From bounce to Live Set

Make sure you have:

• a bounce of the song so far (a WAV is best)
• its tempo (BPM) and time signature (4/4 or 3/4)
• their project's sample rate and bit depth, e.g. 48 kHz, 24-bit
• the bar the bounce starts on, usually bar 1

Choose File → New Project (⌘N). Give it a name and a location, then enter the tempo, time signature, sample rate and bit depth your producer gave you. A folder with the project's name is created there, holding the project and all of its audio.

Drag the bounce from Finder onto the timeline. It gets its own track. Drag the clip so it starts on the bar your producer gave you. Snap to grid keeps it on the bar; hold ⌘ while dragging to place it freely.

Copy the whole project folder your producer sent (from Dropbox, for example) to your Mac, and keep everything in it together: the project and its audio files.

Then choose File → Open (⌘O) and pick the project. The tempo, time signature, sample rate and bit depth are already set, and the bounce is already on its bar, so you're ready to record.

Open Settings (⌘,) and choose your input (microphone or audio interface) and output (your headphones). Wear headphones while you record, so the song doesn't bleed into your take.

In Settings, click Calibrate… and follow the steps. The app plays clicks and records them back, either through a cable from output to input or with the mic held near the speaker, to measure the delay your devices don't report. Every new take is corrected by it.

The result is saved for that input and output, so you only redo it when you change gear. Use the manual nudge if you want to fine-tune by ear.

1. Add a track (⇧⌘T) and name it, e.g. "Lead Vocal".
2. Pick its input, then click its ● button to arm it. Check your level in the meter, or click the meter for the large Input Level window.
3. Choose a count-in and metronome mode from the toolbar if you want them. O cycles the metronome through On, Off and Recording Only.
4. Press the record button or F9. From stopped, playback starts at the start marker. During playback, recording punches in at the playhead.

Every take is kept as its own file, so you can record as many as you like.

Move clips along a track or between tracks, trim them from either edge, and delete the ones you don't want. Newer clips cover older ones where they overlap, and dragging an edge back out brings covered audio back. Undo (⌘Z) works for every edit. Set each track's volume, and mute or solo tracks as you listen back.

Save (⌘S), then choose Export for Ableton (⌘E). The app writes a <Project> - Ableton folder with the Live Set and its Samples folder, and shows it in Finder.

Zip the whole folder and send it to your producer.

You have two options:

• Send a bounce and the numbers. Bounce the song so far and send it with its tempo, time signature, sample rate, bit depth and the bar the bounce starts on. The performer sets up the project.
• Send a ready-made project. Download Dovetail Tracker yourself, create a project with your song's settings, and place the bounce on its bar. Then send the whole project folder (through Dropbox, for example), and the performer just opens it and records. You can point them to the guide for a ready-made project.

Either way, matching your project's sample rate and bit depth means the takes come back without any resampling.

1. Unzip the folder and move it somewhere sensible, such as next to your project, before opening anything. Keep the .als and its Samples folder together.
2. Open the set in Live 12 to listen, or drag its tracks from Live's browser into your own song.

Every take sits on the bar it was recorded on, with the performer's track names, colours, volume, mute, clip positions and trims. Clips are warped, so they stay in time if you change your tempo.