample Offset fromthe Control chooser. The Envelope Editor appears with a vertical grid overlay. In envelope
Draw Mode, set steps to non-zero values to hear the loop scrambled. What is going on?
Imagine the audio is read out by a tape head, the position of which is modulated by theenvelope. The higher a value the envelope delivers, the farther away the tape head is fromits center position. Positive envelope values move the head towards the future, negativevalues move it towards the past. Fortunately, Live performs the modulation in beats rather

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

227

than centimeters: A vertical grid line is worth a sixteenth note of offset and the modulation
can reach from plus eight sixteenths to minus eight sixteenths.
Sample offset modulation is the tool of choice for quickly creating interesting variations ofbeat loops. We discourage using this technique for analytical cut-and-splice tasks; they
are much easier to perform using Live's Arrangement View, and the results can easily beconsolidated into new clips.

Repeating Steps andSlowing Time with the
Sample Offset Envelope.

Some sample offset envelope gestures have a characteristic effect: a downward escalator
shape, for instance, effectively repeats the step at the envelope's beginning. Similarly, asmooth ramp with a downwards slope is slowing time and can create nice slurring effects
when the slope is not quite exactly 45 degrees; try this with a 1/32 Transients setting.

18.2.5Using Clips as Templates

As you are making creative use of clip envelopes, the clips containing them develop a lifeof their own, independent of the original sample. You might wonder at a point: What does
this clip sound like with a different sample? This is easy to nd out by selecting the clip
so that it is displayed in the Clip View and dragging the desired sample from one of theFile Browsers, or the Session or Arrangement View, onto the Clip View. All clip settings,
including the envelopes, will remain unaltered; only the sample will be replaced.

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

18.3

228

Mixer and Device Clip Envelopes

Clip envelopes can be used to modulate mixer and device controls. Since mixer anddevice controls can also be controlled by the Arrangement's automation envelopes, this isa potential source of confusion. However, clip envelopes differ from automation envelopes
in one important way: Whereas automation envelopes de ne the value of a control at any
given point in time, clip envelopes can only in uence this de ned value. This difference
allows the two types of envelopes to work together in harmony when controlling the same
parameter.
Imagine that you have recorded volume automation for an audio clip so that it graduallyfades out over four bars. What happens to your fade-out when you create a clip envelopethat gradually increases the mixer volume over four bars? At rst, your fade-out will becomea crescendo, as the clip envelope gradually increases the volume within the range allowedby the automation envelope. But, once the decreasing automated value meets with theincreasing clip envelope value, the fade-out will begin, as automation forces the absolutecontrol value (and the operable range of the clip envelope) down.

18.3.1Modulating Mixer Volumes and Sends

Notice that there are actually two volume modulations: Clip Volume and Mixer Volume.
The latter is a modulation for the mixer's gain stage and therefore affects the post-effectsignal. To prevent confusion, a small dot below the mixer's volume slider thumb indicatesthe actual, modulated volume setting.
Modulating the Mixer
Volume. The Little Dot
Below the Volume Slider
Thumb Represents the
Modulated Volume
Setting.

As you raise and lower the Volume slider, you can observe the dot following your movement
in a relative fashion.
Modulating the track's Send controls is just as easy. Again, the modulation is a relativeCHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

229

percentage: The clip envelope cannot open the send further than the Send knob, but it can
reduce the actual send value to minus in nite dB.

18.3.2Modulating Pan

The Pan envelope affects the mixer pan stage in a relative way: The pan knob's position
determines the intensity of the modulation. With the pan knob set to the center position,
modulation by the clip envelope can reach from hard left to hard right; the modulation
amount is automatically reduced as you move the pan knob towards the left or right. Whenthe pan knob is turned all the way to the left, for instance, the pan clip envelope has noeffect at all.

18.3.3Modulating Device Controls

All devices in a clip's track are listed in the upper clip envelope Device chooser. Modulating
the devices' controls works just as you would expect. When modulating device controls, it
is important to keep the interaction of clip envelopes and device settings in mind: Unlikea device preset, the clip envelope cannot de ne the values for the devices' controls, it can
only change them relative to their current setting.

18.4

MIDI Controller Clip Envelopes

Whether you are working with a new MIDI clip that was recorded directly into Live, or one
from your les, Live allows you to edit and create MIDI controller data for the clip in theform of clip envelopes.
Choose MIDI Ctrl from a MIDI clip's Device chooser and use the Control chooser below
it to select a speci c MIDI controller. You can create new clip envelopes for any of thelisted controllers by drawing steps or using breakpoints. You can also edit clip envelope
representations of controller data that is imported as part of your MIDI les or is created

Modulating a Send. The
Send Knob's Position
Ring Indicates the
Modulated Value.

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

230

while recording new clips: Names of controllers that already have clip envelopes appear
with an adjacent LED in the Control chooser.
Live supports most MIDI controller numbers up to 119, accessible via the scroll bar on theright side of the menu. Note that devices to which you send your MIDI controller messages
may not follow the conventions of MIDI control channel assignments, so that Pitch Bendor Pan, for example, will not always achieve the results that their names imply.

A MIDI Controller Clip
Envelope.

Many of the techniques described in the following section on unlinking a clip envelope fromits associated clip can be adapted for use with MIDI controller clip envelopes.

18.5

Unlinking Clip Envelopes From Clips

A clip envelope can have its own local loop/region settings. The ability to unlink theenvelope from its clip creates an abundance of exciting creative options, some of which wewill present in the rest of this chapter.

18.5.1

Programming a Fade-Out for a Live Set

Let us start with a straightforward example. Suppose you are setting up a Live Set and wish
to program a fade-out over eight bars to occur when a speci c clip is launched but all you
have is a one-bar loop.

231

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES
2

1

4

3

1. Choose the Clip Volume envelope, and unlink it from the sample.
The clip envelope's loop braces now appear colored to indicate this envelope
now has its own local loop/region settings. The loop/region controls in the
Envelopes box come to life.
2. Make sure the clip envelope's Loop switch is off. Notice the Sample box's Loopswitch is not affected. The sample will keep looping although the envelope is
now playing as a one-shot.
3. Type 8 into the leftmost envelope loop-length value box.
4. Zoom the envelope display out all the way by clicking on the Envelope's timeruler and dragging upwards.
5. Insert a breakpoint at the region end and drag it to the bottom (zero percent).
Now, as you play the clip, you can hear the one-bar loop fading out over eight bars.
Please note: toggling Linked Mode changes the envelope data. Toggling back and fortheffectively deletes the envelope data. To return to the previous state, please use the Editmenu's Undo command.

Using a Clip Envelope toCreate a Fade-Out Over
Several Repetitions of a
Loop.

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

18.5.2232

Creating Long Loops from Short Loops

Let us take this a step further. For a different part of your set, you would like to use thesame one-bar loop because it sounds great but its repetition bores you. You would liketo somehow turn it into a longer loop.
We depart from the clip we just set up to fade out over eight bars. Activate the clip volume
envelope's Loop switch. Now, as you play the clip, you can hear the eight-bar fade-out
repeating. You can draw or edit any envelope to superimpose onto the sample loop. This,of course, not only works for volume but for any other control as well; how about a lter
sweep every four bars?
Note that you can create as much time as needed in the Envelope Editor, either by dragging
the loop braces beyond the view limit, or by entering values into the numeric region/loop
controls.
You can choose an arbitrary loop length for each envelope, including odd lengths like 3.2.1.
It is not hard to imagine great complexity (and confusion!) arising from several odd-length
envelopes in one clip.

The Sample (Left) and
Envelope (Right) Start
Marker.

To keep this complexity under control, it is important to have a common point of reference.
The start marker identi es the point where sample or envelope playback depart from when
the clip starts.
Note that the start/end markers and loop brace are subject to quantization by the zoomadaptive grid, as is envelope drawing.

CHAPTER 18. CLIP ENVELOPES

18.5.3233

Imposing Rhythm Patterns onto Samples

So far, we have been talking about imposing long envelopes onto small loops. You canalso think of interesting applications that work the other way around. Consider a sample
of a song that is several minutes long. This sample could be played by a clip with a onebar volume envelope loop. The volume envelope loop now works as a pattern that isrepeatedly punching holes into the music so as to, perhaps, remove every third beat. You
can certainly think of other parameters that such a pattern could modulate in interestingways.

18.5.4

Clip Envelopes as LFOs

If you are into sound synthesis, you may want to think of a clip envelope with a local loop as
an LFO. This LFO is running in sync with the project tempo, but it is also possible to set up
a loop period odd enough to render the envelope unsynchronized. By hiding the grid, you
can adjust the clip envelope loop start and end points completely independent of meter
grid.

234

Chapter 19

Live Audio Effect Reference
Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in audio effects. The Working with
Instruments and Effects chapter explains the basics of using effects in Live.

19.1

Auto Filter

The Auto Filter Effect.

The Auto Filter effect provides classic analog lter emulation. It can be modulated by anenvelope follower and/or an LFO to create moving lter effects. The envelope follower canCHAPTER 19. LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE

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track either the ltered signal or an external sidechain source.
There are four different lter types: lowpass, highpass, bandpass and notch. For each type,the X-Y controller adjusts frequency (to adjust, click and drag on the X-axis) and Q (alsocalled resonance; to adjust, click and drag on the Y-axis). You can also click on the Freq and
Q numeric displays and type in exact values.
Low Q values create a broad lter curve, while higher values introduce a narrow, resonantpeak to the sound. With bandpass ltering, Q sets the bandwidth of the passed signal.
The Quantize Beat control applies quantized modulation to the lter frequency. With Quantize Beat off, frequency modulation follows the control source. Turning this feature on
updates the lter modulation rhythmically with stepped changes that track the master
tempo. The numbered buttons represent 16th notes, so, for example, selecting 4 as abeat value produces a modulation change once per beat.
The Envelope section controls how the envelope modulation affects the lter frequency.
The Amount control de nes the extent to which the envelope affects the lter frequency,
while the Attack control sets how the envelope responds to rising input signals. Low Attack
values cause a fast response to input levels; high values integrate any changes gradually,
creating a looser, slower response. Think of it as adding inertia to the response.
Lower Release values cause the envelope to respond more quickly to falling input signals.
Higher values extend the envelope's decay.
Normally, the signal being ltered and the input source that triggers the envelope follower
are the same signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to lter a signal based on
the envelope of another signal. To access the Sidechain parameters, unfold the Auto Filter
window by toggling the
button in its title bar.
Enabling this section with the Sidechain button allows you to select another track fromthe choosers below. This causes the selected track's signal to trigger the lter's envelope
follower, instead of the signal that is actually being ltered.
The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain's input, while the Dry/Wet knob
allows you to use a combination of sidechain and original signal as the envelope follower's
trigger. With Dry/Wet at 100%, the envelope follower tracks the sidechain source exclusively.
At 0%, the sidechain is effectively bypassed. Note that increasing the gain does not increase
the volume of the source signal in the mix. The sidechain audio is only a trigger for theCHAPTER 19. LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE

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envelope follower and is never actually heard.
The Auto Filter also contains a Low Frequency Oscillator to modulate lter frequency in aperiodic fashion. The respective Amount control sets how much the LFO affects the lter.
This can be used in conjunction with or instead of the envelope follower.
The Rate control speci es the LFO speed. It can be set in terms of hertz, or synced to thesong tempo, allowing for controlled rhythmic ltering.
Available LFO waveform shapes are sine (creates smooth modulations with rounded peaks
and valleys), square, triangle, sawtooth up, sawtooth down, and sample and hold (generates
random positive and negative modulation values) in mono and stereo.
There are two LFOs, one for each stereo channel. The Phase and Offset controls de ne therelationship between these two LFOs.
Phase keeps both LFOs at the same frequency, but can set the two LFO waveforms out ofphase with each other, creating stereo movement. Set to 180 , the LFO outputs are 180
degrees apart, so that when one LFO reaches its peak, the other is at its minimum.
Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other. Each stereo channel is modulated
at a different frequency, as determined by the Spin amount.
For sample and hold, the Phase and Spin controls are not relevant and do not affect thesound. Instead, the Auto Filter offers two kinds of sample and hold: The upper sample andhold type available in the chooser provides independent random modulation generators forthe left and right channels (stereo), while the lower one modulates both channels with thesame signal (mono).

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237

Auto PanThe Auto Pan Effect.

Auto Pan offers LFO-driven manipulation of amplitude and panning for creating automatic
panning, tremolo and amplitude modulation, and beat-synchronized chopping effects.
Auto Pan's LFOs modulate the amplitude of the left and right stereo channels with sine,
triangle, sawtooth down or random waveforms.
The Shape control pushes the waveform to its upper and lower limits, hardening its shape.
The waveform can be set to Normal or Invert (use Invert to, for example, create thesaw up waveform from the saw down waveform).
LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control, which can be set in terms of hertz. Rate canalso be synced to the song tempo.
Though both LFOs run at the same frequency, the Phase control lends the sound stereo
movement by offsetting their waveforms relative to each other. Set this to 180 , and the
LFOs will be perfectly out of phase (180 degrees apart), so that when one reaches its peak,the other is at its minimum. Phase is particularly effective for creating vibrato effects.
The Offset control shifts the start point of each LFO along its waveform.
The device's in uence on incoming signals is set with the Amount control.

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19.3

238

Beat Repeat

The Beat Repeat Effect.

Beat Repeat allows for the creation of controlled or randomized repetitions of an incoming
signal.
The Interval control de nes how often Beat Repeat captures new material and begins repeating it. Interval is synced to and set in terms of the song tempo, with values ranging
from 1/32 to 4 Bars. The Offset control shifts the point de ned by Interval forward intime. If Interval is set to 1 Bar, for example, and Offset to 8/16 , material will be captured
for repetition once per bar on the third beat (i.e., halfway, or eight-sixteenths of the way,
through the bar).
You can add randomness to the process using the Chance control, which de nes the likelihood of repetitions actually taking place when Interval and Offset ask for them. If Chanceis set to 100 percent, repetitions will always take place at the given Interval/Offset time; if
set to zero, there will be no repetitions.
Gate de nes the total length of all repetitions in sixteenth notes. If Gate is set to 4/16 ,the repetitions will occur over the period of one beat, starting at the position de ned byInterval and Offset.
Activating the Repeat button bypasses all of the above controls, immediately capturing
material and repeating it until deactivated.
The Grid control de nes the grid size the size of each repeated slice. If set to 1/16 , aslice the size of one sixteenth note will be captured and repeated for the given Gate length(or until Repeat is deactivated). Large grid values create rhythmic loops, while small values

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create sonic artifacts. The No Triplets button sets grid division as binary.
Grid size can be changed randomly using the Variation control. If Variation is set to 0 ,grid size is xed. But when Variation is set to higher values, the grid uctuates considerablyaround the set Grid value. Variation has several different modes, available in the chooser
below: Trigger creates variations of the grid when repetitions are triggered; 1/4, 1/8 and1/16 trigger variations in regular intervals; and Auto forces Beat Repeat to apply a new
random variation after each repetition the most complex form of grid variation in Beat
Repeat (especially if triplets are also allowed).
Beat Repeat's repetitions can be pitched down for special sonic effects. Pitch is adjusted
through resampling in Beat Repeat, lengthening segments to pitch them down without again
compressing them to adjust for the length change. This means that the rhythmical structure
can become quite ambiguous with higher Pitch values. The Pitch Decay control tapers thepitch curve, making each repeated slice play lower than the previous one. Warning: This is
the most obscure parameter of Beat Repeat.
Beat Repeat includes a combined lowpass and highpass lter for de ning the passed frequency range of the device. You can turn the lter on and off, and set the center frequency
and width of the passed frequency band, using the respective controls.
The original signal (which was received at Beat Repeat's input) is mixed with Beat Repeat's
repetitions according to one of three mix modes: Mix allows the original signal to passthrough the device and have repetitions added to it; Insert mutes the original signal whenrepetitions are playing but passes it otherwise; and Gate passes only the repetitions, neverpassing the original signal. Gate mode is especially useful when the effect is housed in a
return track.
You can set the output level of the device using the Volume control, and apply Decay tocreate gradually fading repetitions.

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240

ChorusThe Chorus Effect.

The Chorus effect uses two parallel time-modulated delays to create chorus (thickening) andanging effects.
Each delay has its own delay time control, calibrated in milliseconds. Delay 1 has a highpass
lter that can remove low frequencies from the delayed signal. Greater highpass values let
only very high frequencies pass through to Delay 1.
Delay 2 can switch among three different modes. When off, only Delay 1 is audible. In Fix
Mode, only Delay 1's delay time will be modulated. When Mod is activated, Delay 2 will
receive the same modulation as Delay 1.
To set both delay lines to Delay 1's delay time, turn on the link button ( = ). This is especially
useful if you want to change both delays with a single gesture.
The Modulation X-Y controller can impart motion to the sounds. To change the modulation rate for the delay times, click and drag along the horizontal axis. To change the amountof modulation, click and drag along the vertical axis.
You can also make changes by entering parameter values in the Amount and Rate elds below the X-Y controller. The Amount value is in milliseconds, while the modulation frequency
rate is in Hertz.
Clicking the *20 switch multiplies the modulation frequency by 20 to achieve more extreme
sounds.
The Feedback control determines how much of the output signal feeds back into the input,

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while the Polarity switch sets (surprise!) the polarity. Polarity changes have the most effectwith high amounts of feedback and short delay times.
The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to
100 percent when using Chorus in a return track.
Enabling the Crisp option via the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu can improve thesound quality, particularly at higher frequencies. This is enabled by default, except whenloading Sets that use Chorus and were made in earlier versions of Live.

19.5

Compressor

The Compressor Effect.

A compressor reduces gain for signals above a user-settable threshold. Compression reduces the levels of peaks, opening up more headroom and allowing the overall signal level
to be turned up. This gives the signal a higher average level, resulting in a sound that is
subjectively louder and punchier than an uncompressed signal.
The latest incarnation of the Compressor effect merges the functionality of the former
Compressor I and Compressor II devices into a single unit, and adds additional functionality
such as external sidechaining, adjustable knee, more EQ options, an improved peak mode,
and a new feedback model, which is lovingly based on some classic hardware compressors.
The new Compressor is fully backward-compatible with Compressor I and Compressor II
presets.
A compressor's two most important parameters are the Threshold and the compression

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Ratio:The Threshold slider sets where compression begins. Signals above the threshold areattenuated by an amount speci ed by the Ratio parameter, which sets the ratio between
the input and output signal. For example, with a compression ratio of 3, if a signal above
the threshold increases by 3 dB, the compressor output will increase by only 1 dB. If a signal
above the threshold increases by 6 dB, then the output will increase by only 2 dB. A ratio of
1 means no compression, regardless of the threshold.
The Knee control adjusts how gradually or abruptly compression occurs as the threshold
is approached. With a setting of 0 dB, no compression is applied to signals below thethreshold, and full compression is applied to any signal at or above the threshold. With very
high ratios, this so-called hard knee behavior can sound harsh. With higher (or soft )knee values, the compressor begins compressing gradually as the threshold is approached.
For example, with a 10 dB knee and a -20 dB threshold, subtle compression will begin at-30 dB and increase so that signals at -10 dB will be fully compressed.
The easiest way to visualize Compressor's behavior is by observing how the graph changes
when you adjust the threshold, ratio, and knee values. Input level is measured on thehorizontal axis, while output level is represented vertically. Next to the graph is the Gain
Reduction meter, which shows how much the gain is being reduced at any given moment.
The more reduction, the more audible the effect; a gain reduction above 6 dB or so might
produce the desired loudness, but signi cantly alters the sound and is easily capable ofdestroying its dynamic structure. This is something that cannot be undone in later production
steps. Keep this in mind especially when using a compressor, limiter or sound loudnessmaximizing tool in the master channel. Less is often more here.
Because compression reduces the volume of loud signals and opens up headroom, you can
use the Output slider so that the peaks once again hit the maximum available headroom.
The Output meter shows the output signal's level. Enabling the Makeup button below the
Output slider automatically compensates the output level if the threshold and ratio settingschange.
The Attack and Release controls are essential parameters for controlling the response timeof Compressor by de ning how fast it reacts to input-level changes.
Attack de nes how long it takes to reach maximum compression once a signal exceeds
the threshold, while Release sets how long it takes for the compressor to return to normal

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operation after the signal falls below the threshold.
A slight amount of attack time (10 50 ms) allows peaks to come through unprocessed,
which helps preserve dynamics by accentuating the initial portion of the signal. If thesepeaks cause overloads, you can try shortening the attack time, but extremely short times
take the life out of the signal, and may lead to a slight buzziness caused by distortion.
Short release times can cause pumping as the compressor tries to gure out whether tocompress or not; while generally considered an undesirable effect, some engineers use it
on full drum kits to give unusual sucking effects. Careful adjustment of attack and releasetimes is essential when it comes to compression of rhythmical sources. If you are not used
to working with compressors, play a drum loop and spend some time adjusting Attack,Release, Threshold and Gain. It can be very exciting!
A compressor can only react to an input signal once it occurs. Since it also needs to apply
an attack/release envelope, the compression is always a bit too late. A digital compressor
can solve this problem by simply delaying the input signal a little bit. Compressor offers
three different Lookahead times: zero ms, one ms and ten ms. The results may sound pretty
different depending on this setting.
Compressor can be used in three different EF (envelope follower) modes. With Peak selected, Compressor reacts to short peaks within a signal. RMS mode causes Compressor
to be less sensitive to very short peaks and compress only when the incoming level has
exceeded the threshold for a slightly longer time. Opto mode results in a non-linear release
curve. Speci cally, the release behavior is faster initially, and slows down as the gain reduction approaches zero. So which type should you use? There's no right answer, of course,
but there are some common uses for each mode. Peak mode is more aggressive and precise, and so works well for limiting tasks where you need to ensure that there are absolutely
no signals over the set threshold. RMS is closer to how people actually perceive loudness
and is usually considered more musical. Opto mode, because of its non-linear releasetime is often considered smooth and natural sounding. Opto compressors are commonlyused on vocals, bass and electric guitar. But as always, when it comes to compression, trust
your ears and not the meters!
In addition to the EF modes, Compressor offers three Model types that offer further options
for how the device measures and responds to signal levels. FF1 and FF2 are both feedforward models, which analyze the loudness of the incoming signal. These are the models
used in the former Compressor I and Compressor II devices, respectively. FB is a feedback

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model, which analyzes the output of the device and then self-adjusts its compression behavior. Because feedback compressors analyze signals that have already been compressed,
their Attack and Release parameters are a bit less precise, and act more like suggestions tothe compressor. But feedback compression generally results in a much smoother sound,with less overall gain reduction but also less potential for distortion artifacts. The classic
analog compressor models that are so highly sought after in hardware-based studios are
generally all feedback models. Note that, for reasons of quantum physics, Lookahead andexternal sidechaining are disabled when using the FB model; Ableton's engineers are hard
at work developing code that will allow our software to predict the future, but we don't
anticipate having this available until at least the next major release.

