Ableton Live 8 Manual En

Ableton Reference Manual Version 8

Live Version 8.0.2 for Windows and Mac OS
May, 2009

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, Stefan Brunner, Tobias Hahn, Stefan von der Mark, Carsten Henÿinger, Stephan Diehl,
David Talbot, Robert Feldbinder, Diez Roggisch, Justine Lera, Dennis DeSantis, Ian Gallagher, Philipp Gries, Marie
Hoffmann, Marian Kalus, Stephan Krohn, Michael Dühr, Dennis Fischer.
Reference Manual by Dennis DeSantis, Ian Gallagher, Kevin Haywood, Rose Knudsen, Gerhard Behles, Jakob Rang,
Robert Henke, Torsten Slama.
Content provided by:
SONiVOX www.sonivoxrocks.com
Chocolate Audio www.chocolateaudio.com
Puremagnetik www.puremagnetik.com
Cycling '74 www.cycling74.com
SonArte www.sonarte.ca
e-instruments www.e-instruments.com
Zero-G www.zero-g.co.uk
Physical Modeling technology provided by:
Applied Acoustics Systems www.applied-acoustics.com

Copyright 2009 Ableton AG. All rights reserved. Made in Germany.

This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with
the 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 this
manual 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 or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
Ableton.
Ableton, the Ableton Logo, the Live logo are trademarks of Ableton AG. Apple, GarageBand, Mac, Macintosh, Mac OS and
QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Finder is a trademark of Apple Inc. Windows
is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel
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 and REX2 are trademarks
of Propellerhead Software AB. 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 to
use, yet at the same time capable of helping you create music with unlimited depth and
sophistication. 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 have
suggestions 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 2

1.2 What's New in Live 8?

1.2.1 New Warping Engine

ˆ Live's warping engine has been dramatically overhauled, with more accurate transient
detection and a redesigned interface that allows you to drag the waveform along a
xed timeline.
ˆ New transient loop and envelope controls in Beats Mode allow for higher quality
warping, especially at slower tempos.
ˆ New Complex Pro Mode for even higher quality warping.
ˆ You can now quantize audio clips using the Edit menu's Quantize command.

1.2.2 New Groove Functionality

ˆ Groove patterns can now modify the timing and volume of audio and MIDI clips in
real-time. A large library of grooves is provided, and grooves can be extracted from
clips and then reapplied to other clips.

1.2.3 Work ow Enhancements

ˆ Crossfades are now available for adjacent clips in Arrangement View.
ˆ The MIDI Editor has been reworked, and editing MIDI is now similar to editing in
the Arrangement. An insert mark sets the precise location for clipboard operations,
allowing notes or time to be copied, pasted, inserted and deleted anywhere in the
clip. Enhanced keyboard commands also improve the editing work ow.
ˆ As a result of the new navigation possibilities in the MIDI Editor, it is now possible to
step record MIDI notes.
ˆ Audio and MIDI tracks can be grouped into a summing Group Track. Group Tracks can
be folded or unfolded to help organize your work ow in both Session and Arrangement
View.


ˆ Live's interface can be magni ed to maximize visibility via the Zoom Display slider.
ˆ A Preview Tab in the Browser provides a visual overview of the previewed le's contents,
and allows you to scrub in the waveform or MIDI display.
ˆ When multiple tracks are selected, adjusting one of their mixer or routing parameters
will adjust the same parameter in the other selected tracks.

1.2.4 Ableton Effects and Instruments

ˆ Operator has been dramatically overhauled with a variety of new lter types, an ex-
panded set of modulation routings and additive wavetable synthesis with drawable
partials.
ˆ Collision optional add-on instrument
ˆ Corpus optional add-on effect
ˆ Latin Percussion optional add-on sample library
ˆ Looper provides classic tape-loop style overdubbing, with drag-and-drop export to
clips, MIDI-mappable controls optimized for use with foot pedals and more.
ˆ Vocoder combines the best of classic analog vocoders with powerful new features.
ˆ Limiter provides a true brickwall limiter, ideal for mastering applications.
ˆ The Multiband Dynamics device allows for upward or downward compression or ex-
pansion of up to three separate frequency bands.
ˆ Overdrive is a powerful addition to Live's arsenal of distortion tools.
ˆ Frequency Shifter combines frequency shifting and ring modulation effects in a single
device.

