The space bar is the play/stop command in every DAW. But pressing shift at the same. Mastering the keyboard shortcuts for Ableton Live is an essential skill to make your writing and production sessions more fluid, maintaining creative flow and more effortlessly executing your ideas as they come to mind (and to hand). For beginners, this list and PDF is also a great resource to learn key features of Ableton Live.
As an audio engineer, time is of the essence and getting the client a quality product in a timely manner is of the utmost importance. For engineers recording, mixing, and mastering audio in Ableton Live 10, knowing shortcuts and key commands will save you hours of clicking around. In this article, we’ll cover 5 important key commands and shortcuts in Ableton Live 10 and why these features are so useful.
Info – Shift + /
Pressing Shift + / or pressing ? will reveal the information tab in Ableton. The information tab is an important module for those new to the software or learning new features. It provides an overview of the tool you’re currently using and will display by default in the bottom left hand corner of the DAW.
Automation – A
Pressing A once will open Automation mode, allowing you to automate effects throughout your track. Automation mode splits the default track into split lanes, allowing you to copy and paste automation, or audio, without copying audio, or the automation.
Overview – O
While enabled by default, the overview appears at the top of the DAW and allows the user to scroll, zoom, and quickly access different parts of the song. Knowing the key command, and having awareness of this being a feature, can be incredibly helpful if you one day realize the module has disappeared due to a key press.
Mixer – CMD + Option + M
The mixer is an imperative feature in Ableton 10, enabling access to inputs, to set up recording, delegating tracks to the master or other outputs, and adjusting feedback when recording.
Snap to Grid – CMD + 4
Aligning vocal layers and adjusting placement of audio can be difficult with, or without a grid. CMD + 1, CMD + 2, and CMD +3 adjust the spacing of the grid between Narrow, Widen, and Triplet Grid, CMD + 4 enables and disables the grid. You may want the grid when aligning tracks to each other, or may want to disable the grid when adjusting timing of, for example, an audio layer to the instrumental.
Conclusion
Hopefully this will save you time on your next project, and maybe even introduced you to some new features in Ableton 10 that you were previously unaware of. Want to learn another great trick with Live 10? Learn how to emulate a tape stop effect without plugins in this guide.
If you are looking for Ableton Live 10 shortcuts, tips And tricks then you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve put together an ultimate list of shortcuts for Live 10, along with some helpful tips and tricks and seven useful videos near the end of this post.
Ableton Live 10 is one of the best Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) available online.
It has countless great features that give you complete control over your music. We know it can take a long time to master all the tools in Ableton, which is why we made this list of helpful shortcuts.
Whether you are a beginner or a pro, these Ableton Live 10 shortcuts, tips, and tricks will save you time and frustration.
That way you can keep making great music without the hassle of switching screens to lookup how to perform a certain action.
Want free resources for producing electronic music? Grab all our free downloads here
Ableton Live 10 Shortcuts – Keyboard Wizardry
These Ableton Live 10 shortcuts are awesome for multiple reasons –
First of all, they save you from having to point and click and take less than a second to push.
Secondly, they stop you from losing valuable time and energy to edit your sounds and switch between different views in the DAW.
Switch to Full Screen:
Windows – F 11
Mac – CTRL – CMD – F
Jump to Second Window
Windows – CTRL – Shift – W
Mac – CMD – Shift – W
Switch Between Sessions
Windows – Tab
Mac – Tab
Change Devices
Windows – Shift – Tab
Mac – Shift – Tab
Open or Close Detailed View
Windows – CTRL – ALT – L
Mac – CMD – ALT – L
Change to Hot-Swap Mode
Windows – Q
Mac – Q
Change to Drum Rack
Windows – D
Mac – D
Open or Close Info View
Windows – Shift – ?
Mac – Shift – ?
