Sound Similarity Search FAQ
Similarity Search is designed to help find sounds in Ableton Live by suggesting candidates related by type and timbre.
- Visit Live → Help > Built-in Lessons → What’s New in Live → Sound Similarity Searching and Sound Similarity Swapping
- Info View offers explanations of most features. Type [?] to show Info View, then hover your cursor over the relevant feature. For in-depth description of features in Live, visit the Live Manual.
How does Similarity Search work?
Similarity Search calculates a similarity score between sounds based on spectral and temporal characteristics, timbre, pitch and other attributes. Analysis of audio files takes place in the background when they are imported into a Set, or added to Places or User Library in Live’s Browser.
To search for candidates similar to a specific sound, highlight the example and click the Show Similar Files button.
How long does it take to analyze all my content for Similarity Search?
Analysis time depends on your computer’s processing capability and the location of your samples. Tests show average time to analyze roughly 100,000 files stored on SSD can take at least 20 minutes. Analysis of samples stored on an HDD or external drive may take more time.
How much of each sample is analyzed for Similarity Search?
The first two seconds are analyzed.
Can I exclude certain content from Similarity Search?
It’s not possible to selectively exclude specific content from Similarity Search. Sound content analysis can be disabled globally in Live’s Settings → File & Folder → Sound Content Analysis.
Can I use similarity search for my own user-saved device presets?
Similarity search is available for device presets included in Live’s Core Library and Factory Packs. User presets don’t support Similarity Search.
Is there a maximum number of samples that can be analyzed?
There is no limit on how many files are analyzed, but there is a threshold of how many are loaded into memory for quick access. Once that limit is reached, searches may perform noticeably slower, the more samples you have loaded into Live’s Browser.
Will Sound Similarity Search work for User folders?
All user samples, regardless of the source, work with Similarity Search, as long as the folder is visible in Live’s Browser. The only sounds that are not supported in Similarity Search are user-created device presets, or purchased device presets that are not distributed by Ableton, since these don't contain “preset preview” files needed for analysis.
Are Live Core Library and Factory Packs audio files and preset preview files already pre-analyzed?
Currently the Live Core Library is pre-analyzed including audio files and preset previews. Factory packs are not pre-analyzed at this time.
Is there a limit to the length of samples that work with Similarity Search?
Sounds with a duration of greater than 60 seconds are not analyzed. These will not display the “find similar sounds” icon in Live’s browser.