6. Connecting with Live
Apollo Studio is designed to work alongside Ableton Live. Live provides the audio feedback while Apollo provides the light effect feedback for your cover. Although the two can work completely independently of each other, they can also connect to unlock extra integration features. While all Live versions are supported independently, to use these features you will need to own a copy of Ableton Live with Max for Live support.
The Apollo Connector Max for Live device can be found in the M4L folder of your Apollo Studio installation. The purpose of this device is to connect to Apollo Studio. It should be placed at the start of each of your samples tracks in Live.
Immediately upon launch, Apollo Studio opens a network port for Live to communicate with Apollo on. This is why only a single instance of Apollo is permitted at all times. The Apollo Connector device connects to this network port, and displays itself as a Launchpad called "Ableton Connector".
In the Preferences, you're able to map an output Launchpad for the Connector. When using it as the output Launchpad of a track, input is received from the Ableton Live chain through the connector into the Apollo track and output is redirected to the specified output Launchpad directly. Note that the Connector state does not save, and must be readjusted every time Apollo Studio is launched.
In case of a disconnect, an Apollo Connector can reconnect to Apollo using the Reconnect button in the top-left corner of the device.
The most important feature the Connector unlocks is the ability to receive input from Ableton Live's arrangement view. Playing MIDI clips (usually used for tutorials) to the Samples track now feeds the input into the Apollo Connector, which causes Apollo to display the light effects properly. The Mute button which controls whether notes will be sent to Apollo Studio. This is useful while exporting audio in Ableton Live, so as to not send lots of notes instantly to Apollo Studio.
Another benefit is the ability for Live to receive input from Apollo's Launchpad pop-out window. By popping out the Launchpad preview window of the Apollo Connector, it's possible to click the on-screen buttons to send input to the Samples track in Live.
The final feature is the ability to sync Live's BPM to Apollo, allowing for songs with BPM changes to be automated live during the performance with Apollo following Live's BPM value. There is no additional setup required to utilize this feature.