bafonso/pylive

Query and control Ableton Live from Python

PyLive

Introduction

PyLive is a framework for querying and controlling Ableton Live from a standalone Python script, mediated via Open Sound Control. It is effectively an interface to the Live Control Surfaces paradigm, which means it can do anything that a hardware control surface can do: querying and modifying properties of tracks, clips and devices.

Requirements

• Ableton Live 7+ with the LiveOSC MIDI Remote script
• Python 2.6+
• PyOSC

Usage

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Basic example of pylive usage: scan a Live set, trigger a clip,
# and modulate some device parameters.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------

import live, random

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Scan the set's contents and set its tempo to 110bpm.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
set = live.Set()
set.scan(scan_clip_names = True, scan_devices = True)
set.tempo = 110.0

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Each Set contains a list of Track objects.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
track = set.tracks[0]
print "track name %s" % track.name

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Each Track contains a list of Clip objects.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
clip = track.clips[0]
print "clip name %s, length %d beats" % (clip.name, clip.length)
clip.play()

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# We can determine our internal timing based on Live's timeline using
# Set.wait_for_next_beat(), and trigger clips accordingly.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
set.wait_for_next_beat()
clip.get_next_clip().play()

#------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Now let's modulate the parameters of a Device object.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------
device = track.devices[0]
parameter = random.choice(device.parameters)
parameter.value = random.uniform(parameter.minimum, parameter.maximum)

Overview

To begin interacting with an Ableton Live set, the typical workflow is as follows. Live should normally be running on localhost, with LiveOSC enabled as a Control Surface.

• Create a live.Set object.
• Call set.scan(), which queries Live for an index of tracks, clip statuses, and (optionally) clip names and devices
• Interact with Live by setting and getting properties on your Set:
• set.tempo, set.time, set.overdub are global Set properties
  • set.tracks is a list of Track objects
  • set.tracks[N].name, set.tracks[N].mute, are Track properties
  • set.tracks[N].clips is a list of Clip objects (with empty slots containing None)
  • set.tracks[N].devices is a list of Device objects
  • set.tracks[N].devices[M].parameters is a list of Parameter objects

Getters and setters use Python's @property idiom, meaning that accessing set.tempo will query or update your Live set.

If you know that no other processes will interact with Live, set set.caching = True to cache properties such as tempo. This will query the Live set on the first instance, and subsequently return locally-stored values.

For further help, see pydoc live.

Classes

• Set: Represents a single Ableton Live set in its entirety.
• Track: A single Live track object. Contains Device objects. May be a member of a Group.
• Group: A grouped set of one or more Track objects.
• Device: An instrument or audio effect residing within a Track. Contains a number of Parameters.
• Parameter: An individual control parameter of a Device, with a fixed range and variable value.