Beautiful Bleep

Getting started with Beautiful Bleep

This page is for Ableton Live. Bleep also runs as a standalone app and in your browser.

Beautiful Bleep makes Ableton Live feel modular. All modules live on one canvas per set, the board. You connect them with cables, and small plugins called ports connect the board to your tracks.

Just want a sound? Put Bleep Instrument on a MIDI track or Bleep FX on an audio track and pick a preset. No patching needed; see ways to use Bleep.

Install

Copy the .vst3 files to your plugin folder, then rescan plugins in Live (Settings → Plug-Ins, with "Use VST3 Plug-In System Folders" on). The plugins appear in Live's browser under Plug-Ins → Beautiful Bleep.

VST3 folder
macOS ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
Windows C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3

Your first board (5 minutes)

  1. Put Bleep Board on any track (the master track is a good place). Every set that uses Bleep Board needs exactly one. Its window opens the board.
  2. Put Bleep FX on a synth track, after the synth. It appears on the board by itself, named after the track.
  3. On the board, press Tab, type filter and press Enter. Drag from the Insert's Send L to the Filter's In L, and from the Filter's Out L and Out R to the Insert's Return L and Return R.
  4. Press Tab again and add a Function. Click the Filter to open its view, then drag Function's A onto the Cutoff knob. The yellow ring shows the cutoff the filter really uses; drag the amount chip under the knob to set how much.

Now modulate the modulator: add a Random and drag its Out onto Function's Rise knob.

How the board works

See the board for patching, cells and shortcuts, and ports for every plugin you can add in Live.

  • Ports (MIDI In, Audio Out, …) appear on the board when you add them in Live. You can't delete them on the board; when a track is deactivated or the plugin is removed, its node turns into a grey ghost and keeps its cables.
  • The board is saved in Bleep Board. A second Bleep Board in the same set stays inactive and shows a warning.
  • Latency. Audio that goes from Live into the board and back is two audio buffers late. The output ports report this to Live, so Live's delay compensation lines it up with the rest of the set.
  • Undo. The board has its own undo (⌘Z in the board window). Live's undo doesn't include board edits.