1.2.5 New Library

ˆ Live's Library is now stocked with a large collection of new creative tools including
numerous device presets, loops and samples, construction kits and template Sets.


1.2.6 Online Collaboration Tools

ˆ Share Live Sets with other users via a shared web area at ableton.com.

1.2.7 Controllers

ˆ Support for the APC40 (Ableton Performance Controller), a dedicated controller for
Ableton Live.

1.2.8 More Improvements

ˆ Macro Controls now automatically show the name and units of their mapped parameter
whenever possible.
ˆ a High-Quality mode has been added to the Flanger effect.
ˆ Third-party plug-in support has been improved to allow access to an arbitrary number
of parameters.
ˆ it is now possible to slice based on the transients of the audio le.
ˆ the Ping Pong Delay and Simple Delay effects now have three user-selectable delay
transition modes.
ˆ Sampler's waveshaper now offers a fourth curve type: 4bit.
ˆ Multiple Live Packs can be uninstalled simultaneously, and the Browser can now sort
content by the Live Pack that installed it.

5

Chapter 2

First Steps

When you install Live and run it for the rst time, you will be presented with an authorization
dialog. Please see the chapter on authorizing Live should you have questions 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 features
of the program. The lessons are organized in a table of contents, which can be opened
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 every-
thing that Live is and can do, and is therefore a worthwhile read for both beginners and
experienced users. The remaining chapters of this manual serve as in-depth reference for
the material introduced in Live Concepts.

CHAPTER 2. FIRST STEPS 6

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 all
user interface elements and will lead you to the relevant section.

2.2 Setting up Preferences
Live's Preferences window is where you can nd various settings that determine how Live
looks, behaves and interfaces with the outside world. This window is accessed from the
Preferences command, which in Windows is available in the Options menu and in OS X
is available in the Live menu. Preferences can also be accessed with the Ctrl , (PC) /
, (Mac) shortcut.

Live's Preferences are distributed over several tabs:
ˆ In the Look/Feel tab, you can modify various settings, including the language used for


text display and the color scheme, or skin, for the Live user interface. This is also
where you can adjust the size of objects displayed on the screen: the Zoom Display
slider allows you to zoom Live's screen to any percentage between 50% and 200% of
the standard interface size.
ˆ 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 the
Lessons Table of Contents command from the Help menu.
ˆ The MIDI/Sync Preferences are used to help Live recognize MIDI devices for three
separate and distinct purposes:
Playing MIDI notes. To learn how to route an external device into Live for MIDI
input, or how to send MIDI to an external device, 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.
Syncing the program with an external sequencer or drum machine, either as a
master or a slave. Please see the Synchronizing via MIDI chapter for details.
ˆ The File/Folder Preferences pertain to Live's le management and the location of
plug-in devices.
ˆ 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.
ˆ The CPU Preferences include options for managing the processing load, including
multicore/multiprocessor support.
ˆ The User Account/Licenses Preferences are used to manage licensing and installation
of the Live platform, and add-on components like the Operator instrument.
ˆ The Library Preferences allow you to specify the location of Live's Library and manage
currently installed Live Packs.


2.3 The Main Live Screen
Most of your work in Live happens in the main Live screen. This screen consists of a number
of 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, the
Live 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 this
one, 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 of
the 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 by
dragging.


Adjusting the Main
Window Split.

10

Chapter 3

Authorizing 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.
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, authorize Live more than once under the legal and
technical conditions described later.
The rst time you run Live, you will be prompted to complete the authorization process.
The software will walk you through the steps.
If the computer that you wish to authorize is connected to the internet, you can authorize
immediately by pressing the appropriate button in the dialog box. If you do not have
an internet connection, press the No internet on this computer button and follow the
instructions.

