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.