Help

Nearfield is a tool for Ableton Live projects. Each page here does one task. The pages use the same words as the app.

Get started

• Set up NearfieldThe first-time setup, in order.
• Install on a MacConfirm the first open on a Mac with Apple silicon.
• Install on WindowsRun the installer. Confirm the blue box if Windows shows it.
• Answer the first three questionsThe beta agreement, usage counts and crash reports.
• Choose your projects folderStep 1: the folder that holds your project folders.
• Sign in to NearfieldStep 2: make your account with the email we approved.
• Remember your projectsStep 3: Nearfield reads each project once.
• Name your mastersStep 4: the words that mark a master.
• Save your recovery codeKeep the 12 words somewhere safe.
• Remove Nearfield from a computerUninstall the app. Your music stays where it is.

The Dashboard

• The DashboardYour projects on one board, sorted by where each one is.
• Sort projects on the boardColumns, sorting, tags and your own columns.
• Use a project cardOpen a project in Live, open its page, or take a card off the board.
• Place projects that are not on the boardThe projects that have no column yet.

Projects

• ProjectsEvery project Nearfield has read, and the page for each one.
• Find a projectSearch, saved searches, views and tags.
• Open a project pageThe newest arrangement, versions, notes and tasks.
• Compare versions and add wordsWhat changed between two versions.
• Add notes and repliesNotes, replies and resolved notes.
• Find untracked workUntracked sample folders and lone Sets.

Share and work together

• Share and work togetherConnect with a person, share a project, and receive one.
• Connect with a personSwap invites once with a collaborator.
• Share a projectSend one project to a person you are connected with.
• What a share sendsThe Set, its samples, your master and bounces, the cover.
• Hand off a projectPass a project over, and get it back.
• Accept a shareTake a project someone shared with you.
• File samples that arrivedChoose which shared samples go into your library.
• Listen linksLet someone hear a bounce in a browser. Coming in an update.

Samples

• SamplesFind where a sample is used, sort your packs, and find duplicates.
• Find where a sample is usedEvery project that uses a sample name.
• Move quiet sample packs asideMove unused packs to a holding folder, and back.
• Find duplicate samplesRemove extra copies that Collect All left behind.
• Choose where Nearfield looks for samplesYour User Library and other places to look.

Fix

• FixFind samples your projects cannot find, and repair them in one go.
• Fix everything nowRepair what Nearfield can, in one run.
• Put missing samples backFind missing samples by fingerprint and repair the Set.
• Choose which file a name meansWhen two files have the name a project wants.
• Shorten sample pathsFix samples past the 260-character limit on Windows.
• Copy samples from another projectSamples that sit in another project's folder.

Plugins

• PluginsEvery plugin on this computer, and which projects use it.
• Set plugin foldersWhere Nearfield looks for your plugins.
• Find missing plugins in a projectPlugins a Set uses that this computer lacks.
• Plugins on your collaborator's computerThe plugin warning when you choose a person.

The Inbox

• The InboxNotes, handoffs and things that need a decision.

Backup and your computers

• Backup and your computersAdd a computer to your account. Backups come in a later update.
• Add a second computerJoin a second computer to your account.
• Set up a backupLater update: back up to another of your computers.
• Check and restore a backupLater update: check a backup and restore a copy.

Moving to a new computer

• Moving to a new computerPrepare the move, add the new computer, and read what came across.
• Prepare to move to a new computerOn the old computer: list what your library holds.
• Set up the new computerOn the new computer: join your account.
• Read what did not come acrossThe move report, group by group.

Settings and your account

• Settings and your accountLooks, folders, notifications, your account and crash reports.
• Change how the app looksLight, dark and text size.
• Choose settings for this computerYour name, folders, watching, pausing and notifications.
• Manage your accountYour email, computers, data and account.
• Clear old savesFree the space of Nearfield's own old copies.
• Crash reportsThe switch, and what a report holds.

What Nearfield will never do

• What Nearfield will never doThe safety rules, in plain words. Read this first.