Requirements
What you need on the laptop, in Ableton Live, on the iPad and on the network.
Downstage 0.9.0 · updated 13 Oct 2026The computer running Ableton
| Operating system | macOS, on Apple silicon or Intel. Windows is planned and not built yet. |
| Ableton Live | Live 11 or Live 12, any edition — Intro, Standard or Suite. |
| Max for Live | Not needed. |
Downstage runs on the same Mac as Live. It is small: it does not process audio and it uses almost no CPU while a show is running.
The beta has been built for both kinds of Mac but tested on Apple silicon with Live 12. If you are on an Intel Mac or Live 11, it should work — tell us if it does not.
Your Live set
- The show is laid out in the Arrangement View, with a locator at the start of each song.
- Live's launch quantisation is set to something other than None. 1 Bar is what most bands want. See Songs from locators.
That is all that is required. Sections, end markers and click tracks are optional and covered in Preparing your Live set.
The screens
Anything with a modern browser works as a controller or a band view:
| Device | Notes |
|---|---|
| iPad | The one Downstage is designed for. iPadOS 16.4 or later, in Safari. |
| iPhone or Android phone | Works well as the view-only band screen, and as a small controller. |
| Another laptop | Any current browser. |
There is no app to install on any of them.
The network
Every device has to be on the same local network as the laptop. The internet is never needed.
- At home or in the rehearsal room, your normal Wi-Fi is fine.
- On stage, bring your own small travel router and join the laptop and the iPad to it. Venue and guest Wi-Fi often stop devices from seeing each other, and you do not control when it restarts.
Downstage's speed depends on this network for one thing only: how quickly a tap reaches Live. It does not affect whether a jump lands in time — see How Downstage works.