Ableton Link (Sync Your Bloopin' Tempo)

Ableton Link keeps OnSong's tempo & beat vibin' in sync with Ableton Live & other Link-enabled apps & devices on the same Wi-Fi network. Zero pairing. Zero cables. ZOMG, it's magic! Apps just... find each other & join a shared session automatically like they're besties. Once you're locked in, everything in the OnSong^® app that follows the beat clock — the metronome, the drum machine, tempo-synced delays, arpeggios — is countin' the exact same beat as everyone else in the room. Y'all are officially in sync or we're not doing our job.

Turnt It On

Ableton Link lives in Settings ▸ MIDI ▸ Ableton Link. The screen has three parts that actually matter:

• Ableton Link — the switch itself, hangin' out on Ableton's own panel. It shows how many apps are in the session once you're connected & feelin' the love.
• Sync Mode — how OnSong's tempo gets along with everyone else's. Keep readin', fam.
• Status — the current connection drama such as Connected when there's at least one peer who respects you, Searching… while Ableton Link is on but sittin' alone like a wallflower, & Off when it isn't even tryin'.

You can also snag it from the AuxDock by togglein' Beat Sync on any panel & the chip that pops up offers Ableton Link… as a shortcut. Boom.

Sync Mode

Ableton Link itself is leaderless — there is no master, no dictator, & any participant can change the shared tempo. Sync Mode is OnSong's own take on who gets to boss everyone around:

• Both — shares the tempo in both directions like actual friends. Changin' tempo in the OnSong^® app changes it for everyone, & a change made elsewhere gets adopted here too. The default, & true peer-to-peer vibes.
• Lead — OnSong^® app pushes its tempo to the peeps & if a peer tries to sneak in a tempo nudge, OnSong re-asserts dominance & takes back control. Use it when the OnSong^® app is the definitive beat drivin' the band & everyone else needs to sit down.
• Follow — never pushes the OnSong^® app's tempo, instead just vibin' with whatever the session is doin'. Use this when someone else owns the tempo & OnSong is just here for the ride, no complaints.

The mode is remembered across disconnects, so a rig set to Follow stays chill about it next week.

What Gets Weird While You're Connected

• The shared timeline runs the clock. A Link session keeps OnSong's beat clock alive even when nothin' local is playin', which is why beat-sync LEDs pulse the second you connect like "ZOMG HI!"
• Tempo changes travel far & wide. In Both or Lead, changin' OnSong's tempo — by tappin' it, loadin' a song with its own tempo, or a section's {tempo:} — moves the whole dang session.
• In Follow, the song's tempo gets ghosted in favor of the session's. That's literally the point of the mode, but heads up if you open a chart & the metronome isn't playin' at the tempo written on it. Awkward.

The Fine Print (aka Requirements)

• Every device has to be on the same Wi-Fi network, & the network has to actually let devices see each other. Guest networks & many venue networks block that on purpose, which is why your session never finds a peer. Srsly, it's almost always the network bein' a jerk.
• No internet connection needed — Link works on a local network with zero router uplink at all, which makes an isolated travel router the ultimate stage move.
• Link is peer-to-peer, so there's no "host" device that needs to start first like some kind of dictator. Any order works. Democracy FTW.

If Status is stuck on Searching… with another Link app clearly runnin' nearby, the network is like 99% the villain here, not either app. Put both devices on the same access point — or an ad-hoc one you actually control — before you waste time blamin' anything else. Totes srsly.