Ableton Link
Sync tempo, beat, and phase with Ableton Live and other Link-enabled apps on the local network.
What it does
Ableton Link joins the Link session that Ableton Live and other Link-enabled apps share over the local network, and outputs the synced BPM, the running beat count, the phase (a 0–1 position within each cycle), the peer count, and whether the shared transport is playing.
Quantum sets how many beats make up one cycle, so Phase lines up with the musical bar: 4 for 4/4 time, 3 for 3/4.
When to use it
Visuals, lights or motion locked to a live musical tempo instead of a fixed frame rate
A set running alongside Ableton Live or another Link app, following its tempo changes with no manual BPM entry
A per-cycle pulse for a beat-synced loop or trigger: Phase resets to 0 at the start of every bar
| Parameter | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
enabled | Boolean | true |
quantum | Number | 4 |
Gotchas
Link works over the local network and only finds peers running a Link-enabled app on the same network. If Peers reads 0, check that the other app has Link switched on and is on the same network.
Quantum should match the time signature of the session being synced to, 3 for a waltz and 4 for standard 4/4, so Phase and Beat land on the actual bar boundaries instead of drifting against them.
Turning Enabled off drops out of the Link session entirely and stops peer discovery, so other Link apps see one fewer participant until it is switched back on.
Worked example
Add an Ableton Link node and leave Enabled on. It joins the Link session on your network automatically.
Set Quantum to match your track's time signature (4 for 4/4).
Wire Phase into something that should pulse once per bar, or wire BPM into a node that needs the live tempo.
Open Ableton Live (or another Link app) on the same network and start playback. Peers shows at least 1, and BPM/Beat/Phase track the session live.