Having an organised Ableton template with all your go-to sounds and effects mapped out right from the get-go 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 every time, but having to do certain actions every time might also detract from the creative process. Examples of such actions might include, having to add an EQ to each of your tracks, having to manually add every MIDI/audio tracks, setting up sends and returns, or creating a default master chain. All this can be time-consuming to do, particularly if these are actions you know you do every time you open a new project. For that reason we very much 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 default basic template that includes just Ableton effects should do the job.
This project file template is an Ableton only (no external effects) version of the template 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 only Ableton plugins. Feel free to add any plugin alternatives and see our alternative template with external plugins suggestions included.
Ableton Only Default Basic Template Project
Require:
Ableton Live Suite v10.1.2 or higher.
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