Ableton Forum

I would love to have 2 screens so i could have vst on one and ableton on the other but thats not really possible so I am wondering if its going to make that much of a difference if I add a bigger monitor?

Would it make sense to just run the MBP with the top shut since there is no use having the screen show the same thing the larger screen is showing?

Any pics of your setup or examples of what the best way to run this ?

I think it's worth it. When I'm at home I just run it in clamshell mode hooked to a 22" LCD, much nicer and easier to work with than the 13" built in.

evanb wrote:I would love to have 2 screens so i could have vst on one and ableton on the other but thats not really possible

can you not do that on mac? thats exactly how i have my pc laptop setup

DO IT !!

best decision i made

most def. i have a 24in monitor i use with the macbook.

so when u have an external connected is the macbook screen just bank?

Use Extended Desktop (untick Mirror Displays in Preferences/Displays/Arrangement).

I put the menus on my MBP screen, and everything else on the Cinema Display.

Ok great so i could run ableton on the macbooks display and run all my vsts on the external monitor?

Yes you can - and you will love it!

The main benefit is the bigger screen. I thought I would love to be using 2 screens, but only ever use the big main one now.... i hardly use my macbook screen at all. Which leads me to my question. How in hells teeth do I run my macbook in clamshell mode? I have tried before and failed. (Carlv)

Ok its done...Dell is having a sale so just picked up a silver 22" for 299 shipped 2 day

I don't know what people are saying that you can't run ableton on external and vst's on macbook screen. you can drag anything freely from either screen.

I have a macbook and a external monitor and I can run any configuration i want. I have ableton open on the external and vst's on the macbook screen. It's very nice for having eq's, compressors, and other little nick nacks and do dads, whatever.

But you can place anything on either screen. What's really cool about the macbooks when hooking up an external display, it has a virtual screen setup where you can arrange where your external is actually at in the physical world. So if you have your monitor above your mac you can move your mouse upwards and it goes into that screen. You can place it anywhere.

jesso wrote:The main benefit is the bigger screen. I thought I would love to be using 2 screens, but only ever use the big main one now.... i hardly use my macbook screen at all. Which leads me to my question. How in hells teeth do I run my macbook in clamshell mode? I have tried before and failed. (Carlv)

This is in the help finder in the macbook.

To operate your portable computer with an external monitor attached and the display closed:
Connect a USB keyboard and mouse to your portable.
Connect the power adapter to the portable and a power outlet.
Close the portable display to put the computer to sleep.
Connect your portable to an external display.
Wait a few seconds and then press any key on the external keyboard to wake the portable.

Once I got my second monitor running off my Macbook Pro I don't know how I got anything done without it. This goes beyond Ableton use. Internet, email, music, word douments, spreadsheets, photo editing, movie editing, VJing, etc. Once you have a second monitor you'll be annoyed to no end trying to work on something that doesn't have one. all day long at work I try dragging things to a second monitor that doesn't exist.

willdahbe wrote:I don't know what people are saying that you can't run ableton on external and vst's on macbook screen. you can drag anything freely from either screen.

MB: only mirror view
MBP: mirror and split view

thats why..