Features

Producer Pal provides AI-powered tools for music production in Ableton Live. Simply ask the AI what you want to do, and it will use these tools to help you create.

Connection & Setup

Connect (ppal-connect)

• Guides AI to call this when you say things like "connect to ableton"
• Connects to Ableton Live and verifies everything is working
• Shows Live Set name, tempo, and basic info
• Provides project notes if enabled
• Provides the AI a Producer Pal skill set suitable to the language model's size (a "small model mode" exists with a simplified interface for local models)

Built-in Chat UI

• Control Producer Pal with its built-in text-based interface
• Compatible with Google Gemini and OpenAI-compatible online services (Mistral, OpenRouter, etc)
• Compatible with local SLMs (LM Studio, Ollama)

Network Control

• Control Ableton Live on another computer on your network for collaborative production and remote control workflows

Transport & Playback

Transport Control (ppal-playback)

• Start/stop playback in Session or Arrangement view
• Play specific scenes or clips
• Set loop points and playback position
• Jump to arrangement locators by ID or name
• Set loop start/end using locators
• Control which tracks follow the Arrangement
• Stop all clips or specific track clips

Live Set Management

Read Live Set (ppal-read-live-set)

• Get complete Live project overview
• View all tracks, scenes, and clips at once
• See tempo, time signature, and scale settings
• View arrangement locators with times and names
• Check what's playing and track states

Update Live Set (ppal-update-live-set)

• Change tempo
• Set time signature
• Set scale
• Create, rename, or delete arrangement locators

Scene Operations

Create Scene (ppal-create-scene)

• Add new scenes at any position
• Set scene name, color, tempo, and time signature
• Scenes can follow song tempo or have their own
• Ability to capture currently playing clips into a new scene

Read Scene (ppal-read-scene)

• View scene details and all its clips
• Check which clips are playing/triggered
• See scene tempo and time signature

Update Scene (ppal-update-scene)

• Rename scenes and change colors
• Modify scene tempo and time signature
• Bulk update multiple scenes at once
• Enable/disable scene-specific tempo

Track Management

Create Track (ppal-create-track)

• Add MIDI, audio, or return tracks
• Position tracks exactly where you want
• Set initial mute/solo/arm states

Read Track (ppal-read-track)

• Get detailed track information
• View all clips in Session and Arrangement
• See devices, routing options, and drum pad mappings
• Check track states (muted, soloed, armed)
• View mixer properties: gain, pan, panning mode, and send levels

Update Track (ppal-update-track)

• Rename tracks and change colors
• Control mute/solo/arm states
• Configure input/output routing
• Set monitoring modes
• Adjust track gain (volume) and panning
• Configure stereo or split panning mode
• Set send levels to return tracks
• Bulk update multiple tracks

Device Management

Create Device (ppal-create-device)

• Add native Live devices (instruments, MIDI effects, audio effects)
• Place devices on any track type: MIDI, audio, return, or master
• Position devices at a specific index in the device chain
• Create devices inside rack chains or drum pads using path notation
• List the native Live devices

Read Device (ppal-read-device)

• Get detailed information about a device by ID or path
• View device chains, return chains, and drum pad chains
• List parameter names or full parameter details with values
• Search parameters by name substring
• View macro variation info for rack devices (count and selected index)
• View macro count and mapping status for rack devices
• View A/B Compare state for supported devices

Update Device (ppal-update-device)

• Change device display names
• Collapse or expand device view in Live's UI
• Modify device parameters by value or display string
• Bulk update multiple devices at once
• Move devices between tracks or into rack chains
• Wrap effect devices in a new rack (auto-detects rack type)
• Rack macro variations: store, recall, delete, or randomize macro settings
• Select macro variation by index for recall or delete operations
• Set visible macro count on rack devices (adds/removes macros)
• A/B Compare: switch between presets or save current state to other slot
• Chain properties: mute, solo, color
• Drum pad properties: mute, solo
• Drum chain settings: choke group (0-16), mapped pitch (output MIDI note)
• Move drum chains between pads

Clip Creation & Editing

Create Clip (ppal-create-clip)

