Using Spontaneous Band Cues in Ableton Live

Published by Loop Community on November 8, 2018November 8, 2018

Learn how to use spontaneous band cues with a MIDI controller during your live sets! 

1. Insert Audio Track

Once you have a setlist created in Ableton Live, click Create in the toolbar at the top and then, Insert Audio Track. Drag the track to the left of all of your tracks and rename it “Spontaneous Cues” to keep your tracks organized.

2. Band Cues Pack

If you don’t already have cues to add in to your track, go to the Loop Community Shop to purchase our Band Cues Pack for $4.99. Then download the files.

3. Add cues to your set

Go to your Downloads in Ableton Live, open the Band Cues pack, then select the wav files. You will want to use the wav files instead of the Ableton files for this. Search the cues you want and then drag them in to your Audio Track. Drag them in the rows below your tracks so that they don’t play when you play your tracks. To drag multiple cues in at a time, hold Command down to place them in the Spontaneous Cues column.

4. Edit Cues

Double click on your cues and open up the launch box by clicking the L button under the Clip section.

Change the Launch Mode to “Toggle” and change the Quantization to “None”. This allows for you to trigger the cues immediately instead of having to wait for them to be triggered after you hit the button on your MIDI controller.

5. MIDI Map

After you setup your MIDI controller in Ableton Live, hit the MIDI button at the top. Click the cue that you want to map, then click the corresponding button on your Looptimus, Looptimus mini, or other MIDI controller to map it. Do this for all of your cues, then hit MIDI in Ableton Live to save the mappings.

6. Spontaneous Cues

Now while your tracks are playing, you can hit the buttons on your MIDI controller to trigger the cues. This will direct and guide your band outside of the multitrack. You can use these to tell the band when to come in, build it up, or send a number for the chord that you are going to end the song on!

If you need MultiTracks to use in Ableton Live, purchase them on LoopCommunity.com! Happy looping!