Mix Templates

The shared skeleton: groups, returns, utility tracks

Every genre template starts from this. Build it once, save as default, then branch.

1. Create the groups with Cmd+G on one empty MIDI track each; name them in caps. Groups in caps, tracks in title case, returns prefixed with a letter: this is what Push shows.
2. SC KICK: a MIDI track with a Drum Rack holding one clicky kick sample, Audio To set to Sends Only, no sends up. Inaudible, but every sidechain detector points here.
3. RESAMPLE: audio track, Audio From Resampling, Monitor Off, Arm it when needed. See Resampling workflow.
4. Returns A–F (next technique). Every return gets EQ Eight first with HP 150–250 Hz, then Utility last with Width at 100% so you can narrow a return without opening its effects.
5. Master: the mix-bus rack from Mix bus rack loaded but deactivated, plus Spectrum. Activate at mastering time only.
6. Set the master to 0 dB, every fader to 0, and save as default Set. Also save a copy as a Template (browser > Templates) per genre.

The return/send map

Six returns cover every genre here; the genre decides their contents. Letters stay constant across templates so muscle memory and Push mappings transfer.

Techno template

Drums are the song. The template puts the most routing around the kick and the drum group, and keeps everything else lean.

1. Tracks: Kick (Operator or Drum Sampler), Rumble (a sidechained reverb return printed to its own track), Hats, Perc 1–3, Sub (Operator sine), Bass (Analog/Drift), Stab (Dub chord rack), Texture, FX.
2. SUB group: Utility Bass Mono 120 Hz, Compressor with sidechain from SC KICK, ratio 4:1, attack 1 ms, release 80 ms. One device chain, saved on the group.
3. MUSIC group: Compressor sidechain from SC KICK at a gentler setting (2:1, release 150 ms), then Saturator Soft Sine 2 dB.
4. Rumble track: audio track receiving Return B pre-fader, with Auto Filter LP 150 Hz and a Gate keyed by SC KICK. This is the classic techno rumble as a track rather than a send, so you can arrange it.
5. Colours: drums red/orange, sub purple, bass blue, music green, FX grey, returns yellow, utility tracks white.

Dubstep / bass template

Bass needs the most structure: separate sub, mid-bass and bass-FX groups, each with its own sidechain depth, plus a resample track permanently armed.

1. MID BASS group chain: EQ Eight HP 90 Hz 24 dB/oct (the sub group owns everything below), Multiband Dynamics in upward+downward "OTT" style (Amount 40%), Compressor sidechain SC KICK 3:1 fast, Utility Width 100%.
2. SUB group: as techno but with a Saturator Soft Sine 1 dB (sub harmonics for small speakers) and Glue at 2:1 slow for level consistency across notes.
3. Snare gets its own return send to A at 25% by default, kick gets none. Drag the configured track into the User Library to save it as a track preset; its devices, sends and colour come back when you drag it into a new set.
4. MIDI track "BASS MIDI" with no instrument, routed via MIDI To to each bass track, so one clip drives all bass layers. Useful for the layered growls described in Wobble & growl bass.
5. Return D becomes a Grain Delay/Shifter pitch-up for tails; dub delay moves to return C.

Trip-hop / dub template

Returns are instruments here. The template gives the dub network four interacting returns and a performance rack that mutes/un-mutes sends on Push, because dub mixing is done with sends, not faders.

1. Tracks: Drum break (Simpler slice), Kick layer, Sub (Analog), Bass (Electric or sampled), Rhodes (Electric), Skank (Dub chord rack), Vox/sample, Melodica/lead, Texture (vinyl noise).
2. Returns: A spring (Hybrid Reverb Convolution with a spring IR), B hall (Dark Hall 3 s, LP 3 kHz), C tape echo (Echo with Noise and Wobble, LP 2.5 kHz), D dub feedback (self-send 55%). Return C sends to D at 20% and D to B at 15%: a small network.
3. DRUMS group: Vinyl Distortion, Drum Buss Damp 30% (tape dulling), Glue 2:1 slow, Compressor sidechain from SC KICK only for the break at 2 dB (keeps the kick clear without sounding pumped).
4. Colour: warm palette, drums brown/orange, returns in four shades of yellow so the dub network reads at a glance on Push.
5. Global: Live's swing on the groove pool (MPC 16 swing 58%) applied to all drum clips by default via a stored Groove.

DnB template

Fast tempo, dense drums, bass split. The template leans on parallel drum compression and a dedicated break-processing group.