CHAPTER 3. AUTHORIZING LIVE 11

3.1 Copy Protection FAQs

3.1.1 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 and
exporting will be disabled.
If trying Live or another product raises your interest in purchasing it, please visit the Ableton
webshop1 . This site contains information about Ableton's distributor and dealer network. It
also offers you the opportunity to buy Ableton products online.

3.1.2 What if I Change My Computer's Components?

If you change your computer components for some reason, Live may indeed ask you to
authorize the software another time. Live does not need to be reauthorized when computer
peripherals are replaced (audio or MIDI hardware, printers, modems). But you may need
to authorize again if the motherboard, processor or network card is replaced. On some
computers, reformatting a hard drive will require a new authorization.

3.1.3 Can I Authorize Live More than Once?

The standard Live license allows you to use Live on only one computer at a time. However,
the Ableton server will provide you with two authorizations in good faith that you will use
Live on only one machine at a time.
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 authorization, please contact
Ableton's technical support2 .

1 http://www.ableton.com/shop
2 http://www.ableton.com/support

CHAPTER 3. AUTHORIZING LIVE 12

To use Live on more than one computer at a time, you may require a secondary license or a
site license. Ableton offers these licenses at special rates.

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

Even if Live is not authorized, 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).

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

Please visit Ableton's technical support page3 .

3 http://www.ableton.com/support

13

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 File
Browser.

CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS 14

Selecting the Library bookmark in Live's File Browser will take you to the Live Library of
creative tools. Depending on what content you have installed, there may be a number of
demo Sets here, and double-clicking a Live Set's name in the Browser will open that Live
Set. You can also nd Live Sets made by others at the Ableton website, as well as upload
your own. This makes it easy to collaborate with other Live users.

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 of
clips 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 in
any order. Each clip's behavior upon launch can be precisely speci ed through a number of
settings.
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 individual
collections 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 or
change what is stored.


The Arrangement and
Session View Selectors.

The Arrangement View and the Session View interact in useful 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 and Session are connected via tracks.

4.3 Tracks
Tracks 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 we
call scenes.


A Scene in the Session
View.

The exclusivity of clips in a track also implies that, at any one 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 even
as 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 the
Live screen, is for. This button lights up to indicate that one or more tracks are currently not
playing 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 with
an altered Arrangement.

4.4 Audio and MIDI
Clips represent recorded signals. Live deals with two types of signals: audio and MIDI. In the
digital 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 sequence
of commands, such as now play a C4 at mezzo piano. MIDI is a symbolic representation
of 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 sound
assigned to each keyboard key.
Audio signals are recorded and played back using audio tracks, and MIDI signals are
recorded and played back using MIDI tracks. The two track types have their own corre-
sponding 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 automatically
creates a clip to play that sample. Prior to dragging in a sample, one can audition or
preview it directly in the Browser; the switch in the Browser with the headphone icon
activates previewing.

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

http://www.midi.org/


Samples Are Dragged in
from Live's File Browsers.

Live offers many options for playing samples in exciting new ways, allowing you to create an
abundance 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.

An Audio Clip's
Properties as Displayed
in the Clip View.

Many powerful manipulations arise from Live's warping capabilities. Warping means chang-
ing 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 a


sound 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, and
the 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 be
selectively dragged into the Live Set.

MIDI Files Are Dragged
in from Live's File
Browsers.

As you'd expect, a MIDI clip's contents can be accessed and edited via the Clip View, for
instance 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. Double-
clicking a track's title bar brings up the Track View, which shows the track's device chain.

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 the
Device Browser.

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

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 the result
into the next device, and so on. The number of devices per track is theoretically unlimited.
In practice, the computer's processor speed does impose a limit 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 the
Session 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).

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 not
clips. Via their sends, all tracks can feed a part of their signal into a return track and share
its 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, except
that 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 the
only type of device that t in an audio track or a return track. However, two more types of
devices 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, there can be any number of 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,
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 that
any 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 the
built-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 and
technical methods such as resampling, submixing, layering of synths, complex effects setups
and more.

