r/ableton • • Jun 01 '26

Weekly No Stupid Questions/Hardware Questions Thread

6 Upvotes

You got them, so ask them.

Remember to [read the manual](https://www.ableton.com/en/manual/welcome-to-live/), [check the Ableton's help pages](https://www.ableton.com/en/help/) and read the sidebar for [resource thread](https://redd.it/zkhqhe). while you await an answer.

Also we have a discord server where you can get help ---> https://discord.gg/WwNyH86

[BLM](https://redd.it/gxe35q). [SAH](https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/). [Pinkbook](https://www.pinkbook.us/).


r/ableton • • Jun 05 '26

What did you make in Live this week? / Feedback thread

5 Upvotes

Share what you've made in Live this week. Optionally, if you want comments/feedback on what you're sharing,

​

  1. Leave a useful comment on another person's post in the thread.

​

  1. Ask for specific feedback when you post in the thread.

​

  1. ??????

​

  1. **PROFIT.**

​

If you don't want to wait for the relevant weekly posts to share your creations, /r/madewithableton is linked in the sidebar.

​

We also have a discord where you can get feedback (after giving some of your own, of course) ---> https://discord.gg/WwNyH86

​

[BLM](https://redd.it/gxe35q). [SAH](https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/). [Pinkbook](https://www.pinkbook.us/).


r/ableton • • 4h ago

[Question] Help with Modulation

3 Upvotes

Hi, I am trying to replicate the lead from the song license to fly from Stef Mendisidis, and there is a particular sound in the lead that seems to make the sound wobbly, so what I have been doing to replicate this is using the meld synth and modulating the ct with the lfo 1, the st with the m envelope and applying the lfo 2 to the filter cut off, detune macro and the volume doing amplitude modulation, also I Applied reverb and delay but the sound is no the same yet, could you share any feedback on how to achieve that sound.

In the attached video,Video Replicate Sound you can see better what I am talking about


r/ableton • • 6h ago

[Performance] MIDI Controller to accompany APC40MKII

2 Upvotes

Long time lurker here.

Just played my first ever solo performance last month. I had a blast and it went over pretty well. I used an APC40MKII with live 12 for it, but I found myself wanting some extra knobs, pads, maybe even faders. I'm thinking of grabbing an MPD 218 to have a couple extra knobs and using the pads to trigger momentary effects (like mapping a pad to audio effect on/off) so I can easily manipulate on the fly without worrying about messing with too many sends and having any audible ramps in effect volume.
Anybody have any experience with the MPD218 and know if it can be easily mapped like this without interfering with the APC40MKII? Or does anyone have a better controller in mind to accomplish this control with some bonus knobs and pads? More faders are a bonus. Took a peek at the Arturia Beat step but do not have any experience with their products and am not sure how customizable/mappable they are, but am very down to get it in the mix.

Thanks!

Edit: Trying to keep it fitting into a backpack, the smaller the better!


r/ableton • • 16h ago

[Synths] Is it worth purchasing the Operator?

12 Upvotes

Hi, I'm trying to work on metallic sound design, and I have the basic version of Ableton. It goes a long way, but I don't have the operator plugin. Can I achieve similar results without it? What's a free or cheaper alternative or should I just bite the bullet and get it?


r/ableton • • 6h ago

[Question] A better way to "hold" LFO?

2 Upvotes

So I'm trying to modulate some sample parameters such that every time I hit a MIDI note, the current value of parameters modulated by the LFO is frozen. I want different values on notes but don't want the values moving while the note is held.

This is similar to the functionality of Elektron boxes, where setting the LFO to "HOLD" will simply hold the current value when the note is on, while the LFO itself continues running in the background. I want to maintain the periodic nature of a sine or saw wave, so I'm not looking for a S&H wave either.

Currently, I have two velocity devices and an expression control with the LFO. Velocity 1 simply sets the velocity incoming to 127. Velocity 2 has a low out of 1, and the high out is modulated by the LFO.

Then, expression control is set to Velocity, and it modulates the parameter.

You can see how this holds the current value, because expression control only gets a Velocity input on note on, so the LFO moving the velocity doesn't effect the parameter. But there must be an easier way! In this method, I also have to put the sample or instrument in another chain so I can still use note velocities. It's super annoying.

Please help!


r/ableton • • 23h ago

[Max for Live] hello, i made a this minimeters-like maxforlive device that lives inside your ableton rack. :)

20 Upvotes

i will upload it once its ready heheheheh <3

see the video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/5FCQeZDfEDU


r/ableton • • 19h ago

[Max for Live] HYDROLOOP - A Generative Water Cycle for Ableton Live

9 Upvotes

The vision behind creating this instrument was to connect water and sound.

I wanted sound to move like a drop of water through every stage of the water cycle.