19.5.1

Sidechain Parameters

The Compressor Device
With Sidechain Section.

Normally, the signal being compressed and the input source that triggers the compressor
are the same signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to compress a signal basedon the level of another signal or a speci c frequency component. To access the Sidechain
parameters, unfold the Compressor window by toggling the
button in its title bar.
The sidechain parameters are divided into two sections. On the left are the external controls.
Enabling this section with the Sidechain button allows you to select any of Live's internalrouting points from the choosers below. This causes the selected source to act as thecompressor's trigger, instead of the signal that is actually being compressed.
The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain's input, while the Dry/Wet knob
allows you to use a combination of sidechain and original signal as the compressor's trigger.

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With Dry/Wet at 100%, the compressor is triggered entirely by the sidechain source. At
0%, the sidechain is effectively bypassed. Note that increasing the gain does not increase
the volume of the source signal in the mix. The sidechain audio is only a trigger for thecompressor and is never actually heard.
Note that FB mode and automatic Makeup are not available when using external sidechain.
On the right of the external section are the controls for the sidechain EQ. Enabling thissection causes the compressor to be triggered by a speci c band of frequencies, instead of
a complete signal. These can either be frequencies in the compressed signal or, by using
the EQ in conjunction with an external sidechain, frequencies in another track's audio.
The headphones button between the external and EQ sections allows you to listen to only
the sidechain input, bypassing the compressor's output. Since the sidechain audio isn't
fed to the output, and is only a trigger for the compressor, this temporary listening option
can make it much easier to set sidechain parameters and hear what's actually making thecompressor work.

19.5.2Compression Tips

This section presents some tips for using Compressor effectively, particularly with thesidechain options.
Mixing a Voiceover
Sidechaining is commonly used for so-called ducking effects. For example, imagine thatyou have one track containing a voiceover and another track containing background music.
Since you want the voiceover to always be the loudest source in the mix, the backgroundmusic must get out of the way every time the narrator is speaking. To do this automatically,
insert a Compressor on the music track, but select the narration track's output as the external
sidechain source.

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Sidechaining in Dance Music
Sidechaining/ducking is a dance music producer's secret weapon because it can help toensure that basslines (or even whole mixes) always make room for the kick drum. By
inserting a compressor on the bass (or master) track and using the kick drum's track as the
sidechain input, you can help to control problematic low frequencies that might interferewith the kick drum's attack.
Using the sidechain EQ in conjunction with this technique can create ducking effects even if
you only have a mixed drum track to work with (as opposed to an isolated kick drum). In thiscase, insert the Compressor on the track you want to duck. Then choose the drum track as
the external sidechain source. Then enable the sidechain EQ and select the lowpass lter.
By carefully adjusting the Frequency and Q settings, you should be able to isolate the kickdrum from the rest of the drum mix. Using the sidechain listen mode can help you tune theEQ until you nd settings you're happy with.
Note that mastery of these techniques may result in a noticeable increase in drink tickets,
remix offers and dates.

19.6

Dynamic Tube

The Dynamic Tube
Effect.

The Dynamic Tube effect infuses sounds with the peculiarities of tube saturation. An integrated envelope follower generates dynamic tonal variations related to the level of the
input signal.

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Three tube models, A, B and C, provide a range of distortion characteristics known fromreal ampli er tubes. Tube A does not produce distortions if Bias is set low, but will kick inwhenever the input signal exceeds a certain threshold, creating bright harmonics. Tube C
is a very poor tube amp that produces distortions all the time. The qualities of Tube B lie
somewhere between these two extremes.
The Tone control sets the spectral distribution of the distortions, directing them into thehigher registers, or through the midrange and deeper.
The Drive control determines how much signal reaches the tube; greater Drive yields a
dirtier output. The intensity of the tube is controlled by the Bias dial, which pushes thesignal into the celebrated realms of nonlinear distortion. With very high amounts of Bias,
the signal will really start to break apart.
The Bias parameter can be positively or negatively modulated by an envelope follower,
which is controlled with the Envelope knob. The more deeply the envelope is applied, themore the Bias point will be in uenced by the level of the input signal. Negative Envelope
values create expansion effects by reducing distortion on loud signals, while positive values
will make loud sounds dirtier.
Attack and Release are envelope characteristics that de ne how quickly the envelope reacts
to volume changes in the input signal. Together, they shape the dynamic nature of the
distortions. Note that if Envelope is set to zero, they will have no effect.
Cut or boost the device's nal signal level with the Output dial.
Aliasing can be reduced by enabling Hi-Quality mode, which can be accessed via the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu. This improves the sound quality, particularly with highfrequency signals, but there is a slight increase in CPU usage.

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19.7

248

EQ Eight

The EQ Eight Effect.

The EQ Eight effect is an equalizer featuring up to eight parametric lters per input channel,
useful for changing a sound's timbre. It extends the functionality of the former EQ Fourdevice, and is fully backward-compatible with EQ Four presets.
The input signal can be processed using one of three modes: Stereo, L/R and M/S. Stereo
mode uses a single curve to lter both channels of a stereo input equally. L/R mode provides
an independently adjustable lter curve for the left and right channels of a stereo input; M/Smode (Mid/Side) provides the same functionality for signals that have been recorded using
M/S encoding.
When using the L/R and M/S modes, both curves are displayed simultaneously for reference,
although only the active channel is editable. The Edit switch indicates the active channel,
and is used to toggle between the two curves.
The lters can switch between six responses. From left to right in the display, these are:
 Low cut (cuts frequencies below the speci ed frequency);
 Low shelf (boosts or cuts frequencies lower than the speci ed frequency); Bell curve (boosts or cuts over a range of frequencies); Notch (sharply cuts frequencies within a narrow range); High shelf (boosts or cuts frequencies higher than the speci ed frequency);
 High cut (cuts frequencies above the speci ed frequency).

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Each lter band can be turned on or off independently. Turn off bands that are not in use
to save CPU power.
To edit the lter curve, click and drag on the lter dots in the display. Horizontal movementchanges the lter frequency, while vertical movement adjusts the lter band's gain. To adjust
the lter Q (also called resonance or bandwidth), hold down the Alt(PC) / Alt(Mac)modi er while dragging the mouse. Note that the gain cannot be adjusted for the low cut,notch and high cut lters. In these modes, vertical dragging adjusts the lter Q.
You can also use the numbered lter selector buttons to select a band for editing, and thenedit parameter values with the Freq, Gain and Q dials (and/or type values into the number
elds below each dial).
To achieve really drastic ltering effects, assign the same parameters to two or more lters.
As boosting will increase levels and cutting will decrease levels, use the global Gain eld to
optimize the output level for maximum level consistent with minimum distortion.
The Scale eld will attenuate the gain of all lters that support gain (all except low cut, notchand high cut).
Enabling Hi-Quality mode via the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu can improve thesound quality, particularly with low frequency signals or when working at high sample rates.
There is a slight increase in CPU usage in Hi-Quality mode.

19.8

EQ Three

The EQ Three Effect.

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If you have ever used a good DJ mixer you will know what this is: An EQ that allows you toadjust the level of low, mid and high frequencies independently.
Each band can be adjusted from -in nite dB to +6 dB using the gain controls. This meansthat you can completely remove, for example, the bass drum or bassline of a track, whileleaving the other frequencies untouched.
You can also turn on or off each band using the On/Off buttons located under the gain
controls. These buttons are especially handy if assigned to computer keys.
EQ Three gives you visual con rmation of the presence of a signal in each frequency bandusing three green LEDs. Even if a band is turned off, you can tell if there is something goingon in it. The internal threshold for the LEDs is set to -24 dB.
The frequency range of each band is de ned via two crossover controls: FreqLo and FreqHi.
If FreqLo is set to 500 Hz and FreqHi to 2000 Hz, then the low band goes from 0 Hz to 500
Hz, the mid band from 500 Hz to 2000 Hz and the high band from 2000 Hz up to what everyour soundcard or sample rate supports.
A very important control is the 24 dB/48 dB switch. It de nes how sharp the lters are
cutting the signal at the crossover frequency. The higher setting results in more drastic
ltering, but needs more CPU.
Note: The lters in this device are optimized to sound more like a good, powerful analog
lter cascade than a clean digital lter. The 48 dB Mode especially does not provide aperfect linear transfer quality, resulting in a slight coloration of the input signal even if allcontrols are set to 0.00 dB. This is typical behavior for this kind of lter, and is part of EQ
Three's unique sound. If you need a more linear behavior choose 24 dB Mode or use theEQ Eight.

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19.9

251

Erosion

The Erosion Effect.

The Erosion effect degrades the input signal by modulating a short delay with ltered noiseor a sine wave. This adds noisy artifacts or aliasing/downsampling-like distortions that soundvery digital.
To change the sine wave frequency or noise band center frequency, click and drag along
the X-axis in the X-Y eld. The Y-axis controls the modulation amount. If you hold down theAlt(PC) / Alt(Mac) modi er key while clicking in the X-Y eld, the Y-axis controls
the noise bandwidth.
The Frequency control determines the color, or quality, of the distortion. If the Mode control
is set to Noise, this works in conjunction with the Width control, which de nes the noise
bandwidth. Lower values lead to more selective distortion frequencies, while higher values
affect the entire input signal. Width has no effect in Sine Mode.
Noise and Sine use a single modulation generator. However, Wide Noise has independent
noise generators for the left and right channels, which creates a subtle stereo enhancement.

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252

Filter Delay

The Filter Delay Effect.

The Filter Delay provides three independent delay lines, each preceded by linked lowpass
and highpass lters. This allows applying delay to only certain input signal frequencies, as
determined by the lter settings. The feedback from each of the three delays is also routed
back through the lters.
Each of the three delays can be switched on and off independently. The Filter Delay device
assigns delay 1 to the input signal's left channel, delay 2 to the left and right channels anddelay 3 to the right channel. The Pan controls at the right can override the delay channels'
outputs; otherwise each delay outputs on the channel from which it derives its input.
Each delay channel's lter has an associated On switch, located to the left of each X-Ycontroller. The X-Y controllers adjust the lowpass and highpass lters simultaneously foreach delay. To edit lter bandwidth, click and drag on the vertical axis; click and drag on
the horizontal axis to set the lter band's frequency.
To refer delay time to the song tempo, activate the Sync switch, which allows using the Delay
Time beat division chooser. The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes. For
example, selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes, which equals one beat (a quarternote) of delay. With Sync Mode active, changing the Delay Time eld percentage value
shortens and extends delay times by fractional amounts, thus producing the swing typeof timing effect found in drum machines.
If the Sync switch is off, the delay time reverts to milliseconds. In this case, to edit the delaytime, click and drag up or down in the Delay Time eld, or click in the eld and type in a

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value.
The Feedback parameter sets how much of the output signal returns to the delay line input.
Very high values can lead to runaway feedback and produce a loud oscillation watch yourears and speakers if you decide to check out extreme feedback settings!
Each delay channel has its own volume control, which can be turned up to +12 dB tocompensate for drastic ltering at the input.
The Dry control adjusts the unprocessed signal level. Set it to minimum if using Delay in a
return track.

19.11

Flanger

The Flanger Effect.

Flanger uses two parallel time-modulated delays to create anging effects.
Flanger's delays can be adjusted with the Delay Time control. The Feedback control sends
part of the output signal back through the device input, while the Polarity switch ( + or- ) sets the polarity. Delay Time and Feedback can be changed simultaneously using theeffect's X-Y controller.
Periodic control of delay time is possible using the envelope section. You can increase or
decrease the envelope amount (or invert its shape with negative values), and then use the
Attack and Release controls to de ne envelope shape.
Flanger contains two LFOs to modulate delay time for the left and right stereo channels.

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The LFOs have six possible waveform shapes: sine, square, triangle, sawtooth up, sawtooth
down and random. The extent of LFO in uence on the delays is set with the Amount control.
LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control, which can be set in terms of hertz. Rate canalso be synced to the song tempo and set in meter subdivisions (e.g., sixteenth notes).
The Phase control lends the sound stereo movement by setting the LFOs to run at the same
frequency, but offsetting their waveforms relative to each other. Set this to 180 , and the
LFOs will be perfectly out of phase (180 degrees apart), so that when one reaches its peak,the other is at its minimum.
Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other. Each delay is modulated at adifferent frequency, as determined by the Spin amount.
Adjusting the HiPass control will cut low frequencies from the delayed signal.
The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to
100 percent if using Flanger in a return track.

19.12

Gate

The Gate Effect.

The Gate effect passes only signals whose level exceeds a user-speci ed threshold. A gate
can eliminate low-level noise that occurs between sounds (e.g., hiss or hum), or shape asound by turning up the threshold to where it cuts off reverb or delay tails or truncates aninstrument's natural decay.

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The Threshold slider sets the gate's sensitivity. If the gate is open and passing signal (i.e.,the signal exceeds the gate threshold), the green LED lights.
The Attenuation slider, located beneath the Threshold fader, can attenuate signals below
the threshold rather than just cutting them off. If set to -inf dB, a closed gate will mute theinput signal. A setting of 0.00 dB means that even if the gate is closed, there is no effecton the signal. Settings in between these two extremes attenuate the input to a greater or
lesser degree when the gate is closed.
With the Flip button enabled, the gate works in reverse; the signal will only pass if its levelis below the threshold.
The Attack time determines how long it takes for the gate to switch from closed to open
when a signal goes from below to above the threshold. Very short attack times can produce
sharp clicking sounds, while long times soften the sound's attack.
When the signal goes from above to below the threshold, the Hold time kicks in. (Noteto tech heads: the gate has hysteresis, so the release occurs about 3 dB lower than thethreshold.) After the hold time expires, the gate closes over a period of time set by the
Release parameter.
Normally, the signal being gated and the input source that triggers the gate are the same
signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to gate a signal based on the level of anothersignal. To access the Sidechain parameters, unfold the Gate window by toggling the
button in its title bar.
Enabling this section with the Sidechain button allows you to select another track from thechoosers below. This causes the selected track's signal to act as the gate's trigger, insteadof the signal that is actually being gated.
The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain's input, while the Dry/Wet knob
allows you to use a combination of sidechain and original signal as the gate's trigger. With
Dry/Wet at 100%, the gate is triggered entirely by the sidechain source. At 0%, the sidechain
is effectively bypassed. Note that increasing the gain does not increase the volume of thesource signal in the mix. The sidechain audio is only a trigger for the gate and is neveractually heard.
Sidechain gating can be used to superimpose rhythmic patterns from one source onto
another. For example, a held pad sound can be triggered with the rhythm of a drum loop

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by inserting a Gate on the pad's track and choosing the drum loop's track as the sidechain
input.

19.13

Grain Delay

The Grain Delay Effect.

The Grain Delay effect slices the input signal into tiny particles (called grains ) that are thenindividually delayed and can also have different pitches compared to the original signal
source. Randomizing pitch and delay time can create complex masses of sound and rhythm
that seem to bear little relationship to the source. This can be very useful in creating new
sounds and textures, as well as getting rid of unwelcome house guests, or terrifying small
pets (just kidding!).
To refer delay time to the song tempo, activate the Sync switch, which allows using the Delay
Time beat division chooser. The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes. For
example, selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes, which equals one beat (a quarternote) of delay. With Sync Mode active, changing the Delay Time eld percentage value
shortens and extends delay times by fractional amounts, thus producing the swing typeof timing effect found in drum machines.
If the Sync switch is off, the delay time reverts to milliseconds. In this case, to edit the delaytime, click and drag up or down in the Delay Time eld, or click in the eld and type in avalue.
You can route each parameter to the X-Y controller's horizontal or vertical axis. To assign aparameter to the X-axis, choose it from the parameter row below the controller. To assign a

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parameter to the Y-axis, use the parameter row on the left side.
The Feedback parameter sets how much of the output signal returns to the delay line input.
Very high values can lead to runaway feedback and produce a loud oscillation watch yourears and speakers if you decide to check out extreme feedback settings!
You can transpose the grain pitch with the Pitch parameter, which acts much like a crude
pitch shifter.
The Spray control adds random delay time changes. Low values smear the signal acrosstime, which adds noisiness to the sound. High Spray values completely break down the
structure of the source signal, introducing varying degrees of rhythmic chaos. This is therecommended setting for anarchists.
The Random Pitch control adds random variations to each grain's pitch. Low values createa sort of mutant chorusing effect, while high values can make the original source pitch
completely unintelligible. This parameter can interact with the main Pitch control, thus
allowing degrees of stability and instability in a sound's pitch structure.
The size and duration of each grain is a function of the Frequency parameter. The sound of
Pitch and Spray depends very much on this parameter.
Grain Delay now also has a dry/wet control; it can be routed to the vertical axis of the X-Ycontroller.

19.14

Phaser

The Phaser Effect.

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Phaser uses a series of all-pass lters to create a phase shift in the frequency spectrum of asound.
The Poles control creates notches in the frequency spectrum. The Feedback control canthen be used to invert the waveform and convert these notches into peaks (or poles). Filter
cutoff frequency is changed with the Frequency control, which can be adjusted in tandemwith Feedback using the effect's X-Y controller.
The device has two modes, Space and Earth, for changing the spacing of notches along thespectrum, and hence the color of the sound. This effect can be further adjusted with the
Color control.
Periodic control of the lter frequency is possible using the envelope section. You canincrease or decrease the envelope amount (or invert its shape with negative values), andthen use the Attack and Release controls to de ne envelope shape.
Phaser contains two LFOs to modulate lter frequency for the left and right stereo channels.
The LFOs have six possible waveform shapes: sine, square, triangle, sawtooth up, sawtooth
down and random. The extent of LFO in uence on the lter frequency is set with theAmount control.
LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control, which can be set in terms of hertz. Rate canalso be synced to the song tempo and set in meter subdivisions (e.g., sixteenth notes).
The Phase control lends the sound stereo movement by setting the LFOs to run at the same
frequency, but offsetting their waveforms relative to each other. Set this to 180 , and the
LFOs will be perfectly out of phase (180 degrees apart), so that when one reaches its peak,the other is at its minimum.
Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other. Each lter frequency is thenmodulated using a different LFO frequency, as determined by the Spin amount.
The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to
100 percent if using Phaser in a return track.

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19.15

259

Ping Pong Delay

The Ping Pong Delay
Effect.

