Ableton Forum

I made a short video showing what I'm talking about so you can get a better idea (make sure subtitles are turned on, they explain in more detail): https://youtu.be/Se38JPSAwwo. To sum it up, this feature means that midi clips can be linked together, meaning when you change one, all of the linked ones change, which is very useful for making small edits.

Last August, I moved from FL studio to Ableton, and for the most part, I really like it, but the one thing that really annoys me is ableton's lack of linked/alias/pooled midi clips. Reaper, Cubase, FL Studio and a bunch more DAWs have this feature, and as someone who works a lot with midi, I feel that it's almost essential. I can't think of a single reason ableton doesn't have it other than it just not being a priority to the devs. It just means you have to do more tedious copy-pasting when you make changes. It wouldn't even have to be the default, it could just be another shortcut for duplicating/pasting linked clips.

I really hope they add this feature one day, but for the time being, how do you deal with this? I've heard some suggestions before, like using the session view for sketching ideas, and then arranging it once you're done, but I'm the type of person that likes tweaking things right up until the track is finished. When I have an idea for a change, I make it, then have to copy paste it over and over, making sure I don't miss anything, making sure I don't accidentally paste over some edit that I forgot that I made, make any chops that I originally had there, sometimes forget that I made a chop, so I have to ctrl-z to undo it, to look again, then paste again, etc. etc.

I'm not sure how to deal with it. Most software has this, even 3D modelling software, where you can link duplicate models, so when you change one, every instance of it also changes. I think the tedium of it is limiting me quite a bit on a psychological level. I feel reluctant to make any changes because it can get annoying having to copy paste over and over. It's not a deal breaker, but it's pretty close to being one for someone who works a lot with midi. I know there's a max-for-live device that adds this feature, but I don't really want to get used to using a third-party thing that may end up being abandoned. This feature should really be built in.

If you're wondering why this isn't a feature request, it's because I've seen this same feature requested on a post made around 20 years ago, and many times between now and then, and there's also a request for it on the beta feedback site.

One thing that at least makes me still okay with using ableton is the fact that copy-pasting and manipulating clips is very nice compared to some DAWs, but I still feel like it should really have linked midi clips.

The lack of them is a major pain. The only option I'm aware of is https://jgarcia.hungry.jp/project/alias-clips/ and it looks like a good investment, it's still supported all over the years

You can make this easier by using loops instead of clip duplication where possible. There's already multiclip editing, it can fix this for the same clip on multiple tracks. This probably won't help much for the said example

tbh my opinion meanwhile, even if it makes me sad to say: Not depend on M4L and move to another DAW..

Not saying that everything is bad (Live still can be awesome) and of course the other DAWs also have their flaws. Just have gotten the impression over the years that, as many other software companies, Ableton tends to release new "cool" features many people often do not ask for and in exchange is veeery slow or completely neglecting workflow and performance improvements (sometimes just small things or things other DAWs have since ages) the community has been asking for for 10-20 years, even though those improvemnts often would not make Live a more complex or GUI messy program (as often used as an argument against an implementation).

Back to the topic:
I also use Alias Clips sometimes. Though, one needs to be carefull. Moving several clips or e.g. adding time will break the linking. Also, it cannot link e.g. the midi information added in Live 11 (MPE, probablity etc) and also does not link automation. Also it can spam the undo history a bit. Which might not be that critical anymore since the additioin of the undo history panel (which is a nice feature and workflow improvement). And else you also would need to make those steps manually.
But it still can be handy and a real time saver when you e.g. want to change the velocity on a note or its position slightly...
(The developer of the plugin moved to another DAW btw)

Users of DAWs with linked Clips spend a huge amount of time unlinking them.

And Live's answer to linked Clips is Session View.