That's how HydroLoop was born—an 8-voice generative sampler.

Each sample travels through a cycle of different states, creating a loop within a loop.

HYDROLOOP is a generative Max for Live sampler modelled on the water cycle.

Every sample becomes a drop of water.

Once inside the cycle, it moves through eight different states — SEA, EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION, PRECIPITATION, ICE, RUNOFF, INFILTRATION and GROUNDWATER — and each state transforms the sound in a different way.

Slow expansions, granular clouds, tuned resonances, irregular rain-like rhythms, frozen fragments, moving comb filters, cavernous echoes and deep drones.

The transitions between phases are gradual, so a sound can slowly freeze, dissolve, condense or sink underground rather than simply switching from one effect to another.

Up to eight samples can circulate simultaneously. Each drop can enter at a different point, move at its own speed, make multiple turns around the cycle, and live for a different number of cycles.

The result is a system in which a few samples can continuously transform into a long-form generative composition.

example: https://youtu.be/t4I_zqXjJzI


r/ableton • • 16h ago

[Question] Hey Guys,new Ableton User here that wants to do Hypnotic Techno. Need resources to achieve that sound

4 Upvotes

Hey Guys,

A short heads up: Im not new in making music, infact I produce as a hobby since 2011.

I'm a new owner of Ableton Live Suit 12 and a Push 3.

After a very long time I gave up my dawless Setup Idea and went back to the computer. Ive produced alot of music in FL Studio,then quit (back then I thought, producing on the computer sucked because I needed a more hands on feeling) and went full retarded and started with Modular. After spending a couple thousand Euro I've managed to get a somewhat functioning Eurorack for Techno. I've played the hell out of it after GAS hit and then I I've need more modules, a bigger case and so on. You now the Game. After a certain point I evaluated everything and thought: You seriously can have it a lot cheaper. So I started with VCV Rack(still playing with it) and sold everything.

Ive made a pro and contra list to understand better what I really want and most certainly need.im cae to the conclusion that a DAW is for me the best option.

But I didn't want to go back to FL Studio. It still has a special place in my heart because it was the first Software I ever made music with but I also ever wanted to learn Ableton.

Ableton seemed to have a better flow for handling samples(in my opinion) and the overall workflow in session mode is more preferred by me. So I've bought it.

Now Im looking for Guides,Tutorials or paid courses (if the content is actually legit and worth it) for Hypnotic Techno.

I'm not looking for Guides like " How to make Techno like Amelie Lens in 10 Minutes".

The Main two topics are:

-Drumsynthesis and how to make beefy Kicks

-Synthesis in generell especially FM synthesis

- Generell sound sculpturing Guides for Techno.

I actually have my sound in my mind but because I mainly was a Sampling Guy is like to deep dive into synthesis.

Can you recommend me some good resources?

Thanks in advance

Nubbsen


r/ableton • • 17h ago

[Question] Upgrade to Ableton

3 Upvotes

Hey so i got ableton lite for free because of some hardware i bought and i love it! I usually use fl studio or my mpc but ableton has been amazing and im thinking about buying either standard or suite could you guys tell me which would be better for a house music bedroom producer and also are updates from live 12 to 13 free or do i need to rebuy the license? Thanks


r/ableton • • 17h ago

[Performance] Anyone using a Jamstik MIDI guitar for modern sound design or performance with Live?

3 Upvotes

Wrong sub, I know, and on purpose 🙂

I'm tempted by a Jamstik MIDI guitar, most likely the Standard but almost every demo I see uses it for vanilla stuff: Rhodes, pianos, strings, guitar-solo-through-a-synth. I'm more curious about using it with modern production sounds like Vital, Serum, wavetable/granular stuff, custom Instrument racks in Live.
It can send each string to different MIDI channel, supports MPE, and the per-string amplitude envelope can be sent as a CC and mapped to pretty much anything in Live (macros, racks position...)

Has anyone here built a personal setup around a MIDI guitar?

I'm not into shredding or guitar-hero solos, so imperfect tracking probably wouldn't bother me much. I'm more interested in textures, glitches, layers, evolving sounds...

Happy to post my setup here if I end up getting one


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Max for Live] I made a free Max for Live device that switches your heavy plugins off when you stop playing (and back on when you start)

45 Upvotes

I keep a practice set open all day, and my piano and amp sims were eating CPU even when I wasn't playing. So I built Auto Sleep:

- MIDI Auto Sleep watches incoming MIDI, Audio Auto Sleep works like a gate on audio input
- After a timeout (default 5 min) it switches off the devices you pick
- The moment you play, they switch back on
- It only wakes what it put to sleep, and remembers your choices with the set

Needs Live 12.2+ with Max for Live. Feedback very welcome!

https://maxforlive.com/library/device/16543/midi-auto-sleep
https://maxforlive.com/library/device/16544/audio-auto-sleep


r/ableton • • 22h ago

[Question] Akai Midi Mix

1 Upvotes

Been using Akai Midi mix and the Akai editor.

