Ableton Forum

tl;dr : we need some method of maintaining and managing multiple related arrangements.

Lets use some archaic terms so everyone understands the concept : A "radio edit" , a "12 inch", an "Instrumental", "soundtrack mix", all of the same song.
Now what we all do at the moment is fork our main .als into new files for each variation to arrange and mix each file for our various destinations.. but that becomes a problem when you realise as you work on the "radio edit" that the bassline needs a fix. So now you have to load up each different file and do the same repair. Every single action you perform on one file you have to remember, save that version, close it, open the other versions, apply the change. repeat, repeat.

Now you have a bunch of diverging files and a versioning headache from hell.
Its not good.

My suggestion: All of these variations are in the same Project anyway. The arrangement is a child of the set at the moment but it ought to be a child of the Project with the clip and automation content being pulled from the Project folder. Of course this would require an upgrade to clips so that they can contain regions etc. Hey , let's call it "metaclips" like I proposed in 2005 and BitWig implemented in 2015. EH?

Ableton Live 9 now has clips containing automation .. so why not clip sub-regions too?

But that requirement aside - I've spent many years trying to keep track of song edits once it fractures into the different versions for different people.
Any method of managing diverging arrangements of the same song would be a massive help.

i feel like i've plus oned this before...

so +3 or +4, at least.

it's still a good idea.




too bad Ableton will be stealing it from Bitwig if they ever implement it

Surely everyone remembers the conspiracy theory that Bitwig is the skunkworks for Ableton?

Angstrom wrote: Any method of managing diverging arrangements of the same song would be a massive help.

The only method I've found to handle multiple arrangements in the same set is to make use of the time line and simply set the start point with a locator after the end of the first mix, like with some clear visual space between. Locators obviously making it easier to find different positions quickly. I suppose this is how many load up their performance sets?

What this solution/workaround doesn't offer is side-by-side switching between mixes in real-time, though with locators you can listen in on specific sections, and after playing one you can select the other without stopping.

For remixes that way of comparing may not be very interesting, but it might be for alternate mixes. What you could do is what I do with the previously mix, which is placing the last render on its own inactivated track. When playing back the main mix and you want to listen you solo this track. I sometimes use reference tracks in the same way,