BackStage Pass: 011

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4 Essential Things for Every Ableton Session

There are FOUR things I do to every Ableton Live file I use on-stage, that I won’t compromise on.

Want to know the secret sauce to my mind-blowingly adaptable stage setup?

Well, hold onto your MIDI controllers, because I'm about to spill the beans...but before I let you in on my super-secret techniques, let me tell you why I use them: flexibility and efficiency.

I mean, who cares if your setup looks like it was designed by NASA engineers? If it can't adapt to quick changes and takes longer to set up than watching paint dry, I'm not interested.

So, without further ado, let's dive into my top-secret tips:

Tempo Track (yeah, it's a thing)

Stop automating your tempo in Live's master track. It takes forever, and it's about as useful as transferring data with a floppy disk. Use a tempo track instead, and watch your tempos get saved and transferred between sets like magic.


Markers Track (aka your new best friend)

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Locators for song sections are essential, like pineapple on pizza (yeah..come at me).

In rehearsal, I can instantly jump to any song section, and during live performances, I can leap around like a time-traveling musician. But since locators don't transfer between sets, I use a markers track to save song sections for each song. It's a game-changer, trust me.


You've probably heard those first two tips before, and maybe you even use them. Great job, you rockstar! But don't get too comfortable, because the next two steps are all about saving time with audio routing—and they're gonna blow your mind.

Group Stems per Song (organization, baby!)

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When I load stems for a song, I load them all at once and group. No more creating a guitar output track and wasting time loading each guitar stem like it's 1999. This method is quick, efficient, and, dare I say, life-changing.

But wait, you're saying you use separate outputs? Group tracks won't work? Fear not, my audio-routing padawan, because here comes the pièce de résistance:

Route Outputs via Sends and Returns (prepare to be amazed)

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This trick is so good it should come with a cape. At first, you might skip it because you think you know better (don't we all?), but you're seriously missing out on its true power.

By using Sends and Returns for output routing, I can:

• Load stems faster than you can misspell “Abelton Live”
• Group my parts by "type" and send them to a separate output
• Route my stems just once (they're saved with the song, so no more tedious routing)
• Control my song's volume with just one fader

The true beauty of this method is its flexibility. Switching from eight outputs to two is as easy as changing return tracks in the template. Need to go back to eight outputs? No problem! Just change those return tracks again, and you're good to go.

Now, watch me walkthrough my essential formatting

in real-time.👇

Product of the Month

Lyrics

Playback Techs wear many hats. Run tracks, tune vocals, and many more. If you're asked to run lyrics and a teleprompter you need Lyrics by Strange Electronic. No more creating videos, editing, exporting, loading into a computer, trying to sync with LTC or MIDI.

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Simply load Lyrics (compatible with Live 11X and requires Ableton Suite or Max4 Live) into Ableton Live, Load a text file and line up your lyrics.

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Move the floating window to an external monitor and you're good to go. Jump around your set, customize the look/timing of clips, and editing a lyrics is as simple as re-naming a MIDI clip. No more back and forth with your video software.

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If you're using tracks and need a teleprompter solution, this is for you!

Learn more

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Friday Motivation

Subscriber Only Content

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New Content this Week

See you next week,

Will

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