Thanks for choosing Taz. Whether you're managing a 10-song club set or a 150-cue theatrical production, Taz gives you a reliable, flexible cuelist system directly inside Ableton Live.
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This guide covers everything in Taz Pro 3, from installation and basic setup to advanced features like mobile remote control and intelligent cue synchronization.
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Taz Lite comes included with every Oakboard purchase and provides a simple way to manage your Ableton Live cues. Most of the features covered in this guide require upgrading to Taz Pro 3.
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Taz Pro requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later and Max for Live, which comes bundled with Ableton Live Suite or is available as an add-on for Ableton Live Standard. Taz Pro 3 is compatible with Ableton Live 11 and up. Taz 3 works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

You do not need a separate license for Max/MSP itself, and you don't need to know how to use Max. Taz installs and behaves like any other Live device.

Taz 3 is a universal binary. One download, no Rosetta, no separate Intel version.

Note, Taz 3 is not compatible with Windows or Linux at this time.

Yes. Taz never contacts the Internet. It does not "phone home", check licenses online, download anything, or send analytics. Your show runs entirely on your machine.

Two clarifications:

As many as you own. Your Taz license is not per-machine. For example, you can install it on your studio Mac, your live rig, and your backup laptop.

Please don't share your license with other people. Taz is developed and supported by a very small team, and honoring that is what keeps it affordable.

Taz Pro 3 is a ground-up rewrite focused on stability, internationalization, and professional show management.

Key highlights include:

Your Live Set stores your show. Cues come from Ableton locators (arrangement) and scene or clip names (session), so the vast majority of what Taz knows lives inside your Live Set. Back that up the way you already back up your music.

Taz creates a small number of files of its own, all beside the Taz device:

Keep the Slates folder on a fast internal drive, not on a network share or a drive that sleeps. Taz plays slate audio at the moment a song starts, and a drive that has to wake up will make it late.

If you move your show to another Mac (a backup rig, a rental machine), copy the whole folder containing the Taz device. Spoken Slates regenerate automatically if they're missing, but copying them saves you the wait. Your Taz Remote access code will regenerate on the new machine by design: codes are tied to the computer that created them, so a code never leaks between machines.

Licensing Taz also creates a small text file in a directory called Oaktone in your Documents folder. This file must be present for Taz to pass authorization on start up.

Taz Pro 3.0 is a paid device that requires a license to run. When you purchase Taz Pro, you'll receive an email from [email protected] with a keyfile attached, a small text file with your email address in the filename.

To activate, just add that keyfile to Taz one of three ways: drag it directly onto the Taz device in Live, click the Add Key button that appears on the Demo Mode notice, or use the Import button in Taz's settings.

That's it. No internet connection required. Your license is stored locally, and Taz will never go online to verify it during a show.

If you open Taz without a license, it runs in Demo Mode for 15 minutes. During that time period everything works normally. After 15 minutes, Taz controls are disabled until you activate. Live's own transport is unaffected. A DEMO MODE notice appears in the notification area; clicking it lets you add your keyfile and activate at any time.

The MiniCueList, located on the far left of the Taz Pro device, is a convenient way to see which cue is selected without opening the full CueList window. It displays three rows showing your previous, current, and next cues at a glance. This is useful while prepping, editing your set, or during a show where the full CueList isn't needed.

The three-row display shows:

The gear icon (⚙) opens the settings page for Taz. Settings persist between saved Ableton Live sessions but return to defaults when loading the Taz Pro device in a new session or replacing the Taz Pro device in the current session.

The settings panel is accessed by clicking the gear icon (⚙) on the MiniCueList. It is organized into labeled sections: SYSTEM, SLATES, HARDWARE, and the network icon.

The SYSTEM section contains your core CueList and playback preferences.

Note: The SYSTEM label itself is a reset button. Clicking it will refresh session data without affecting your saved preferences.

Show Preset: Select from any Show Preset saved with this Live set. Show Presets can be created and managed in the CueList window's Preset Panel. See the relevant Show Presets section for more information.

Active Update: Controls how Taz keeps its Source CueList in sync with your Live set. Everything that affects the Source CueList (locators, locator positions, scenes, and clips) is covered by this setting. Three modes are available:

Clicking the small gray button (○) to the right of the "Active Update" label triggers an immediate scan at any time, regardless of the current Active Update mode. This is especially useful in OFF mode, but can be pressed whenever you want to force Taz to pick up changes.

Auto Advance: When enabled (default: ON), the CueList automatically selects the next cue approximately 1 second after a cue is launched, so you're ready for the next PLAY command. Auto-Advance is smart about manual overrides. If you select a different cue while Auto-Advance is pending, your selection takes priority and Auto-Advance is cancelled. Auto-Advance also triggers when the playhead naturally crosses into a new cue's territory during playback.

