To use Native live, you need to be able to easily switch sounds by midi. Since ableton doesn’t talk program change to VST3 plugins I looked into snapshots. I created a midi clip and sent CC69 from it (to change snapshots), but the SS selected wasn’t matching up to the value I sent. I discovered you need to start the fade at a different value and rapidly move it to the one you want, so (below) from 0 to 1. I can also send similar CC messages from the launchpad/s, which means I don’t need midi clips, but I’ll hang on to them to find the best workflow.

Snapshots seem the best way forward for live, except that you can’t change the amp model within a SS, just tweak settings and switch blocks on/off. The advice seems to be find a generic amp model and apply parameter changes (the “drive” slider is useful!) or switch a distortion on to dirty it up.

The only solution I’ve found for program changes is to load instances of Native into an audio effects rack and use the chain selector to swap between them. People assure me only 1 instance of Native will run, so it shouldn’t stress the CPU too much. Utterly dumbfounded that VST3 doesn’t recognise program changes, what the f**k were they thinking? In the studio it’s clearly not an issue, but live without PCs? Nooooo!

I’ll share these problem-solving tips, do feel free to share you own workarounds!