My personal approach to preset organization is to keep all of my presets in a folder outside the Live library. In my Mac’s “Music” folder, I keep a folder called Presets:
When I want to save a preset into this folder, I skip using the Save switch entirely and use drag-and-drop instead. Just grab the Rack (or Device) by it’s title bar, drag it into the file browser and drop it into any folder you like. I tend to keep file browser 3 open to my main music folder where my production tools live. If the browser is currently showing a different view, I just drag over the File Browser 3 icon and the browser changes to that view.
The advantage to this approach is :
- ALL of my stuff is in one place. No mucking around in the library to find anything.
- I can copy one folder and bring all of my presets with me anywhere I want.
- It leaves the Library to be Ableton’s business without me having to worry about it.
On this last bullet point, what I mean is this: I want the factory library to be completely generic so I can rebuild, repair, upgrade, or install in a new location without it having any impact on my personal production tools. Sure, you can keep your stuff in the Library without fearing any particular problems as a result – this is just a case where I say good fences make good neighbors.
Alrighty then! How did I spend so many days talking about preset management? (yawn.) Well, we’ve got more than eleven months to go, so I guess I’ll be covering lots of things.
By the way, if you’re in NYC and looking for something different and interesting to do this weekend, come check out the Metropolis Opera Project one-act festival. I’m the DJ for the premiere of an “Opera Electronica” by Kristin Hevner. It’s a great piece of music and loads of fun to perform…
