Presets on Move

You can select from the range of instrument and effect presets included on Move by browsing from Device View. As of Live 12.1, you can also create and export presets from a selection of Ableton Live instruments. 

Getting started with presets
Creating presets for Move in Ableton Live
Template presets
How to export presets from Live

Getting started with presets

In Device View, to swap the preset for the focused track device, click the wheel to open the browser, then scroll and select a different preset.

  • When you start browsing, the current preset is shown.
  • Scroll through the list to highlight a different preset, which will be immediately swapped in to the focused device. It’s not necessary to click the wheel.
  • You can audition each preset by manually playing notes while it’s highlighted, or by playing a Clip while you browse.
  • Press the back button , or turn the wheel counterclockwise to select the top blank entry and click, to go up one level in the browsing hierarchy .

For complete information on how to work with Move’s included presets, visit the Move manual section Navigation & Browsing and Ableton's Learn Move video tutorials

Creating presets for Move in Ableton Live

An experimental feature allows you to design and export presets like drum kits and synth patches from Ableton Live to use on Move. Although this feature is still in development, you can try it out as of Live version 12.1.

Enabling preset export

As of Live 12.1, you can enable preset export by adding an entry to Live’s Options.txt file. Visit this linked guide for the steps to create an Options.txt file, or download the options.txt file linked at the bottom of this article under Attachments.

To enable preset export, add the following entry to the Options.txt file on a new line:

-_Feature.ExportPresetsToAbl

Make sure to include the hyphen at the start of the line, and omit any leading spaces. Save and close the file, then restart Live.

Preset format

To work on Move, presets created in Live must be formatted specifically as follows:

Drums:

  • Instrument Rack
    • Drum Rack
      • Drum Samplers on the pads
      • One return chain with one effect in it
    • One insert effect

Drift:

  • Instrument Rack
    • Instrument Rack with mapped macros
      • Drift
    • Insert Effect
    • Insert Effect

This preset structure is required for compatibility between Move, Note and Live.

You can also omit effects in Live and add them later on Move using the + icon that appears in the empty effects slots on Move’s Device View.

Note: Macro dials in Instrument Rack or Drum Rack that have been mapped in Live will not be displayed on Move.

Supported Devices

Ableton Live devices that currently support preset export include:

Instruments Effects

Drum Racks that use Drum Sampler
Drift
Drum Sampler
Instrument Rack

Channel EQ
Chorus-Ensemble
Delay
Phaser-Flanger
Redux
Reverb
Saturator

Drift presets on Move can have up to 8 voices depending on the mode:

  • Mono: 1 note can be played at a time

  • Unison: max. 2 notes at a time (4 voices per note)

  • Stereo: max. 4 notes (2 voices per note)

  • Poly: max. 8 notes (voice per note)

In terms of polyphony, when exporting the Drift Preset expect a different voice maximum based on:

  • Intention (e.g. a Bass being monophonic while a pad comes with 8 voices) or

  • Limitation (e.g. a preset using unison only being able to allow for two notes being played simultaneously)

Supported Sample Rates

Since Move’s audio engine operates at 44.1kHz, all audio file sample rates are supported but files will be downsampled to 44.1kHz during playback. Down-pitching a file with a high sample rate (e.g., 96kHz) can be used creatively to make normally inaudible frequencies in a recording (> 20kHz) audible.

Converting Drum Rack Simplers to Drum Sampler

You can replace Simplers with Drum Sampler to easily convert an existing Drum Rack for export. Right-click or CTRL + click on the Drum Rack header and choose Replace Simplers with Drum Sampler.

To set up Live to automatically use Drum Sampler when dragging samples onto a Drum Rack, you can set the default pad as a Drum Sampler pad. To do this, right-click on a Drum Sampler pad and select  Save as Default Pad. 

Template presets

We will soon provide template presets in the Live Core Library that follow the structure described above, which you can use as a basis for creating valid presets for export to Move and Note. Two starter templates are available to download at the bottom of this article under Attachments:

How to export presets from Live

  1. Once you've created and saved a preset using the structure described above, right-click on the outer Instrument Rack header and choose Export ABL Preset.
  2. You’ll be prompted to choose a location and save the exported .ablpresetbundle file on your computer. 
    • To load the preset onto Move, drag the .ablpresetbundle file onto the Presets tab in Move Manager, and confirm by clicking Upload. Or, click the upload button in the Presets tab to browse for a file on your computer. The .ablpresetbundle includes all referenced samples.

Note: The maximum preset size that you can upload to Move is 400MB


The preset is then available in the Presets tab of Move Manager.

  • To load the preset onto Note, send the .ablpresetbundle to Note via AirDrop or upload it to a cloud storage you use on your phone, such as iCoud Drive. Open the .ablpresetbundle file with Note through the Files app on iOS.

Ableton offers these in-depth help and learning resources: