Frequently Asked Questions
If something here is wrong or missing, email info@dawbrain.com and we'll fix it.
Your project and your data
- Does my audio ever leave my computer?
- No. Your samples and recordings stay on your disk. What Dawbrain sends is the shape of your session: track and clip names, MIDI notes, device settings, and catalogue information about your library, such as sample names, the packs and folders they sit in, tags and file sizes. The audio files themselves are never uploaded, and neither are their locations on your disk.
- Is my conversation data used to train AI models?
- No. Our Anthropic API plan prohibits training on customer data by default. The privacy policy covers what is sent, who processes it, and how long it is kept.
- What if I don't like what it built?
- Press undo once. Everything Dawbrain does in a single request collapses into one Live undo step, so a whole arrangement comes back out in one press rather than thirty. Everything it makes is ordinary Live material: MIDI clips, devices and mixer moves, all of it editable by hand.
Running it
- Is Dawbrain a plugin?
- No. You install Dawbrain once, on the machine you produce on, and the chat runs in a browser tab beside Live. Nothing is installed into a plugin folder, and Dawbrain does not appear in your device browser. There is no Max for Live device either, so Live 12 Intro and Standard work the same as Suite.
- Do I need my own OpenAI or Anthropic account?
- No. Inference is included, so there is no API key to paste and no separate AI subscription to hold. You sign in to Dawbrain and that is the only account involved.
- Does Ableton need to be open?
- Yes. Live has to be open on the same machine as Dawbrain. Dawbrain works on the session in front of you, so there is nothing for it to do without one.
- Does it work with Live 11, or another DAW?
- Ableton Live 12 only, on macOS and Windows. Any edition works, Intro, Standard, and Suite. Live 11 and other DAWs are not supported.
- How do I uninstall it?
- Quit Live, then run one command: curl -fsSL https://dawbrain.com/uninstall.sh | bash on macOS, or iwr https://dawbrain.com/uninstall.ps1 | iex in PowerShell on Windows. It removes the agent, the Live remote script and your local sign-in; your sets, projects and User Library are untouched. Set the control surface back to None in Live afterwards. Full steps are on the install page.
- Can it use my own samples and packs?
- Yes, and that is most of the point. It searches your installed Live library by key, pack, source and type, then loads the result straight into a clip slot, a drum pad or the arrangement. Ask for "a one-shot kick from my trap packs" and you get one of yours, not a stock sound.
The free plan
- How does the free plan work?
- You start with 150 credits and no card. Twenty of those are the month's allowance, which resets on the first; the other 130 have no clock on them and sit there until you spend them. A credit is one step the assistant takes toward your request, and a big idea can take several: for anything large Dawbrain asks what you want, shows you the plan, then builds. See pricing for the full breakdown.
- What happens when I run out?
- On the free plan you get a warning as you approach the limit and a hard stop when you reach it. On a paid plan there is no hard stop; credits beyond your allowance are billed at $0.15 each on your next invoice. See pricing for the numbers.
- How long does a request take?
- Small edits come back in seconds. A full arrangement takes minutes, because it is doing dozens of separate operations in your session and each one has to land before the next.
Ready to try it?
One command, then pick Dawbrain as a control surface in Live. The free plan needs no card.