For Ableton Live users

Using Chord Dock with Ableton Live

Add a chord-track-style workflow to Ableton Live. Create and edit chord progressions on a timeline, keep the whole song in view, and hand the MIDI off to your instruments when you are ready.

Timeline chord editing Whole-song view MIDI drag or routing Lite available

Ableton Live Routing Video

Ableton Live Routing (EN)

Two practical ways to use it in Live

1. Sketch, then drag the MIDI

This is the fastest way to evaluate Chord Dock. Build a progression, select the events you want, and drag the exported MIDI into a clip or arrangement lane in Live. From there, keep editing inside Live as usual.

2. Keep an instrument listening

If you prefer to hear your actual instrument while adjusting harmony, set up Live so the target instrument track listens to Chord Dock's MIDI. The exact clicks depend on your template, but the idea stays simple: Chord Dock plans the harmony, Live plays the sound you care about.

A simple first session in Live

Step 1

Insert Chord Dock

Load Chord Dock on a track or slot that makes sense in your Live set and build a short progression first.

Step 2

Shape the progression

Set section lengths, compare a few harmonic directions, and make sure the whole-song structure feels right before you commit to detailed note editing.

Step 3

Hand the MIDI to Live

Either drag the progression out as MIDI or keep it routed to the instrument track you want to hear while working.

Step 4

Go deeper only if needed

Lite is enough to verify the workflow. When you want faster variation work, Extended adds Reharmo, Arpeggio / Bassline, tensions, and slash chords without changing the basic loop.

Who this page is for

  • Ableton users who want to keep the harmonic plan visible across the whole song.
  • Songwriters who would rather compare chord variants first and write detailed MIDI notes second.
  • Producers who want a faster way to move from progression sketch to usable MIDI inside Live.

If that sounds right, the safest first test is a short Lite session: make one progression, move it into Live, and judge the workflow from the result instead of from feature lists.

Start with the shortest path

Download Lite, build a four- or eight-bar progression, and either drag it into Live or keep an instrument listening while you edit. If the arrangement view feels clearer that way, the page has already done its job.