Screen Shot 2016-07-27 at 6.19.18 AM

How would you like to save time … and your sanity? Admit it, there aren’t too many companies that will offer you that. This one’s right in your wheelhouse, too. How many of you have spent way too much time using Ableton the long way? You know, looking for the right buttons, commands, etc when you could’ve been saving time (and yes, your sanity) using a whole slew of shortcuts.

I, myself, have never been a huge shortcut user. I figured commands were simple and quick enough. Why would I bother memorizing shortcuts when I could just use the commands as is? Then came the day when those extra minutes really started to count. I realized that getting to know the shortcuts, at least for those functions I use most, would help my speed. I know a few minutes doesn’t sound like much. But, it really does add up in terms of time saved and speed of operation.

Here are some Ableton shortcuts I’m familiar with. Let me know if you like to use others.

  • insert fades: cmd + option + f (ctrl + alt + f)
  • follow transport: cmd + shift + f (ctrl + shift + f)
  • mute tracks: fn + f1, f2, f3, etc (f1, f2, f3, etc)
  • record: fn + f9 (f9)
  • exclusive arm/solo: cmd + click (ctrl + click)
  • insert time: cmd + i (ctrl + i)
  • paste time: cmd + shift + v (ctrl + shift + v)