Create custom shortcuts in Live

Share what you’d like to see added to Ableton Live.
JordProd
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:27 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by JordProd » Tue May 21, 2019 11:29 pm

agreed
custom keyboard shortcuts are needed!

zooming with +- is killing me:(

MyNameIsNicolas
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:34 pm

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by MyNameIsNicolas » Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:35 pm

Add me to the list of ppl looking for a way to edit shortcuts!!!

rgbtwins
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:12 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by rgbtwins » Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:57 pm

+1 definitely - I'm a Cubase user getting into Ableton: Ableton is so much tighter and more focused than Cubase, but not being able to set my own key commands (EG to make zooming feel better for my hands, or help out with freezing/flattening) felt like stubbing my foot badly enough to need hospital treatment. Cubase lets you set up 100s of different key commands (and macros!) and it's such a ridiculously powerful productivity boost.

Aikido123
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:18 pm

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by Aikido123 » Fri Apr 17, 2020 12:21 pm

The lack of customizable keyboard support in this product is appalling. It's a big time waster for me.
The UI is nice for what is supported but it's nowhere near enough for professionals.

baseinstinct
Posts: 924
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:45 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by baseinstinct » Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:07 pm

Above mentioned Futility looks good. My choice is a free tool called Goodkeys, and autohotkey if on Windows.

The latter is a great thing for selecting more suitable key (eg. Left-hand) combinations for the existing shortcuts in ableton or Goodkeys, and it also does miracles such as ultra fast stealing mouse pointer to click on some element of user interface and park it back where it was.

I can't believe Ableton still lacks a full key shortcut implementation. Changing to adjacent racks or scenes - it is so essential even even when using mostly Push.

If beatwig implements this fully, some users may find it a better DAW.

baseinstinct
Posts: 924
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:45 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by baseinstinct » Sun Apr 19, 2020 6:43 pm

Update
Just checked, bitwig have this sorted, although not everything. Panel/track/scene navigation (which btw did work in simple but sufficient form ableton 5 I guess) or show vst panel are still missing.

A couple of reasons why you want key shortcuts in daw is that regardless how great job is done by creators of all the extras that have mushroomed to compensate for what is not there or the work you could do yourself, next time max or python implementation changes, those props become invalid.
Live 5 and Korg drum pad worked like a miracle with some extra max further tweaked, but this work only in part with live 6 and not at all with 7. If all midi went out directly, max could be used just for sound innovation.

When the next version is out, you don't want to wait for updates to third-party stuff lest your old projects are less controllable. You want such things as changing focus between panels or arming and muting tracks and triggering scenes to work out of the box the way they have for years not to hear from a forum member treating the forum like a market place that there is a new working/better addon you would need to buy or upgrade.

Completely different philosophy from devs perspective, but I would really hope Ableton does not drift into an area where the musician is wasting time being daw technician or needs constant support from third-party devs just to keep things working. Lots of extra business now, such as HW monopoly and third-parties making a living, but at the extra time&money cost of the end-user. A situation that will back-fire. Reminds me of the old days of Cubase - a truly great DAW, but once Ableton with its clip matrix revolution and overall simplicity got just sorted for VST, the migration was a natural process, never regretted.

That said, Ableton remains a stellar DAW. Let's hope it progresses in the right direction. Still, little response, as noted above might mean it might be worth hearing those who don't give a damn.

jonljacobi
Posts: 887
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:36 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by jonljacobi » Mon Apr 20, 2020 5:24 pm

Keyboard Maestro or the aforementioned AutoHotKey. A programmable keypad if you really want to live large. This has been requested for years, but apparently Ableton is satisfied with their system.

Sven Hamerpagt
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 12:55 pm

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by Sven Hamerpagt » Tue Apr 21, 2020 12:58 pm

+1

Scoox
Posts: 244
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:14 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by Scoox » Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:04 pm

The other huge problem in Live is that many actions don't even have a keyboard shortcut. For example, the Loop button on a clip can only be toggled using the mouse. Freeze track, again, no shortcut. Duh.

jonljacobi
Posts: 887
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:36 am

Re: Create custom shortcuts in Live

Post by jonljacobi » Sun Sep 05, 2021 11:44 pm

1. All commands available.
2. All shortcuts user-definable.

There is no absolutely no downside to this. If you don't want them, use the defaults.

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