Marker for Song Name and Section Name Together

Support
1

Describe your issue here:

Is there a way to create a marker that contains the song name, but also contains the name of the first section so that it shows up in the section list of the song? My reasoning is that I want to trigger ProPresenter to display the lyric slides, but the first section comes through Companion as section -1, and then the next section shows up as 0, which is kind of confusing. I’m trying to keep all the section numbers at least positive integers.

Please fill out these values to make it easier to troubleshoot:

  • OS and Version: Mac mini M4 Pro running Sequoia 15.6.1

  • Version of AbleSet: 3.0.0 Beta 27

  • Version of Ableton Live: 12.3.2 Trial

2

Hey @NoFear13X,

Would using a Sections track work for your use case?

Best practice:

  • Use one locator at the very start of the song

  • Name it with the song name

  • Place it exactly on a downbeat

  • (Ideally) also include a time signature change, even if the previous song uses the same meter

Then, define sections using a MIDI track with section clips (a Sections track or the +SECTIONS flag).

This is especially useful to avoid overloading locators, and also keeps sections clean, predictable, and consistent across all your projects.

Hope this helps!

1 Like
3

Hey,

I saw the MIDI track option, but didn’t immediately see an advantage over creating one versus the markers which already existed in my sessions, so I didn’t explore it further. This might be the best way to approach my application.

This may be outside of the scope of AbleSet support, but is there an easy way to convert the existing markers into a MIDI track in a fast or automated way? In deciding how I process these sessions, I have to consider the quantity of multitracks we have, and doing something manually that takes a few minutes might not be practical en masse. I did not have any success using AbleSet’s feature to Place Locators on Section Clips; it didn’t seem to do anything. I’m not sure if that’t because the clips are just giant stems for the entire song, or that I already have locators. To be transparent, I have little experience with Ableton and am rapidly learning as I go, so there may be obvious basics that I’m unaware of, or terminology that I’m misunderstanding. Don’t hesitate to explain things like I’m 5, lol

4

Hey Jesse, thanks for the follow-up!

For “Place Locators on Section Clips” to work, you already need to have a Sections track set up in the session (a MIDI track named Sections or with the +SECTIONS flag, containing section clips). If there’s no Sections track present, that tool won’t create anything.

Also, as an alternative workflow, you might want to check out Max for Live devices like this one, which can help bridge locators and clips depending on how you prefer to work.

That could be useful if your session is currently more locator-driven, or if you want to switch to using a Sections track in the future.

Hope that works for your use case!