Orientation - Getting Around Ableton Live's user interface

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Getting around Ableton Live's user interface

In this session you will learn how to get around the user interface of Ableton Live.

Load up the Demo Set (from the menu choose Help - Load Demo Set)

Info View

Live’s Info View displays the name and function of whatever you place the mouse over.

You can show or hide Info View by using the view control toggle in the bottom left corner of Live’s window or by using the ? key.


Control Bar


  • Browser Options: Show/Hide Browser toggle, Browser Config Menu, Tuning and Groove Pool sections.
  • Tempo Settings and Metronome - sets the speed of the song
Browser toggle / Tempo / Key signature / Metronome 
  • Scale Settings - when you start to input notes, this will keep them in key 
  • Follow and Arrangement Position - choose whether the whole screen should follow along with the progress of the song
  • Transport Controls - Start, Stop, and Record in Arrangement View
  • Automation and Capture MIDI - lets you overdub settings, switch on or "arm" automation, Capture MIDI (to explain later), and Record in Session View.
  • Loop Settings - Lets you loop a section of 
  • Draw tool (pencil), Computer MIDI Keyboard tool, and monitor CPU usage.
  • View Selector - Switch between the Session and Arrangement View.
Draw Tool, Computer MIDI Keyboard, View Selector

Ableton Live Browser


Ableton Live Track Controls


Clip View and Device View


When working with audio clips, the Clip View shows you the waveform and different settings for affecting the waveform

When working with MIDI clips, the Clip View shows the notes recorded and you can move them around

The Device View shows a list of the devices currently loaded on a selected track. 

The Clip View and Device View can be stacked, which lets you view them at the same time. To do this, use the triangle toggles next to the Clip View and Device View Selectors located to the left of the Mixer View toggle in the bottom-right corner of Live.

The Overview section


  1. The Overview displays the Arrangement’s entire layout of clips from start to end and can be used for zooming and navigation. Click and drag horizontally to scroll left or right, or click and drag vertically to zoom in or out. To zoom out to the full Arrangement, double-click anywhere within the black outline.
  2. The beat-time ruler displays time is displayed in bars-beats-sixteenths. Clicking and dragging in this area works the same way as in the Overview
  3. The Scrub area - double clicking anywhere on this area launches playback from that point. 

Live's User Interface  (Video recap)

Live's Browser (Video Tutorial)



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