The Ping Pong Delay effect uses a single tapped delay line to create a delay that jumps
from the left to the right output.
The delay is preceded by a lowpass and highpass lter that can be controlled with an X-Ycontroller. To de ne the lter bandwidth, click and drag on the vertical axis. To set theposition of the frequency band, click and drag on the horizontal axis.
To refer delay time to the song tempo, activate the Sync switch, which allows using the
Delay Time beat division chooser. The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th
notes. For example, selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes, which equals one
beat (a quarter note) of delay. This delay time represents the time it takes for the input
signal to appear at the left channel. The delay time between the input and the right channel
is twice as long.
If the Sync switch is off, the delay time reverts to milliseconds. In this case, to edit the delaytime, click and drag up or down in the Delay Time eld, or click in the eld and type in avalue.
The Feedback parameter controls how much of the right channel output signal returns to
the delay line input. The feedback loop also includes a lter that can color the feedback
sound, thus producing different timbres with successive echoes.
The Freeze button, labeled F , will cause the delay to endlessly cycle the audio which is in
its buffer at the moment that the button is pressed, ignoring any new input until Freeze isdisabled.

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The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to
100 percent if using Ping Pong Delay in a return track.

19.16

Redux

The Redux Effect.

Nostalgic for the famed low-resolution sound quality of the Ensoniq Mirage, Fairlight CMIor Commodore-64 computer? Redux returns us to the Dark Ages of digital by reducing asignal's sample rate and bit resolution.
The Downsample section has two parameters:
switch.

Downsample and a downsample Mode

If the downsample dial is set to 1 , every input sample passes to the output and the signal
does not change. If set to 2 , only every second sample will be processed, so the result
sounds a bit more digital. The higher the number, the lower the resulting sample rate,
and the more deconstructed the sound. Downsampling is like applying a mosaic effectto an image: There's a loss of information and sharp edges occur between the blocks.
The Downsample Mode switch de nes if the downsampling either interpolates over a smaller
range ( soft, down to 20.0 samples) or does not interpolate over a larger range ( hard,down to 200 samples).
Bit Reduction is similar, but while downsampling superimposes a grid in time, bit reduction
does the same for amplitude.
If the Bit Reduction amplitude dial is set to 8, amplitude levels are quantized to 256 steps

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261(8 bit resolution). If set to 1, the result is pretty brutal: Each sample contains either a fullpositive or full negative signal, with nothing in between.
Bit Reduction de nes an input signal of 0dB as 16 bit. Signals above 0dB are clipped, andthe red overload LED will light up.
Turning off Bit Reduction results in modest CPU savings.

19.17

Resonators

The Resonators Effect.

This device consists of ve parallel resonators that superimpose a tonal character on the
input source. It can produce sounds resembling anything from plucked strings to vocoderlike effects. The resonators are tuned in semitones, providing a musical way of adjusting
them. The rst resonator de nes the root pitch and the four others are tuned relative to thispitch in musical intervals.
The input signal passes rst through a lter, and then into the resonators. There are four
input lter types to select from: lowpass, bandpass, highpass and notch. The input lter
frequency can be adjusted with the Frequency parameter.
The rst resonator is fed with both the left and right input channels, while the second andfourth resonators are dedicated to the left channel, and the third and fth to the rightchannel.
The Note parameter de nes the root pitch of all the resonators ranging from C1 to C5.
It can also be detuned in cents using the Fine parameter. The Decay parameter lets you

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adjust the amount of time it takes for the resonators to be silent after getting an input signal.
The longer the decay time, the more tonal the result will be, similar to the behavior of anundamped piano string. As with a real string, the decay time depends on the pitch, so low
notes will last longer than higher ones. The Const switch holds the decay time constantregardless of the actual pitch.
Resonators provides two different resonation modes. Mode A provides a more realistic
sounding resonation, while Mode B offers an effect that is especially interesting when
Resonator I's Note parameter is set to lower pitches.
The brightness of the resulting sound can be adjusted using the Color control.
All of the resonators have an On/Off switch and a Gain control. A resonator that is turned
off does not need CPU. Turning off the rst resonator does not affect the other ones.
Resonators II through V follow the Note parameter de ned in Resonator I, but they can eachbe individually transposed +/- 24 semitones using the Pitch controls and detuned in centsusing the Detune controls.
The output section features the obligatory Dry/Wet control and a Width parameter that
affects only the wet signal and blends the left and right outputs of Resonators II-V into amono signal if set to zero.

19.18

ReverbThe Reverb Effect.

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263

Input Processing

The input signal passes rst through high and low cut lters, whose X-Y controller allows
changing the band's center frequency (X-axis) and bandwidth (Y-axis). Either lter may beswitched off when not needed to save CPU power.
Predelay controls the delay time, in milliseconds, before the onset of the rst early re ection.
This delays the reverberation relative to the input signal. One's impression of the size of areal room depends partly on this delay. Typical values for natural sounds range from 1ms
to 25ms.

19.18.2

Early Re ections

These are the earliest echoes that you hear after they bounce off a room's walls, before
the onset of the diffused reverberation tail. Their amplitude and distribution give an
impression of the room's character.
The Shape control sculpts the prominence of the early re ections, as well as their overlap
with the diffused sound. With small values, the re ections decay more gradually and the
diffused sound occurs sooner, leading to a larger overlap between these components. Withlarge values, the re ections decay more rapidly and the diffused onset occurs later. A
higher value can sometimes improve the source's intelligibility, while a lower value may givea smoother decay.
Spin applies modulation to the early re ections. The X-Y control accesses the depth andfrequency of these modulations. A larger depth tends to provide a less-colored (morespectrally neutral) late diffusion response. If the modulation frequency is too high, doppler
frequency shifting of the source sound will occur, along with surreal panning effects. Spinmay be turned off, using the associated switch, for modest CPU savings.

19.18.3

Global Settings

The Quality chooser controls the tradeoff between reverb quality and performance. Ecouses minimal CPU resources, while High delivers the richest reverberation.

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The Size parameter controls the room's volume. At one extreme, a very large size will
lend a shifting, diffused delay effect to the reverb. The other extreme a very small value
will give it a highly colored, metallic feel.
The Stereo Image control determines the width of the output's stereo image. At the highest
setting of 120 degrees, each ear receives a reverberant channel that is independent of theother (this is also a property of the diffusion in real rooms). The lowest setting mixes theoutput signal to mono.

19.18.4

Diffusion Network

The Diffusion network creates the reverberant tail that follows the early re ections. The
decay time control adjusts the time required for this tail to drop to 1/1000th (-60 dB) of its
initial amplitude.
High and low shelving lters provide frequency-dependent reverberation decay. The highfrequency decay models the absorption of sound energy due to air, walls and other materials
in the room (people, carpeting and so forth). The low shelf provides a thinner decay. Eachlter may be turned off to save CPU consumption.
The Freeze control freezes the diffuse response of the input sound. When on, the reverberation will sustain almost endlessly. Cut modi es Freeze by preventing the input signal fromadding to the frozen reverberation; when off, the input signal will contribute to the diffused
amplitude. Flat bypasses the high and low shelf lters when freeze is on. If Flat is off, thefrozen reverberation will lose energy in the attenuated frequency bands, depending on thestate of the high and low shelving lters.
The Echo Density and Scale parameters provide additional control over the diffusion's density and coarseness, and, when the room size is extremely small, have a large impact on thecoloration contributed by the diffusion.
The Chorus section adds a little modulation and motion to the diffusion. Like the Spinsection, you can control the modulation frequency and amplitude, or turn it off.

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19.18.5265

OutputAt the reverb output, you can adjust the effect's overall Dry/Wet mix, and vary the amplitude
of re ections and diffusion with the Re ect Level and Diffuse Level controls.

19.19

Saturator

The Saturator Effect.

Saturator is a waveshaping effect that can add that missing dirt, punch or warmth to yoursound. It can coat input signals with a soft saturation or drive them into many different
avors of distortion.
An X-Y grid helps to visualize Saturator's shaping curve. The shaper's input and output values
are mapped to the X and Y axes, respectively. The curve de nes the transfer function, whichis the extent to which output values uctuate in relation to input values. Because this is
usually a nonlinear process, the incoming signal is reshaped to a greater or lesser degree
depending upon its level at each moment in time.
Incoming signals are rst clipped to the dB level set by the Drive control. The meter on theright side of the display shows how much Saturator is in uencing the signal.
Signal shaping has six xed modes: Analog Clip, Soft Sine, Medium Curve, Hard Curve,
Sinoid Fold and Digital Clip. There is also the exible Waveshaper mode, featuring six
adjustable waveshaping parameters.
In the Analog Clip and Digital Clip modes, the signal is clipped completely and immediately.

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Soft Sine, Medium Curve and Hard Curve modes soften signal clipping to varying degrees.
Sinoid Fold mode can be good for special effects.
The most dramatic effects can be created by selecting the Waveshaper curve, which has its
own dedicated set of controls. To access these six parameter elds, unfold the Saturator
window by toggling the
button in its title bar.
The Waveshaper mode's six additional parameters are: Drive, Lin, Curve, Damp, Depth andPeriod.
 Drive determines how much the input signal will be in uenced by the Waveshaperparameters. Setting Drive to zero will negate the effect entirely.
 Lin works together with the Curve and Depth parameters to alter the linear portion of
the shaping curve.
 Curve adds mostly third-order harmonics to the input signal.
 Damp attens any signal near the grid's origin. It behaves like an ultra-fast noise gate.
 Depth controls the amplitude of a sine wave that is superimposed onto the distortion
curve.
 Period determines the density of ripples in the superimposed sine wave.

The DC button activates a DC lter at Saturator's input stage. This is mainly useful for
removing DC offsets from audio material that contains them.
Activating the Color button enables two lters. The rst of these, controlled with the Basecontrol, dictates how much the effect will be reduced or increased for very low frequencies.
The second lter, essentially an equalizer, is used for controlling higher frequencies. It is
shaped with the Freq (cutoff frequency), Width and Depth controls.
The Output control attenuates the level at the device output. When the Soft Clip switch isactivated, Saturator will also apply an instance of its Analog Clip curve to the output.
The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to
100 percent when using Saturator in a return track.
Aliasing can be reduced by enabling Hi-Quality mode, which can be accessed via the(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu. This improves the sound quality, particularly with highfrequency signals, but there is a slight increase in CPU usage.

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19.20

267

Simple Delay

The Simple Delay Effect.

The Simple Delay provides two independent delay lines, one for each channel (left andright).
To refer delay time to the song tempo, activate the Sync switch, which allows using the
Delay Time beat division chooser. The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th
notes. For example, selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes, which equals one
beat (a quarter note) of delay.
If the Sync switch is off, the delay time reverts to milliseconds. In this case, to edit the delaytime, click and drag up or down in the Delay Time eld, or click in the eld and type in avalue.
The Feedback parameter de nes how much of each channel's output signal feeds back into
the delay lines' inputs. Internally, they are two independent feedback loops, so a signal on
the left channel does not feed back into the right channel and vice versa.
The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to
100 percent when using Simple Delay in a return track.

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19.21

268

Spectrum

The Spectrum Device.

Spectrum performs realtime frequency analysis of incoming audio signals. The results are
represented in a graph, with dB along the vertical axis and frequency/pitch along thehorizontal. Note that Spectrum is not an audio effect, but rather a measurement tool - itdoes not alter the incoming signal in any way.
The Block chooser selects the number of samples that will be analyzed in each measurement.
Higher values result in better accuracy, but at the expense of increased CPU load.
Channel determines which channel is analyzed - left, right or both.
The Refresh slider determines how often Spectrum should perform an analysis. As with theBlock parameter, this allows for a tradeoff between accuracy and CPU load. A fast responsetime is more accurate, but also more CPU intensive.
The Avg slider allows you to specify how many blocks of samples will be averaged for each
update of the display. With a setting of one, each block is shown. This results in much more
activity in the display, which can be useful for nding the spectrum of short peaks. As you
increase the Avg value, the display updates more smoothly, providing an average of thespectrum over time. This is more consistent with the way we actually hear.
The Graph button switches between displaying the spectrum as a single interpolated line
and discrete frequency bins.
The Scale X buttons allow you to toggle the scaling of the frequency display between
linear, logarithmic, and semitone. Note that logarithmic and semitone are actually the same

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scaling, but switch the legending at the top of the display between Hertz and note names.
Linear scaling is particularly useful for detailed analysis of high frequencies.
As you move your mouse over Spectrum's display, a box appears that shows the amplitude,frequency and note name at the pointer's position. You can zoom and scroll the amplitude bymoving your mouse over the amplitude legending on the display's left side. Drag verticallyto scroll and horizontally to zoom. You can also use the Range sliders to set the minimum
and maximum amplitude values shown.
To get an even better view, you can toggle the location of the display between the device
chain and Live's main window by clicking the
button in Spectrum's title bar.

19.22

Utility

The Utility Effect.

Utility can perform some very useful tasks, especially in combination with other devices.
The Mute button simply silences the incoming signal when enabled. Note: The active/mutecontrols of a track are always placed at the very end of the signal chain. However, since you
can place Utility anywhere in a signal chain, you can use its mute function to cut the input
of a delay line or reverb without turning off the output of these devices.
The Gain control adjusts the level of the input signal +/- 35 dB.
The Channel Mode chooser allows selective processing of the left and right channels of asample. If, for example, Left is selected, the right channel is ignored and the left channel

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appears on both outputs. This is especially useful if you have a stereo le that contains
different information on both channels and you want to use only one.
The Panorama chooser pans the signal anywhere in the stereo eld.
The Width control acts as a continuous mono to stereo controller when set from 0 to 100
percent. However, beyond 100 percent the output starts to fold in on itself. At 200
percent the output contains only the difference between the left and right channels. If
either Left or Right have been chosen in the Channel Mode chooser, the Width control has
no function and is therefore disabled.
At the bottom of the device you will nd two Phase controls, one for each channel. As theirnames imply, they invert the phase of each channel.

19.23

Vinyl Distortion

The Vinyl Distortion
Effect.

The Vinyl Distortion effect emulates some of the typical distortions that occur on vinyl records
during playback. These distortions are caused by the geometric relationships between theneedle and the recorded groove. The effect also features a crackle generator for adding
noisy artifacts.
The Tracing Model section adds even harmonic distortion to the input signal. Adjust theamount of distortion with the Drive knob, or click and drag vertically in the Tracing Model
X-Y display. To adjust the distortion's frequency or color, drag horizontally in the X-Y
display or double-click on the Freq eld and type in a value. Holding the Alt(PC) /

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Alt
(Mac) modi er while dragging vertically in the X-Y display changes the frequency
band's Q (bandwidth).

The Pinch Effect section adds odd harmonics to the input signal. These distortions typicallyoccur 180 degrees out of phase, creating a richer stereo image. The Pinch Effect has thesame controls as the Tracing Model, but generates a rather different sound.
The Drive control increases or decreases the overall distortion amount created by both theTracing Model and Pinch.
There are two distortion modes: Soft and Hard. The Soft Mode simulates the sound of adub plate, while Hard Mode is more like that of a standard vinyl record.
The stereo/mono switch determines whether the Pinch distortion occurs in stereo or mono.
Set it to stereo for realistic simulation of vinyl distortions.
The Crackle section adds noise to the signal, with noise density set by the Density control.
The Volume control adjusts the amount of gain applied to the noise.

272

Chapter 20

Live MIDI Effect Reference
Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in MIDI effects. The Working with
Instruments and Effects chapter explains the basics of using effects in Live.

20.1

Arpeggiator

The Arpeggiator Effect.

Live's Arpeggiator effect takes the individual MIDI notes from a held chord (or single note),
and plays them as a rhythmical pattern. The sequence and speed of the pattern can be

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controlled by the device, which also provides a full complement of both classic and original
arpeggiator features.
Arpeggiators are a classic element in Eighties synth music. The name originates with themusical concept of the arpeggio, in which the notes comprising a chord are played asa series rather than in unison. Arpeggio is derived from the Italian word arpeggiare,
which refers to playing notes on a harp.

20.1.1

Style and Rate Sections

Arpeggiator's Style chooser determines the sequence of notes in the rhythmical pattern.

Up and Down .

UpDown and
DownUp .

Down & Up and Up& Down .

Converge andDiverge .

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Con & Diverge .

Pinky Up and Pinky
UpDown .

Thumb Up andThumb UpDown .

Play Order places notes in the pattern according to the order in which they are played. Thisis therefore only recognizable when more than one chord or note has been played.
In addition to the Arpeggiator styles above, there are a number of random styles. Random
randomly selects incoming MIDI notes for playback. Random Other creates a random
pattern from incoming MIDI notes, and then plays the randomly generated chord repeatedly.
Random Once creates a random pattern from incoming MIDI notes and repeats the patternuntil it has been transposed or retriggered, at which point a new pattern is created.
Arpeggiator will play the pattern of notes at the speed set by the Rate control, which canbe calibrated in either milliseconds or beat-time using the neighboring Sync/Free button.
With Sync chosen, Arpeggiator will be synced to the song tempo.
A Gate control to the right of Rate determines the length of notes played by Arpeggiator
as a percentage of the current Rate setting. Any setting larger than 100% will therefore playnotes that overlap (i.e., are legato).
The rhythmic pattern generated by Arpeggiator does not necessarily have to be straight;
patterns can be given groove with the respective control just beneath the Mode chooser.
Groove in Arpeggiator works just like it does for clips, so that the intensity of the groove is
set in the Control Bar.
With the Hold parameter active, Arpeggiator will continue to play the pattern even after
the keyboard keys have been released. The pattern will be repeated until any other key isCHAPTER 20. LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE

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pressed. When Hold is active and any of the original keys also remain physically held, notes
can be added to the pattern simply by playing them. Notes can also be removed from thepattern in this scenario by playing them a second time, allowing the gradual buildup andrearrangement of the pattern over time.
Tip: If you want the pattern to stop playing, momentarily deactivate Hold.
The Offset parameter shifts the sequence of notes in the pattern by the number of places
selected with the control. This is best illustrated with an example: A setting of 1 makes
the second note in the pattern play rst, and the rst note last. If you imagine the pattern
as a circle of notes that is played in a clockwise direction from a set start point, the Offset
parameter effectively rotates this circle counter-clockwise one note at a time, changing
where in the pattern play begins.
With the Repeats parameter, the pattern can be set to repeat a speci ed number of times
until it is retriggered. A setting of inf will repeat the pattern inde nitely. Hint: Thisfeature provides an excellent way of emulating the strum of a guitar or playing a chord as
an arpeggio once or twice. Another interesting effect can be achieved by combining thisfeature with the Retrigger parameter, which we will explain in a moment. This can be used
to create rhythmically generated arpeggios separated by pauses.
The Retrigger parameter resets the pattern so that it starts again from the beginning.
Retriggering can be deactivated (Off), set to occur when new notes are pressed (Note) or
set to occur at a speci ed song position or beat-time (Beat). Beat retriggering can be
speci ed in terms of notes or bars and is aligned with song position. An LED in the upper
right corner of the section indicates when the pattern has been retriggered.

20.1.2

Transposition and Velocity Sections

The pattern generated by Arpeggiator can be transposed; the device's transposition controls
allow forcing this transposition into a speci c major or minor key or (using the Transposechooser's Shift option) doing it in semitones. The distance between transposition steps is
set in scale intervals (for Major and Minor transposition) or semitones (for Shift transposition)with the Distance control. Using the Steps parameter, you can choose the number of times
the sequence is transposed: A setting of 8 will transpose the sequence a total of eight times,
playing it in higher notes each time.

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The dynamics of Arpeggiator are controlled using the velocity section. With Velocity set
to On and Target set to 0, for example, the sequence will gradually fade out, eventuallyreaching 0 velocity. The Decay control sets the amount of time Arpeggiator takes to reach
the Target velocity. With Retrigger activated, retriggering of the sequence will also retrigger
the velocity slope.
Tip: The velocity section's Retrigger option can be used in conjunction with Beat retriggering
to add rhythm to the dynamic slope.

20.2

Chord

The Chord Effect.

This effect assembles a chord, as the name implies, from each incoming note and up to six
others of user-de ned pitch. The Shift 1-6 knobs allow selecting the pitch of the notes that
contribute to the chord from a range of +/- 36 semitones relative to the original. Setting
Shift 1 to +4 semitones and Shift 2 to +7 semitones, for example, yields a major chord inwhich the incoming note is the root.
The Velocity control beneath each Shift knob makes further harmonic sculpting possible,
given that the instrument allows for changes in volume or timbre as function of velocity. It
is a relative control, with a range of 1 to 200 percent (100 percent de ned as playing at avelocity equal to that of the incoming MIDI note). Use the Velocity controls to do anythingfrom adding slight overtones to washing out most of the other chord elements.
The order in which pitches are added to the chord is inconsequential: The effect of a
+12 semitone shift added with the Shift 1 control, for example, is equal in effect to a +12

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semitone shift added with the Shift 6 control.
Note that no two notes of the same pitch can contribute to the chord, and that selecting
the same shift value twice (e.g., +8 semitones on both Shift 2 and Shift 3) will result in thelatter control appearing disabled, indicating that it is a duplicate and therefore not in use.
Actually, there is no such thing as two notes with the same pitch playing at the same timewithin the entire Live universe.

20.3

Note Length

The Note Length Effect.

