What Is an Ableton Live Template?

Tom Nov 08, 2021

An Ableton template is basically the default setup that an artist uses to start a new project from. Very often, it’s effectively a “blank slate”, but in this article we’re going to look at why more complex starting points can be better for your creative flow. The idea behind this is to design and configure a framework that allows producers to simplify and accelerate their creation processes.

Ableton Live file (.als) is called a Set, but many seem foggy on what exactly a Project is and why they should care. There are two main reasons for the project folder:

.als files do not contain the audio files they use. In other words, whether you record new audio or import samples, they remain as separate files on your hard drive. The Project folder gives you one place to make sure you keep your Live Set and the audio files that it uses in one place
The Project folder also is used to save multiple versions of the same song or live performance. It’s very common to have multiple .als files in a single project folder. This is an important practice which I will devote an entire tip to.

Default Ableton Live Template

A few useful information about Ableton Live Templates:

When you first save a Set, a Project folder is automatically created
When you record new audio into your Set, or perform any action that causes new audio files to be created (such as Freeze), the audio files are automatically stored in the Project folder
When you add loops to your live set, or drop samples into Impulse, Simpler, Sampler or Drum Racks the files are NOT automatically copied into the project folder.
If you want to copy all of your loops and samples into the Project folder, use the Collect All and Save command from the File menu.
You can use Collect All and Save as many times as you want. Every time you use it, Live will collect any files that have been added since the last time you collected files.
The Samples folder will not appear in your Project folder until you have created new audio files or copied some in with Collect All and Save.
MIDI clips are stored in the .als file. They can’t get lost from the Set the way audio files can.
When moving a Live Set from one hard drive to another, always copy the entire project folder – not just the .als file.

Those Ableton templates can be very useful to get a “look behind the scenes” or overcome writer’s block. Going through a professional Ableton project file will teach you how to arrange, mix and master your songs. You can even pick your favorite samples and save them to your user library or get the help of a ghost producer to do the edits.