Having an organised Ableton template with all your go-to sounds and effects mapped out from the start is a great way to improve your workflow and dive into the fun part of making music. It can be nice starting a project from scratch, but having to do certain actions every time could also detract from the creative process. Such actions might include, adding an EQ to each track, manually adding every MIDI/audio track, setting up sends and returns, or creating a default master chain. All these can be time-consuming,and are likely actions you do whenever you open a new project. For that reason we recommend setting up your own project file template to suit your workflow. If you haven't made one already or aren't quite sure of what to include in this type of template, then this Ableton default basic template should do the job.
 
This project file template is what we use every time we open a new session. This is obviously a template and can be better refined to suit your needs. It contains:
- Every track (MIDI/Audio) mapped out and grouped according to what they are - reference tracks, drums, vocals, bass, synths and FX.
-  Preloaded effects including EQ's on every channel and a basic master channel strip.
- Additional sends and returns strips including different reverb types (plate, room, hall) and reverb sizes (small, medium, large), different delays, and a compressor for parallel compression.
- Each track set to -10dB to allow for better mixing (Ableton default is 0)
- Locators every 8 bars to help with the arrangement of tracks.
- Custom Key mappings allowing for an improved workflow. Keys mapped to reference track channels (1-3), global record (r), and high pass filter(f) / mono utility reference (m) on master tracks.
 
Project file uses all Ableton plugins with only a few third-party plugins by Valhalla for the reverb sends/returns channels. These plugins are optional and can be replaced with any reverb plugin.