Note Length alters the length of incoming MIDI notes. It can also be used to trigger notesfrom MIDI Note Off messages, instead of the usual Note On messages.
When the device is set to trigger from a Note On message, only the timing controls areavailable. The length of held notes can be adjusted in milliseconds or synced in relation
to the song tempo. Gate de nes the percentage of the Length value that notes should beheld for. At 200 percent, the Gate parameter will double a note's length.
When the device is set to trigger from a Note Off event (the moment at which a played noteis released), the timing of an incoming note will be delayed by its length (because it will bestarting at the point at which it would have been stopping). Note Length's other settings
will then determine the duration of the newly triggered note.
Three other parameters are available when the device is triggering from Note Off messages:

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On/Off Balance This determines the velocity of the output note. It is a balance between
the incoming note's Note On and Note Off velocities. If your MIDI keyboard does notsupport MIDI Note Off velocity, you can just set this to zero.
Decay Time This is the time needed for an incoming note's velocity to decay to zero. The
decay begins immediately from the moment the device receives a MIDI Note On message.
The value at the time of Note Off will become the velocity of the output MIDI note.
Key Scale The pitch of incoming notes can be used to alter the length of the output notes.
With positive values, notes below C3 will be made progressively longer, and notes above
C3 will be made shorter. Negative values will invert this relationship.

20.4

Pitch

The Pitch Effect.

Pitch is a transposition tool that changes incoming note pitch by +/- 128 semitones.
The Range and Lowest controls act together to de ne a pitch range through which notes areallowed to pass. Notes outside of the de ned pitch range will be blocked, and the effect's
LED light will ash when this happens.
Notes outside of the pitch range are limited based on their untransposed pitch, prior to thetransposition stage of the effect.

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279

RandomThe Random Effect.

Random adds an element of the unknown to the otherwise commonplace pitch parameter.
The Chance control de nes the likelihood that an incoming note's pitch will be changed by arandom value. You can think of it as being something like a dry/wet control for randomness.
The random value that determines the pitch change is created by two variables: The Choices
control de nes the number of different random notes possible, from a range of 1 to 24; theScale control value is multiplied by the Choices control value, and the result dictates thepitches that random notes are allowed to have relative to that of the incoming note.
For example, if you play the note C3 with Chance set to 50 percent, Choices set to 1 andScale set to 12, half of the resulting notes will play at C3 and half will play at C4. But with
Chance set to 50 percent, Choices set to 12 and Scale set to 1, half of the resulting notes
will play at C3 and half will play at one of any semitone that is between C#3 and C4.
These examples assume that the Sign buttons are set to Add and the Mode button is
set to Rnd. The Sign controls decide whether the random alteration adds to the originalnote's pitch, subtracts from it, or does a little of both. The LEDs below the Sign controls
give you a visual idea of how output pitch compares with that of the original.
The Mode button determines whether the alteration will be random or, when set to Alt,
will cycle between the allowed output notes in a xed order (sometimes known as cycle
round-robin ). The Chance control behaves a bit differently in Alt mode - at 100 percent,the next output note will always be the next note in the series. At 0 percent, the next output
note will always be the incoming note.

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For example, with Chance set to 100 percent, Choices set to 12 and Scale set to 1, playing
C3 once will trigger C3, and each successive C3 will trigger the next semitone higher until
the device reaches C4, at which point it will start over at C3. But with Chance set to 100
percent, Choices set to 2 and Scale set to 2, incoming C3s will alternate between C3 andD3. This setting is perfect for simulating upbow and downbow alternation with stringed
instruments, or alternating right- and left-hand drum samples.
Hint: Try using the Scale effect after Random to constrain the output values to a speci charmonic range. Using Random's Alt mode with the Scale device allows you to create a
simple step-sequencer.

20.6

Scale

The Scale Effect.

Scale alters incoming note pitch based on a scale mapping. Each incoming note is given
an outgoing equivalent on the X-Y scale map of the effect: All incoming Cs, for example,
might be converted to outgoing Ds.
The X-Y scale map is 12 squares in length and width, corresponding to the 12 notes in a fulloctave. Darker squares represent the black keys on a keyboard. The base of the diagonal
scale (the lower left square) shown on the map can be changed using the Base control. The
X-axis of the map shows incoming note values, and the Y-axis their outgoing equivalents.
Use mouse-clicks to move or delete the yellow squares, which de ne where an incomingnote will be sent on the scale. (Deleting a note on the scale map means that it will no longer
play.)

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The Range and Lowest controls work together to de ne the note range within which scale
mapping will take effect. Outside of the range de ned by these controls, the Scale effectwill be inapplicable, and the LED light will ash to indicate that some notes are not being
processed by the effect, but are playing at their unaltered pitch.

20.7

Velocity

The Velocity Effect.

Velocity re-maps the 127 MIDI note velocity values. It can function on MIDI Note On or
Note Off messages, or both, depending on the setting of the Operation chooser.
The Out Low and Out Hi knobs control the outgoing velocity (from 1 to 127), which isrepresented by the Y-axis of the X-Y display. Incoming velocities that are shown in thedisplay are within the range chosen by the Range and Lowest controls, and are represented
on the X-axis. The resulting curve shows how velocity is being altered by the effect.
If Lowest and Out Low are both set to zero, and Range and Out Hi are set to 127, the display
will show a straight diagonal line that indicates the equivalent of an effect bypass: Softly
played notes are being output quietly and vice versa. If instead, Out Hi is set to zero and
Out Low to 127, the slope of the line will be reversed, and softly played notes will actually
produce the loudest output.
What happens to incoming notes that are outside of the range set with the Range andLowest controls? This depends on which Mode is selected. Clip Mode does just what it
says: It clips incoming note velocities so that they stay within the range. Gate Mode removes
incoming notes altogether if their velocities are outside of the range. You will see the little

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LED below the X-Y display ash when a note is blocked by gating. In Fixed Mode, the Out
Hi velocity de nes all outgoing note velocities, regardless of incoming note velocity.
The Random function adds or subtracts a random value to the all velocities, and is represented by a gray area on the display curve.
The Drive and Compand controls can be combined to create more complex curves. Compand is a simultaneous expanding and compressing tool. When set to values greater thanzero, it forces incoming notes to the outer boundaries of the curve, making them play either loudly or softly. Compand values of less than zero, on the other hand, force outgoingvelocity toward the mid-range. Drive pushes all values in the curve to the outer extremes.
Use these two controls together to sculpt or even rede ne the dynamic structure of a piece.

283

Chapter 21

Live Instrument Reference
Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in instruments. The Working with
Instruments and Effects chapter explains the basics of using instruments in Live.
The boxed version of Live LE ships with the Essential Instrument Collection LE Edition, amulti-gigabyte library of meticulously sampled and selected instruments ready for use in
Simpler. Learn how to access the EIC sounds at the end of this chapter.

CHAPTER 21. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE

21.1

284

ImpulseThe Impulse Instrument.

Impulse is a drum sampler with complex modulation capabilities. The eight drum samples
loaded into Impulse's sample slots can be time-stretched, ltered and processed by envelope, saturation, pan and volume components, nearly all of which are subject to random
and velocity-based modulation.

21.1.1

Sample Slots

Drag and drop samples into any of Impulse's sample slots from the Browser or the Session
and Arrangement Views. Alternatively, each sample slot features a Hot-Swap button for
hot-swapping samples. Loaded samples can be deleted with your computer keyboard's
or Delete key.
Imported samples are automatically mapped onto your MIDI keyboard, providing that it isplugged in and acknowledged by Live. C3 on the keyboard will trigger the leftmost sample,
and the other samples will follow suit in the octave from C3 to C4. Impulse's eight slots
will appear labeled in the MIDI Editor's key tracks when the Fold button is active, even if
the given key track is void of MIDI notes. Mapping can be transposed from the default byapplying a Pitch device, or it can be rearranged by applying a Scale device.
Each of the eight samples has a proprietary set of parameters, located in the area below thesample slots and visible when the sample is clicked. Adjustments to sample settings are only
captured once you hit a new note they do not affect currently playing notes. Note that

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this behavior also de nes how Impulse reacts to parameter changes from clip envelopes or
automation, which are applied once a new note starts. If you want to achieve continuouschanges as a note plays, you may want to use the Simpler.
Slot 8's parameters also include a Link button, located in the lower left corner, which links
slot 8 with slot 7. Linking the two slots allows slot 7's activation to stop slot 8's playback,and vice versa. This was designed with a speci c situation in mind (but can, of course, be
used for other purposes): Replicating the way that closed hi-hats will silence open hi-hats.
Each slot can be played, soloed, muted or hot-swapped using controls that appear whenthe mouse hovers over it.

21.1.2Start, Tune and Stretch

The Start control de nes where Impulse begins playing a sample, and can be set up to
100 ms later than the actual sample beginning. The Transposition control adjusts thetransposition of the sample by +/- 48 semitones, and can be modulated by incoming notevelocity or a random value, as set in the appropriate elds.
The Stretch control has values from -100 to 100 percent. Negative values will shorten thesample, and positive values will stretch it. Two different stretching algorithms are available:
Mode A is ideal for low sounds, such as toms or bass, while Mode B is better for high sounds,
such as cymbals. The Stretch value can also be modulated by MIDI note velocity.

21.1.3Filter

The Filter section offers a broad range of lter types, each of which can impart different
sonic characteristics onto the sample by removing certain frequencies. The Frequency
control de nes where in the harmonic spectrum the lter is applied; the Resonance control
boosts frequencies near that point. Filter Frequency can be modulated by either a random
value or by MIDI note velocity.

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21.1.4286

Saturator and Envelope

The Saturator gives the sample a fatter, rounder, more analog sound, and can be switched on
and off as desired. The Drive control boosts the signal and adds distortion. Coincidentally,
this makes most signals much louder, and should usually be compensated for by lowering
the sample's volume control. Extreme Drive settings on low-pitched sounds will produce
the typical, overdriven analog synth drum sounds.
The envelope can be adjusted using the Decay control, which can be set to a maximum of
60 seconds. Impulse has two decay modes: Trigger Mode allows the sample to decay with
the note; Gate Mode forces the envelope to wait for a note off message before beginningthe decay. This mode is useful in situations where you need variable decay lengths, as is thecase with hi-hat cymbal sounds.

21.1.5

Pan and Volume

Each sample has Volume and Pan controls that adjust amplitude and stereo positioning,respectively. Both controls can be modulated: Pan by velocity and a random value, andVolume by velocity only.

21.1.6

Global Controls

The parameters located to the right of the sample slots are global controls that apply to all
samples within Impulse's domain. Volume adjusts the overall level of the instrument, andPitch adjusts the transposition of all samples. The Time control governs the time-stretchingand decay of all samples, allowing you to morph between short and stretched drum sounds.

21.1.7

Individual Outputs

When a new instance of Impulse is dragged into a track, its signal will be mixed with thoseof the other instruments and effects feeding the audio chain of the track. It can oftentimes
make more sense to isolate the instrument or one of its individual drum samples, and send

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this signal to a separate track. Please see the Routing chapter to learn how to accomplish
this for Impulse's overall signal or for Impulse's individual sample slots.

21.2

Simpler

The Simpler Instrument.

Simpler is an instrument that integrates the basic elements of a sampler with a set of classic
synthesizer parameters. A Simpler voice plays a user-de ned sample section, which is inturn processed by envelope, lter, LFO, volume and pitch components.

21.2.1

Sample View

The Sample View displays the sample waveform. Samples can be dragged into Simpler
either directly from the Browser, or from the Session or Arrangement View in the form ofclips. In the latter case, Simpler will utilize only the section of the sample demarcated by
the clip's start/end or loop markers. Samples can be replaced by dragging in a new sample,
or by activating the integrated Hot-Swap button.
Note: When playing instruments from Ableton's Essential Instrument Collection, Simpler
runs in Multisample Mode. The Sample View has no function in this mode.

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21.2.2288

Sample Controls

Simpler plays a speci c region or loop of the sample, as determined by a group of sample
controls.
The Start and Length controls work together to specify where Simpler begins and ends its
sweep of the sample. As the name implies, Start de nes where sample playback starts.
The sample will play for the length de ned by the Length parameter. Both parameters arede ned as a percentage of the whole region, so setting start to 25 percent and length to50 percent, for example, will start playback 1/4 of the way through the sample and stop
playback at the 3/4 mark (using 50 percent of the sample).
Samples are played by Simpler as one-shots or as loops, depending on whether or not the
Loop switch is active. When looping is active, the Loop control dictates the length of theloop, starting from the end of the playing sample. Simpler will play the rst instance of alooped sample beginning with the Start point, then continue playing only the loop region.
When the sample's start or end points are moved, Simpler will try to preserve the loop length
for as long as possible by automatically adjusting the Start, Loop and Length settings.
It is possible for glitches or pops to occur between a looped sample's start and end points
due to the discontinuity in waveform amplitude (i.e., the sample's loudness). The Snap
switch will help mitigate these by forcing Simpler's loop markers to snap to zero-crossing
points in the sample (points where the amplitude is zero). Note: Snapping is based on theleft channel of stereo samples. It is therefore still possible, even with Snap activated, toencounter glitches with stereo samples.
The transition from loop end to loop start can be smoothed with the Fade control, whichcrossfades the two points. This method is especially useful when working with long, textural
samples. By default, Simpler uses constant-power fades. But by turning off Use Constant(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu, you can enable linear
Power Fade for Loops in the
crossfades.

21.2.3

Zoom

Quite often, one starts with a longer region of a sample and ends up using only a small partof it. Simpler's Sample view can be zoomed and panned just as in other parts of Live dragCHAPTER 21. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE

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vertically to zoom, and drag horizontally to pan different areas of the sample into view.

21.2.4

Envelope

Simpler contains three classic ADSR envelopes, as seen in most synthesizers, for shaping
the dynamic response of the sample. Volume-, lter frequency-, and pitch modulation are
all modi able by toggling their respective buttons in the envelope section. Attack controls
the time in milliseconds that it takes for the envelope to reach its peak value after a note isplayed. Decay controls the amount of time it takes for the envelope to drop down to the
Sustain level, which is held until the note is released. Release time is the amount of timeafter the end of the note that it takes for the envelope to drop from the Sustain level backdown to zero.
The in uence of envelopes on pitch and lter cutoff can be decided using the envelope
amount (Env) controls in each of these sections.

21.2.5Filter

The Filter section offers classic 12 dB or 24 dB lowpass, bandpass and highpass lters, aswell as a notch lter, each of which can impart different sonic characteristics onto the sample
by removing certain frequencies from the waveform. The most important parameters are
the typical synth controls Frequency and Resonance. Frequency determines where in theharmonic spectrum the lter is applied; Resonance boosts frequencies near that point.
The best way to understand the effects of these controls is simply to play with them!
The Frequency parameter can be modulated by an LFO, note velocity and an envelope
each of which have an amount control in the Filter section. The Key (tracking) control allows
for shifting the lter's frequency according to note pitch.

21.2.6LFO

The LFO (low-frequency oscillator) section offers sine, square, triangle, sawtooth down,
sawtooth up and random waveforms. The LFO run freely at frequencies between 0.01 andCHAPTER 21. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE

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30 Hz, or sync to divisions of the Set's tempo. LFOs are applied individually to each voice,or played note, in Simpler.
The Key parameter scales each LFO's Rate in proportion to the pitch of incoming notes. A
high Key setting assigns higher notes a higher LFO rate. If Key is set to zero, all voices'
LFOs have the same rate and may just differ in their phase.
The LFO will modulate the lter, pitch, panorama and volume according to the setting of
the LFO amount controls in each of these sections.
The time required for the LFO to reach full intensity is determined by the Attack control.

21.2.7

Glide and Spread

Simpler includes a glide function. When this function is activated, new notes will start fromthe pitch of the last note played and then slide gradually to their own pitch. Two glide
modes are available: Glide, which works monophonically, and Portamento, which works
polyphonically. Glide is also adjusted with the Glide Time control.
Simpler also offers a special Spread parameter that creates a rich stereo chorus by using
two voices per note and panning one to the left and one to the right. The two voices are
detuned, and the amount of detuning can be adjusted with the Spread control.
Tip: Whether or not spread is applied to a particular note depends upon the setting of
the Spread parameter during the note-on event. To achieve special effects, you could, forinstance, create a sequence where Spread is zero most of the time and turned on only forsome notes. These notes will then play in stereo, while the others will play mono.

21.2.8

Pitch, Pan, Volume and Voices

Simpler plays back a sample at its original pitch if the incoming MIDI note is C3, however theTranspose control allows transposing this by +/- 48 semitones. Pitch can also be modulatedby an LFO or pitch envelope using the amount controls in this section. The pitch envelope is
especially helpful in creating percussive sounds. Simpler reacts to MIDI Pitch Bend messages
with a sensitivity of +/- 5 semitones. You can also modulate the Transpose parameter withclip envelopes and external controllers.

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The Voices parameter sets the maximum number of voices that Simpler can play simultaneously. If more voices are needed than have been allocated by the Voices chooser, voicestealing will take place, in which the oldest voice(s) will be dropped in favor of those thatare new. For example, if your Voices parameter is set to 8, and ten voices are all vying to
be played, the two oldest voices will be dropped. (Simpler does try to make voice stealing
as subtle as possible.) A small LED near the Voices control ashes when a voice has beenstolen.
Panorama is de ned by the Pan control, but can be further swayed by randomness or
modulated by the LFO.
Finally, the output volume of Simpler is controlled by the Volume control, which can also be
dependent upon note velocity, as adjusted by the Velocity control. Tremolo effects can beachieved by allowing the LFO to modulate the Volume parameter.

21.2.9Strategies for Saving CPU Power

Real-time synthesis needs lots of computing power. However, there are strategies for
reducing CPU load. Save the CPU spent on Simpler by doing some of the following: Turn off the Filter if it is not needed.
 Use lter types that are less expensive when possible. A lter's cost correlates with thesteepness of its slope
LP24 is more expensive than LP12.
 Turn off the LFO for a slightly positive in uence on CPU.
 Stereo samples need signi cantly more CPU than mono samples, as they require twice
the processing.
 Decrease the number of simultaneously allowed voices with the Voice control.

21.3

The Essential Instrument Collection

The boxed version of Live LE ships with the Essential Instrument Collection LE Edition,a multi-gigabyte library of meticulously sampled instruments created in cooperation with

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292

SONiVOX, Chocolate Audio and Puremagnetik.
Note The Essential Instrument Collection is not included with downloadable purchases.
Download customers can choose, however, to purchase it later1 .

21.3.1EIC Installation

The Essential Instrument Collection LE Edition is installed separately from the main LiveLE installation. The various instruments are grouped into separate Live Packs that can beinstalled as needed. To install Live Packs, drag them into the Live application window, either
from your operating system or from Live's Browser.
After you have installed the EIC Live Packs, you will need to unlock them using your unlock,
code. To do this, open Live's Preferences with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl
(PC) /, (Mac), and then select the Authorizations/Trial tab. Further details can be foundin the Unlocking Live chapter.

21.3.2

Accessing The EIC Instruments

After installation, the EIC instruments are accessed through Live's Device Browser, in exactly
the same way as Live's other built-in instruments. You will nd them as categorized presets
within the Instrument Rack folder. EIC instruments are therefore loaded just like any otherdevice, by dragging a preset from the Browser into an empty MIDI track.
The EIC presets are available in Full and Lite versions, allowing you to choose the rightbalance of delity and polyphony for your needs. The Lite version reduces CPU, RAM anddisk requirements by reducing the number of zones and sample layers used. Both thenormal and Lite presets use 24-bit multisamples.
There is also an EIC LE Pack available which contains very ef cient versions of the EIC
instruments suitable for sketching out ideas. The LE instruments are all composed of 16-bit
sample les.
All of the EIC presets are conveniently mapped to Macro Controls for greater expression.
1 http://www.ableton.com/shop

CHAPTER 21. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE

21.3.3293

The Included Instruments

The following multisampled instruments are included:
 Acoustic Keyboards

Grand Piano, Harpsichord, Celesta

 Electric Keyboards

E-Piano MK 1, B3 Jazz Organ, B3 Rock Organ Orchestral Strings Solo Strings (legato): Double Bass, Cello, Viola, Violin; Ensemble
Strings (legato, pizzicato) Orchestral Brass Solo Brass (legato): French Horn, Bass Trombone, Tuba (Eb),
Trumpet; Ensemble Brass (legato, staccato) Orchestral Woodwinds Solo Woodwinds (legato, legato vibrato): English Horn, Bassoon, Clarinet, French Oboe, Concert Flute, Alto Sax; Ensemble Woodwinds (legato) Plucked Instruments Harp ( ngers), Jazz Upright Bass, P-Bass ( ngers, picks), SixString Nylon Guitar (tones, chords), Strat Clean (tones, chords)
 Mallets
 Voice

Glockenspiel (hard mallets), Xylophone (hard mallets)
Mixed Choir (ahh, ohh) Drum Machineuct

one drum machine, selected from the Drum Machines add-on prod- Acoustic Drum Kit one stereo multisampled drum kit, selected from the Session
Drums add-on productSpecial Features of the Guitar and Bass Banks
In the EIC LE edition, the guitar instruments have additional banks for single-key chords withstrumming. Lower octaves play down strums, while upper octaves play up strums.

