Ableton/Live/UG/37 Sync with Link Tempo Follower and MIDI
- Keeping Live in time with other apps and devices through Ableton Link, Tempo Follower and MIDI clock.
- Ableton Link keeps beat, tempo and phase in step across apps and devices on a wired or wireless network. Link Audio adds real-time audio streaming between the peers in a Link session, with no extra hardware.
- Any peer can start and stop on its own and stay in phase, with playback following the global launch quantization. Any peer can change the tempo for everyone, and peers can join or leave without disturbing the others.
- Link can run alongside Tempo Follower or MIDI sync; the Link session then takes its tempo from that external input.
- Link and Link Audio have their own Link tab in Ableton/Settings.
- The Link toggle sits in the Ableton/Live/UI/Control Bar. Set Show Link Toggle to Hide to remove it.
- The menu beside the toggle switches Link and Link Audio on or off, lists connected Link Audio peers, and opens the settings with Configure Link….
- Settings on the Link tab:
- Start Stop Sync — share start and stop between peers that also turn it on.
- Audio — turns Link Audio on. It works only while the Link toggle is on.
- Name — the name other peers see.
- Latency — input latency for incoming audio; the peer list shows how much audio each peer buffers.
- Sync to Incoming Audio — delays Live's playback by the latency so incoming Link Audio lines up with Live's clips. Only one peer in a session should turn it on.
- Peers list — each connected Link Audio peer with its status and buffered audio.
- Put the computer on the same network as the other devices, over stable Wi-Fi or a cable, and turn on the Link toggle. Live starts or joins a session, and the toggle shows how many peers are connected.
- With at least one peer connected and the transport stopped, Ableton/Live/UI/Control Bar/Field/Arrangement Position shows a progress bar for the global launch quantization. After you press play, Live waits for the bar to complete.
- The first peer sets the starting tempo. After that the last peer to change the tempo wins, and Link tempo changes override tempo automation in the Set.
- The metronome's recording count-in is unavailable while Link is on.
- Link Audio streams audio between Link peers on the same network, so Live can monitor and record other devices and apps. Both Link and Link Audio must be on for every peer.
- Each peer appears as an input source. In an audio track, choose the peer in the Input Type chooser and its source track in the Input Channel chooser. Monitoring needs In, or Auto on an armed track; recording needs the track armed.
- Every track with audio output can be streamed to peers. Live and Push can send and receive; other apps may only send.
- Tempo Follower listens to an incoming audio signal, works out its tempo in real time, and has Live follow it. It suits cases with no Link or MIDI Clock, or where Live should follow a drummer or a pair of turntables instead of a fixed clock.
- In the Tempo Follower section of the Tempo & MIDI Settings, set Input Channel (Ext. In) to the audio interface input carrying the source, such as an overhead microphone or a DJ mixer's record output. Sources with a clear rhythm work best.
- Turn on Show Tempo Follower Toggle to put a Follow button with the tempo controls in the Ableton/Live/UI/Control Bar. Pressing Follow starts listening; Tempo Follower does not run while the button is hidden.
- The button grays out when Live cannot reach the chosen input channel.
- Tempo Follower and External Sync exclude each other. While Tempo Follower runs, Live can still send MIDI clock but cannot receive it.
- Devices without Link can sync over MIDI. Both MIDI methods use a sync host that sends the signal and devices that follow it.
- MIDI Clock — ticks at a tempo-dependent rate, like a fast metronome, plus song position messages. Live can be host or device.
- MIDI Timecode — the MIDI form of SMPTE, giving time in seconds and frames. Live reads it as an Arrangement position. It carries no tempo, so tempo changes are not tracked and the tempo must be set by hand. Live can only follow Timecode, not send it.
- Live can send MIDI Clock to an external sequencer or drum machine. Set the device up to receive sync, then turn it on as a sync destination in the Tempo & MIDI Settings.
- The lower LED beside the Control Bar's EXT button flashes while Live sends sync.
- To follow an external sequencer, set it up to send sync and enable it as a sync source in the Tempo & MIDI Settings. An EXT button then appears in the Ableton/Live/UI/Control Bar; turn it on, or use Options → External Sync. The upper LED beside EXT flashes when usable sync arrives.
- Live accepts song position pointers, so it jumps when the host jumps. With Ableton/Live/UI/Control Bar/Toggle/Arrangement Loop on, positions wrap into the loop.
37.3.2.1 MIDI Timecode Options
- Set per MIDI device by selecting it in the MIDI Ports list of the Tempo & MIDI Settings. Both options apply only when the MIDI Sync Type is MIDI Timecode.
- MIDI Timecode Rate — the SMPTE frame rate to follow. "SMPTE All" detects the format automatically. The Arrangement's display format is set separately under Options → Time Ruler Format.
- MIDI Timecode Offset — a SMPTE time that Live treats as the Arrangement's start.
- Each MIDI device has a Sync Delay control, shown when the device is selected in the MIDI Ports list, that shifts Live's time base against the sync signal to make up for transmission delay.
- To set it, have both Live and the other sequencer play a strongly percussive pattern and adjust until the two line up.