Track Routing Is Set up
Using the In/Out Section
in 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, to other programs that are connected to Live via ReWire or to other tracks or
devices within Live. Tracks can also be combined into a Group Track which serves as a
submixer for the selected tracks.
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, from a ReWire program or
from another track or device in Live. The Monitor controls regulate the conditions under
which the input signal is heard through the track.
It is also possible to route signals to external hardware devices from within a track's device
chain, by using the External Audio Effect and External Instrument devices.


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. With multiple tracks selected,
pressing any of their Arm buttons will arm all of them. You can also hold down the Ctrl
(PC) / (Mac) modi er when clicking the Arm buttons to arm several tracks at once. If
the Exclusive Arm option is enabled in the Record Preferences, inserting an instrument into
a new or empty MIDI track will automatically arm the track. When the Control Bar's Record
button is on, every armed track records 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
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 launch
quantization, 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 the
method 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 (in
favor of the new control setting). The control will stop tracking its automation and rest
with the new value until the Back to Arrangement button is pressed, which will resume
Arrangement playback.

4.12 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 the
clip's pitch, volume and more; these can be used to change the melody and rhythm of
recorded 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 be
superimposed 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, which
is 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 for
recording via MIDI tracks. These messages are ltered out before the incoming MIDI is
passed on to the MIDI tracks.
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
the Akai APC40, 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 and
their clips can be preserved with a special command, Collect and Save, which makes a copy
of 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 the
sample, so that each time the sample is dragged into the program, it will automatically
appear 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 your
speci cations via Export Audio/Video.
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 the
Live Clip format. Session View clips can be dragged back out of a Live Set to the File
Browsers, and thereby exported to disk as Live Clips.

A Live Clip in the File
Browser.

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:


ˆ MIDI sequences with matching instruments and effects, e.g., a MIDI drum pattern with
the associated Impulse and effects settings;
ˆ Different regions or loops referencing the same source le;
ˆ Variations of a sample loop created by applying Warp Markers, clip envelopes and
effects;
ˆ 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's
File Browsers, the Library is accessible through a bookmark. Bookmarks can be selected by
clicking the Browser's title bar to open the Bookmark menu:

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 already
contain a few sound ideas, courtesy of Ableton. We encourage you to experiment with this
material 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 can



enjoy the Essential Instrument Collection, a multi-gigabyte library of meticulously sampled
and selected instruments.

31

Chapter 5

Managing Files and Sets

Various types of les are used in making music with Live, from those containing MIDI and
audio, 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 arrive
in 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, Live Pack,
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.


Library Is this
Browser'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:
ˆ Scroll up and down in the Browser with and , the mousewheel, or by clicking
and dragging while holding the Ctrl Alt (PC) / Alt (Mac) modi er.
ˆ Close and open folders with and .
ˆ 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
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. Note
that 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; a
bookmark 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 the
Search button in the upper right corner of the Browser or using the Ctrl F (PC) /
F (Mac) shortcut will open the Browser's Search Mode.


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 les
that 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.
The search function matches the entered criteria not only to any part of a le's name and
suf x (e.g., .wav ) but also to any part of its le path. This means that a search for 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 for songs from a speci c
album or artist, for example. 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 Live
it has no way of knowing, however, what you are doing outside of Live. If you have
subsequently moved les using programs other than Live, the initial results of a search
might be incomplete. The Go button's label will change to Rescan. If you can't nd a le
in 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.

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


The Rotating Ring
Means That a Search is
in 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) Return to Go ;
4) to jump to the search results;
5) and to scroll the search results;
6) Ctrl F (PC) / F (Mac) to close the search eld and go
back to the folder view.

5.1.4 Previewing Files

Live allows you to preview samples and clips in the File Browser before they are imported
into the program. To enable previewing, activate the Preview switch next to the Preview Tab
at the bottom of the Browser.


The Preview Switch.

