The Fancy Beat Sync Thingy

Ableton Link keeps OnSong's tempo & beat vibin' in sync with Ableton Live & other Link-enabled apps & devices on the same Wi-Fi network. Plot twist: there's nothing to pair & no cables needed. Apps just... find each other on the network & yeet themselves into a shared session automatically. Once y'all are in a session, everything in the OnSong^® app that follows the beat clock — the metronome, the drum machine, tempo-synced delays, arpeggios — is countin' the same beat as literally everyone else in the room. ZOMG, teamwork.

Turnin' It On

Ableton Link lives in Settings ▸ MIDI ▸ Ableton Link. The screen has three parts (shocking, we know):

• Ableton Link — the switch itself, hangin' on Ableton's own panel. It tells ya how many apps crashed into the session once you're connected.
• Sync Mode — how OnSong's tempo vibes with everyone else's. Peep below.
• Status — the current drama of the connection, like Connected when there's at least one other app tryna jam, Searchin'… while Ableton Link is on but lonely, & Off when it's literally nappin'.

You can also snag it from the AuxDock by toggle Beat Sync on any panel & the chip that pops up offers Ableton Link… as a shortcut. Wow, so convenient.

Sync Mode

Ableton Link itself is leaderless — there is no master, & literally anyone can change the shared tempo. Sync Mode is OnSong's own drama policy about that:

• Both — shares the tempo both ways like a freakin' friendship bracelet. Changing tempo in the OnSong^® app changes it for everyone, & if someone else nudges it, we adopt that too. The default, & totes peer-to-peer vibes.
• Lead — OnSong^® app is the bossy friend who tells everyone else what tempo to play. If a peer tries to change it, OnSong re-asserts dominance & takes back control. Use this when the OnSong^® app is the definitive beat drivin' your whole band's face.
• Follow — OnSong^® app shuts up & just goes along with whatever the session says. Never tries to change the tempo, just nods & smiles. Use this when someone else owns the tempo & OnSong is basically a backup dancer.

The mode sticks around between disconnects, so a rig set to Follow stays that way next week. It's loyal like that.

What Changes While Y'all Are Connected

• The shared timeline runs the clock. A Link session keeps OnSong's beat clock pumpin' even when nothin' local is playin', which is why beat-sync LEDs pulse the second you connect. Plot twist: it's alive.
• Tempo changes travel. In Both or Lead, changing OnSong's tempo — by tappin' it, loadin' a song with its own tempo, or a section's {tempo:} — moves the whole session. Boom. Everyone follows.
• In Follow, the song's tempo gets ignored in favour of the session's. That's literally the whole point of the mode, but heads up if you open a chart & the metronome doesn't play at the tempo written on it. Awkward.

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 exactly that (thanks for playin'), which is why a session never finds a peer 99% of the time.
• No internet connection needed — Link works on a local network with zero router uplink, which makes an isolated travel router a straight-up reliable option for a stage. No cloud? No problem.
• Link is peer-to-peer, so there's no "host" device to start first. Any order works. Democracy in action, y'all.

If Status just sits there on Searchin'… & another Link app is clearly runnin', the network is basically always the culprit, not the apps. Put both devices on the same access point — or an ad-hoc one you control — before ya start blame-gamedin' everything else. Srsly.