294

Chapter 22

MIDI and Key Remote Control
To liberate the musician from the mouse, most of Live's controls can be remote-controlledwith an external MIDI controller and the computer keyboard. This chapter describes thedetails of mapping to the following speci c types of controls in Live's user interface:
1. Session View slots Note that MIDI and computer key assignments are boundto the slots, not to the clips they contain.
2. Switches and buttons among them the Track and Device Activator switches,
the Control Bar's tap tempo, metronome and transport controls.
3. Radio buttons A radio button selects from among a number of options. One
instance of a radio button is the crossfader assignment section in each track,
which offers three options: The track is assigned to the crossfader's A position,
the track is unaffected by the crossfader, or the track is affected by the crossfader's
B position.
4. Continuous controls

like the mixer's volume, pan and sends.

5. The crossfader, the behavior of which is described in detail in the respective
section of the Mixing chapter.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.1

295

MIDI Remote Control

Live can be controlled remotely by external MIDI control surfaces, such as MIDI keyboards
or controller boxes. Live also supports the Mackie Control, a topic that is covered in its own
section, for completely mouse-free program operation.
Before we explain how remote control assignments are made and implemented, let's rst
make the distinction between MIDI remote control and a separate use of MIDI in Live: as
the input for our MIDI tracks. Let's suppose that you are using a MIDI keyboard to play an
instrument in one of Live's MIDI tracks. If you assign C-1 on your MIDI keyboard to a Session
View Clip Launch button, that key will cease play C-1 of your MIDI track's instrument, as it
now belongs solely to the Clip Launch button.
MIDI keys that become part of remote control assignments can no longer be used as input
for MIDI tracks. This is a common cause of confusion that can be easily resolved by observing
the Control Bar's MIDI indicators.
Before making any MIDI assignments, you will need to set up Live to recognize your control
surfaces. This is done in the MIDI/Sync tab of Live's Preferences, which can be opened with, (PC) /, (Mac).
the keyboard shortcut Ctrl

22.1.1Natively Supported Control Surfaces

Control Surfaces are de ned in the table at the top of the MIDI/Sync tab. Up to six supported
control surfaces can be used simultaneously in Live.

Setting Up Control
Surfaces.

Open the rst chooser in the Control Surface column to see whether your control surface
is supported natively by Live; if it is listed here, you can select it by name, and then de neits MIDI input and output ports using the two columns to the right. If your controller is not

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

listed here, don't fretSurface Support.

296

it can still be enabled manually in the next section, Manual Control

Depending on the controller, Live may need to perform a preset dump to complete thesetup. If this is the case, the Dump button to the right of your control surface's choosers in
the Live Preferences will become enabled. Before pressing it, verify that your control surface
is ready to receive preset dumps. The method for enabling this varies for each manufacturer
and product, so consult your hardware's documentation if you are unsure. Finally, press the
Dump button; Live will then set up your hardware automatically.
Instant Mappings
In most cases, Live uses a standard method for mapping its functions and parameters tophysical controls. This varies, of course, depending upon the con guration of knobs, sliders
and buttons on the control surface. These feature-dependent con gurations are known as
instant mappings.
Within Live's built-in lessons, you will nd a Control Surface Reference that lists all currently
supported hardware, complete with the details of their instant mappings. The Lessons View
can be accessed at any time by selecting the Lessons option from the View menu.
Note: You can always manually override any instant mappings with your own assignments.
In this case, you will also want to enable the Remote switches for the MIDI ports that yourcontrol surface is using. This is done in the MIDI Ports section of the MIDI/Sync Preferencestab, and is described in the next section.
Instant mappings are advantageous because the control surface's controllers will automatically reassign themselves in order to control the currently selected device in Live.

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297

Control Surfaces Can
Follow Device Selection.

In addition to following device selection, natively supported control surfaces can be locked
to speci c devices, guaranteeing hands-on access no matter where the current focus is inyour Live Set. To enable or disable locking,(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on a device's titlebar, and then select your preferred controller from the Lock to... context menu. You'll
recognize the same list of control surfaces that you de ned in the MIDI/Sync Preferences.

Getting Hands-On:
Control Surfaces Can Be
Locked to Devices.

A hand icon in the title bar of locked devices serves as a handy reminder of their status.
Note: Some control surfaces do not support locking to devices. This capability is indicatedfor individual controllers in the Control Surface Reference lesson. Select the Lessons option
from the View menu to access Live's built-in lessons.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.1.2

298

Manual Control Surface Setup

If your MIDI control surface is not listed in the MIDI/Sync Preferences' Control Surfacechooser, it can still be enabled for manual mapping in the MIDI Ports section of this tab.

De ning Control
Surfaces Manually.

The MIDI Ports table lists all available MIDI input and output ports. To use an input port
for remote control of Live, make sure the corresponding switch in its Remote column is set
to On. You can use any number of MIDI ports for remote mapping; Live will merge theirincoming MIDI signals.
When working with a control surface that provides physical or visual feedback, you will alsoneed to enable the Remote switch for its output port. Live needs to be able to communicate
with such control surfaces when a value has changed so that they can update the positionsof their motorized faders or the status of their LEDs to match.
To test your setup, try sending some MIDI data to Live from your control surface. The Control
Bar's MIDI indicators will ash whenever Live recognizes an incoming MIDI message.
Once your controller is recognized by Live, you have completed the setup phase (butwe recommend that you take the time to select a Takeover Mode before you leave thePreferences behind). Your next step will be creating MIDI mappings between your control
surface and Live. Luckily, this is a simple task, and you only need to do it for one parameterat a time.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.1.3299

Takeover Mode

MIDI Controller
Takeover Mode.

When MIDI controls that send absolute values (such as faders) are used in a bank-switching
setup, where they address a different destination parameter with each controller bank, youwill need to decide how Live should handle the sudden jumps in values that will occur whenmoving a control for the rst time after switching the bank. Three takeover modes areavailable:
None As soon as the physical control is moved, its new value is sent immediately to its
destination parameter, usually resulting in abrupt value changes.
Pick-Up Moving the physical control has no effect until it reaches the value of its destination
parameter. As soon as they are equal, the destination value tracks the control's value 1:1.
This option can provide smooth value changes, but it can be dif cult to estimate exactly
where the pick-up will take place.
Value Scaling This option ensures smooth value transitions. It compares the physicalcontrol's value to the destination parameter's value and calculates a smooth convergence ofthe two as the control is moved. As soon as they are equal, the destination value tracks thecontrol's value 1:1.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.2

300

The Mapping Browser

The Mapping Browser
and Selector.

All manual MIDI, computer keyboard and Macro Control mappings are managed by the
Mapping Browser. The Mapping Browser is hidden until one of the three mapping modes
is enabled. It will then display all mappings for the current mode. For each mapping, it
lists the control element, the path to the mapped parameter, the parameter's name, andthe mapping's Min and Max value ranges. The assigned Min and Max ranges can be edited(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) context menu
at any time, and can be quickly inverted with aor Delete key.
command. Delete mappings using your computer's
Note that Instant Mappings are context based and are not displayed in the Mapping Browser.
Their mapping structure can be displayed while working in Live by choosing the Lessons
option from the View menu and then opening the Control Surface Reference lesson.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.2.1

301

Assigning MIDI Remote Control

The MIDI Map Mode
Switch.

Once your remote control setup has been de ned in the MIDI/Sync Preferences, giving MIDI
controllers and notes remote control assignments is simple:
1. Enter MIDI Map Mode by pressing the MIDI switch in Live's upper right-handcorner. Notice that assignable elements of the interface become highlighted
in blue, and that the Mapping Browser becomes available. If your Browser is
Alt
Alt
B (PC) /B (Mac) will open it for you.
closed, Ctrl
2. Click on the Live parameter that you'd like to control via MIDI.
3. Send a MIDI message by pressing a keyboard key, turning a knob, etc., on your
MIDI controller. You will see that this new MIDI mapping is now listed in the
Mapping Browser.
4. Exit MIDI Map Mode by pressing the MIDI switch once again. The Mapping
Browser will disappear, but you can always review your mappings by entering
MIDI Map Mode again.

22.2.2Mapping to MIDI Notes

MIDI notes send simple Note On and Note Off messages to Live's interface elements. Thesemessages can produce the following effects on controls in Live:
 Session View Slots Note On and Note Off messages affect clips in the slot according
to their Launch Mode settings.
 Switches

A Note On message toggles the switch's state.

 Radio Buttons

Note On messages toggle through the available options.

 Variable Parameters When assigned to a single note, Note On messages toggle theparameter between its Min and Max values. When assigned to a range of notes, eachCHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

302

note is assigned a discrete value, equally spaced over the parameter's range of values.
Hint: Session View slots can be assigned to a MIDI note range for chromatic playing: First
play the root key (this is the key that will play the clip at its default transposition), and then,while holding down the root key, hold one key below the root and one above it to de ne
the limits of the range.

22.2.3Mapping to Absolute MIDI Controllers

Absolute MIDI controllers send messages to Live in the form of absolute values ranging
from 0 to 127. These values lead to different results depending on the type of Live control
to which they are assigned. A value message of 127, for example, might turn the Volume
control on a Live track all the way up or play a Session View clip. Speci cally, MIDI controller
messages from 0 to 127 can produce the following effects on controls in Live:
 Session View Slots Controller values 64 and above are treated like Note On messages.
Controller values 63 and below are treated like Note Off messages.
 Switches For track activators and on/off buttons in devices, controller values that arewithin the mapping's Min and Max range turn the switch on. Controller values that are
above or below this range turn it off. You can reverse this behavior by setting a Min
value that is higher than its corresponding Max value. In this case, controller values
that are outside of the range turn the switch on, while values inside the range turn it
off. For all other switches (such as transport controls), controller values 64 and above
turn the switch on, while controller values below 64 turn it off.
 Radio Buttons The controller's 0...127 value range is mapped onto the range ofavailable options.
 Continuous Controls The controller's 0...127 value range is mapped onto the parameter's range of values.

Live also supports pitch bend messages and high-precision ( 14-bit Absolute ) controller
messages with a 0...16383 value range. The above speci cations apply to these as well,
except that the value range's center is at 8191/8192.

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CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.2.4Mapping to Relative MIDI Controllers

Some MIDI controllers can send value increment and value decrement messages insteadof absolute values. These controls prevent parameter jumps when the state of a control inLive and the corresponding control on the hardware MIDI controller differ. For example,
imagine that you have assigned the pan knob on your control surface to the pan parameterof a track in Live. If the hardware control is panned hard right, and the Live control is panned
hard left, a slight movement in a hardware pan knob that sends absolute values would tell
Live to pan right, causing an abrupt jump in the track's panning. A pan knob sending relative
messages would prevent this, since its incremental message to Live would simply say, Panslightly to the left of your current position.
There are four types of relative controllers: Signed Bit, Signed Bit 2, Bin Offset and Twos
Complement.
Convention (Mode)
Relative (Signed Bit)
Relative (Signed Bit 2)
Relative (Bin Offset)
Relative (2's Comp.)

Increment
001 064065 127065 127001 064

Decrement
065 127001 064063 001
127 065

Each of these are also available in a linear mode; Some MIDI encoders use accelerationinternally, generating larger changes in value when they are turned quickly. For control
surfaces that are not natively supported, Live tries to detect the controller type and whether
acceleration is being used or not.
You can improve the detection process by moving the relative controller slowly to the leftwhen you make an assignment. Live will offer its suggestion in the Status Bar's modechooser, but if you happen to know the relative controller type, you can manually select it.
Live will do the following with relative MIDI controller messages:
 Session View Slots Value increment messages are treated like Note On messages.
Value decrement messages are treated like Note Off messages.
 Switches

Increment messages turn the switch on. Decrement messages turn it off.

 Radio Buttons

Increment messages make the radio button jump forward to the next

304

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

available option. Decrement messages make it jump backward.
 Continuous Controls Each type of relative MIDI controller uses a different interpretation of the 0...127 MIDI controller value range to identify value increments anddecrements:

Please consult the documentation that came with your MIDI controller if you need further
information on relative MIDI controllers.
Relative Session View Navigation
Notice that you can make not only absolute mappings to individual slots and scenes, butalso relative mappings to move the highlighted scene and operate on the highlighted clips.
In both MIDI Map Mode and Key Map Mode, a strip of assignable controls appears below
the Session grid:
4

3

1

2

The Relative Session
Mapping Strip.

1. Assign these buttons to keys, notes or controllers to move the highlighted scene
up and down.
2. Assign this scene number value box to a MIDI controller preferably an endlessencoder to scroll through the scenes. For details, see the previous section on
Relative Map Modes.
3. Assign this button to launch the highlighted scene. If the Record/Warp/LaunchPreferences' Select Next Scene on Launch option is checked, you can movesuccessively (and hopefully successfully!) through the scenes.
4. Assign these buttons to launch the clip at the highlighted scene, in the respective
track.

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305

Relative Session mapping is useful for navigating a large Live Set, as Live always keeps thehighlighted scene at the Session View's center. (Note that the number of scenes is limitedin Live LE.)
Mapping to Clip View Controls
The Clip View displays the settings for whichever clip happens to be currently selected, but
it will also display the settings of multi-selected clips. To avoid unpleasant musical surprises,
it is important to remember that creating remote control mappings for any control in the
Clip View interface could potentially affect any clip in the Live Set. For this reason, we
recommend mapping Clip View controls to relative MIDI controllers to prevent undesirable
jumps in parameter values.

22.2.5Computer Keyboard Remote Control

The Key Map Mode
Switch.

Creating control surface assignments for your computer keyboard is straightforward:
1. Enter Key Map Mode by pressing the KEY switch in the upper right-hand cornerof the Live screen. Notice that the assignable elements of the interface become
highlighted in red when you enter Key Map Mode. The Mapping Browser will
also become available. If the Browser is hidden, you will want to show it at thispoint using the appropriate View menu command.
2. Click on the Live parameter that you wish to assign to a key. Remember that
only the controls that are shown with a red overlay are available for mapping.
3. Press the computer key to which you wish to assign the control. The details ofyour new mapping will be displayed in the Mapping Browser.
4. Leave Key Map Mode by pressing Live's KEY switch once again. The Mapping
Browser will disappear, but your mappings can be reviewed at any time simply
by entering Key Map Mode again.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

306

Keyboard assignments can produce the following effects in Live: Clips in Session View slots will be affected by mapped keys according to their LaunchMode settings.
 Keys assigned to switches will toggle switch states.
 Keys assigned to radio buttons will toggle through the available options.

Please be sure not to confuse this remote control functionality with Live's ability to use
the computer keyboard as a pseudo-MIDI keyboard that can generate MIDI notes fromcomputer keystrokes for use with instruments.

22.3

Mackie Control

The comprehensive Mackie Control mixing surface puts all of Live's real-time creative power
at your ngertips.
The Mackie Control allows for mouse-free program operation and navigation. Through thebi-directional connection between Live and the Mackie Control, any changes made in the
program are re ected in the mixing surface, and vice versa. To establish this connection,
open Live's MIDI/Sync Preferences. At the bottom of the window, you will nd the Remote
Control Surfaces options. Selecting Mackie Control from the Control Surface chooser,
and then setting the necessary input and output, will establish the connection between Liveand the control surface.
It is possible to expand the number of Mackie Control channel strips available using a
hardware extension. This extension is separately set up in Live's Preferences (signi ed by
MackieControlXT in the Control Surface chooser). If the Mackie Control extension is
selected from the topmost chooser, it will control the Live tracks beginning at the left-handside of the program, and should therefore be placed to the left of the Mackie Control mixing
surface. If selected from the lower chooser, the Mackie Control extension should be placed
to the right of the main Mackie Control.
The following sections will describe how to operate the Mackie Control with Live. You may
nd the Mixing chapter to be particularly useful in locating and understanding Live's trackcontrols.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.3.1

307

Channel Strips

The Eight Channel Strips
and the Master Strip.

The Mackie Control's eight channel strips and master strip are automatically assigned to
tracks in Live. Each of these strips has a set of track controls, including a motorized fader anda V-Pot, for controlling any number of track parameters. The Mackie Control's bank/channel
controls allow reassigning the channel strips to access an unlimited number of Live tracks.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

1. Arm By default, this arms the track for recording in exclusion of all other tracks.
To arm the track nonexclusively (i.e., in addition to other tracks), hold down the
Mackie Control's Control button while pressing this. Note that a Misc Preference
setting in Live allows deactivating exclusive track arming. When this setting isdeactivated, the behavior of this knob with respect to exclusive and nonexclusive
arming is reversed.
2. Signal LED Shows an armed track's input signal level from MIDI or audio; showsan unarmed track's output signal level.
3. Solo Activates/deactivates soloing for the track in exclusion of all other tracks.
To solo the track nonexclusively (i.e., in addition to other tracks), hold down the
Mackie Control's Control button while pressing this. Note that a Misc Preference
setting in Live allows deactivating exclusive track soloing. When this setting isdeactivated, the behavior of this knob with respect to exclusive and nonexclusive
soloing is reversed.
4. MuteMutes/unmutes the track nonexclusively.

5. Select Selects the track, both in Live and on the Mackie Control, for various
functions.
6. V-Pot/Fader The fader controls track volume by default but can be ipped tocontrol track panning. Please see the next section for the details on V-Pots.

308

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.3.2309

V-Pots and Assignment Switches

The V-Pots andAssignment Switches.

The Mackie Control's V-Pots have dual functionality in many cases, as they can be bothrotated and pressed. When being used to adjust single parameters (those belonging to
track devices, for example), pressing a V-Pot returns a control to its default value. Pressing a
V-Pot when dealing with a control that has various options ( lter type choosers, for example),selects the options in sequence. With controls having only two options (e.g., an on/offCHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

310

switch) pressing a V-Pot toggles the options.
There are six assignment switches to the right of the channel strips on the Mackie Control.
These select which parameters are displayed in the main display, and set these parameters
to be available for control with the V-Pots. The two-character display above the assignment
switches shows the currently selected assignment mode.
1. I/O Switches the V-Pot and main display to I/O mode. This allows Live's track
inputs and outputs to be set with the V-Pots.
 Click once to select the track's Input Type chooser.
 Click twice to select the track's Input Channel chooser.
 Click three times to select the Output Type chooser.
 Click four times to select the Output Channel chooser.

2. Send Switches the V-Pot to control the levels of all available Send controls
for the currently selected track. If more than eight sends are available, you cannavigate through them using the previous and next buttons (see item 5, below).
3. PanAssigns the V-Pot and main display to the track's Pan control.

4. Devices Pressed once, this will bring up all available devices for the currently
selected track in the main display. Using the page buttons (see item 5, below),
you can then scroll through the available devices and choose a particular device
to edit by pressing the V-Pot. When you are done editing device settings, you
can change the selected track or press the device assignment switch again to
return to scrolling and selecting devices.
When device settings are being changed, the name and settings of the selected
device are shown in the main display. You can use the V-Pot to change parametervalues as described in the introduction to this section.
5. Previous/Next If, in any of the above assignment modes (especially with devices), more than one page of parameters is available, these buttons will scroll
through the pages. LEDs above these switches illuminate when more pages areavailable before or after the current one.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.3.3311

Bank/Channel and Flip/Return

Bank, Channel, Flip andReturn Buttons.

1. Bank If more than eight tracks are being used in Live, these buttons can beused to page through the additional tracks and set them to the Mackie Control'seight channel strips. The bank + and - buttons page the channel strips inincrements of eight (or more, if a fader extension is installed) to the right or left,
respectively. To go to the rst/last page, hold down the Mackie Control's Shift

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

button while pressing these.
2. Channel You can use the channel + and - buttons to scroll through theadditional tracks singly, setting them to the Mackie Control's eight channel strips.
To go to the rst/last track, hold down the Mackie Control's Shift button whilepressing these.
3. Flip When ip mode is enabled (as shown by the illuminated LED above thebutton), the functionality of the V-Pots and faders is switched. This is the case in
all available assignment modes.
4. Return By default, the channel strips display only those tracks in Live that
contain clips. When return mode is enabled (as shown by the illuminated LED
above the button), the channel strip will show and control the return tracks. All
assignments and modes will function otherwise identically.

312

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.3.4313

Transport

The Transport Controls.

1. Previous/Next Locator Using these buttons, you can skip forward or backward
through the Arrangement from locator to locator. Note that the Arrangement
start and end are also marked with invisible locators to which you can navigate
using these buttons. The LEDs above these buttons are illuminated when aprevious/next locator is available in the respective direction.

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

2. Loop On/Off

Toggles the Arrangement Loop switch on/off.