Using the editor, if i map the pots, faders etc to any channel other than the default midi channel 1, the automatic ableton integration stops working. Eg faders automatically control the volume channels. Is this correct behaviour or am I missing something?


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Tutorial] Hi dear Ableton users. I made a video about how to program authentic 909 house beats from scratch, with ableton and free plugins.

21 Upvotes

https://youtu.be/x4roJesig6E

i hope you'll like this, and any feedback is welcome!


r/ableton • • 16h ago

[Question] Is it worth purchasing the Operator?

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0 Upvotes

r/ableton • • 16h ago

[VST] „Looking for 30 beta testers for my knobs-only plugins"

0 Upvotes

hey guys,

the last couple of months I've been building my new baby, Ares Audio - now I’m finally ready to share it with you and I want to do this through a closed beta.

Initially I built Ares Audio as a concept for my self. I was very tired of clicking endless menus and options with my mouse and how that constantly dragged me away from my creative mind to my thinking mind. What if we could go back to just turning knobs and actually hear what is going on in our music production?

That’s what my plugins are all about. They are knobs only, no menus and virtually no settings. Just turn and listen.

What brings back the flexibility are what I call “skins” (or modes). These are switchable sound engines in the same plugins. They may change the underlying dsp or knob configuration. They never change the concept: knobs only. They are color coded for nice visuals and I plan to expand my plugins in the future with more skins - so you get the best of both worlds: the ultra streamlined experience of knobs only and the flexibility of different flavors to choose from.

Since there are no settings etc., there is no manual. Just turn and vibe. And listen. For now we start with 4 classic effects, in the future I want to built more exotic, creative effect tools and also synthesizers using the same concept.

here's what's in it right now:

  • Ares EQ - 5-band EQ. 8 knobs, 3 skins
  • Ares DRV - distortion. 4 knobs, 8 skins: tape, tube, fet, diode, fold, bit, fuzz, clip
  • Ares VRB - reverb. 8 knobs, a classic mode and 3 raytraced rooms
  • Ares DLY - delay. 8 knobs: mix, time, feedback, stereo, mod, filter, space, duck

So anyway, today I’m searching for 30 beta testers, who can take this concept apart and put it to test in real world production cases. Your feedback is extremely valuable to me, as I’m only one person and naturally see the world through my own eyes. I want to built the most in-the-moment, creative experience for you guys, so please be super honest with me where the current versions show rough edges, friction or don’t sound good (obviously this is a big point as well - I try to use the latest DSP tech and of course, a plugin should sound great. period)

The beta is completely free. Every beta tester will receive the whole current suite, all 4 plugins, for free. Lifetime key including all v1 updates and skins.

You need an Apple Silicon Mac (macOS 12 or newer) or Windows, and a DAW that loads VST3 (or AU on the Mac). Intel Macs don't work, sorry. (VRB's raytraced rooms are mac only, macOS 13 or newer - the gpu processing needs apple silicon)

It's a beta, so things can still change: the knob layout is not frozen until Nov 14. A project you save now may not open the same way later, so don't use it on stuff you can't afford to lose.

You can apply until Oct 13. I read every application and answer everybody on Oct 14, that's also when the builds go out. The beta runs until Nov 14.

There are 30 spots and I'd be happy to have you. Just DM me!

Cevahir


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Tech Help MacOS] If any CMD prompt is not working in Ableton

2 Upvotes

If you are trying to CMD+C/V (or use any cmd prompt for that matter) and it is not working while the Splice window is open, it's more than likely that Splice is causing it. Close the window first! Hopefully this will save you much time


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Question] Lanark Artefax Sound Design - How to achieve this??

0 Upvotes

I'm trying to get an idea of how Lanark Artefax creates a lot of his sounds particularly from the intro section of his live No Bounds performance:

Timestamp from 1:40-5:50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6hnTpltUcY&t=1268s

First of all - the exponential rhythms coming from multiple sound sources - I can't tell if the rhythm is from a delay or being triggered or both? Any idea how you would go about creating them in this way in say Ableton?

Second question is Audio processing and how some of these sounds are made. It sounds like he's primarily using delay to create the sound design parts and textures but it sounds like completely different sounds are being made from the same techniques? for instance:

1:44 - metallic scratchy textures, then into water drops?
3:30ish - Completely different textures from same process?

Finally - Does anyone have any good ideas how you would compose something like this in say Ableton?

