Setting up Live Streaming from Ableton with OBS and FL ASIO audio driver

Watch Beatmaking with BEAT REPEAT in Ableton Live 10 from BenAngAbletonTrainerSG on www.twitch.tv

(Example above taken from the live stream by Ben Ang, EML Principal Tutor)

If you want to live stream your performance (or your production process, or a tutorial) from Ableton Live, whether it's to Facebook Live or YouTube Live or Twitch, the first challenge is to get your audio from Ableton directly into the stream. This article outlines a basic setup for you to get started quickly.  

1. Download FL Studio demo

What? Yes, you're using Ableton to perform or make beats, and you don't need to buy FL Studio, but you need one unique thing that FL Studio has, even in the demo version: the FL Studio ASIO audio driver. You need this to direct ASIO quality audio (high quality, low latency) from Ableton into your audio interface (or your speakers, if you're not using an audio interface) at the same time as into your live stream. So download FL Studio here. 

Once you've installed the demo, FL Studio ASIO audio driver will remain active in your computer even after the FL demo has expired.

2. Choose the FL Studio ASIO audio drive in Ableton Live

 From the menu - Options - Preferences (this is for Windows, Mac users please adjust), choose the Audio tab. For Audio Device, choose FL Studio ASIO.

Don't worry that the latency appears to be 100+ ms, it's actually much less and should not affect your playing.

Then click on the button for Hardware Setup (see next image)

3. Configure your Hardware Setup

This box will appear. Choose the smallest buffer length, so that your latency is low.
Output should be set to your audio interface (mine is the Steinberg) or your speakers (if you don't use audio interface)

4. Install a streaming software like OBS or Streamlabs OBS

In order to combine your Ableton screen, plus webcam, plus audio, plus titles, into one live stream, you need to download and install a streaming software. Two very powerful choices are

• Open Broadcaster Software - open source, free, clean interface
• Streamlabs OBS - freemium, meaning you get some fancy preset designs for free (which look very professional), and if you want more, you can buy them 

Some terms that you will find in the Sources section

• Window Capture : captures your Ableton screen (but not any VSTs)
• Desktop Capture : captures every single thing on your screen including your OBS control panel, which can be a mess, and sometimes this also needs configuration because your graphics card may not allow, so don't try it when you are beginning
• Video Capture device : captures your webcam; you should re-size it so that it fits nicely
• Desktop Audio : your Ableton audio should be coming out of that; see in the diagram below that it's a healthy signal

You will see that my Desktop Audio properties are set to my audio interface - and you will recall from parts 2 and 3 above that

• my Ableton Preferences for Audio = FL Studio ASIO, and 
• my FL Studio ASIO's Hardware Setup = my audio interface

5. Use a re-distribution provider like Restream.IO to send your stream to multiple channels at the same time

Visit https://restream.io/ and sign up for an account. The idea is to send your stream from OBS / Streamlabs OBS to Restream, then Restream will send it to Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and Twitch, all at the same time. Restream can also stream to Chinese platforms like Bilibili.

For tutorials on how to connect OBS or Streamlabs OBS to Restream, see below. And you're all set to go, enjoy streaming and please share your channel with us in the comments!