A Chromatik plugin that integrates Ableton Link protocol for seamless tempo and beat synchronization across multiple devices and applications.

CkAbletonLink enables Chromatik to synchronize with any Ableton Link-enabled application (such as Ableton Live, Traktor, Serato, or other DAWs and music software). It provides real-time BPM synchronization and beat alignment, allowing your lighting patterns to stay perfectly in sync with your music production workflow.

Note that Chromatik only listens to the session BPM and doesn't attempt to change the Ableton Link session bpm. If you start Chromatik with the Ableton Link modulator in your project file and no other Ableton Link applications running the Ableton Link session bpm will default to 120. In order to change your BPM in Chromatik in that scenario you will need to Stop the Ableton Link process via the modulator. If you start your other Ableton Link client (Ableton Live for example) after Chromatik and enable Link it will then sync to 120 bpm. You can then adjust the bpm in Ableton Live and then Chromatik will sync to that bpm. The safest way is to make sure you have the Ableton Link modulator stopped in Chromatik before opening your other Ableton Link application so that the other application can initialize the Ableton Link session BPM. At which point, click on Start in Chromatik and it will adjust itself to match the Ableton Link session bpm.

• Automatic Tempo Sync: Synchronizes Chromatik's tempo with the Ableton Link session BPM
• Beat Alignment: Ensures beats are aligned across all Link-enabled applications
• Carabiner Integration: Uses Carabiner as a bridge to the Ableton Link protocol
• Process Management: Built-in controls to start/stop the Carabiner bridge process

This plugin is built as an LX modulator and includes:

• AbletonLink.java: Core modulator that manages Carabiner connection, message handling, and tempo/beat synchronization
• AbletonLinkUI.java: Custom UI controls with Start/Stop buttons and Link active indicator

The plugin communicates with Carabiner via TCP socket on port 17000, parsing EDN-formatted messages to extract BPM, beat position, and peer connection information.

• LX - The Chromatik lighting engine
• lib-carabiner - Ableton Link bridge library
• Java 21 or higher

mvn clean package

To install the plugin into your Chromatik Packages directory:

mvn clean install -P install

This will copy the built JAR to ~/Chromatik/Packages/.

1. Add the AbletonLink modulator to your Chromatik project
2. Click "Start" to launch the Carabiner process
3. The LED indicator will turn green when connected to an active Link session
4. Open any Ableton Link-enabled application and enable Link
5. Chromatik's tempo will automatically sync with the Link session

See LICENSE file for details.

Built on the Chromatik platform by Heron Arts.

Uses Carabiner by Deep Symmetry for Ableton Link integration.