Ableton Quick Mix

Ableton Quick Mix

Apply a sensible starting balance across the Set's tracks — volumes, pans, and sends — via the mixer parameters (track.mixer.volume / panning / sends, all DeviceParameters with get/set). Not a mastering pass; a clean, musical starting point so the arrangement is immediately listenable.

When to use

Triggers: "rough mix", "balance levels", "set volumes/pans", "set up sends". For per-track tone use ableton-tone-recipes / ableton-fx-chain.

Process

1. Use ableton-live-runner for build/run/kill + scaffold.
2. Enumerate tracks (song.tracks) and classify by name/role (drums, bass, keys, lead, pad…).
3. Read each control's range first (param.min/param.max/getValue) — volume is not dB

0–1; discover the scale, then set relative to it. Don't hardcode blind.

1. Apply a balance by role (guidelines below): set mixer.volume, pan complementary parts

apart, keep bass/kick/lead centered, route reverb-heavy parts to a return via sends.

1. Leave headroom — aim for a peaky-but-not-clipping balance; the user mixes finer by ear after.

Balance guidelines

| Role | Level | Pan | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | Kick / bass | reference (loudest core) | center | the foundation; don't bury | | Snare/clap | just under kick | center / slight | backbeat presence | | Hats/percussion | quieter | spread L/R | width without clutter | | Chords/keys | mid | slightly off-center | leave room for lead | | Lead/vocal | sits on top, clear | center | the focal point | | Pad/texture | low, supportive | wide | glue, not foreground |

Code pattern

async function setRelative(param, frac) {           // frac 0..1 across the param's range
  await param.setValue(param.min + (param.max - param.min) * frac);
}
for (const t of song.tracks) {
  const m = t.mixer, n = t.name.toLowerCase();
  if (/bass|kick|drum/.test(n))      { await setRelative(m.volume, 0.82); await m.panning.setValue((m.panning.min+m.panning.max)/2); }
  else if (/lead|vocal|whistle/.test(n)) await setRelative(m.volume, 0.78);
  else if (/pad|texture/.test(n))    await setRelative(m.volume, 0.55);
  else                                await setRelative(m.volume, 0.7);
}

Limits

• No automation → this is a static balance, not moves over time.
• Sends require return tracks to already exist (song.returnTracks) — the SDK cannot create a

return. Guard the call (m.sends[0]?.setValue(...)) and skip the send step if there are no returns, rather than silently no-op.

• Role classification relies on descriptive track names (which the producer skills set via makeTrack).

See ableton-fx-chain, ableton-tone-recipes.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Korben00
• Source: Korben00/ableton-producer-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.