Ableton Forum

I have a question that must sound absurd, but I found nothing about it in the manual. Is there a way to open an audio clip from within Ableton Live?

I realize that program is not primarily designed for editing audio clips, but surely a WAV or MP3 file can be opened, without drag & drop, which requires dual screens or minimizing the GUI, so that drag & drop is possible. Can someone lend me a hand?

Yes, just navigate to it's location within the Live browser.

You may need to add the parent folder to Places with the "Add Folder" button/link in the very bottom of Browser's left side.

Thanks.

Why the convention of access to an audio file via the "File" menu was not included in the UI is a mystery to me. It seems rather lame to have to add a folder in order to access a file, since I keep audio files in various locations, such as external USB drives. But, I know, I know, I know...it's not a perfect world. Sigh!

You can add folders from external drives, it is no problem, they are just grayed out when the drive is not connected.

And you can rename the "link" (if you have multiple "Samples" folder you can add a drive letter or similar to the name), it won't rename the original folder.

Thank you very much. That worked out fine. I see that DAW software has its own set of preferences, often quite different from most other programs, like video and photo editors and word processors that follow Microsoft's File Manager and context menu . My expectations of Ableton were unfair. Thanks again for your patience.

You can easily DnD from a folder to Ableton on a single monitor, just pull up a windowed folder, find file and drag it to Ableton behind it. But as suggested, using the browser in Live also allows you to preview files within the DAW. Wants to go all those clicks into file menus to import a simple file. Who even works on a single monitor in production these days either

jestermgee wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:01 pm

Who even works on a single monitor in production these days either

Yeah, laptops are so 2021.

I hate dual monitor set ups, single screen for the win.

(Seriously, the divider between screens drives my OCD nuts)

Single screen here too, helps me focus more

I guess when you spend a fortune on a small laptop you want to make the most of it's little screen in any way you can justify

controversial!

i don't like dual side-by-side monitor setups either — i hate having the split in the middle of my visual field.

i have my laptop as a secondary display right underneath my main monitor instead...

3 monitors is the only way to go! No split and I can place my macOS system on a VNC session all on it's own without having to get my telescope out to read the screen. Bit of a challenge on the bus tho but it's doable.

jestermgee wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 26, 2022 1:24 am

3 monitors is the only way to go! No split and I can place my macOS system on a VNC session all on it's own without having to get my telescope out to read the screen. Bit of a challenge on the bus tho but it's doable.

okay, but then where would my speakers go???

Alongside monitors? And if the desk don't allow for it, rebuild it so it does.... Then stick an older second pair alongside those on stands too and maybe some 5.1 around the ceiling if you feel adventurous