• Generate MIDI clips with notes, velocities, and timing
• Place clips in Session slots or Arrangement timeline
• Support for probability, velocity ranges, and complex rhythms
• Auto-create scenes as needed

Read Clip (ppal-read-clip)

• View clip properties and MIDI notes
• See notes in musical notation (C3, D#4, etc.)
• Check loop settings and time signatures
• Works with Session and Arrangement clips
• Audio clip properties: gain, pitch shift, sample info (rate, length, sampleFile)
• Audio warp settings: mode (beats, tones, texture, repitch, complex, pro), enabled/disabled state, warp marker positions

Update Clip (ppal-update-clip)

• Edit MIDI notes and timing
• Modify velocities and probability
• Change clip names and colors
• Adjust loop settings
• Update or merge note patterns
• Bulk edit multiple clips
• Audio clip modifications: gain (-70 to +24 dB), pitch shift (-48 to +48 semitones, supports decimals), warping on/off, warp mode
• Warp marker operations: add markers at specific beat/sample positions, move markers by beat distance, remove markers
• Arrangement clip positioning: move clips to different bar|beat positions in the timeline
• Arrangement clip length: shorten clips, extend to reveal hidden content, or tile/loop clips to fill longer durations
• Slicing technique: reduce then extend clip length to create separate segments

Sample Browser

Read Samples (ppal-read-samples)

• List audio files from configured sample folder
• Supports WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG, MP3, and M4A formats
• Search by filename or path substring
• Returns paths for use in audio clip creation
• Requires sample folder to be configured in the Producer Pal device Setup tab

Custom Music Notation

Producer Pal uses a text-based music notation syntax called bar|beat to work with MIDI clips. It helps LLMs translate natural language expressions of time to the correct time positions in Ableton Live clips and the arrangement timeline.

• Pitches: Standard notation (C3 = middle C, F#4, Bb2, etc.)
• Time positions: bar|beat format (1|1 = first beat, 2|3 = bar 2, beat 3)
• Durations: bar:beat format (4:0 = 4 bars, 1:2 = 1 bar + 2 beats)
• Velocity: Values from 1-127 (or ranges like 80-100)
• Probability: 0.0 to 1.0 (1.0 = always plays)
• Bar copying: Copy bars with @2=1 (bar 1→2), ranges with @2-8=1 (bar 1→bars 2-8), or tile patterns with @3-10=1-2 (repeat 2-bar pattern across bars 3-10)
• Comments: Include commentary using // for single lines, # for inline, or /* */ for blocks

Object Management

Duplicate (ppal-duplicate)

• Copy tracks, scenes, or clips
• Duplicate to Session or Arrangement
• Duplicate session clips to specific clip slots (any track, any scene)
• Duplicate to Arrangement at specific bar|beat positions
• Duplicate to Arrangement at locator positions by ID or name (e.g., "copy that scene to the second chorus")
• Set arrangement length when duplicating: extend and tile/loop clips to fill longer durations automatically
• Create multiple copies at once (placed sequentially)
• Track routing options allow layering multiple MIDI clips on a single instrument

Delete (ppal-delete)

• Remove tracks, scenes, clips, or devices
• Bulk delete multiple objects

Transform Clips (ppal-transform-clips)

• Slice clips into repeating segments at specified intervals
• Shuffle arrangement clip positions randomly
• Randomize audio clip gain offsets
• Randomize transpose for audio and MIDI clips
• Randomize MIDI note velocity and duration
• Adjust velocity range and probability offsets
• Use seed values for reproducible randomization

Selection State and View Control

Select (ppal-select)

• Read current selection and view state (when no arguments)
  • See selected track, scene, clip, and device
  • Check what's currently visible in Live
• Update selection and view state (when arguments provided)
  • Select specific tracks, scenes, or clips
  • Switch between Session and Arrangement views
  • Show/hide browser and detail views
  • Focus on devices or clip details

Project Notes

Memory (ppal-memory)

• Store project-specific notes and context
• Help Producer Pal understand your project goals
• AI can read and update notes (when enabled)
• Notes are saved with your Live project and persist across AI conversations