1. BREAKS group chain: EQ Eight HP 60 Hz, Redux (12-bit, downsample 2x) at Dry/Wet 30% for jungle grit, Compressor 4:1 attack 10 ms to bring up ghost notes, Send E (parallel comp) at 40% by default.
2. KICK/SNARE group: Drum Buss Transients +15, Saturator Analog Clip +3 dB, EQ Eight bell 200 Hz +2 for kick body.
3. DRUMS parent: Glue 4:1 attack 1 ms release 0.1 s, 2–3 dB GR for DnB density; it hits the parent, not the breaks, so the break's ghost notes are not buried.
4. REESE/MID group: Multiband Dynamics (3 bands, mid band compressed hardest), Roar Multiband routing, sidechain Compressor SC KICK with a 2-step envelope: use a Gate keyed by SC SNARE for the snare duck too.
5. Session scenes at 174 BPM: name scenes with the tempo ("Intro 174bpm") so a scene launch sets tempo.

House / tech house template

Fewer tracks, more groove tools. The template foregrounds the groove pool, swing, and a sidechain with a slower release for the pumping chords.

1. Default groove on all drum clips: Groove pool with MPC 16 swing 55%, Timing 100%, Random 5%. Hats get a second groove at 62%.
2. CHORDS group: Compressor sidechain SC KICK, ratio 2:1, attack 1 ms, release 250 ms (just under the 8th note at 125 BPM = 240 ms), 3–4 dB GR. Then Chorus-Ensemble light, EQ Eight HP 180 Hz.
3. VOX group: Auto Shift (12.1) with the set's Scale, Compressor 3:1, sends to A (short space) 15% and C (sync delay) 10%.
4. Return F: Utility Width 120% with Mid/Side mode and EQ Eight in M/S mode boosting side 8 kHz +2 dB; a "width send" for hats and chords.

CPU strategy inside the template

Live 12 is efficient but Hybrid Reverb convolution, Spectral devices, Meld and Granulator III add up. The template decides where CPU goes before you hit the wall.

1. Reverbs only on returns. Six Hybrid Reverbs on six tracks is six convolutions; two on returns is two.
2. Buffer size 128 samples while playing in, 512 while mixing (Preferences > Audio). The template's "MIX" scene has no armed tracks so you can raise the buffer without losing latency feel.
3. Freeze (right-click > Freeze Track) any track whose sound is done. Frozen tracks still allow fader, sends, and clip moves. Flatten only when you need to edit audio.
4. Live 12.2 Bounce in Place and 12.3 Bounce Group render a selection (or a whole group) to audio on a new track and keep the original deactivated. Use for finished bass layers; it also lets you resample through the group chain in one move.
5. Deactivate (not delete) devices on muted tracks; deactivated devices cost nothing. Live's CPU meter counts the worst-performing thread, so a single heavy serial chain (Meld > Roar > Hybrid Reverb > Spectral Time) hurts more than four light tracks.
6. Spectral Time, Spectral Resonator and Granulator III belong on resample passes, not live chains, unless they are being performed.

Session vs Arrangement workflow in the template

The template supports both: Session for idea generation with named scene slots, Arrangement with locators pre-placed for a standard structure.

1. Session: scenes 1–8 named Intro / Build / Drop / Break / Drop 2 / Outro / Jam A / Jam B. Empty clip slots with Stop buttons removed on the SC KICK and RESAMPLE tracks so scene launches do not stop them.
2. Arrangement: locators as above. Loop brace set to Drop 1 so pressing play lands on the drop.
3. Record Session into Arrangement with the global record button; then Back to Arrangement. Clip modulation lanes carry across.
4. Use Capture MIDI constantly; it works whether or not you are recording and whether you are in Session or Arrangement.

Browser tags and Quick Tags for your sound library

Live 12's browser has Tags: filters you assign to any item (presets, samples, racks, Max devices) and combine with Sounds/Drums/Instruments/Effects categories. Live 12.2 made assigning tags faster with Quick Tags in the browser's tag panel, so a library can be tagged in a session instead of a weekend.

1. Define your own tag groups (Preferences or the tag editor in the browser): Genre (techno, dub, dnb…), Role (sub, mid, kick, perc, pad, fx), Energy (soft, mid, hard), Source (resample, modular, td3, field).
2. Tag racks as you save them: every rack from this site saved into User Library gets Role + Genre tags. Filters then let you say "Role: sub + Genre: dubstep" and get three results, not three hundred.
3. Tag resampled audio on import. The RESAMPLE track's recordings end up in the project's Samples/Recorded folder; drag the keepers to a User Library "Resampled" folder and tag them Source: resample plus a role.
4. Similar-sound search (Live 12's audio similarity search on samples) works across tagged and untagged items; tagging narrows the pool.
5. Save the browser's filter combinations you use most as Collections (the colour labels) for one-click access: red = kicks, orange = perc, yellow = returns, purple = bass racks.