How to Get Automatically Synced Lyrics in Your Ableton Set
Timed lyrics in Pliris come two ways. If your stems include a lead vocal, analyze with Lyrics and Chords and paste the official lyrics with Import. If they have no lead vocal (most Multitracks and Loop Community songs), analyze first, then add a lyric reference, then paste the official lyrics. Then download the AbleSet lyrics track or your Ableton project.
Updated: this article used to describe an older version of the lyrics feature (Fix, Preview Match, Analyze on Upload). The current steps are in the two articles below, one for each case.
First: does your song have a lead vocal?
Pliris times lyrics by listening to a lead vocal, so the steps depend on what you uploaded.
| Your stems | What to follow |
|---|---|
| Include a lead vocal stem | Getting Perfectly Timed Lyrics with a Lead Vocal · lesson: Get perfectly timed lyrics with a lead vocal |
| No lead vocal (most Multitracks, Loop Community and backing-track downloads), or you want to add a lyric reference | Creating Perfectly Timed Lyrics Without a Lead Vocal · lesson: Get perfectly timed lyrics without a lead vocal |
With a lead vocal, in short
- Upload the stems, including the lead vocal stem.
- Analyze with Lyrics and Chords.
- Fix the song sections, then on the Lyrics tab click Import, paste the official lyrics and click Apply. The timing stays and the words are corrected.
Without a lead vocal, in short
- Upload all your stems first.
- Analyze with Lyrics and Chords. Expect a rough first pass.
- After that finishes, on the Lyrics tab click Import → Add a lyric reference and choose a recording of the song with the vocal (the original recording, or your band doing the song) that is close to the same arrangement. Don't add it with Drop files to add; nothing in a lyric reference is added to the set.
- Paste the official lyrics into Import and click Apply.
Get the lyrics into Ableton
Click Download on the song page. Under Or just these files, tick AbleSet lyrics track for an .als with the lyrics as a MIDI track, or download your Ableton project with Add lyrics track turned on in Settings → Setlist management. The same timing drives the ProPresenter 7 file and the Pliris Lyrics app. See The Setlist Management Page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add a lyric reference track?
Upload your stems, run Lyrics and Chords, and when it finishes open the Lyrics tab and click Import → Add a lyric reference. Choose a recording of the song with the vocal, then paste the official lyrics and click Apply. Full steps: Creating Perfectly Timed Lyrics Without a Lead Vocal.
Do I add the lyric reference before or after Lyrics and Chords?
After. Run Lyrics and Chords on your stems first, then add the lyric reference from Import.
My stems have a lead vocal. Do I need a lyric reference?
No. Analyze with Lyrics and Chords, then paste the official lyrics with Import. See Getting Perfectly Timed Lyrics with a Lead Vocal.
Where did Fix and Preview Match go?
They were replaced by Import on the Lyrics tab. Paste the correct lyrics there and click Apply; the timing is kept.