The Fancy Beat-Sync Thingy

Ableton Link keeps OnSong's tempo & beat locked in step with Ableton Live & other Link-enabled apps & devices on the same Wi-Fi network. ZOMG, no pairing, no cables—apps on the network just vibe together & join a shared session like magic. Once y'all are vibin', everything in the OnSong^® app that lives off the beat clock — the metronome, the drum machine, tempo-synced delays, arpeggios — is all countin' the same beat as every other person in the room. Srsly, it's like y'all are finally on the same page. Finally.

Turn This Puppy On

Ableton Link hangs out in Stuff & Things ▸ MIDI ▸ Ableton Link. The screen's got three bits:

• Ableton Link — the on/off clicky-thing, straight from Ableton's own pad. It tells you how many apps are in your lil' session once you're actually connected.
• Sync Mode — how OnSong's tempo vibes with everyone else's. Peep below, amirite.
• Status — what's actually happenin' with your connection like Vibin' Together when there's at least one other app, Waitin' for Friends… while Ableton Link is on but lonesome, & Ghost Mode when it's not runnin'.

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

Sync Mode (or: "Who's In Charge Here?")

Ableton Link itself is leaderless — there is NO master, & literally anyone can yeet the shared tempo. Sync Mode is OnSong's own take on that whole mess:

• Both — your tempo flows both ways. Crank it in the OnSong^® app & everyone feels it, & if someone else nudges the session, OnSong adapts. The default, & tru peer-to-peer vibes.
• Lead — OnSong^® app owns the tempo & shoves it at everyone else. If a peer tries to change it, OnSong's like "nah fam, this is the beat." Use this when OnSong^® is literally runnin' the whole show & the band's just followin' along.
• Follow — OnSong^® app shuts up about tempo & just goes with whatever the session's doin'. Use this when someone else is the tempo boss & OnSong's just a passenger on the hype train.

The mode sticks around after you disconnect, so a rig set to Follow stays that way next week. Plot twist: you forgot you changed it.

What Gets Weird While Y'all Are Connected

• The shared timeline IS the clock. A Link session keeps OnSong's beat clock pumpin' even when nothin' local is playin', which is why beat-sync LEDs start blinkin' the second you connect.
• Tempo changes are contagious. In Both or Lead, change OnSong's tempo — by tappin' it, loading a song with its own tempo, or a section's {tempo:} — & boom, the whole session feels it.
• In Follow, the song's tempo gets ghosted in favor of the session's vibes. Like, that's literally the whole point of the mode, but heads up: you open a chart & the metronome isn't playin' what's written on the page.

The Fine Print (aka Requirements)

• Every device gotta be on the same Wi-Fi network, & that network's gotta let devices actually see each other. Guest networks & venue networks? They block that on purpose, which is why your session never finds a friend.
• No internet needed — Link works on a local network with zero router uplink, which makes an isolated travel router a total lifesaver for a stage rig.
• Link is peer-to-peer, so there's no "host" device you gotta start first. Any order, any time, no drama.

If Status is stuck on Waitin' for Friends… & another Link app is clearly runnin', it's like 99% the network's fault, not the apps. Throw both devices on the same access point — or spin up an ad-hoc one you control — before you start screamin' at the code.