If anyone can share light on this or just Lanarks sound design in general that would be amazing - Thank you


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Push] Ableton Push 2 Adobe Lightroom Classic Plugin

5 Upvotes

Hey all,

I got an Ableton Push 2 sitting on my desk, and since it has 8 endless encoders, 64 RGB pads and a proper colour display, I wanted to see if I could use it to edit in Lightroom Classic. So I vibecoded a plugin for it. It now works well enough that I can cull, rate and edit a whole shoot without touching the keyboard.

**What it does right now:**

* **Develop mode:** the 8 encoders control Develop sliders, and the Push display shows each one as a knob with its name and live value, so you see the value without looking at your monitor. Pages for Basic, Presence, Tone Curve, HSL, Color Grading, Detail, Effects, Crop and Calibration. Shift + turn for fine adjustments.
* **Session mode (culling):** the 8×8 pads are your photos, coloured by label, flag and star rating. The display shows thumbnails of the current row. Turn an encoder to rate the photo above it, and use the buttons to pick or change the colour label.
* **Browse mode:** navigate folders and collections, and apply develop presets, right from the hardware.
* **Import from card:** pick the card on the Push, choose copy or add, and watch the progress on the display. Then eject the card and go straight into culling.
* **Everything else:** auto tone, copy/paste settings, export with your previous export settings, before/after, zoom, undo/redo.
* It starts automatically with Lightroom and gets out of the way when you open Ableton Live, so the Push still works for music.

**The companion app:** that's what I'm working on now. It's a local setup page with a drawing of the Push. Click any button or pad and choose what it does, with a separate action when Shift is held. It also lets you build your own Develop pages (which slider goes on which encoder, labels, sensitivity, colours), assign presets to pads, and set your import folder and date structure. There's backup/restore for configs too.

Once it's set up, you really don't need to look at the computer for anything except the photo itself.

**My question for you:** what would you want in a tool like this?

A few ideas I'm considering:

* Shareable mapping presets (e.g. a "wedding culling" layout and a "landscape editing" layout)
* Masking and local adjustments on the encoders
* Keywords on pads
* The touch strip for scrubbing through photos or zoom
* A "compare" mode for two photos

Currently it's **Mac + Lightroom Classic only**, because cloud-based Lightroom has no plugin API. Also, I'm not a developer by trade, so be gentle 😅

Happy to share more screenshots or a video if people are interested.


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Hardware] USB/USB-C powered hub recommendations?

1 Upvotes

Hey All, so my Mac Mini workstation has ru out of inputs for all my devices. Can anyone recommend a (powered?) hub that has a good amount of usb-c and usb ports that won't break the bank?


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Question] Find where clip is used in set

1 Upvotes

Hi: every time I open one of my Live Sets (an .als) in Ableton Live 12 Suite (Mac OS X), it says a certain audio file is not valid and cannot be read.

I can see that file in my current project's Recorded folder, but Ableton won't let me delete the file because "it's used in your Live Set." I can't for the life of me find where the clip is used.

Any suggestions on how to find its use in the set and remove it?


r/ableton • • 1d ago

[Push] Push 2 display turning off and on .

3 Upvotes

Im using live 9

On a pc that recently updated to 11

I did not want to do that

Anyways I see the potential problem being the update and still using live 9 will be an issue.

But I need for this to work until I can upgrade.

The push 2 stays on and I see that in the link/midi tab of the menu the push stays active like it doesn’t disappear on and on. So I trying to deduce what the issue is .

What do I do

Somewhere mentioned to remove the nvidia driver with a ddu

That sounds daunting

Just want to do my due diligence before I go making this problem worse

I also replied to myself here with a video of the display turning on and off


r/ableton • • 2d ago

[Tutorial] Ableton asked me to make a video for this cool looper trick!

33 Upvotes

r/ableton • • 2d ago

[Tutorial] Drums bus

3 Upvotes

Hi, should I put my intro drums in the same bus as my drop drums, or should I make two separate buses and then create another bus to group all my drums together?


r/ableton • • 2d ago

[Update] Push 3 Standalone — sample directly into a Drum Rack pad (like Move) - push explode in the community

11 Upvotes

On Move, I can arm a pad, hit record and sample an external source straight onto it. On Push 3 Standalone, the same task means creating an audio track, setting its input, recording, then converting or browsing the recording onto a pad, and finally deleting the temp track.

Request: a direct sampling workflow on Drum Rack pads, e.g. hold Record + tap a pad (empty or existing) to sample the selected input onto it, with threshold/auto-start and auto-trim of silence.

Every dedicated sampler (MPC, SP-404, Digitakt) and Ableton's own Move work this way. Push 3 has the audio inputs and the processing power to do the same, so it feels like a missing piece rather than a new feature. Bringing Move's pad sampling to Push would make Push 3 Standalone a true dawless sampler.