3. Punch-In/Punch-Out
4. Home
5. EndToggles Live's Punch-In/Punch-Out switches on/off.

Jumps to the Arrangement start, 1.1.1.
Jumps to the Arrangement end.

6. Rew/Forw When pressed once, these buttons will move the play position one
beat backward/forward. When held down, the buttons move forward/backward
in increments of one bar during Arrangement playback, one beat if the Arrangement is stopped. Holding down the Mackie Control's Alt button when the
Arrangement is playing will also move in one-beat increments forward/backward.
7. Stop

Stops Arrangement playback.

8. Play

Plays the Arrangement from the song start or insert marker.

9. Record

Toggles the Record button on/off.

10. Arrows
 In the Session View, the arrows navigate through the Session View grid.
Pressing the zoom button in the middle of the arrows will re the currently
selected clip, or stop another playing clip in the same track if the currently
selected slot is empty. To stop playing the selected clip, hold down the
Mackie Control's Options button while pressing zoom, and use the Alt
button to add/remove the selected slot's Clip Stop button.

Note that the LEDs associated with the zoom buttons will display the playstatus of a clip: an illuminated LED signi es a playing clip; a blinking LED
signi es a clip that has been triggered but is not yet playing; and an unilluminated LED signi es a stopped clip or empty slot.
 In the Arrangement View, with the zoom button enabled (i.e., its LED illuminated), you can use the arrow buttons for zooming and scrolling in thecurrently selected track. When zoom is not enabled, the arrow buttons canbe used to select tracks.

11. Scrub This res the currently selected scene in the Session View and has noeffect in the Arrangement View. To stop all running clips, hold down the Mackie314

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

Control's Options button while pressing this.
12. Jog Wheel In the Session View, the jog wheel scrolls through the scenes. In
the Arrangement View, the jog wheel moves the play position. To change global
quantization, hold down the Mackie Control's Control button while turning thejog wheel. You can also use the Mackie Control's Alt button in the Arrangement
View to move the play position in smaller increments.

315

CHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

22.3.5316

Software-Speci c Controls

The Software-Speci cControls.

1. Shift, Option, Control, Alt

Used to access additional Mackie Control options.

2. SMPTE/Beatsdisplay.

Toggles between displaying beats/bars and SMPTE in the time

3. Name/Value

Switches the meters in the main display on/off. Note that theseCHAPTER 22. MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL

meters appear only when pan assignment mode is active.
4. F-Keys

These keys can be mapped freely to controls in Live.

5. ViewArr (On) Toggles Arrangement View and Session View. When the Mackie
Control's Shift key is held down, this sets the program focus to the Arrangement
View or Session View, whichever is currently on screen.
6. ToggleDetail (Rec/Rdy) Toggles Clip View and Track View. When the Mackie
Control's Shift key is held down, this sets the program focus to the Clip View orTrack View, whichever is currently on screen.
7. ViewBrowser (SnapShot) Shows/hides the Browser. When the Mackie Control's
Shift key is held down, this sets the program focus to the Browser.
8. ViewDetail (Touch) Shows/Hides the Clip/Track View. When the Mackie Control's Shift key is held down, this sets the program focus to the Clip View or TrackView, whichever is currently on screen.
9. Undo and Redo Undoes/redoes the last change made to the Live Set. The LED
will illuminate if there is an available action to undo/redo.
10. BTA (Cancel) Stops clips in the Session View from playing differently than how
they were recorded into the Arrangement, and returns to playing the Arrangement. The LED will illuminate if there is an Arrangement state available to which
to return.
11. Locator (Marker) Deletes a locator when a locator is currently selected and thesong is stopped. Otherwise, it creates a new locator at the current play position.
12. DrawMode (Enter)velopes.
13. Follow (Mixer)
playback.

Enables/disables Draw Mode, for drawing notes and en-

Toggles Follow Mode, which scrolls Live's display to follow

317

318

Chapter 23

Computer Audio Resources andStrategies
Real-time audio processing is a demanding task for general-purpose computers, which areusually designed to run spreadsheets and surf the Internet. An application like Live requires
a powerful CPU and a fast hard disk. This section will provide some insight on these issues,and should help you avoid and solve problems with running audio on a computer.

23.1

Managing the CPU LoadTo output a continuous stream of sound through the audio hardware, Live has to perform
a huge number of calculations every second. If the processor can't keep up with whatneeds to be calculated, the audio will have gaps or clicks. Factors that affect computational
speed include processor clock rates (e.g., speed in MHz or GHz), architecture, memory
cache performance (how ef ciently a processor can grab data from memory) and system
bus bandwidth the computer's pipeline through which all data must pass. For thisreason, many people involved with pro audio use computers that are optimized for musicalapplications.

CHAPTER 23. COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES

319

Fortunately, Live supports multicore and multiprocessor systems, allowing the processing
load from things like instruments, effects and I/O to be distributed among the available
resources. Depending on the machine and the Live Set, the available processing power canbe several times that of older systems.
If you are working on a multicore or multiprocessor system, you will want to enable support
for it in the CPU tab of Live's Preferences.

The CPU Load Meter.

The Control Bar's CPU meter displays how much of the computer's computational potential iscurrently being used. For example, if the displayed percentage is 10 percent, the computer
is just coasting along. If the percentage is 100 percent, the processing is being maxedout it's likely that you will hear gaps, clicks or other audio problems. Note that the CPU
meter takes into account only the load from processing audio, not other tasks the computer
performs (e.g., managing Live's user interface).
Audio calculations have the highest priority in Live. Therefore, even if the CPU shows a highpercentage of processor usage, the audio stream should remain uninterrupted. However,non-critical functions (such as screen redraws) might slow down because these tasks arehandled only when the audio processing lightens up a bit.

23.1.1

CPU Load from Multichannel Audio

One source of constant CPU drain is the process of moving data to and from the audio
hardware. This drain can be minimized by disabling any inputs and outputs that are notrequired in a project. There are two buttons in the Audio Preferences to access the Input
and Output Con guration dialogs, which allow activating or deactivating individual ins andouts.
Live does not automatically disable unused channels, because the audio hardware drivers
usually produce an audible hiccup when there is a request for an audio con guration
change.

CHAPTER 23. COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES

23.1.2320

CPU Load from Tracks and Devices

Generally, every track and device being used in Live incurs some amount of CPU load.
However, Live is smart and avoids wasting CPU cycles on tracks and devices that do notcontribute anything useful.
For example, dragging devices into a Live Set that is not running does not signi cantly
increase the CPU load. The load increases only as you start playing clips or feed audio into
the effects. When there is no incoming audio, the effects are deactivated until they areneeded again. (If the effect produces a tail, like reverbs and delays, deactivation occurs
only after all calculations are complete.)
While this scheme is very effective at reducing the average CPU load of a Live Set, it cannot
reduce the peak load. To make sure your Live Set plays back continuously, even underthe most intense conditions, play back a clip in every track simultaneously, with all devices
enabled.

23.2

Managing the Disk Load

A hard drive's access speed (which is related to, but not the same thing as rotational speed)
can limit Live's performance. Most audio-optimized computers use 7200 RPM or faster
drives. Laptops, to save power, often use 5400 RPM or slower drives, which is why projects
on laptops usually have lower track counts. The amount of disk traf c Live generates isroughly proportional to the number of audio channels being written or read simultaneously.
A track playing a stereo sample causes more disk traf c than a track playing a mono sample.

The Disk Overload
Indicator.

The Disk Overload indicator ashes when the disk was unable to read or write audio quickly
enough. When recording audio, this condition causes a gap in the recorded sample; whenplaying back, you will hear dropouts.
Do the following to avoid disk overload:

CHAPTER 23. COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES321

 Reduce the amount of audio channels being written by choosing mono inputs insteadof stereo inputs in the Audio Preferences' Channel Con guration dialog.
 Use RAM Mode for selected clips.
 Reduce the number of audio channels playing by using mono samples instead ofstereo samples when possible. You can convert stereo samples to mono using any
standard digital audio editing program, which can be called up from within Live.

322

Chapter 24

Live 7 Audio Fact Sheet
Much of Ableton's recent development effort has been focused on carefully and objectively
testing Live's fundamental audio performance. As a result of this testing, we have implemented a number of low-level improvements to the audio engine. We have also written
this fact sheet to help users understand exactly how their audio is (or is not) being modi edwhen using certain features in Live that are often misunderstood, as well as tips for achieving
the highest quality results.
As mentioned above, the focus of our research has been on objective (that is, quanti able
and measurable) behavior. We make no claims about what you can hear because we can't
possibly predict the variables that make up your listening environment, audio hardware,
hearing sensitivity, etc. Furthermore, this paper makes no claims about how Live comparesto other audio software. Rather, it is a summary of measurable facts about what Live 7
actually does under various conditions.

24.1

Testing and Methodology

As of this writing, every version of Live is subjected to a suite of 473 automated tests thatcover every aspect of Live's functionality. We add additional tests as we add features, andCHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

323

we will never release an update unless it passes every test.

24.2

Neutral Operations

Procedures in Live that will cause absolutely no change in audio quality are referred to as
neutral operations. You can be sure that using these functions will never cause any signal
degradation. Applying neutral operations to audio that was recorded into Live ensures thatthe audio will be unchanged from the point of analog-to-digital conversion. Applying neutral
operations to les imported into Live ensures that the imported audio will be identical to theles saved on disk. Applying neutral operations to les being exported from Live ensuresthat the quality of your output le will be at least as high as what you heard during playback.
The list of neutral operations found below is provided primarily as an abstract reference;
while all of these operations are, in fact, neutral, it is important to remember that each ofthem may (and almost certainly will) occur within a context that also contains non-neutral
operations. For example, running an audio signal through an effects device is a non-neutral
operation. So any neutral operations that occur after it will, of course, still result in audio
that is altered in some way. Even a gain change is, technically, non-neutral.
Neutral operations include:

24.2.1

Undithered Rendering

The Export Audio command renders Live's audio output to a le on disk. Rendering is aneutral operation under certain conditions:
 the sample rate of the rendered le is the same as that set for the audio hardware in
Live's Preferences.
 no non-neutral operations have been applied.

Live's rendering performance is tested by loading three types of unprocessed audio les(white noise, xed-frequency sine waves and sine sweeps) in 16-, 24- and 32-bit word lengths
and rendering these to output les, also with varying bit resolutions. Phase cancellation
testing of the original and output les shows the following:CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

324

 rendering to a le with the same bit depth as the original results in complete phasecancellation.
 rendering to a le with a higher bit depth than the original results in complete phasecancellation.
 rendering to a le with a lower bit depth than the original results in the smallest amountof distortion possible within a 32-bit system.

24.2.2

Matching sample rate/no transposition

Playback of an unstretched audio le in Live is a neutral operation, provided that the le'ssample rate is the same as that set in Live's Preferences and that the le is played backwithout transposition. This is veri ed by cancellation tests of rendered output. Please notethat playback in this context refers only to the audio within Live, prior to the point at which
it reaches your audio hardware.

24.2.3

Unstretched Beats/Tones/Texture/Re-Pitch Warping

If the tempo of a Clip is the same as the tempo of the Set, that clip will play back unstretched.
In this case, if the Warp mode of the Clip is set to Beats, Tones, Texture or Re-Pitch (butnot Complex), playback will be neutral. Any Warping caused by changing the Set's tempo
is non-permanent, and audio that plays back unwarped at a given tempo will always playback unwarped at that tempo, even if the tempo is changed and then changed back. For
example, if you've recorded some tracks at 120 BPM, but then decide you'd like to slow
the tempo down to record a particularly dif cult solo passage, the original tracks will playback neutrally again after returning the tempo to 120 BPM. Only the recording made at
the slower tempo will be stretched. Please note that the Global Groove functionality works
by modifying the positions of Warp markers. This means that playback of audio clips with
Global Groove applied will be non-neutral even at the original tempo.
The neutrality of unstretched clip playback is veri ed by performing cancellation tests on
rendered output.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

24.2.4325

Summing at Single Mix Points

Live 7 uses double precision (64-bit) summing at all points where signals are mixed, including
Clip and return track inputs, the Master track and Racks. Mixing in Live is thus a neutral
operation for signals mixed at any single summing point. This is tested by loading pairs of 24bit les (white noise and xed-frequency sine waves and their phase-inverted complements),
adding the pairs together eight times and rendering the output as 32-bit les. All tests resultin perfect phase cancellation.
Please note that, while 64-bit summing is applied to each single mix point, Live's internal
processing is still done at 32-bit. Thus, signals that are mixed across multiple summing
points may still result in an extremely small amount of signal degradation. This combinationof 64-bit summing within a 32-bit architecture strikes an ideal balance between audio quality
and CPU/memory consumption.

24.2.5

Recording external signals (bit depth >/= A/D converter)

Recording audio signals into Live is a neutral operation, provided that the bit depth set inLive's Preferences window is the same or higher than that of the A/D converters used forthe recording. In this context, neutral means identical to the audio as it was delivered toLive by the A/D converters.

24.2.6

Recording internal sources at 32 bit

Audio that is recorded via internal routing will be identical to the source audio, provided
that the recording was made at 32 bits. To ensure neutral recordings of plug-in instruments
and any audio signals that are being processed by effects plug-ins, internal recording at 32
bits is recommended. Please note, however, that if the source audio is already at a lower
bit depth, internal recording at that bit depth will also be neutral (assuming that no effects
are used); internally recording an unprocessed 16 bit audio le at 32 bits will not increase
the sound quality.
The neutrality of internal recording is veri ed using cancellation tests.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

24.2.7326

Freeze, Flatten(Please note that freezing is not available in Live LE.)When tracks are frozen, the audio les that are created are 32 bit, which ensures that they
will not be lower quality than the audio heard prior to freezing. But there are some special
cases involving Freeze that result in non-neutral behavior and should be noted:
 Frozen Arrangement View tracks can include audio material that extends beyond theend of the clip itself, such as reverb tails and delay repetitions. Frozen Session View
tracks, however, are always exactly two loop cycles long, so any audio that extends
beyond two loop cycles during un-frozen playback will be cut off after freezing.
 Time-based effects like reverbs and delays are processed in realtime for unfrozen clips,
so stopping playback during a reverb or delay tail will allow the tail to continue. In
contrast, frozen tails are rendered as audio, and so will stop abruptly during playback.
 Any parameter automations are rendered as part of the audio le for frozen Arrangement View clips. Frozen Session View clips, however, take a snapshot of all parameter values at the Arranger's 1.1.1 position and retain them for the duration of the frozen
clip. This is analogous to the behavior with unfrozen clips; when playing normal clips
in Session View, any Arrangement automations are punched out until the Back to
Arrangement button is pressed.
 Frozen clips are always played back with Warp on and in Beats mode, which means
they are subject to the same non-neutral behavior as any other Warped audio les.
 Any devices with random parameters (e.g., the Chance control in the Beat Repeat
device) will no longer exhibit random behavior after freezing. This is because, as with
time-based effects, the random values that were in place at the moment of freezing will
be rendered as part of the new le, and will thus no longer be calculated in real-time.

Please note that the Flatten command replaces any original clips and devices with theaudio les created by freezing. When using this command, it is important to keep in mind
the special cases above what you hear after freezing is exactly what you will get whenattening, so if the results are not to your liking, be sure to unfreeze and make any necessarychanges to device parameters before invoking the Flatten command.
This procedure is tested by rendering the output of an audio track and comparing it to theCHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

327

frozen audio from the same track via phase cancellation to ensure that the les are identical.

24.2.8Bypassed Effects

Bypassed effects in Live are removed from the signal ow. This is true for both Live's built-in
effects devices and third-party VST and AU plug-ins. Consequently, audio at the output
of a bypassed effect is identical to the audio at the input. Please note, however, that
effects devices with parameters that inherently require delay (e.g., the Look Ahead settingsin Compressor) will still introduce this delay when bypassed, in order to maintain automaticdelay compensation with the rest of the project. In most cases, the effects of this behavior
will be completely inaudible.
The neutrality of bypassed effects is tested by loading one instance of each of Live's effects
devices into an audio track, deactivating them, and then rendering the output of the track.
The rendered le is then compared to the rendered output of the same track with no loaded
devices. Phase cancellation testing of the two les con rms that they are identical.

24.2.9Routing

The routing of signals within Live is a neutral operation. The signal at the routing destination
will be identical to the signal at the routing source. It is important to note that Live's exible
routing architecture allows for a variety of scenarios, including routing from before or after
any track's effects or mixer and tapping the output of individual sample slots within the
Impulse instrument. In these cases, it is likely that the signal heard at the output point
will be different from the signal heard prior to routing, because it has been tapped before
reaching the end of its original signal chain.

24.2.10

Splitting Clips

Clips which are already neutral will remain neutral after splitting. Splitting only affects
playback position within the sample, and has no effect on the sample data itself. Playback
across a split boundary is seamless and sample-accurate.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET328

The neutrality of clip splitting is tested under a variety of conditions: splitting unwarped clips with loop on and off; splitting warped but unstretched clips with loop on and off;In all cases, output is rendered and compared with the output of an unsplit version of thesame source. Phase cancellation testing of the two les con rms that they are identical.

24.3

Non-Neutral Operations

Procedures in Live that will cause a change in audio quality are referred to as non-neutral
operations. Users can be guaranteed that using these operations will cause at least somechange to the signal. Applying non-neutral operations to les imported into Live ensuresthat the imported audio will differ from the les saved on disk. Applying non-neutral
operations to les being exported from Live ensures that what you hear during realtime
playback will be different from what will end up in your new le.
Non-neutral operations include:

24.3.1

Playback in Complex Mode

(Please note that Complex Warp Mode is not available in Live LE.)The algorithm used in Complex Warp Mode is an entirely different technology from thealgorithms behind Beats, Tones and Texture modes. Although Complex Mode may soundbetter, particularly when used with mixed sound les that are comprised of many different
kinds of audio material, it is never neutral not even at the original tempo. Because of this,and because of the algorithm's increased CPU demands, we recommend using it only incases where the other Warp modes don't produce suf cient results.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

24.3.2329

Sample rate conversion/transposition

Sample rate conversion (during both real-time playback and rendering) is a non-neutral
operation. Playback of audio les at a sample rate that is different from the rate set inLive's Preferences window will cause signal degradation. Transposition is also a form ofsample-rate conversion, and thus also results in non-neutral behavior.
To minimize potential negative results, it is recommended to do sample rate conversion as
an of ine process in another application. Once the samples have been converted to thesample rate that you plan to use in Live, the les can be imported without any loss of quality.
Rendering audio from Live with a sampling rate other than the one that was used whileworking on the project is also a non-neutral operation, and may result in a loss of soundquality. It is recommended to always render using the original sampling rate, and thenconvert the rendered le using a dedicated mastering application that is optimized forthese kinds of CPU-intensive, of ine tasks.
While we recommend that you use a high-quality of ine tool for sample rate conversion,
we recognize that one of Live's core features is its ability to pitch-shift and warp audio inreal time. For this situation, it is necessary to make a trade-off between CPU performanceand precision. We recommend the use of the Hi-Q button for any clips which undergotransposition in a given Set. The algorithm behind the Hi-Q switch has been rewritten forLive 7, and now results in considerably lower distortion than in previous versions.

24.3.3

Volume Automation

Automation of volume level results in a change in gain, which is necessarily a non-neutral
operation. But certain implementations of automation envelopes can result in audible
artifacts, particularly if the envelopes are not calculated at a fast enough rate. In Live 7,
volume automation curves are updated for each audio sample, resulting in extremely low
levels of distortion.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

24.3.4330

Dithering

Whenever rendering audio to a lower bit depth, it is a good idea to apply dithering in orderto minimize artifacts. Dithering (a kind of very low-level noise) is inherently a non-neutral
procedure, but it is a necessary evil when lowering the bit resolution.
Please note that Live's internal signal processing is all 32-bit, so applying even a single gainchange makes the resulting audio 32-bit as well even if the original audio is 16- or 24-bit.
Dither should never be applied more than once to any given audio le, so unless you aremastering and nalizing in Live, it is best to always render at 32-bit and avoid dithering
altogether.

24.3.5

Recording external signals (bit depth < A/D converter)

Recording audio signals into Live is a non-neutral operation if the bit depth set in Live's
Preferences window is lower than that of the A/D converters used for the recording. This is
not recommended.

24.3.6

Recording internal sources below 32 bit

Audio that is recorded via internal routing will lose quality if the recording is made ata bit depth below 32 bits. To ensure neutral recordings of plug-in instruments and any
audio signals that are being processed by effects plug-ins, internal recording at 32 bits is
recommended. Please note, however, that if the source audio is already at a lower bit depth,
internal recording at that bit depth will also be neutral (assuming that no effects are used);internally recording an unprocessed 16 bit audio le at 32 bits will not increase the soundquality.

