Als Preview: Search and preview your Ableton Live projects

Search

Type what you remember.

A plugin, a sample, a track name, a tempo. Als Preview searches every set in your library, Live’s backups included, and shows you the projects that match.

The project list in Als Preview searched for plugin:serum bpm:120-128: 11 out of 37 projects, each with the plugin it matched, its status, tempo, length and key.

The search field in Als Preview with its filter suggestions: tempo, key, plugin, track name, sample name, Live version, status, recorded audio and collection.

Filters when you need them.

Click into the search field and pick one: bpm:120-128, key:"A Minor", plugin:serum, a track, a sample, a status or a collection.

Quick on big libraries.

Thousands of Live Sets narrow down in a fraction of a second, without opening a single one.

Always up to date.

Tempo, key, tracks, plugins and samples are read in the background. New saves show up on their own.

See the arrangement. Skip the loading screen.

Select a set and its Arrangement View is right there: track colors, clips, MIDI notes and waveforms. Live doesn’t have to open, and no plugin has to load.

A set’s arrangement in Als Preview: colored tracks and groups with clips, MIDI notes and audio waveforms.

Pinch or ⌘-scroll to zoom
Click a group to fold it
Drag a track straight into Live

Hear any set. No bouncing needed.

Put the Als Preview plugin on the Main track, and that’s it. It records whatever you play in Live and stitches the newest takes together under the arrangement, ready to play from any bar.

The bottom of an arrangement in Als Preview: the last tracks, then the Recording lane with the plugin’s takes as waveforms. Older takes are paler, newer ones solid, and the playhead runs through clips and recording at the same position.

Play in Live.

Every stretch you play is recorded in the background. No export, no bounce, no extra step.
Newest takes on top.

Play a part again and the new take replaces the old one there. Seams are crossfaded, and older takes are drawn paler.
In time with the arrangement.

Click a bar to set the start marker and press Space. The playhead runs along the clips, through tempo changes too.

One plugin, set up once.

It comes with the app, passes your audio through untouched, and gives every set:

Audio previewPlay the set from any bar.
Time trackingOpen and playing time.
Exact versionsWhich save each one came from.
Exports, foundBounces matched to their set.

Latency from devices on the Main track is compensated, and the audio is saved compressed, about 85 MB per hour. With the optional Remote Script, recording pauses while you solo a track.

Every save, in order.

Your sets, their Save As copies and Live’s backups line up in one graph. Click a save to open it, or step through them with the arrow keys.

The History card of a project with five sets saved from one another between 2024 and 2026. Dashed curves are guessed origins, the solid curve to the radio edit was recorded by the plugin.

See what changed.

Each save lists what’s different from the one before: tempo, tracks, clips, length and the plugins that came or went. With the plugin, the graph knows exactly which save a version came from.

Hear any version.

Takes belong to the version of the set they were played on. Select an older save and hear how the song sounded back then.

The Info card of a save: the tempo went from 120 to 124, two tracks and 36 clips were added, the length went from 3:20 to 3:13 and Diva was added. Detected key D# Major.

Time Tracking

Know where the hours went.

The Als Preview plugin notes how long a set is open in Live and how long it actually plays. See it for each set, each project and your whole week.

The Activity view: time in Live over the last seven days, projects worked on this week, a chart of the last four weeks and this week’s projects.

The Time Spent card: open time, playing time, last worked, sessions and a chart of the last 14 days.

Open and playing, side by side.: Open time counts while the set is loaded in Live. Playing time counts while the transport runs.
Sessions and last worked.: Every project shows when you last had it open and how many sessions it took to get where it is.
Your week on a timeline.: The Timeline view puts every project on a real time axis, from a single day to the whole year.
Stays on your Mac.: Your time is recorded locally by the plugin, which comes with the app. Nothing is uploaded.

Made for a Mac full of sessions.

Timeline

Every project on one time axis, from a single day to the years a song took. Expand one to see its versions branch off.

space

Quick Look in Finder.

Select any .als file in Finder and press Space to see its arrangement. Press ⏯ to hear the recording.

Detected Key.

Live often keeps its default key, C Major. Als Preview looks at the notes you played and detects the real one.

Spotlight and Shortcuts.

Find a project from Spotlight by name, tempo, key or plugin, and open it with Shortcuts.

Idea
In Progress
Mixing
Mastering
Finished

Status, favorites, collections, notes.

Mark where each song stands, star the ones that matter and group them into collections.

Your exports, found.

With the plugin on the Main track, every file you export shows up with its set, even after you rename or move it.

Related projects.

Spots the other projects that share samples or a song name with the one you’re looking at.

Inside Live, too.

The plugin window shows the set’s history, status and notes without leaving Live.

Coming later: making music together.

Collaboration is in the works for a future update.

Have an idea or found a bug? Write to [email protected].

Als Preview

Free to download. Try everything for 14 days, then unlock it for good with one purchase. No subscription.

For macOS 15 or later. Reads sets from Ableton Live 10, 11 and 12.

Available from 1 November 2026

Find any Live Set. Preview it without opening Live.