Tips for qwerty users!

[yur2die4]

I'm quite fond of tinkering with Live via the qwerty keyboard. I'm wondering if people have any advice, tips, do's and don'ts.

Here are a few of mine:

Don't assign Key assignments to numbers. Sometimes you will be turning a knob with the mouse, and pounding on your digits only to discover you suddenly have a curser spewing out random digits!

You can hold shift while doing an assignment for extra use of the same key. This actually can resolve the previous issue. You can do a shift+assign for the number row of keys!

F1-F8 already mute/unmute channels 1-8. Getting to know the use of all the F keys can really come in handy when you're thick into the mix and want to minimize mouse movements. Definitely inspires me to F things up.

When jamming with qwerty, chances are that you are using your mouse to navigate and adjust. If you happen to be somewhere with a lot of sunlight you could get a devious glare on your screen and the first thing you lose is your mouse arrow (second thing being your mind!!!!). Something that helps make it easier to spot in a frenzy is changing your mouse settings so that your cursor is massive!

I enjoy playing notes or drums using the asdf row, and when it is activated it overrides key assignments. The black keys are up for grabs but my clumsy fingers still prefer to avoid accidents...

My mouse has extra buttons on the sides. The software lets me set one to be 'slower movements' for finer detail. The other button I've set to ctrl, then I can do ctrl functions using one finger

This one I take for granted, Spacebar to start and stop your tracks!!! If you don't know this, practice it until your household runs out of chairs that are musical. (and then get acquainted with shift+spacebar!)


If anyone has any tips, no matter how obvious or silly, please do share . The quest is never-ending!

[simmerdown]

my fav key command...capture/insert scene Ctrl+Shift+I...never knew what that meant til a few months ago, holycrap!..actually has improved my work bc i dont lose those hot clip combos i stumble on occasionally

also, lil Q...somewhere i saw there was a way to up/down the octave when playing qwerty keys, what was that again?

[yur2die4]

z and x for up/down. c and v are plus or minus velocity. Bottom of screen shows status.

[simmerdown]

there we go, thanks y2df

[DuncanCox]

My favorite key is alt+tab to select from different opened applications.

[yur2die4]

Windows shortcuts are a godsend haha:
Windows key + e = open explorer
Win + d = minimize all and show desktop
alt+F4 = close window (or end program. Especially handy for shutting down after doing the above command)

As for Ableton. Another extremely resourceful key is the Enter key.

1. You can use it to trigger clips and scenes, and to retrigger it as long as it remains highlighted (good for recording a loop you might play out on the asdf keys).
2. When the title bar of any Live Devices are selected and the Enter Key is hit, it jumps to the device location for hot swapping
3. Clips and devices in the browser can be loaded with the Enter key. I wish it was a bit more graceful. Alt+direction key brings you up and down or into the browser, but the results can be messy and not always work in your favor.


I took some time to decide what keys I wanted to assign as my default template. If anyone else has ideas I'd love to hear them! Here are some of my favorites:

The top left ~ key I assigned to Tap Tempo. When Shift is held, it toggles groove between 0 and 100%.

! Is assigned to Metronome. It just reminds me of a metronome haha. Sometimes I don't like the level of my cue so I assigned two different levels to toggle for Cue / key at -11 and -27dB.

^ is assigned to Overdub. It looks like an 'adding over the top' symbol

< and > are Nudge control. I'm actually having a lot of fun playing with that!!

][ and the key above Enter are Scene up/down and Scene Launch . If I hold shift, {} become Nudge for the selected clip, and the key above enter becomes Stop All Clips.

Also for clips, () punch Start and End for Loop points, * toggles Loop button, _ sets new clip Start point (hit ctrl+d to duplicate clip, then hit _ to set currently playing clip to have new start point. Good for new cue points).

That is mostly it. Oh, and on my Number Pad, / and * toggle mutes on Send A and B. since I already have the F keys for normal channels.

This saves room for assigning the asdfghkl row on the fly (it is hidden when Keyboard mode is turned on).
I avoided the row above asdfghjkl because some keys are free, others are not.
I avoided letters in general because of my habit of hitting CapsLock accidentally when I'm into the groove

[DuncanCox]

window+l will logout user.
window + tab you can toggle in diffrent opened application. This is available in window 7.

[MarkHenry]

Thanks for sharing this useful tricks. This will make work bit more easy.

[yur2die4]

I basically laid out the extent of how I prefer to work with keys. I use mouse and keyboard, and I'm not in any rush to have multiple tasks execute in series. I prefer a blend of the defaults, and then making use of whatever options are remaining within the program.