24.3.7

Consolidate

Consolidating clips in the Arrangement View creates new audio les, which are non-neutral
in comparison to the original audio data. Speci cally, the new les will be normalized, with
their clip volumes adjusted to play back at the same volume as heard prior to consolidation.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET331

Normalization is a gain change, which is a non-neutral operation. Also, the new les will becreated at the sample rate and bit depth set in Live's Preferences window, which may differ
from those in the original audio les.

24.3.8

Clip fades

With Clip Fade enabled, a short (up to 4 ms) fade is applied to the clip start and end to
avoid clicks at the clip edges. This is a non-neutral operation.

24.3.9PanningLive uses constant power panning with sinusoidal gain curves. Output is 0 dB at thecenter position and signals panned fully left or right will be increased by +3 dB. In order tominimize this volume change, it may be helpful to narrow the overall stereo width before
doing extreme panning. This can be done via the Width control in the Utility device.

24.3.10Global Groove Changes

Under most conditions, playback of a warped clip that is at the same tempo as the Set is aneutral operation. However, if the Global Groove amount is adjusted and the clip has a Clip
Groove setting other than Straight, playback will be non-neutral at any tempo.

24.4

Tips for Achieving Optimal Sound Quality in LiveFor users looking to achieve optimal audio quality in Live, we have provided a list ofrecommended practices and program settings.
 Decide which sample rate to use for a project prior to beginning work, rather thanchanging the sample rate while working on the project.

CHAPTER 24. LIVE 7 AUDIO FACT SHEET

332

 Record audio into Live using high-quality hardware components (audio interface, cables, etc.) and at the highest sample rate and bit depth your interface and computer
will support.
 Avoid using samples that are at different sample rates within the same project. If you
want to work with such les, we recommend that you rst convert them to the sample
rate set for your audio interface in an of ine application that is optimized for this task.
 For all audio clips, disable both the Warp and Fade options in the Clip View.
 Do not adjust the Transpose and Detune controls for any clips.
 Always render at 32-bit and at the sample rate set for your audio interface. If you
need audio les at a different sample rate and/or bit depth, we recommend that you
convert your rendered les in an of ine application that is optimized for these tasks,
rather than in Live.

Please note that these practices, while ensuring optimal audio quality, disable some of Live'sfunctionality in particular, stretching and synchronization.

24.5 Summary and Conclusions
Ableton wrote this paper in order to help users understand exactly how audio is affected
when performing various procedures in Live. Our focus has been on functions that have
proven over the years to cause confusion or uncertainty, and the list of both neutral andnon-neutral operations presented here is necessarily incomplete.
We encourage you to refer to this paper if you have any questions about the functions
discussed, but we also encourage you to contact us1 if you have additional questions that
we haven't answered. Live is a product, but it is also an ongoing process, and one thatbene ts greatly from user input.

1 contact@ableton.com

333

Chapter 25

Live 7 MIDI Fact Sheet
In conjunction with our work on the audio engine, Ableton has spent additional effort analyzing Live's MIDI timing and making improvements where necessary. We wrote this fact
sheet to help users understand the problems involved in creating a reliable and accuratecomputer-based MIDI environment, and to explain Live's approach to solving these problems.
Note: the MIDI timing issues discussed in this paper are generally not applicable to users
with high-quality audio and MIDI hardware. If you have already invested time and money
into optimizing these factors in your studio, and are not experiencing problems with MIDI
timing, you probably do not need this information.

25.1

Ideal MIDI Behavior

To understand how MIDI works within a digital audio workstation (DAW), it is helpful tointroduce some common terms and concepts. A DAW must be able to accommodate three
distinct MIDI-related scenarios:
1) Recording refers to sending MIDI note and controller information from a hard-

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEET

334

ware device (such as a MIDI keyboard) into a DAW for storage. An ideal recording
environment would capture this incoming information with perfect timing accuracy in relation to the timeline of the song as accurately as an audio recording.
2) Playback refers to two related scenarios when dealing with DAWs. The rst involves sending MIDI note and controller information from the DAW to a hardware
device such as a synthesizer. The second involves converting stored MIDI information into audio data within the computer, as played back by a plug-in device
such as the Operator synthesizer. In both cases, an ideal playback environment
would output a perfect reproduction of the stored information.
3) Playthrough involves sending MIDI note and controller information from a hardware device (such as a MIDI keyboard) into the DAW and then, in real-time, backout to a hardware synthesizer or to a plug-in device within the DAW. An ideal
playthrough environment would feel as accurate and responsive as a physicalinstrument such as a piano.

25.2

MIDI Timing Problems

The realities of computer-based MIDI are complex, and involve so many variables thatthe ideal systems described above are impossible to achieve. There are two fundamental
issues:1) Latency refers to inherent and consistent delay in a system. This is a particular
problem in a DAW because digital audio cannot be transferred into or out of an
audio interface in real time, and must instead be buffered. But even acoustic
instruments exhibit a certain degree of latency; in a piano, for example, there issome amount of delay between the time a key is depressed and the time thehammer mechanism actually activates the string. From a performance perspective, small latency times are generally not a problem because players are usuallyable to adapt the timing of their playing to compensate for delays as long as
the delays remain consistent.
2) Jitter refers to inconsistent or random delay in a system. Within a DAW, thiscan be a particular problem because different functions within the system (e.g.,
MIDI, audio and the user interface) are processed separately. Information often

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEET

335

needs to be moved from one such process to another when converting MIDI
data into a plug-in's playback, for example. Jitter-free MIDI timing involves
accurate conversion between different clocks within the system's components
the MIDI interface, audio interface, and the DAW itself. The accuracy of thisconversion depends on a variety of factors, including the operating system anddriver architecture used. Jitter, much more so than latency, creates the feelingthat MIDI timing is sloppy or loose.

25.3

Live's MIDI Solutions

Ableton's approach to MIDI timing is based on two key assumptions:
1. In all cases, latency is preferable to jitter. Because latency is consistent andpredictable, it can be dealt with much more easily by both computers and people.
2. If you are using playthrough while recording, you will want to record what you
hear even if, because of latency, this occurs slightly later than what you play.
Live 7 addresses the problems inherent in recording, playback and playthrough so that MIDI
timing will be responsive, accurate and consistently reliable. In order to record incoming
events to the correct positions in the timeline of a Live Set, Live needs to know exactly whenthose events were received from the MIDI keyboard. But Live cannot receive them directly
they must rst be processed by the MIDI interface's drivers and the operating system. To
solve this problem, the interface drivers give each MIDI event a timestamp as they receive
it, and those are passed to Live along with the event so that Live knows exactly when theevents should be added to the clip.
During playthrough, a DAW must constantly deal with events that should be heard as soon
as possible, but which inevitably occurred in the past due to inherent latency and systemdelays. So a choice must be made: should events be played at the moment they arereceived (which can result in jitter if that moment happens to occur when the system is busy)
or should they be delayed (which adds latency)? Ableton's choice is to add latency, as we
believe that it is easier for users to adjust to consistent latency than to random jitter.
When monitoring is enabled during recording, Live adds an additional delay to the timestamp of the event based on the buffer size of your audio hardware. This added latency

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEET

makes it possible to record events to the clip at the time you hear themplay them.

336
not the time you

For playback of hardware devices, Live also generates timestamps that it attempts to communicate to the MIDI interface drivers for scheduling of outgoing MIDI events. Windows
MME drivers cannot process timestamps, however, and for devices that use these drivers,
Live schedules outgoing events internally.
Even during high system loads that cause audio dropouts, Live will continue to receive
incoming MIDI events. In the event of audio dropouts, there may be timing errors andaudio distortion during playthrough, but Live should still correctly record MIDI events into
clips. Later, when the system has recovered from the dropouts, playback of these recorded
events should be accurate.

25.4

Variables Outside of Live's Control

In general, timestamps are an extremely reliable mechanism for dealing with MIDI event
timing. But timestamps are only applicable to data within the computer itself. MIDI data
outside of the computer can make no use of this information, and so timing information
coming from or going to external hardware is processed by the hardware as soon as it
arrives, rather than according to a schedule. Additionally, MIDI cables are serial, meaning
they can only send one piece of information at a time. In practice, this means that multiple
notes played simultaneously cannot be transmitted simultaneously through MIDI cables, butinstead must be sent one after the other. Depending on the density of the events, this cancause MIDI timing problems.
Another issue that can arise, particularly when working with hardware synthesizers from theearly days of MIDI, is that the scan time of the device may occur at a relatively slow rate.
Scan time refers to how often the synthesizer checks its own keyboard for input. If this rateis too slow, jitter may be introduced.
Of course, any such timing problems present at the hardware level may be multiplied asadditional pieces of gear are added to the chain.
Even within the computer, the accuracy of timestamps can vary widely, depending on thequality of the MIDI hardware, errors in driver programming, etc. Live must assume that any

337

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEET

timestamps attached to incoming MIDI events are accurate, and that outgoing events will
be dealt with appropriately by any external hardware. But both situations are impossible forLive to verify.

25.5

Tests and Results

Our procedure for testing the timing of incoming MIDI events is represented in the following
diagram:Live

MIDI Source

MIDI
Splitter

MIDI Clip
MIDI-to-Audio
Converter

Audio Clip

The output of a MIDI Source (a keyboard or other DAW playing long sequences of random
MIDI events) is fed to a zero-latency hardware MIDI Splitter. One portion of the splitter's
output is recorded into a new MIDI clip in Live. The other portion is fed to a MIDI-to-Audio
Converter. This device converts the electrical signal from the MIDI source into simple audio
noise. Because the device does not interpret the MIDI data, it performs this conversion withzero-latency. The converter's output is then recorded into a new audio clip in Live. In an
ideal system, each event in the MIDI clip would occur simultaneously with the corresponding
event in the audio clip. Thus the difference in timing between the MIDI and audio events inthe two clips can be measured to determine Live's accuracy.
In order to assess MIDI performance under a variety of conditions, we ran the tests withthree different audio/MIDI combo interfaces at different price points, all from well-known
manufacturers. We will refer to these interfaces as A, B and C. All tests were performed witha CPU load of approximately 50% on both OS X and Windows machines, at both 44.1 and
96 kHz and at three different audio buffer sizes, for a total of 36 discrete test con gurations.

MIDI Input Test
Con guration.

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEET

338

Windows:
 Interface A: The maximum jitter was +/- 4 ms, with the majority of the jitter occurringat +/- 1 ms.
 Interface B: For most of the tests, the maximum jitter was +/- 3 or 4 ms. At 96 kHz
and 1024 sample buffer, there were a small number of events with +/- 5 ms of jitter.
At 44.1 kHz and 512 sample buffer, occasional events with +/- 6 ms occurred. In allcases, the majority of the jitter occurred at +/- 1 ms.
 Interface C: For most of the tests, the maximum jitter was +/- 5 ms. At 96 kHz and 512
sample buffer, there were a small number of events with between +/- 6 and 8 ms ofjitter. At 44.1 kHz and 1024 sample buffer, there were a small number of events withjitter as high as +/- 10 ms. In all cases, the majority of the jitter occurred at +/- 1 ms.

OS X:
 Interface A: At 44.1 kHz and 1152 sample buffer, jitter was fairly evenly distributed
between +/- 4 and 11 ms. For all other tests, the maximum jitter was +/- 5 ms. In all
tests, the majority of the jitter occured at +/- 1 ms.
 Interface B: For most of the tests, the maximum jitter was +/- 4 or 5 ms. At 44.1 kHz
and 1152 sample buffer, there was a fairly even distribution of jitter between +/- 2 and11 ms. In all cases, the majority of the jitter occurred at +/- 1 ms.
 Interface C: In all tests, the maximum jitter was +/- 1 ms, with most events occurringwith no jitter.

We also performed a similar procedure for testing the timing of outgoing MIDI events, as
represented in the following diagram:

339

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEETLive
MIDI Clip

MIDI-to-Audio
Converter

Audio Recording(another instance of Live)

Audio Clip
In all cases, the output tests showed comparable results to the input tests.

25.6

Tips for Achieving Optimal MIDI Performance

In order to help users achieve optimal MIDI performance with Live, we have provided a listof recommended practices and program settings.
 Use the lowest possible buffer sizes available on your audio hardware, thereby keeping
latency to a minimum. Audio buffer controls are found in the Audio tab of Live's
Preferences, and vary depending on the type of hardware you're using. For more
information, see the Lesson Setting Up Audio I/O.
 Use a high quality MIDI interface with the most current drivers in order to ensure that
MIDI timestamps are generated and processed as accurately as possible.
 Do not enable track monitoring if you are recording MIDI while listening directly toa hardware device such as an external synthesizer (as opposed to listening to thedevice's audio through Live via the External Instrument device). Likewise, disable track
monitoring when recording MIDI data that is generated by another MIDI device (suchas a drum machine). When monitoring is enabled, Live adds latency to compensate forplaythrough jitter. Therefore, it is important to only enable monitoring when actuallyplaying through.
 The DirectMusic architecture on Windows allows outgoing MIDI events to be scheduled by the operating system rather than scheduled by Live alone, so performance
may differ depending on whether or not you're using MME or DirectMusic mode. If

MIDI Output Test
Con guration.

CHAPTER 25. LIVE 7 MIDI FACT SHEET

340

you experience timing issues, we recommend switching to the other mode. This is set
in the MIDI Ports list in the MIDI/Sync Preferences.

Selecting the MIDI PortType (Windows).

25.7

Summary and Conclusions

Ableton wrote this paper in order to help users understand a variety of related topics:
 the inherent problems in computer-based MIDI systems;
 our approach to solving these problems in Live;
 additional variables that we cannot account for.

As mentioned before, the best way to solve MIDI timing issues in your studio is to use thehighest-quality hardware components available. For users of such components, all software
MIDI systems should perform with no noticeable issues. For users with less-than-optimal
hardware, however, Live still offers an additional degree of accuracy by minimizing jitter, but
at the expense of a small amount of additional latency.
We encourage you to refer to this paper if you have any questions about Live's approach to
MIDI timing, but we also encourage you to contact us1 if you have additional questions orconcerns that we haven't addressed.

1 contact@ableton.com

341

Chapter 26

Live Keyboard Shortcuts
26.1

Showing and Hiding Views

Toggle Full Screen Mode
Toggle Session/Arrangement View
Toggle Track/Clip View

Windows

Macintosh

F11

Ctrl

F11

Ctrl

F12

or
F12

Hide/Show Detail View

Ctrl

Alt

L

F12

Hide/Show Info View
Hide/Show Browser
Hide/Show Overview
Hide/Show In/Out
Hide/Show Sends
Hide/Show Mixer

or

or

Alt

L
F12

Ctrl

?

?

Ctrl

Alt

B

Alt

B

Ctrl

Alt

O

Alt

O

Ctrl

Alt

I

Alt

I

Ctrl

Alt

S

Alt

S

Ctrl

Alt

M

Alt

M

or

342

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Windows
Hide/Show Crossfader
Open the Preferences
Close Window/Dialog

26.2

Ctrl

Alt

Ctrl

,

Esc

Macintosh
Alt

F

F

,
Esc

Accessing Menus

Under Windows, you can access each menu by pressing Alt
and the rst letter of theF for File, for instance). While a menu is open, you can use:
menu ( Altto navigate the menu items;to open the neighboring menu;Return26.3

to choose a menu item.

Adjusting Values
Windows

Increment/Decrement
Large Increment/Decrement
Finer Resolution for Dragging
Return to Default
Type in Value
Go to Next Field (Bar.beat.16th)
Abort Value Entry
Con rm Value Entry

Macintosh

Ctrl
Delete
0

..

.

,

9

0

..

.

,

Esc

Esc

ReturnReturn9

343

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.4

Browsing

In addition to the shortcuts shown here, editing shortcuts can also be used in the Browser.
Scroll Up/Down
Open/Close Folders
Set Selected Folder as Browser Root
Load Selected Item from Browser

Windows

Macintosh

ReturnReturnor Double-

ReturnClickPreview Selected File
Activate Browser Search Mode
Jump to Search Results

or Double-

ReturnClick
Return

Ctrl

ReturnFF26.5 Transport
Play from Start Marker/Stop
Continue Play from Stop Point
Play Arrangement View Selection
RecordBack to Arrangement
Activate/Deactivate Track 1..8

Windows

Macintosh

Space

Space
Space

Ctrl

Space

Space
Alt

F9

F9

F10

F10

F1

..

F8

F1

Space

..

F8

344

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.6

Editing
Windows

Cut
Copy
Paste
Duplicate
DeleteUndo
Redo
RenameSelect All

Macintosh

Ctrl

X

X

Ctrl

C

C

Ctrl

V

V

Ctrl

D

D

Ctrl

Z

Z

Ctrl

Y

Delete

Z

Ctrl

R

R

Ctrl

A

A

By holding down an additional modi er key, some of the above commands can also be
applied to:Clips and Slots Across all Tracks
Time Across all Tracks
The Selected Part of the Envelope

Windows

Macintosh

Alt

Alt

can be used to move from one track or scene to another while renaming.

345

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.7

Loop Brace and Start/End Markers

The loop brace and start/end markers must rst be selected before any of the following
commands will apply to them.
Move Start Marker to Position
Nudge Loop Left/Right
Move Loop By Loop Length
Double/Halve Loop Length
Shorten/Lengthen Loop
Select Material in Loop

Windows
Click

Macintosh
Click

Ctrl
Ctrl

Click Loop Brace or
Ctrl

Click Loop Brace orLL

26.8 Session View Commands
See also the editing commands.
Launch Selected Clip/Slot
Select Neighbouring Clip/Slot
Select all Clips/Slots
Copy Clips
Add/Remove Stop Button
Insert MIDI clip

Windows

Macintosh

ReturnReturnArrow Keys

Arrow Keys

Ctrl

A

Ctrl

Drag

Ctrl

E

Ctrl

A
Alt

E
M

Double-Click Slot
Insert Scene
Insert Captured Scene
Drop Browser Clips as a Scene

Ctrl
Ctrl
Ctrl

Drag

I

or

M

Double-Click Slot
I

I

I

or

346

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.9

Arrangement View Commands

The shortcuts for zooming, snapping/drawing and loop/region settings also work in the
Arrangement View. See also the editing commands.
Windows
Split Clip at Selection
Consolidate Selection into Clip
Loop Selection
Insert Silence
Pan Left/Right of Selection
Unfold all Tracks
Scroll Display to Follow Playback

26.10

Ctrl

Macintosh

E

E

Ctrl

J

J

Ctrl

L

L

Ctrl

I

I

Ctrl

Alt

Alt

Alt

Unfold button

Ctrl

F

Alt

Unfold button
F

Commands for Tracks

See also the editing commands.
Windows
Insert Audio Track
Insert MIDI Track
Insert Return Track
Rename Selected Track
While Renaming, Go to next Track
Arm/Solo Multiple Tracks
Add Device from Browser

Ctrl

Macintosh

T

T

Ctrl

T

Ctrl

Alt

T

Ctrl

R

Ctrl
Click
Double-Click

T
Alt
R

Click
Double-Click

T

347

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.11

Commands for Breakpoint Envelopes

The shortcuts for zooming, snapping/drawing and loop/region settings also work in the
Envelope Editor and Arrangement View. See also the editing commands.
Windows
Finer Resolution for Dragging
Enable Dragging Over Breakpoints

26.12

Macintosh

Ctrl

Key/MIDI Map Mode and the Computer MIDI Keyboard
Windows

Toggle MIDI Map Mode
Toggle Key Map Mode
Computer MIDI Keyboard

26.13

Macintosh

Ctrl

M

M

Ctrl

K

K

Ctrl

K

K

Zooming, Display and Selections

Zoom In
Zoom Out
Drag/Click to Append to a Selection
Click to Add Adjacent Clips toMulti-Selection
Click to Add Nonadjacent Clips to a
Multi-Selection
Follow (Auto-Scroll)
Pan Left/Right of Selection

Windows

Macintosh

+

+

-

-

Ctrl
Ctrl

F

F

Ctrl

Alt

Alt

348

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.14

Clip View Sample Display

The shortcuts for zooming and loop/region settings also work in the Sample Display.
Windows
Move Selected Warp Marker
Select Warp Marker
Scroll Display to Follow Playback
Move Clip Region with Start Marker

26.15

Macintosh

Ctrl
Ctrl

F

F

Clip View MIDI Editor

The shortcuts for zooming, snapping/drawing and loop/region settings also work in the
MIDI Editor.
Windows
Quantize
Scroll Editor Vertically
Scroll Editor Horizontally
Copy Note
Change Velocity From Note Editor
Add/Delete Note in Edit Mode
Scroll Display to Follow Playback
Move Clip Region with Start Marker

Ctrl

Macintosh

U

U

Ctrl

Drag
Alt
Drag
Double-Click
Ctrl

Ctrl

F

Drag
Drag
Double-Click
Alt

F

349

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.16

Grid Snapping and Drawing
Windows

Toggle Draw Mode
Narrow Grid
Widen Grid
Triplet Grid
Snap to Grid
Fixed/Zoom-Adaptive Grid
Bypass Snapping While Dragging

26.17

Macintosh

Ctrl

B

B

Ctrl

1

1

Ctrl

2

2

Ctrl

3

3

Ctrl

4

4

Ctrl

5

5

Alt

Global Quantization
Windows

Sixteenth-Note Quantization
Eighth-Note Quantization
Quarter-Note Quantization
1-Bar Quantization
Quantization Off

Macintosh

Ctrl

6

6

Ctrl

7

7

Ctrl

8

8

Ctrl

9

9

Ctrl

0

0

350

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.18

Working with Sets and the Program
Windows

New Live Set
Open Live Set
Close Live Set
Save Live Set
Save Live Set As...
Quit Live
Hide Live
Export Audio/Video
Export MIDI le

26.19

Macintosh

Ctrl

N

N

Ctrl

O

O

Ctrl

W

W

Ctrl

S

S

Ctrl
Ctrl

S

S

Q

Q
H

Ctrl

R

R

Ctrl

E

E

Working with Plug-Ins and Devices
Windows

Show/Hide Plug-In Windows
Open Second/Multiple Windows with
Plug-In Edit Button
Open Mac Keystroke Plug-In Window
with Plug-In Edit ButtonGroup/Ungroup Devices
Activate/Deactivate All Devices inGroup
Click to Append Devices to a Selected
DeviceLoad Selected Device From Browser

Ctrl

Alt

Macintosh
Alt

P

P

Ctrl

Ctrl

G

Alt

Device Activa-

G

tor

ReturnClick

Alt

Device Activa-

toror Double-

ReturnClickor Double-

CHAPTER 26. LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

26.20

351

Using the Context Menu

A context menu is available in Live for quick access to many commonly used menu items.
To access the context menu,(PC) / Ctrl
(Mac) on the part of the interface where
you would like to execute a particular command. It is worth noting that Live's context menu
may sometimes contain applicable settings from the Preferences. You should change these
options with care, as they will affect not only the currently selected item but the general
settings of the program.
Some commands only appear in the context menu. Among these are: the Create Folder,
Analyze Audio, Search In Folder, Close All Folders and Refresh commands from the Browser;
the special grid marker commands for directing Auto-Warp; and detailed options for zoomadaptive and xed grid line width.