Hint: You can preview les even when the Preview switch is not activated by pressing
Return or .
Click on a sample le (or use and ) to select it. Click in the Tab's scrub area to make
playback jump to that point. (Note that it is not possible to scrub clips that have been saved
with Warp turned off.)
You can also select Live Clips in the Browser to load them into the Preview Tab, but they will
not play automatically. You can click on the tab or press to preview them.
With the Raw button enabled, les will preview at their original tempo and will not loop.
With Raw disabled, Live will try to preview les in sync with the current Set, so that you can
better judge which samples will work for you. Please note that scrubbing is not possible
when Raw is enabled.
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, les
via 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:
ˆ 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.

Dropping a Clip to
Create a New Track.

ˆ In the Session View, double-clicking or pressing Return on a le in the Browser will
automatically create a new track to the right of the other tracks and load it with the
clip.
ˆ 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.
ˆ 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 key-
board shortcuts. A le can be moved from one File Browser to another by dragging it
over the target Browser's button.


ˆ Rename les and folders using the Edit menu's Rename command or the Ctrl R
(PC) / R (Mac) shortcut. Cancel renaming with the Esc key.
ˆ Create folders by opening the context menu with (PC) / Ctrl (Mac), and then
selecting the Create Folder command.
ˆ Delete les and folders using the Edit menu's Delete command or your computer's
or Delete key. Deleting items within Live moves them to the system trash; if
necessary, you can recover items from the system trash via your computer's operating
system.

5.1.7 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 go
through an example of hot-swapping samples:
Live's built-in Impulse instrument features eight sample-player slots that can be lled by
dropping 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 click on the le's Hot-
Swap icon to load it. The link between the Browser and the instrument will be broken if a
different view is selected, or if the Hot-Swap button is pressed again. Hot-swapping can
also be cancelled with a press of the Esc key or by pressing the close button in the
Hot-Swap bar at the top of the Browser.
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 with
that 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, REX 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 to
the 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 and
writes 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.

5.2.1 The Decoding and Web Cache

To save computational resources, Live keeps downloaded Sets and the decoded sample les
of compressed samples in the cache. Maintenance of the cache is normally not required, as
Live automatically 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 & Web 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.

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


Preferences for the
Decoding and Web
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 the
stretching quality, speed up the waveform display and automatically detect the tempo of
long 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.
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 the
sample 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 be
recreated 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 the
context menu.

5.2.4 Exporting Audio and Video

The File menu's Export Audio/Video 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 data CD, which could serve as a backup of your work or be used with other digital audio
applications. If your set includes video, you can also use the Export Audio/Video command
to export this to a new video le, which will be created in the same directory as the rendered
audio les.


Which Signal Will Be Rendered?

The Rendered Track
Chooser.

The Export dialog's Rendered Track chooser offers several options for which audio signal to
render:
ˆ 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.
ˆ 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 each
track. All samples will have the same length, making it easy to align them in other
multitrack programs.
ˆ Individual tracks the post-fader signal at the output of the selected track.
When Export Audio/Video is invoked while the Arrangement View is up, Live will render the
selected time range.
If you would like to render the current Arrangement loop, choose the Select Loop command
from the Edit menu prior to choosing Export Audio/Video. If you choose Export Audio/
Video while the Session View is up, Live will ask you to specify the length of the sample
to be rendered. The Export Audio/Video dialog will come up with a bars-beats-sixteenths
eld where you can type in the desired length. Live will capture audio starting at the current
play start position for whichever duration you have speci ed.
Remember a rendered audio le contains only what you heard prior to rendering. So, for
example, 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 view
is active when you render.


Audio Rendering Options

Audio Rendering
Options.