Bring Up Video Window
Windows – CTRL – ALT – V
Mac – CTRL – ALT – V
Open or Close Browser
Windows – CTRL – ALT – B
Mac – CTRL – ALT – B
Show or Hide Overview
Windows – CTRL – ALT – O
Mac – CMD – ALT – O
Hide or Show Sends
Windows – CTRL – ALT – S
Mac – CMD – ALT – S
Open or Close Mixer
Windows – CTRL – ALT – M
Mac – CMD – ALT – M
Pull Up Preferences
Windows – CTRL- ,
Mac – CMD – ,
Close Active Window
Windows – Esc
Mac – Esc
Enable of Disable Almost Everything (Clips, Devices, Tracks, etc…) with One Numpad Key
Windows – 0
Mac – 0
Hide Returns to Save Screen Space
Windows – CTRL – ALT – R
Mac – CMD – ALT – R
Open or Hide I/O Window
Windows – CTRL – ALT – I
Mac – CMD – ALT – I
Ableton 10 Download
Ableton Live 10 Quick Editing Tips
These tips will help you stay in the groove without having to spend time opening context menus or searching for a basic tool.
Tip #1 – Quick Save
Saving your project often is important to avoid losing any of your hard work. To save everything quickly, simply press CTRL – S on your keyboard (CMD – S for Mac).
Tip #2 – Double or Halve a Loop
To quickly double or halve the length of a loop, you can press CTRL – ↑ or ↓ on your keyboard (CMD – ↑ or ↓ if you’re on a Mac).
Tip #3 – Play Only the Active Selection
Sometimes you want to play only a single part of your track while editing.
To do this, you can select the part you want to hear and press ALT – Spacebar on your keyboard. Only the selected portion of the track will play.
Tip #4 – Quickly Resume Playback
To quickly resume playback of your track without the mouse, you can press Shift – Spacebar.
Tip #5 – Finely Move MIDI Tracks and Parameters
Adjusting a MIDI track so it lines up just the way you want can be difficult.
To make it so it only moves in very fine increments, press and hold CTRL while you drag it with your cursor. This same trick works when adjusting parameters.
Tip #6 – Delete Time
While editing you may have to delete a chunk of time. To do this quick, you can press CTRL – Shift – Delete (CMD – Shift – Delete if you’re using a Mac).
Tip #7 – Quickly Resize the Current Grid
Many times, you’ll want to resize the grid you are using. To do this on the fly, hold CTRL (CMD on Mac) and press a number from 1 through 4 on the keypad.
Ableton 10 Keyboard Shortcuts Mac
Tip #8 – Toggle Draw Mode when Editing MIDIs
When making music, you’ll be working a lot with MIDIs. To quickly toggle draw mode while editing a MIDI, simply press B on your keyboard.
Ableton Live 10 Shortcuts – More Tricks
Ableton is a massive music editing program. It takes a long time to get a firm grasp on all the various tools.
Knowing some tricks can make your time editing tracks a lot simpler.
So below you’ll find this list of links to useful videos.
They will show you how to master the same tricks used by well versed Ableton users, Certified Ableton Trainers and professional producers using Ableton Live 10.
Top 10 Audio Effect Tricks with k-pizza
10 Ableton Tips, Tricks & Strategies by Seri
8 MIDI Effect Tips & Tricks in Ableton
10 Tips To Help You Master Live’s Drum Rack
Ableton Tutorial: Automation Line Tricks & Tips
Ableton Live Tips and Tricks – Deleting and Duplicating Time
Tips & Tricks: Ableton Live Automation
11 Ableton Tips Every Producer Should Know
10 Ableton Live Tips You Can’t Afford to Miss
Ableton Live 10 Shortcuts – Videos
If you’re interested to see how Ableton shortcuts work in action, or if you prefer a more visual way of learning them, then videos are a great resource.
Ableton Live 9 Activation Key
We’ve put together a list of YouTube videos that will show and teach you a lot of cool and helpful shortcuts.
Ableton Keygen
Ableton Live 10 – Top 10 New Features And Shortcuts
Live 10: Arrangement View Keyboard Shortcuts
Live 10: General Keyboard Shortcuts
The 20 Essential Ableton Shortcuts
10 Ableton Workflow Tips And Shortcuts
Ableton Live – Top Ten Shortcuts
Ableton Live – 10 Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know
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