r/ableton • u/O0OO00O0OO0 • 3d ago
[Tutorial] Did you know that Ableton has Time commands? Also known as ripple editing?
I've been using Ableton for well over a decade. If you asked me, I'd say I'm an Ableton expert. For the longest time I knew for a fact there was no ripple editing. Ableton just isn't built for that type of audio editing. I used to delete clips, zoom out, grab everything to the right, manually drag it over, then adjust every single one of my locators (song section tags).
Finally today after being frustrated and thinking I should switch to another software for dialogue editing, I googled to see if someone figured out a hack. And... It's been built into the software this whole time: https://www.ableton.com/en/live-manual/12/arrangement-view/#using-the-time-commands
Just add Shift to your keystrokes for cut, copy, paste, and CTRL+Shift for delete.
You don't need to highlight entire sections, you can highlight just 1 audio/midi track's time length and it'll grab everything, including song locators. I've probably wasted a full day of time not knowing about this.
Unlike other audio editing software more geared towards non-musical editing, there's no way to lock tracks or clips from being affected by the ripple edits, but this is still huge.
Maybe I'm the only overly confident Ableton user who didn't know about this, but just in case, hopefully this can help someone.
Also a good reminder to never assume there's not a better workflow. Often times there really isn't lol, but sometimes there is. Like there's also track linking?? This is huge for multi tracking (I think I'm due for another manual re-read...)
16
u/azmotronik 2d ago edited 19h ago
I've been a user since v1, longtime user of delete time and insert time, but really wanted something for ripple edit of just one track.
After asking around, I learned that you can snap the ends of separate clips together by highlighting the one, holding Option on mac (Ctrl on windows I think) and then left arrow - this performs essentially the same task as ripple edit - will snap the beginning of the right clip to the end of the left clip.
✌🏼
4
u/ShuttleOption 2d ago
15+ year user here. Also very familiar with time editing features. Did not know this keyboard shortcut. Thank you for sharing! 🤙
85
u/earthsworld 3d ago
And this is why we always say... RTFM.
9
u/Defiant-Warthog-5597 3d ago
read the whole thing
I forget stuff
4
u/earthsworld 3d ago
you know that you can still reference it after you've read it?
7
1
u/Defiant-Warthog-5597 2d ago
Yes, but thank you anyway for your service Captain Obvious!
There are things that I don't search for because I don't think of them but I'm still glad when someone mentions them. Crazy, huh? Dude I liked your comment, rtfm, absolutely. But people forget stuff. Nice for you if you do not.
8
u/anooname 3d ago
Would like to be able to buy a printed version for Lite
15
u/only_fun_topics 3d ago
They used to ship with printed manuals. They were like 450 pages long.
17
u/tnavelerriemanresu 3d ago
It's great
You leave them in the bathroom and look over them many many many times
5
5
u/caddlaxx 3d ago
Its rather expensive to do in my opinion, but you can have the PDF printed and bound, custom label tabs for sections, etc via a printing service such as Staples.
3
u/lumpiestspoon3 3d ago
I’d rather just look at the PDF honestly, it’s better than both web and physical because you can search everything at once
1
u/JiggleMyHandle 1d ago
The best part of doing it this way is that it will already be out of date by the time the print job finishes.
2
u/O0OO00O0OO0 2d ago
I actually read it front to back like 8-10 years ago. Maybe I should reread it every time there’s a new version.
3
u/earthsworld 2d ago
most people just read the patch notes, but you do you.
3
u/O0OO00O0OO0 2d ago
I meant major version lol. Just as a refresher cause I do keep up with the patch notes but still forget stuff, clearly.
1
1
u/MortonBumble 2d ago
This has been in Live since version 1 or 2. I was using it back then.
The only new addition recently has been the "Copy Time" command
11
9
7
u/Rototion 2d ago
Don't forget ctrl+i to add time. I can't imagine Ableton without those shortcuts, I use them constantly, like if you want to change something, but you're too scared of ruining what's already there - simply ctrl shift D, and do whatever you want.
4
u/ozias_leduc 3d ago
Pretty generous to call that ripple editing!
1
u/tnavelerriemanresu 3d ago
Why tho
2
u/ozias_leduc 2d ago
I mean... I think that "cut time" / "insert time" is a pretty standard edit menu option for any DAW. When I use ripple edit in Reaper, I can basically drag a clip anywhere and every clip after it moves too. So it's really easy to just drag a clip slightly to the right to add a bit more space and everything after it moves accordingly. Not to mention it's important to have the option of choosing between ripple editing for a single track and all tracks.
Dialogue editing in Ableton is pure pain
5
3
u/areyoudizzzy 2d ago
Be careful with these tools and double check your automation lanes because they can often get messed up when using them.
23
u/__Aldo___ 3d ago
"Proclaimed 'Ableton expert' not so expert"
-source
Addition: rtfm people
3
u/gheeDough 2d ago
Expert means very proficient, not omniscient
-2
u/__Aldo___ 2d ago
Did you read the manual, gheeDough?
1
u/gheeDough 2d ago
I wish I had the time to read a 900-page manual; alas, I do not. I look stuff up when I need to, and have been using Live for over a decade and probably know about 30% of what it can do. I'd wager there's nobody in the world that knows 100% of what Live can do...which is my point.
Experts know more than others, but they still don't know everything, and that's totally fine.
0
u/__Aldo___ 2d ago
Oh it's the size of the manual that's holding you back? Weird but yeah you can read a page a day for 900 days...? Anything's possible!
3
u/buddyross 3d ago
This only works on all tracks correct? Like if I just wanted to cut a section out of one track and have everything on that track bump to the left- that isn’t possible correct?
Coming from pro tools and very reliant on shuffle mode. To which I’ve never found a counterpart to in Ableton.
5
u/uniquesnowflake8 3d ago
I knew about delete time and insert silence but not the rest. Thx for the heads up
2
u/kshitagarbha 3d ago
And most importantly learn the key commands for those. I'm trying to practice and get it into my muscle memory.
2
1
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
This is your friendly reminder to read the submission rules, they're found in the sidebar. If you find your post breaking any of the rules, you should delete your post before the mods get to it. If you're asking a question, make sure you've checked the Live manual, Ableton's help and support knowledge base, and have searched the subreddit for a solution. If you don't know where to start, the subreddit has a resource thread. Ask smart questions.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
1
u/LUK3FAULK 3d ago
I use these all the time when setting up playback sets for my band, glad to see other people are finding it useful!
1
0
u/Karli_Chirk 3d ago edited 3d ago
Wait isn't it just what the selection of the arrangement loop with the mouse do? I just right-click it and do "cut" and it shortens my arrangement for the timeline deleted. Like how else is it possible to do any other way? And you don't need to highlight separate tracks just set the start and end loop bars to the required part of the arrangement and click on that loop bar to select all tracks under it within this loop timeline.
This is how I do it being Ableton junior who does not use shortkeys. But track linking is something new for me - thanks for mentioning it.
0
19
u/oopsifell 3d ago
Mad lad dialogue editing in Ableton over here