The Export dialog offers several audio rendering options:
ˆ Normalize If this is activated, the sample resulting from the render process will be
normalized (i.e., the le will be ampli ed so that the highest peak attains the maximum
available headroom).
ˆ Render as Loop If this is activated, Live will create a sample that can be used as a
loop. 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 writing
audio to disk, it will include the delay tail resulting from the rst pass.
ˆ File Type, Bit Depth, Sample Rate These options specify the type of sample to be


created.
ˆ Convert to Mono If this is activated, Live will create a mono le instead of a stereo
le.
ˆ Dither Options If you are rendering at a bit depth lower than 32-bit, choose one
of the 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,
which is the safest mode to use if there is any possibility of doing additional pro-
cessing on your le. Rectangular mode introduces an even smaller amount of dither
noise, but at the expense of additional quantization error. The three Pow-r modes
offer successively higher amounts of dithering, but with the noise pushed above the
audible range. Note that dithering is a procedure that 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. In particular, the
Pow-r modes should never be used for any material that will be sent on to a further
mastering stage these are for nal output only.
ˆ 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.

Real-Time Rendering

Normally, rendering happens as an of ine process. But if your set contains an External
Audio Effect or External Instrument that routes to a hardware effects device or synthesizer,
the rendering process is a bit different. In this case, rendering the master output happens
in real time. If you render individual tracks, all tracks that don't route to an external device
anywhere in their signal paths will be rendered of ine. Then, any tracks that do access these
devices will be rendered in real time. Live will automatically trace each track's signal ow
and detect if real-time rendering is necessary. You'll then be presented with several options
when you start to render:


Waiting for External
Devices to Become
Silent.

ˆ Skip By default, Live will wait for ten seconds before starting a real-time render. This
should allow any sound from external devices to fade out, but if you need more time
(for example, if you're waiting for a long reverb tail), you can increase the wait time
by typing a new number in the number box. On the other hand, if you're sure that
your external devices aren't making any sound, you can speed the process along by
pressing Skip, which will start the render immediately.
After the render has begun, the dialog changes to show a recording progress bar:

Real-Time Rendering in
Progress.

ˆ Auto-Restart on drop-outs Rendering in real-time requires somewhat more CPU
power than non-real-time rendering, and in some cases drop-outs (small gaps or
glitches in the audio) can occur. Live detects when drop-outs happen, and rendering
will start again from the beginning if the Auto-Restart option is enabled.
ˆ Restart manually restarts the rendering process.
ˆ Cancel stops the rendering process and deletes the partially rendered le.
The number of rendering attempts (if there has been more than one) will also be listed in
the dialog box. If you nd that dropouts and restarts keep happening, you should close
other running applications to allow more processing power for rendering. Please see the
chapter on computer audio resources for more tips on improving performance.


Rendering Video

Video Rendering
Options.

In addition to settings for audio rendering, the Export dialog provides additional options
for rendering video:
ˆ Create Video File If this is activated, a video le will be created in the same directory
as your rendered audio. Note that this option is only enabled if you have video clips
in the Arrangement View. Also, it is not possible to only render a video le enabling
video rendering will always produce a video in addition to rendered audio.
ˆ Video Encoder This chooser allows you to select the encoder to use for the video
rendering. The choices you have here depend on the encoders you have installed.
ˆ Edit Video Encoder Settings This button opens the settings window for the selected
encoder. Note that the settings options will vary depending on the encoder you have
chosen. Certain encoders have no user-con gurable options. In this case, the Edit
button will be disabled.
Once you've made your selections and clicked OK to begin the rendering process, audio
rendering will begin. After the audio rendering is complete, the video will be rendered.
Note that, depending on the encoder used, video rendering may occur in more than one
pass. Live will display a progress bar that will indicate the status of the process.
Unless you've speci ed a special window size or aspect ratio in the encoder settings, the
rendered video le will play back exactly as it appeared during real time playback in Live.
The video le will also contain the rendered audio.


For more information about working with video in Live, see the chapter on video.

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 with
samples: MIDI le data is incorporated into the Live Set, and the resulting MIDI clips lose all
reference to the original le. MIDI les appear as folders in the File Browser; opening the
folders gives you access to the le's individual tracks (also called voices or instruments ).

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 not
possible with the individual MIDI tracks contained within them. This is also the case with the
individual 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 File
menu'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 in
any 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. Live will manage the copying of the clip's sample into this new location
based on the selection in the Collect Samples on Export chooser. You can then type in a
new name for the clip or con rm the one suggested by Live with Return .

