Advice on managing tempo in Ableton/Ableset

General
1

Greetings,

Looking for some advice on managing tempo in Ableton and Ableset. I use Ableton for my band where we will have stems/backing tracks running for multiple songs in one Ableton set. Sometime these tracks are created by myself (e.g. Musescore>MIDI>Ableton) or downloaded from other sites (karaoke versions, etc.). In the past I used Session view in Ableton, but now with Ableset I am using Arrangement view. I want to know what the best way it so that Ableset will register the changes, and what has the most flexiablity.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

2

I put all my songs (80 of them as of now) into a single ALS file with click/tempo/guide/sections tracks. In tempo track I create a MIDI clip with tempo, and choose “lead”. This overrides the master tempo so each time a song is loaded it will come with its own tempo. Ableset is oblivious to this, it’s really an Ableton function.

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3

Hey @dowager, welcome to the forum!

Could you let me know which version of Ableton Live you’re running?

Once I know that, I can send you a clean template that includes:

  • Cue notation and general marker/notation structure (color coding, comments, song boundaries)
  • Sections defined by MIDI clips using a Sections track
  • QuickPlay-ready sections
  • Click tracks (with +CLICK flags if needed)
  • Guide tracks (+GUIDE, +LOOPGUIDE, +JUMPGUIDE)
  • Lyric tracks (+LYRICS, colors, formatting)
  • OSC automation (a dedicated +OSC track)
  • Organized track groups for stems, click, cues, instruments, etc.
  • A properly configured Tempo Track so you can see the recommended tempo setup

As a side note, I strongly recommend taking a look at AbleSet doc’s — it’s essential for tailoring your projects to your own workflow.

Just let me know your Ableton Live version and I’ll put together a template you can try right away.

I’m looking forward to your reply!

4

Hey there, thanks for the advice and template. I am running Live 12 Standard.

5

I’ve put together an example Ableton Live session, and you can download it here. (Note: this requires Ableton Live 12.3.2 or later.)

Inside the project you’ll find:

• A full Sections setup

  • A Sections track with all sections defined as MIDI clips

  • Proper QuickPlay markup:

    • ">>" + a locator at the start of each section

  • One section also includes a +LOOPFULL flag so you can see how that works.

  • A locator at the very beginning of the song with the song title, and a SONG END locator at the end.

• Organized groups

  • Lyrics
  • Backing tracks
  • OSC tracks
  • Click
  • Track groups on the return channels

• Tempo handling

There’s a Tempo Track with:

  • A silent looped audio clip spanning the length of the song with warped enabled
  • The clip set to Lead instead of Follow
    This approach is recommended when working with multi-file sets or larger projects with many songs, because it keeps the tempo of each song intact and avoids issues when importing projects.

• MIDI control setup

On the Main track, you’ll also find AbleSet’s Max for Live device.

Feel free to explore the session, look around, and see what parts fit your workflow.
If anything is unclear or if you want help adapting any part of it to your own project, just let me know.

Hope this helps!

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6

Hi @agustinvolpe is it possible to put again the link. I´m a newbie guy and that will help me. thanks

7

Hey @bmproducoes! No worries🙂

I’ve just updated the link on my previous post, and now it shouldn’t expire.

Hope that helps!

1 Like
8

Now I can download. Many Thanks!!