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ALS Export

The --export-als flag generates an Ableton Live Set (.als file) from processed stems and cleaned MIDI.

How it works

  1. Starts from a shipped Ableton-authored internal reference set
  2. Writes the detected project tempo into the set
  3. Rebuilds arrangement clips against canonical track names
  4. Retargets audio clip file references to processed stem files
  5. Rebuilds MIDI clips from cleaned MIDI files
  6. Prunes unused managed tracks for the current project

Important constraints

  • ALS export must work from shipped internal templates only.
  • User-authored .als files in a project directory are for reverse-engineering and debugging only. They are not used at runtime.
  • Audio clips must live on AudioTracks and MIDI clips must live on MidiTracks.
  • Processed filenames and exported track names are standardized by stem type, not copied through from raw Suno source filenames.

Current managed track layout

The shipped reference currently supports these canonical lanes:

Track Type
Drums AudioTrack
Bass AudioTrack
Synth AudioTrack
Other AudioTrack
MIDI Drums MidiTrack
MIDI Bass MidiTrack
MIDI Synth MidiTrack
MIDI FX MidiTrack
MIDI (Song) MidiTrack

Unused managed tracks are removed from the final export.

Tempo formatting

Tempo is written using Ableton-style fixed precision such as 144.230769 instead of long Python float strings like 144.23076923076923.

Ableton version targeting

By default, exports target Ableton Live 12. Use --ableton-version 11 or --ableton-version 10 to target an older version.

Live 12 and Live 11 each use their own native template, so no XML downgrading is needed.

Live 10 is derived from the Live 11 template, because Live 10 cannot open a Live 11 set unchanged. Targeting it applies three conversions:

  • The version header is rewritten to the Live 10 schema.
  • Elements introduced in Live 11 are removed: comping take lanes (TakeLanes/TakeId), linked-track groups, clip key/scale metadata, and MPE data.
  • Sample references are converted from the Live 11 string-path form back to the Live 10 element form (HasRelativePath / RelativePathElement / Name). The export directory is also marked as a Live project root so those project-relative paths resolve.

Usage

During processing

1
uv run suno-to-ableton process /path/to/my-song --export-als

For Ableton 11 or 10

1
uv run suno-to-ableton export-als /path/to/my-song --ableton-version 11

1
uv run suno-to-ableton export-als /path/to/my-song --ableton-version 10

From already-processed output

1
uv run suno-to-ableton export-als /path/to/my-song

With a custom template

1
uv run suno-to-ableton process /path/to/my-song --export-als --als-template /path/to/MyTemplate.als

Output

The generated .als file is written to the processed/ directory. Open it directly in Ableton Live.

Experimental

ALS export is still experimental. If you change the shipped reference/template structure, validate the regenerated .als in Live and inspect the exported XML, not just unit tests.