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, for
instance, 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 of
this as a single song. Sets must be saved inside projects, so that Live can keep track of
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 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 of
the current Live Set with a new name and/or new directory location. Live Sets can also be
saved to the Ableton server via the Share Live Set command. Uploaded Sets can then be
shared with other Live users.

5.5.2 Merging Sets

Live makes it easy to merge Sets, which can come in handy when combining work from
different 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.

Arrangement View Drop
Area for Importing Live
Sets.

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

Unfolding a Set to
Reveal its Contents.

You can now drag the individual tracks and drop them as described at the beginning of this
section. Any grooves that were saved with your Set are also available as a folder within the


unfolded Set.
Of the three tracks contained in the 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 in
a Set.

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 pool
of 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 the
File Browser. To export a Set, rst click and drag, or use the or Ctrl (PC) /
(Mac) modi ers, to select more than one Session View clip. Then, simply drag the clips to
a 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' Save Current Set as Default button to save the current Live
Set as the default template. Live will use these settings as the initialized, default state for
new Live Sets. You can use this to pre-con gure:
ˆ Your multichannel input/output setup.
ˆ Preset devices, like EQs and Compressors, in every track.
ˆ Computer key mappings.


ˆ MIDI mappings.
The template Live Set, Template.als, is located in Live's Preferences folder and can be
copied or deleted from there. The easiest way to locate this folder is to search your disk for
Template.als.
In addition to the template Set that loads by default, the Live Library contains a folder
called Templates. This is a collection of Sets with pre-con gured tracks and routing
con gurations for a variety of common recording scenarios.

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. To list all clips or
instruments in the Live Set where the sample is actually used, click the triangle to expand
the line. Here is what you can do:
ˆ Replace a sample Dragging a sample from the File Browser and dropping it on an
entry 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 that reference this sample.

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

ˆ Hot-swap samples Using the Hot-Swap button at the left-hand side of each entry,
you can quickly browse through alternatives for the sample that is currently being
referenced. This is like dragging samples here, only quicker.


The Sample Reference
List's Hot-Swap Button.

ˆ 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 is
engaged. For samples used in audio clips, the current set of Warp Markers is retained
only if the sample length remains the same as before.

List's Edit Switch.

ˆ 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 ). When unfolded,
the entry shows the speci c places in the Set where the sample is used.

List's Location Column.

5.6 Live Projects
A Live Project is a folder containing Live-related les that belong together. Consider, for
example, 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 music
and 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 and
selecting 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 the
name Tango on the Desktop. Here is the result as displayed by the Live Browser:

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 Project
is 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 Live
Set 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 the
Live 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
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. Double-
clicking Tango with Piano.als opens that Set and the associated Project as displayed in
Live'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 the
current Project, say the Desktop:

A New Project Was
Added by Saving a Live
Set 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 les
around to organize them as desired, although you many need to use the File Manager to
teach 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 and
Live'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 8 does not allow overwriting Live Sets that were
created 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.


5.6.2 Projects and Presets

By default, new instrument and effect presets are stored in the Live Library, making them
available to any project. At times however, it may make more sense to save a preset with
the current Project. You might, for example, want to keep a number of alternative master
EQ 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 Project
sub-folder. You can drag a preset to this folder after saving it, or simply drag the title bar of
the device and drop it there directly.

When saving presets that contain samples to a new location, Live may copy the samples
depending on the settings in the Collect Samples on Export chooser in the File/Folder
Preferences. You can then type in a new name for the device or con rm the one suggested
by Live with Return .
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:
ˆ locating samples that the Project is missing;
ˆ collecting external samples into the Project;
ˆ listing unused samples in the Project;
ˆ packing a Project in Live Pack format;
ˆ 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 is
accessible through a bookmark:

Choosing the Library
Bookmark.

Clips can be conveniently saved in Live Clip format for later reuse by dragging them from
the 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 from
installation CDs, DVDs or the Ableton website2 . To install a Factory Live Pack in the Library,


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