Ableton Live

What is Ableton Live MCP Server?

The Ableton Live MCP Server is a Python-based server that implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to enable communication between Large Language Models (LLMs) and Ableton Live. It utilizes Open Sound Control (OSC) to send and receive messages to and from Ableton Live, building upon the existing AbletonOSC implementation. The project aims to provide a robust interface for LLMs to control various aspects of Ableton Live.

How to use Ableton Live MCP Server?

To use the Ableton Live MCP Server, you need to follow these steps:

Install Requirements: Ensure you have Python 3.8+, python-osc, fastmcp, and uv installed. You also need to install AbletonOSC as a control surface within Ableton Live.
Clone the Repository: Clone the project repository from GitHub.
Install Dependencies: Navigate to the cloned directory and run uv sync to install project dependencies.
Run the OSC Daemon: Execute uv run osc_daemon.py to start the OSC daemon, which handles OSC communication between the MCP server and Ableton Live.
Configure Claude Desktop (Optional): If you are using Claude Desktop, add the provided JSON configuration to your claude_desktop_config.json file to integrate the MCP server.

Once set up, you can interact with Ableton Live through an LLM (e.g., Claude Desktop) by issuing commands like "Prepare a set to record a rock band" or "Set the input routing channel of all tracks that have "voice" in their name to Ext. In 2."

Key Features of Ableton Live MCP Server

MCP-Compatible API: Provides an API for controlling Ableton Live from MCP clients, allowing seamless integration with LLMs.
OSC Communication: Uses python-osc for efficient sending and receiving of OSC messages to and from Ableton Live.
AbletonOSC Integration: Built upon the reliable OSC implementation from AbletonOSC, ensuring compatibility and extensive mapping of OSC addresses.
Request-Response Handling: Implements robust handling of requests and responses for Ableton Live commands.
Configurable Ports: Allows customization of server and daemon ports for flexible deployment.

Use Cases of Ableton Live MCP Server

AI-Powered Music Production: Control Ableton Live

Ableton Live MCP Server

📌 Overview

The Ableton Live MCP Server is a server implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to facilitate communication between LLMs and Ableton Live. It uses OSC (Open Sound Control) to send and receive messages to/from Ableton Live. It is based on AbletonOSC implementation and exhaustively maps available OSC adresses to tools accessible to MCP clients.

This project consists of two main components:

mcp_ableton_server.py: The MCP server handling the communication between clients and the OSC daemon.
osc_daemon.py: The OSC daemon responsible for relaying commands to Ableton Live and processing responses.

✨ Features

Provides an MCP-compatible API for controlling Ableton Live from MCP clients.
Uses python-osc for sending and receiving OSC messages.
Based on the OSC implementation from AbletonOSC.
Implements request-response handling for Ableton Live commands.

⚡ Installation

Requirements

Python 3.8+
python-osc (for OSC communication)
fastmcp (for MCP support)
uv (recommended Python package installer)
AbletonOSC as a control surface

Installation Steps

Install uv (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation):
```
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
```

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/mcp_ableton_server.git
cd mcp_ableton_server

Install the project and its dependencies:
```
uv sync
```
Install AbletonOSC Follow the instructions at AbletonOSC

🚀 Usage

Running the OSC Daemon

The OSC daemon will handle OSC communication between the MCP server and Ableton Live:

uv run osc_daemon.py

This will:

Listen for MCP client connections on port 65432.
Forward messages to Ableton Live via OSC on port 11000.
Receive OSC responses from Ableton on port 11001.

Example Usage

In Claude desktop, ask Claude:

Prepare a set to record a rock band
Set the input routing channel of all tracks that have "voice" in their name to Ext. In 2

⚙️ Configuration

By default, the server and daemon run on localhost (127.0.0.1) with the following ports:

MCP Server Socket: 65432
Ableton Live OSC Port (Send): 11000
Ableton Live OSC Port (Receive): 11001

To modify these, edit the AbletonOSCDaemon class in osc_daemon.py:

self.socket_host = '127.0.0.1'
self.socket_port = 65432
self.ableton_host = '127.0.0.1'
self.ableton_port = 11000
self.receive_port = 11001

Claude Desktop Configuration

To use this server with Claude Desktop, you need to configure it in your Claude Desktop settings. The configuration file location varies by operating system:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following configuration to your mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Ableton Live Controller": {
      "command": "/path/to/your/project/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/project/mcp_ableton_server.py"]
    }
  }

This configuration ensures that:

The server runs with all dependencies properly managed
The project remains portable and reproducible

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests to improve this project.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Model Context Protocol (MCP)
python-osc for OSC handling
Daniel John Jones for OSC implementation with AbletonOSC
Ableton Third Party Remote Scripts
Julien Bayle @Structure Void for endless inspirations and resources.

TODO

Explore resources and prompts primitives opportunities.
Build a standalone Ableton Live MCP client.

Ableton Live Overview