Alright, so in the previous post we discussed a second method for running tracks using Session View. The only downside to this method is that it has a feature that’s only available in Ableton Live 11. Before you get disappointed, hold on, there’s hope. There is a way to accomplish what we’re able to do in Method 2 for Live 10 and earlier users. I must say though, as of this post, Live 12 is out so you may want to consider upgrading. This method, unfortunately, is not free but it’s cheaper than upgrading.

What You’ll Need

So, first thing’s first, you’ll need to have purchased the Advanced Ableton Live Template and have your IAC Driver setup. Purchase the template here and be sure to watch the videos included.

Check out how to enable your IAC driver here.

You’ll need to use the track template provided when building your tracks/master setlist. Other than that, the setup is almost entirely the same as Session View Method 2. You must still split your audio file into sections, transfer it over to Session View and use MIDI tracks to rename your scenes. The difference here is, because you haven’t got the ability to use follow actions to advance scenes, you’ll need to use automation in the ‘Next’ & ‘Repeat’ channels to do it instead.

Setting Up Scene Advance

Now, in the ‘Next’ MIDI channel, there is a list of clips that are named something like ‘Four Bar Next 4/4’. Then, using the MIDI clips you created as markers, you’ll determine which MIDI clips you’ll need to advance the scenes. If your chorus is 8 bars, you’ll copy and paste the ‘Eight Bar Next 4/4’ MIDI clip in the ‘Next’ channel on the Chorus scene. If your outro is 6 bars, you’ll find the ‘Six Bar Next 4/4’ MIDI clip and put in the ‘Next’ channel on the Outro scene. (Please note: you must use the correct length and time signature)

Setting Up Scene Repeat

Having already set up ‘scene advance’, it’ll be easy for you to set up ‘scene repeat’. Find the matching repeat clip and copy and paste it onto the ‘Repeat’ channel. So if our pre-chorus has an ‘Four Bar Next 6/8’ then the repeat channel must have a ‘Four Bar Repeat 6/8.

Closing Thoughts

We’ll end today’s post by considering some pros and cons of this approach in a live setting.

Pros include; the ability to loop any section at the click of a button, an optional dynamic cue track that turns on and turns off the original cue track to let cue the band to repeat the section and the ability to pre-select the next song section at any point during the current section. (Please note: The way this method works is by automating the process of selecting and firing the next scene. So there’s a simple consideration we must take in order to jump to a song section other than the subsequent section of the current section. Simply navigate to the song section before the one you want to go to next and, a bar before the next section starts the automation will navigate to the next section [the one you want] and trigger it.)

A con to consider is, if you mistakenly have the wrong scene selected, it’ll cause issues. If you want the song to play from top to bottom, be sure not to mistakenly touch anything. If you do want to be a bit more flexible or spontaneous, just be sure to understand how it works, how to jump around song sections and loop sections correctly. We do have to admit that this workaround does work but can be risky. Be sure to test out thoroughly before use in a live environment. Any issues, contact us at hello@renderthemusic.com.

Thanks for reading!