How to Prevent Presets from Being Automatically Tagged with Instruments in Ableton Live 12.1?

[yKaidan]

Since Ableton Live 12.1, when I tag an instrument or effect, the presets are automatically tagged as well. Is there any way to prevent this?

I create my own tags to manage instruments. For example, I use a tag called "MySynth," which includes both third-party synths like Serum and Massive, as well as built-in synths like Meld and Analog from Ableton Live.

Before 12.1, this tagging system worked perfectly, allowing me to filter and select the instruments I wanted using tags. However, since 12.1, presets have started appearing when I filter by tags. For instance, when I filter with "MySynth," only the VST instruments appear for Serum, but both the presets and instruments show up for Meld and Analog.

This makes it harder to browse when I’m just looking to select an instrument, as the presets clutter the results.

That being said, it’s also inconvenient if presets don’t appear in search results at all. Ideally, I would like a situation where tagging an instrument or synth doesn’t automatically tag the presets. For example, Kontakt has an instrument called "Analog Dreams" that I like. Since it sounds like a synth, I want to save Kontakt loaded with this instrument as a preset and tag it with "MySynth."

In short, there are cases where I want to manually tag only specific presets. I’m wondering if there’s a way to configure this tagging behavior to match my needs. Is there any solution for this?

[[bge]]

Hi there,

If you have registered on our Centercode forum, you can try out the latest beta (12.1.5b1). https://www.ableton.com/en/beta/

This does exactly that:

Tag a device → Filtering on "All" shows just that device
Tag a preset → Filtering on "All" shows just that preset
If you tag both devices and presets using the same tag, it will show exactly what you tagged (and none of the implicitly tagged presets of that device)

I hope the latest improvement on this works for you? Please let me know your feedback.

Cheers
Brendan

[yKaidan]

Hi there,

If you have registered on our Centercode forum, you can try out the latest beta (12.1.5b1). https://www.ableton.com/en/beta/

This does exactly that:

Tag a device → Filtering on "All" shows just that device
Tag a preset → Filtering on "All" shows just that preset
If you tag both devices and presets using the same tag, it will show exactly what you tagged (and none of the implicitly tagged presets of that device)

I hope the latest improvement on this works for you? Please let me know your feedback.

Cheers
Brendan

Wonderful! This is almost exactly what I was looking for.

If I had to mention one point, it would be that when filtering the tagged built-in Ableton instruments, it would be great if the preset list could somehow be displayed.

For third-party instruments like Serum, you can load the device and then select presets from the UI within Serum. However, in the UI of version 12.1.5b1, only the device is displayed for built-in Ableton instruments, so you can’t select presets from there. In Ableton 12.0, even for built-in Ableton instruments, presets were displayed in a collapsed view, so you could choose a preset after selecting the device, just like in Serum.

That said, I understand this could be a challenging issue. The filtering UI in version 12.1.5b1 is highly refined and fantastic. Given this UI, I can’t quite imagine how my desired functionality could be achieved…

The improvements on the issues I was struggling with have been incredibly helpful. I hope future updates continue to make Ableton even better.

[The Rabbits]

You can create a folder that only shows devices when you search.
Just select the Audio Effects folder or whatever, then open the filters and select Device in the Content tag. Then save it using the + on the Results header. You can name it whatever you want and move it up next to the main folder.
If you want it to look a bit like a subfolder, add 3 or 4 spaces to the beginning of the name.
You can also create a folder with all devices, instruments, audio and midi devices, and plugins. Just select the All folder, open the filter. Then click Device under Content and save.

[yKaidan]

You can create a folder that only shows devices when you search.
Just select the Audio Effects folder or whatever, then open the filters and select Device in the Content tag. Then save it using the + on the Results header. You can name it whatever you want and move it up next to the main folder.
If you want it to look a bit like a subfolder, add 3 or 4 spaces to the beginning of the name.
You can also create a folder with all devices, instruments, audio and midi devices, and plugins. Just select the All folder, open the filter. Then click Device under Content and save.

Thank you for the information.

It seems that, with the approach you provided, I may be able to partially resolve my issue.

I always open all folders and narrow down the selection to my desired sounds and effects using tags. Ideally, I'd like both third-party synths like Serum and Ableton's built-in synths to be displayed under the MySynth tag, with both having easy access to their presets afterward.

With the approach you mentioned—selecting the Instrument folder and saving the search results—it seems possible to display only Ableton's built-in synths and select presets from folders. However, it doesn't seem feasible to have both Serum and Operator show up together in the same search results, allowing preset selection from folders.

That said, I think this approach could still partially improve my workflow. I plan to display a filter in the sidebar with the condition "Creator is Ableton." This way, I can try out various sounds from synths filtered by MySynth and, when I want to work with Operator, I can display it again using the Ableton filter in the sidebar and select the desired preset from its folder. (It’s slightly more steps than before, but workable.)

Thank you for the information; I think I’ll be able to make better use of Ableton's tagging system.

[The Rabbits]

Start with the All folder and then I think it's "Content:Device" at the top of the list of tags. I'm away from home for a couple of days, so can't look for it now.

[Lawitt]

You can create a folder that only shows devices when you search.
Just select the Audio Effects folder or whatever, then open the filters and select Device in the Content tag. Then save it using the + on the Results header. You can name it whatever you want and move it up next to the main folder.
If you want it to look a bit like a subfolder, add 3 or 4 spaces to the beginning of the name.
You can also create a folder with all devices, instruments, audio and midi devices, and plugins. Just select the All folder, open the filter. Then click Device under Content and save.

If you only show devices, it's true that you don't see presets. But you also cannot see third party M4L devices (like the Fors ones e.g.) for some reason. The issue would be fixed if M4L devices would also be considered "devices".

[The Rabbits]

I don't include all MAX devices because there are too many cluttering up the list.
I've created my own tag called Visible and set it for the things I want in my All Devices list.