352

Chapter 27

Live 7 LE vs. Live 7 Comparison
Chart

Maximum number of audio tracks per project
Maximum number of MIDI tracks per project
Maximum audio bit depth and resolution
Maximum number of audio inputs
Maximum number of audio outputs
Includes Simpler instrument for sample-based synthesis
Includes Impulse instrument for percussion sound design
Maximum number of Ableton instruments per project
Number of included Ableton audio effects
Maximum number of Ableton audio effects per
project

Live 7 LE
64
Unlimited
32-bit/192kHz
2 stereo
2 stereo
Yes

Live 7
Unlimited
Unlimited
32-bit/192kHz
Unlimited
Unlimited
Yes

Yes

Yes

8
23
12

Unlimited23
Unlimited

353

CHAPTER 27. LIVE 7 LE VS. LIVE 7 COMPARISON CHART

Number of included Ableton MIDI effects
Maximum number of Ableton MIDI effects per project
External VST/AU instrument instances per project
External VST/AU effect instances per project
Effect sidechaining
Instrument-, Drum-, Effect Rack editing
Time signature changes
Session View
Maximum number of scenes per project
Number of included real-time time-stretching algorithms
Multiple automation lanes
Native audio slicing support
Maximum number of send and return tracks per
project
Track Freeze
Clip envelopes and Follow Actions
External Instrument/Audio Effect devices
Automatic plug-in delay compensation
Tempo Nudge
MIDI remote control instant mapping
MIDI output to hardware synths
MIDI Clock/sync
ReWireREX le support
Multicore/multiprocessor support
SmartPriming memory management
POW-R dithering
Video import and export

Live 7 LE
7Unlimited
2
2
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
8
4

Live 7
7
Unlimited
Unlimited
Unlimited
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unlimited
5

Yes
No
2

Yes
Yes
12

No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

354

CHAPTER 27. LIVE 7 LE VS. LIVE 7 COMPARISON CHART

WAV, AIFF, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC le support

Live 7 LE
YesLive 7
Yes

355

Index
A
Abletone-mail addresses
sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
web addresses
registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
unlocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
webshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Adaptive Grid options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Add/Remove Stop Button command . . . . 90
analysis les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
storing clip settings in . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
analysis of lesbatch processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Analyze Audio command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Arm Recording button . . . . . . . . . . . . 169, 180
Arpeggiator effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Arrangement . . . . . . . see Arrangement View
Arrangement Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Arrangement Position elds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Arrangement View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
and copying to Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
and Session View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

grid snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
insert marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
looping in the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
recording new clips in the . . . . . . . . . 181
scrub area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Arrangement Viewselector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
asd les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see analysis lesaudio clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see clips
audio effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see devices
Audio Fact Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
neutral operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
non-neutral operations . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
testing and methodology . . . . . . . . . . 322
tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
audio les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see samples
audio interface setup . . . . . . . . . . . . see Audio
Preferences, see routing
Audio Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
audio tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see tracks
Audio Units Plug-ins, using . . . . . see devices
authorization . . . . . . . . . . see copy protection
Authorizations/Trial Preferences . . . . . . . . 6, 9
Auto Filter effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Auto Pan effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

INDEX

Auto-Hide Plug-In Windows preference 200
Auto-Open Plug-In Windows preference 200
Auto-Warp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Auto-Warp Long Samples preference . . 115
Automatic Rescan on Each Search . . . . . . . 36
automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 214
and grid lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218
drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
overriding/reactivating . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Automation Control chooser . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Automation Device chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
B
Back to Arrangement button . . . 17, 91, 215
Beat Repeat effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
beat-time rulerand Arrangement editing . . . . . . . . . . . 71
and editing envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
and editing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
in the MIDI Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Beats Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Bit Depth preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
breakpoint envelopes . see automation, seeclip envelopes
Browser . . . . . . . . . . see File Browser, see Live
Device Browser, see Plug-In Device
Browserbrowsing les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
C
Capture and Insert Scene command . . . . . 90

356
challenge code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Check for Updates command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chord effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Chorus effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Clip Activator switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Clip box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Clip Color chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Clip Envelope Control chooser . . . . . . . . . 223
Clip Envelope Device chooser . . . . . . . . . 222
clip envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 221
and changing note pitch . . . . . . . . . . .224
and changing note volume . . . . . . . . 226
as LFOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
changing clips for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
creating long loops with . . . . . . . . . . . 232
for MIDI controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
general editing of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
imposing rhythm with . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
loop/region settings for . . . . . . . . . . . 230
mixer control modulation with . . . . . 228
scrambling beats with . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
unlinking from clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
using for fade-outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Clip Fade switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Clip Gain slider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Clip Groove chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Clip Launch button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Clip Name eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Clip Nudge buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Clip Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
for zooming/scrolling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Clip Quantization chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Clip Record button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 183
Clip Signature elds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Clip Stop button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

357

INDEX

adding/removing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Clip Update Rate preference . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Clip View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
and playing the Arrangement . . . . . . . 73
and remote control mapping . . . . . . 305
scrub area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Clip View boxes selector . 96, 128, 140, 222
clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
adding fades to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
arranging/editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
as templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
audio clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
clip multi-selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
deactivating/muting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
editing MIDI notes/velocities . . . . . . 127
importing from les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
in Arrangement View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
in audio/MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
in Session View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Live Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
MIDI clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
renaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
reversing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
saving settings for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
setting properties of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Close All Folders command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
color scheme . . . . . . . . . . see Skin preference
Complete Fragmentary Bar command . . . 76
compressed audio les . . . . . . . . see samples
Compressor effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
and sidechain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Computer MIDI Keyboard button . . . . . . 153
Computer MIDI Keyboard option . . . . . . 153
Consolidate command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

context menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Control chooser . . . see Automation Control
chooser, see Clip Envelope Control
chooser
control surfaces
and takeover mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299
instant mappings for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
locking to devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
manual setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
natively supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
copy protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
count-in for recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Count-In preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
CPU Load meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
CPU Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Create Analysis Files preference . . . . . . . . . 43
Create Folder command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
crossfader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 173
and remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
automating the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Cue Out chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
cue points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see locators
cueing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Cut Time command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
D
Decoding Cache preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Delay Compensation option . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Delete All Time Signature Changes command
75
Delete Automation command . . . . . . . . . . 215
Delete commandand devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
and envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

358

INDEX

and tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
in the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Delete Fragmentary Bar Time command 76
Delete Locator button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Delete Locator command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Delete Time command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Delete Time Signature Change command 75
Demo Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Detune eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Device Activator switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Device chooser . . . . see Automation Devicechooser, see Clip Envelope Devicechooser
devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20compensating for delays . . . . . . . . . . 206
presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
the Live audio effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
the Live instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
the Live MIDI effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
using Audio Units Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . 205
using Live devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
using plug-in devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
using VST Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
dither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Double/Halve Original BPM buttons . . . 111,
118
Draw Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
and drawing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128with clip envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Draw Mode command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Drum Racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Pad View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Duplicate Time command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Dynamic Tube effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

E
Edit menu commands
and automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215, 220and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
and MIDI notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
and return tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
and scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
and tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
in the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
with Clip Stop buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
with clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
with scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Edit switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see devices
EIC . . . . . see Essential Instrument Collection
Envelope Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 222
envelopes . . . . . . . . .see automation, see clip
envelopes
Envelopes box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 222
EQ Eight effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
EQ Three effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Erosion effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Essential Instrument Collection . . . . . . . . . 291
Exclusive Arm/Solo preference . . . . . . . . . 169
Export Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Export MIDI Clip command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
exporting audio . . . . . . . . . . see Export Audio
exporting video . . . . . . . . . . see Export AudioF
FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Ableton
File Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
opening Sets with the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

359

INDEX

le management . . . . . . . . . see Manage Files
commandFile Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
File Type preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
File/Folder Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
and VST Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Filter Delay effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Fixed Grid command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Fixed Grid options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
FLAC les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see samples
Flanger effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Fold button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Follow Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Follow command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72, 102
Follow switch . . . . . . . . . . . . 72, 102, 116, 131
fragmentary bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Full Screen Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
GGate effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254
Gate Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Global Quantization chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
and Session recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Grain Delay effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256
Grain Flux eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Grain Size eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Grain Size knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
gridand Arrangement editing . . . . . . . . . . . 80
and envelope drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
and MIDI editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
and time signature markers . . . . . . . . . 76
in editing clip envelopes . . . . . . . . . . 232
working with the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
groove feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

H
hard disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see CPU
Hard Disk Overload indicator . . . . . . . . . . 320
High Quality switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
hot-swapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
and device presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
and Impulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
and Simpler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
I
I/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see routing
importing les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
importing projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Impulse instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
and individual outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
and MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
lter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
global controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Link button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
pan and volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
sample slots and controls . . . . . . . . . . 284
saturator and envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Start, Tune and Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Info View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
inserteffect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Insert Audio Track command . . . . . . . . . . . 171
insert marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Insert MIDI Clip command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Insert MIDI Track command . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Insert Return Track command . . . . . . . . . . 173

360

INDEX

Insert Scene command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Lock Envelopes switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Insert Silence command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Look/Feel Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Insert Time Signature Change command 75 loop brace
instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see devices
in the Arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
with clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
K
Loop Selection command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Loop Start/Punch-In Position elds . . . . . . 77
Key Map Mode switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Loop switch
Key/MIDI In Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Clip View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104, 231, 232
Key/MIDI Out Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Control Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341
with MIDI clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Loop To Next Locator command . . . . . . . . 75
L
Loop/Punch Region Length elds . . . . . . . 77
Language preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Loop/Region controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102, 104
and clip envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Launch box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 140with MIDI clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Launch Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Loop/Warp
Short Samples preference . . 115
Legato Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 58
migrating from older versions . . . . . . . 61
Library Location preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Link/Unlink Envelope switch . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Live Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Live Device Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 191
Live Packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Live Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
and device presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
and Live Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
packing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Live Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 48
changing sample references . . . . . . . . 51
exporting and importing . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
saving a template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Lock Envelopes command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

MMackie Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Macro Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Manage Files commandand changing sample references . . . . 51
and collecting external samples . 64, 65
and nding unused samples . . . . . . . . 66
and importing projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
and locating missing samples . . . . . . . 61
and packing Live Projects . . . . . . . . . . . 67
and project management . . . . . . . . . . . 57
managing les . . . . . . . . . . . see File Manager
Mapping Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
mapping to MIDI/keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 294
and recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Master Out chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Master track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

361

INDEX

Maximum Cache Size preference . . . . . . . . 42
Metronome switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
MIDI
exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
quantizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134, 186
sending bank/program changes . . . 111
MIDI clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see clips
MIDI controllers . . . . . . . .see control surfaces
MIDI Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 127
and drawing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
and drawing velocities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
and grid lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133, 136
and recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184
creating and editing notes . . . . . . . . . 134
editing velocities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
loop/region settings for . . . . . . . . . . . 132
MIDI note stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
note-off velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
rearranging notes in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
MIDI effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see devices
MIDI Fact Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333
MIDI les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
and time signature changes . . . . . . . . .77
MIDI interface setup . . . . . . . . . . . . see routing
MIDI Map Mode switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
MIDI Ports list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
MIDI Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
MIDI Track In Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
MIDI Track Out Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see tracks
Minimum Free Space preference . . . . . . . . 42
mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 167
Mixer Section selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
modulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . see clip envelopes

monitor mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
monitoring through Live . . . . . . . . . see Audio
Preferences
MP3 les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see samples
Multicore/Multiprocessor Support . . . . . . 318
Multiple Plug-In Windows preference . . 200
muting . . . . . . . . . . .see Track Activator switch
clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
N
Narrow Grid command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
New command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Next Locator button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
normalizing rendered audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Note Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Note Length effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Notes box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Nudge buttons . . . . see Clip Nudge buttons
Oof ine clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Ogg les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see samples
Open/Open Recent command . . . . . . . . . . 49
Original BPM eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111, 118
Overdub Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182, 184
Overdubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Ppacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Live Packs
Pan control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Pan quick-chooser button see quick-chooser
buttons
Parent Folder item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

362

INDEX

Paste Time command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
pencil tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Draw Mode
Phaser effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Ping Pong Delay effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Pitch Bend quick-chooser button . . . . . . . seequick-chooser buttons
Pitch effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278
Play button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
plug-ins, using . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see devices
Plug-In Buffer Size preference . . . . . . . . . . 201
Plug-In Device Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Plug-In Device Browserselector . . . . . . . . 197
Plug-In Edit button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Plug-In Unfold button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
pre-listening samples . . . . . . . see previewing
Pre/Post switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
and recording clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .194
Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
for speci c Live Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Preview switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37, 129
Preview Volume knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
previewing
in the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
in the MIDI Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Previous Locator button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see CPU
projects/project management . . . . . see Live
Projects
Punch-In/Out switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

for clip launching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
for MIDI notes during recording . . . 186
Quantize menu command . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134
quick-chooser buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
R

Racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Macro Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
routing tap points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
RAM Mode switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Random effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Re-Pitch Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Record button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
Record Quantization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Record/Warp/Launch Preferences . . . . . . . . .6
recordingand remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
audio and MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
overdubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181, 184
punch-in/punch-out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
resampling the Master output . . . . . 154
with count-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
recording an Arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
recording automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Redux effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Ableton
remote control . . see mapping to MIDI/keys
Remote Control Surfaces settings . . . . . . 306
Rename commandin the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Qwith clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
quantization
with locators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
command for selected MIDI notes . 134
with plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

INDEX

Repeat Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
resampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154, see recording
Rescan Plug-Ins preference . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Resonators effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
return tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22, 172
Reverb effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Diffusion Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Early Re ections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Global Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Input Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Reverse button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
ReWirerecording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .see recording
tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Ableton
routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 149
and computer keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
and external audio in/out . . . . . . . . . . 152
and external MIDI in/out . . . . . . . . . . 152
and instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
and layering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
and post-effects recording . . . . . . . . .159
and recording MIDI as audio . . . . . . 160
and sidechain inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
between tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
for creating submixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
S
sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Ableton
Sample box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
sample collections .see Essential Instrument
Collection
Sample Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95, 101
Sample Editor preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18363
collecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
destructive editing . . . . . . . . . . . . .52, 106
nding unused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
high-quality interpolation . . . . . . . . . . 107
of ine/missing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
played from RAM Mode . . . . . . . . . . . 108
replacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
reversing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
saving with clip settings . . . . . . . . . . . 107
time-warping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
working with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Saturator effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Save a Copy command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Save As command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Save command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Save Default Clip button . . . . . . . . . . . 42, 107
Scale effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Scene Launch button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Scene Select eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Scene Up/Down buttons . . . . . . . . . . 187, 304
scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16, 86
and MIDI/key mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
scrubbing playbackin the Arrangement View . . . . . . . . . . . 72
in the Clip View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Search button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Search In Folder command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Search In Metadata option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Search In Path option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
searching in the File Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
rescan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Select Loop command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
and clip envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

364

INDEX

and editing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
and exporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Select Next Scene on Launch option . . . . 86
Select Next Scene on Launch preference 304
Select on Launch preference . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Send controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 172
serial number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Session View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
and Arrangement View . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
clip grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
copying to Arrangement . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
recording an Arrangement . . . . . . . . . . 90
recording audio in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Session Viewselector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Set 1.1.1 Here command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Set Locator button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Set Locator command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Set Song Start Time Here command . . . . . 75
sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Live Sets
shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . see keyboard shortcuts
Show/Hide Plug-In Windows command 201
shuf e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see groove feature
Simple Delay effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Simpler instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
and CPU resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
lter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Glide and Spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .290
LFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Multisample Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291
sample controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Sample View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Transpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
site or secondary licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Skin preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Snap to Grid command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Solo in Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Solo switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Solo/Cue Mode switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
sound les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see samples
Spectrum device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Split button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Split command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Start Recording on Scene Launch . . . . . . 183
start/end markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Stop All Clips button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Stop button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
swing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see groove featuresynthesizer MIDI setup . . . . . . . . . see routing
T
Takeover Mode preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Tap Tempo button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
with warping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
technical support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Template Save button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
tempo
and scene names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87, 90
automating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
MIDI mapping ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
tapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Tempo eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100, 113
Temporary Folder preference . . . . . . . . . . 187
Texture Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
time signature

365

INDEX

and scene names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87, 90
time signature changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Toggle Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Tones Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Track Activator switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Track Delay control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
Track Delays selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
track meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Track Status eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Track title bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
activating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
audio and MIDI in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
automation in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
compensating for device delays . . . 177
devices in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
in Arrangement View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
in Session View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
inserting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
mixer controls in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
muting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
resizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
return tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
the Master track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
unfolding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 216
Transient Resolution chooser . . . . . . . . . . . 125
transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Transpose quick-chooser button . . . . . . . . seequick-chooser buttons
Transposition knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Trigger Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Triplet Grid command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
tutorials . . . . . . . . . . .see Ableton, see lessons

U
Undo command
and Arrangement editing . . . . . . . . . . 132
and automation editing . . . . . . . . . . . 215
and recorded clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
and recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186
Unfold Track button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 216
unlock key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
unlocking Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
more than once . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12of ine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
unlocking the program see copy protection
updates . . see Check for Updates command
Use Audio Units preference . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Use Plug-In Custom Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Use VST Plug-In System Folders . . . . . . . . 201
Utility effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
V
Variable Bit Rate les . . . . . . . . . . see samples
Velocity Amount eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Velocity Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Velocity effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281
View menu commands
Crossfader option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
In/Out option . . . . . . . . . . . . .22, 149, 168
Mixer option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22, 168
Returns option . . . . . . . . . . . .22, 168, 172
Sends option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 168
Track Delays option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
view selector buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
views, working with . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see View
menu commands, see view selector
buttons

INDEX

Vinyl Distortion effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Volume control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Volume quick-chooser button . . . . . . . . . . seequick-chooser buttons
VST Plug-ins, using . . . . . . . . . . . . .see devices
VST Plug-In Custom Folder button . . . . . 201
W
Warp ... BPM From Here command . . . . 123
Warp As ...-Bar Loop command . . . . . . . . 122
Warp From Here (Start At ...) command 122
Warp From Here (Straight) command . . .123
Warp From Here command . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Warp Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
copying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
saving settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Warp Mode chooser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Warp Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Warp switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
warping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
longer pieces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
manipulating grooves . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
multiple clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
odd-length loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
straight loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
tempo master/slave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
uncut loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
webshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . see Ableton
Widen Grid command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

366