LiveControl

A free, open source app to control Ableton Live from any device on your local network via a browser.

Features

• 🎵 Setlist from cue points — automatically parses Ableton locators into a setlist
• 🎛️ Web control — open on any phone, tablet, or computer on the same WiFi
• ▶️ Transport — play, stop, continue, next/prev cue
• 🔀 Song jumping — tap any song to jump to it in Ableton
• 📋 Sections — expand songs to see and jump to sub-sections
• 🛑 Auto-stop markers — [STOP] cue points automatically pause playback
• 🎨 Song colors — color-code your setlist
• 📝 Song notes — add notes, chords, or instructions per song
• ↕️ Reorder — drag-and-drop setlist order (without touching Ableton)
• 🔇 Track mute/solo — control any track from the Tracks tab
• ⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts — Space (play/stop), ←→ (prev/next cue)
• 📱 Fully responsive — works great on iPhone, iPad, and desktop

Setup

1. Install the MIDI Remote Script

Copy the MIDI script into Ableton's Remote Scripts folder:

macOS:

cp -r node_modules/ableton-js/midi-script ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Remote\ Scripts/AbletonJS

Windows:

Copy node_modules\ableton-js\midi-script to:
C:\Users\[YourName]\Documents\Ableton\User Library\Remote Scripts\AbletonJS

2. Activate in Ableton

1. Open Ableton Live
2. Go to Preferences → Link, Tempo & MIDI
3. Under Control Surfaces, add AbletonJS as a control surface
4. No input/output assignment needed

3. Run LiveControl

npm install
npm start

4. Open in browser

• This machine: http://localhost:3000
• Other devices: http://[your-ip]:3000

The server prints your local IP on startup.

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Setlist notation

LiveControl reads cue point names from your Ableton arrangement view:

Cue point name	Effect
Song Title	Creates a song entry
[Song Title]	Creates a song entry (bracket notation)
> Verse	Section within the current song
> Chorus	Another section
[NEXTMARKER]	Real starting point of the song — jumping to the song jumps here instead, skipping lead-in silence
[STOP] or --- STOP ---	Auto-stop marker (pauses playback)
// comment	Ignored

Example arrangement:

0:00  Intro
0:08  [NEXTMARKER]      ← song actually starts here; jumping skips the 8s of lead-in silence
1:30  > Verse 1
2:30  > Chorus
4:00  [STOP]
4:05  Second Song
4:05  > Drop
6:00  [STOP]

After editing cue points in Ableton, click the ↺ button in LiveControl to reload.

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API Reference

All endpoints return { ok: true, ... } or { ok: false, error: "..." }.

Transport

Method	Path	Body	Description
POST	/api/play	—	Start playback
POST	/api/stop	—	Stop playback
POST	/api/continue	—	Continue from current position
POST	/api/next-cue	—	Jump to next cue point
POST	/api/prev-cue	—	Jump to previous cue point
POST	/api/tempo	{ bpm: 120 }	Set tempo

Setlist

Method	Path	Body	Description
GET	/api/state	—	Full current state
POST	/api/reload	—	Re-read cue points from Ableton
POST	/api/jump/song/:id	—	Jump to song
POST	/api/jump/section/:songId/:sectionId	—	Jump to section
POST	/api/setlist/reorder	{ order: [id, ...] }	Reorder songs

Song metadata

Method	Path	Body	Description
POST	/api/song/:id/notes	{ notes: "..." }	Save notes
POST	/api/song/:id/color	{ color: "red" }	Set color
POST	/api/song/:id/exclude	{ excluded: true }	Skip song in setlist

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Configuration

Set the PORT environment variable to change the port (default: 3000):

PORT=8080 npm start

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Architecture

Ableton Live
   ↕ UDP (localhost only)
ableton-js MIDI script
   ↕
Node.js server (server.js)
   ├── Express HTTP → serves static files + REST API
   └── WebSocket → real-time state push to browsers

Browser (any device on local network)
   ├── Fetches UI from http://[server-ip]:3000
   └── WebSocket connection for live updates

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Tech stack

• ableton-js — Ableton Live bridge (MIT)
• express — HTTP server
• ws — WebSocket server
• Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS frontend (no build step)