How do I build an Ableton set for a service or a show from MultiTracks or Loop Community stems?

The short answer

Keep each song's stems in its own folder on your Mac (or a drive), named after the song. Plan2Live, a Mac app, then builds the Ableton Live set for the service or the show: it matches each song in your setlist to its folder, puts each stem on a track by its file name, and lays the songs out in order, each with its own key, tempo and time signature.

Plan2Live doesn't sell or supply stems. It reads the folder name and the file names, wherever your stems came from, so those are what to check.

Mac only (macOS 14.6 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel) · Ableton Live Standard or Suite

How Plan2Live does it

Name each song's folder after the song

Use one folder per song. Song Title - Key - BPM works best, but only the title is needed. The title is what the app matches, so spell it the way your setlist does. Upper or lower case and accents don't matter.

  • The key and BPM are optional. They help the app pick the right folder when you keep the same song in more than one folder, for example in two keys.
  • Parentheses and brackets are fine. The app ignores what's inside them when it matches the title, and it reads a key written there, like (Key of G) or [A].
  • A track number at the start (01 - ) and words like "stems" or "multitracks" at the end are ignored too.
  • If the app isn't sure which folder belongs to a song, it asks you.

How each file finds its track

Plan2Live puts each file on a track by its file name. For example:

  • Drums, Kit: Drums. Perc, Percussion, Shaker, Tambourine: Perc. Loop, Drum Loop, Beat: Loop.
  • Bass: Bass. Synth Bass, Sub: Synth Bass.
  • EG1, Electric 1, Guitar 1: EG 1, EG 2 and so on. Keys 1, Synth 1, Pad 1: Keys 1, Keys 2 and so on.
  • Piano, Rhodes, Wurlitzer: Piano. Organ, B3, Hammond: Organ. FX, SFX: Synth FX.
  • BGV, BV, Harmony, Backing Vocals: BGVs.
  • Click, Click Track, Metronome: Click. Guide, Cues, Guide Vocal: Guide.

When a name is unclear

A stem that doesn't fit any of these gets its own new track, named after the file. If a file could go on more than one track, or its name is unclear (for example "Drums & Percussion"), Plan2Live asks: Review Stem Matches shows every file and the track it goes on, and you choose.

Stems in another key

If the stems folder's name has a key and the song in your set is in a different key, Plan2Live transposes the stems to the set's key, the shortest way, up to 6 semitones up or down. Drums, percussion, loops, the click and the Guide are never transposed.

What the finished set looks like

The songs sit one after another in Arrangement View, in your set's order. Each song has its own block of tracks, with Click and Guide in a Cues group, and section markers, named from its Guide's spoken cues when it has them. Every stem the set uses is copied into the project folder, and your original folders aren't changed.

What it doesn't do

  • It doesn't sell or supply stems. It uses the stems you already have.
  • It matches stems by folder name and file name, not by where you bought them.
  • MultiTracks and Loop Community are other companies. Plan2Live isn't made by or affiliated with them.
  • Use Ableton Live Standard or Suite. Live Intro and Lite allow too few tracks for the built-in template.
  • The built-in template doesn't make a click. If you want a click, bring a click stem.

Read more in the manual