Lesson 25

Move Manager

Open Move Manager in a web browser, back up a Set to your computer, and put your own sounds on Move.

You’ll need:

A Move that is switched on
A computer, phone or tablet with Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge
Either Wi-Fi on Move (see Lesson 2) or the USB-C cable
A short sound file (WAV, AIF or AIFF) for the last part

The idea

Move keeps everything you make inside itself: your Sets, the sounds you record, and the presets you save. That’s great on the go, but sooner or later you’ll want to get things off Move (a safety copy of a song you love) or onto it (a sound you found or made somewhere else).

That’s the job of Move Manager. It isn’t an app you install. Move runs a small web page of its own, and you open it in an ordinary web browser, like Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge, on a computer, phone or tablet. From there you can:

Download Sets, so you have a backup on your computer.
Upload samples. A sample is a short recording, like a drum hit or a voice, that you can play from a pad.
Look after your recordings and saved presets, and update Move’s software.

Your browser and Move need a way to reach each other. There are two:

Both are on the same Wi-Fi network. This is the easy way if Move already has Wi-Fi from Lesson 2. A phone on mobile data, or a laptop on a different network, won’t find Move.
A USB-C cable from Move’s back to your computer.

To find Move, the browser needs Move’s hostname: a short web address that Move shows you in its Setup menu. The first time you connect, Move also shows a code on its display, to prove that the Move in your hands is the one you’re talking to.

Choose how to connect. Either check that Move and your computer are on the same Wi-Fi network, or plug the USB-C cable into Move’s back and into your computer.
Didn’t work?
Not sure if Move is on Wi-Fi? Lesson 2 shows how to check it and join a network. On an office or school network, devices are sometimes kept apart from each other; the cable is the simpler choice there.
You should see: Move and your computer can now reach each other.
Hold Shift, then press Step 2. This brings up the Setup menu.
You should see: The Setup menu opens.
Turn the wheel to the Move Manager entry and press the wheel to open it.
You should see: The Move Manager menu opens, with a short list of its own.
Turn the wheel to How to access? and press the wheel. Note down the address you see. It usually ends in .local, for example move.local.
A different name?
If several Moves share one Wi-Fi network, each one gets its own name, such as a number added after “move”. That’s fine: always use the name your own Move shows here.
You should see: The display shows Move's hostname: the address to type into your browser.
On your computer, open a web browser and type the hostname into the address bar, then press Enter. The browser asks for a code, and a code appears on Move’s display. Type the code from the display into the browser.
Didn’t work?
Page not loading? Check the spelling of the hostname, and that Move and the computer really are on the same network. If the browser runs a web search instead, type http:// in front of the name. Next time, the browser may let you straight in without a new code.
You should see: Move Manager's home page opens in your browser.
Hold Back to close the Setup menu on Move. Now make a backup in the browser: open the Sets page, which lists every Set on Move by name, and click the download icon next to the Set you want to keep. The file goes to your computer’s Downloads folder.
Setup already gone?
If Move no longer shows the Setup menu, skip the Back press and just do the backup in the browser.

Download blocked in Chrome?
Chrome may say the download is insecure and block it. That’s only because Move’s address ends in .local. Choose Keep to let the file through.
You should see: The Setup menu closes. Move Manager stays open in your browser.
Now bring a sound in. In the browser, open the Samples page, click Upload, and pick your sound file. You can also drag the file onto the page. When the upload has finished, go back to Move and press the top track button. In a brand-new Set, the top track holds a drum kit.
Didn’t work?
Move takes WAV, AIF and AIFF files of up to 100 MB each. An MP3 won’t upload: convert it to WAV first. If your top track isn’t a drum kit (a demo Set, or a sound you swapped), Lesson 8 shows how to load one. If the display doesn’t show that track’s sound yet, press the top track button once more.
You should see: The top track is selected, and the display shows its sound.
Tap the drum pad whose sound you want to swap for yours. The pad you tap last is the selected one, just like in Lesson 9.
You should hear: The sound you're about to replace.
Turn the wheel until only the sample’s icon is highlighted and the display shows the name of a sample, not the kit’s name. Then press the wheel to open the browser.
Didn’t work?
If every icon is highlighted, the whole kit is selected, and the browser would swap the entire kit. If the display shows an effect such as Reverb or Delay, you’re on an effect. Turn the wheel one click at a time until a single icon is highlighted and a sample name appears.
You should see: The browser opens on a list of drum sounds, and the pad you picked pulses.
Press Back once to leave this folder of drum sounds and see all the categories, as in Lesson 8.
Didn’t work?
You can also scroll to the very top of the list and press the wheel on the Back entry. Pressed Back twice and landed on the icons again? The browser has closed. Press the wheel to open it again.
You should see: The main list of categories.
Turn the wheel to User Samples and press the wheel to open it. Turn to your file, then tap your pad to hear it. When it’s the one you want, press the wheel to keep it and close the browser.
Didn’t work?
Don’t see your file? Check that the upload finished in the browser, and that you opened User Samples, not User Recordings. Changed your mind? Press Undo.
You should hear: Your own sound, playing from the pad you picked.

Try it yourself

Back up every Set you care about. Keep the downloaded files in one folder on your computer.
Record a few sounds on your phone (a door slam, a cup tapped with a spoon, a word), save them as WAV, and build your own drum kit from them.
Play your new sample at different pitches: hold Shift and press Step 8 to turn on the 16 Pitches layout (Lesson 6 tried it), and play the right-hand pads.

Good to know

Other pages. Recordings lists the audio you’ve recorded on Move, so you can play, download or rename it. Presets holds the sounds you saved with Save Preset in Lesson 8; give them better names here. Settings shows free space and your software version, and has an Update Now button when new software is out. Over the cable, updating this way works even without Wi-Fi.
Deleting is for keeps. Deleting a Set, sample, recording or preset in Move Manager can’t be undone.
Folders. On the Samples page, New Folder helps you sort sounds, for example into kicks, snares and voices. To fill a folder, open it first, then upload into it.
Logs for support. If Ableton’s support team ever asks for logs, add /advanced to the end of the hostname in your browser to reach a hidden page where you can download them.
Opening Sets elsewhere. A downloaded Set is an .ablbundle file. Ableton Live and the Note app on iPhone or iPad can open it.

Watch

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