In one of my recent Twitch streams, some people were asking me why I put the utility plugin on every track by default in Ableton. For example, when I have a MIDI track there’s a utility on it or when I make a new audio track there’s also a utility on it. And there’s a reason why you should put a utility plugin on every track in Ableton too.
Let’s say you load up a drum loop from Drums That Knock and want to automate the volume. You’d right-click on the volume, show automation, then select the section you want to automate. The problem with this is once that’s done and you want to change the actual volume of the track, the automation line turns white and gets completely ignored.
That’s why I never automate volume or panning on the track because if you want to change it as a whole you can’t. And this is why you should put a utility on every track in Ableton. You can automate the gain and still change the track volume. The same thing applies with panning. From the utility you can automate the panning and still change the overall pan.
So, if you’re ever doing any kind of volume or panning automation, it’s a great practice to do this with the utility by default. I do this for any new MIDI or audio track.
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