Loop Follow: When enabled (default: OFF), the arrangement loop brace automatically follows the currently selected cue. Select a cue and the loop region snaps to cover it, making it easy to loop sections during rehearsal. Loop Follow only operates in Arrangement View.

CueList Mode:

Session Cue Source: Controls where Taz reads Session View cue names from (only applies when the Show Preset includes Session cues). In either mode, pressing PLAY on a Session cue launches the associated scene.

Export / Import: Two buttons at the top of the SYSTEM section let you save and restore all Taz settings and Show Presets. Useful for transferring your configuration between projects or backing up your setup before making changes.

Taz's Spoken Slates are audio files that announce each cue by name. They're automatically generated using macOS Text-to-Speech and stored as .aif files in a directory called "Slates" next to the installed Taz file in Finder.

Note: The SLATES label itself is a reset button. Clicking it will rebuild all Spoken Slate audio files in the current set.

Voice: Select the macOS voice used for Spoken Slates from the dropdown. Taz defaults to Samantha if available, or falls back to your system's default voice. Some voices are designed to read in specific languages. For example, if your cue names include Chinese characters, choosing a voice like Ting-Ting will ensure Spoken Slates are read accurately with appropriate pronunciation and accents.

To control which voices appear in this list, go to System Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content > System Voice (i) button on your Mac and download or enable additional voices.

Changing voices within Taz will delete all existing Spoken Slate files and regenerate them with the new voice. Spoken Slate files are only written while the transport is stopped.

Location: Two buttons manage the Spoken Slate file directory:

Slates Toggle: This toggle activates or deactivates the entire Spoken Slates system. When disabled, no Spoken Slates are generated or played back. Previously created Spoken Slate audio files will remain available if slates are re-enabled.

The Hardware section controls how Taz interacts with connected Oakboard devices.

Note: The HARDWARE label itself is a reset button. Clicking it will rescan for connected Oakboard devices.

Oakboard Control: When enabled (default: ON), this adds several enhanced features for connected Oakboards: automatically mapping Oakboard buttons to the Taz interface, long-press PREV and NEXT for scrolling through the CueList, and long-press resume with the STOP button. Turn Oakboard Control off to manually map your Oakboard to the Taz interface using your own MIDI assignments. This setting has no effect if you're using a non-Oakboard MIDI controller.

Long Stop Resume: This feature can be deactivated for Oakboards if the long-press resume behavior on the STOP button is not wanted. (default: ON)

The network icon(🛜) in the top-right corner of the settings panel indicates the status of Taz Remote:

Clicking the network icon expands the settings panel to reveal the Taz Remote section, which includes the network access link, a QR code, a Read Only toggle, and a port editor.

Users on the same local network can scan the QR code or visit the link to control Taz from a phone, tablet, or another computer's browser. The URL includes a unique access token (e.g., http://192.168.1.10:8800/?k=abc123) so that other devices on the network cannot access Taz Remote without the link. While this provides a layer of protection, open or shared Wi-Fi networks are not recommended for show use. They are likely to be congested during a performance and may introduce latency or dropped connections. A dedicated or private network is strongly advised for any live show environment.

See the Taz Remote section at the end of this guide.

Port: The default port is 8800. Users can change it using the port editor (valid range: 8000–9998). The Read Only port is always the main port + 1. For instance, if the main port is 8800, the Read Only port is 8801.

Read Only: A toggle below the QR code that switches between the full-control URL and a read-only URL. When enabled, the QR code and link update to point to the Read Only port. Anyone using this link sees a living digital setlist. They can follow the show's progress and time remaining, but transport controls are hidden and cues cannot be selected or launched. This is ideal for band members, crew, or stage managers who need to see the setlist without any risk of accidentally interrupting playback.

The full CueList window shows all cues in your selected Show Preset. Open it by clicking the CUELIST button on the MiniCueList.

The dropdown below the top bar shows the currently active Show Preset. Use this dropdown menu to switch between Show Presets.

Single click a cue to select it (stage it for the next PLAY command)

Double-click a cue to immediately launch it

The CueList displays the following information for each cue:

Type a new name for the current preset and press Enter to rename it. Note, the Source CueList cannot be renamed.

These controls allow you to reorder cues within Show Presets.

Note: The MOVE UP, MOVE DN, and REMOVE buttons are dimmed and unavailable when viewing the Source CueList, since the Source CueList cannot be edited.

The bottom of the Preset Panel shows all source cues and their time lengths. The Source CueList is a primary list of cues that always mirrors all cues (locators) from your Live set and cannot be edited or reordered.

When working in a Show Preset, source cues are displayed in two colors: white cues have not yet been added to the current Show Preset; grey cues are already in the Show Preset.

To add a cue from the source list to your current Show Preset, select it and click ADD CUE TO PRESET, or simply double-click the cue.

Cues in non-source presets can also be reordered by dragging. Click and drag a cue to a new position in the list. A cyan indicator shows where the cue will be placed when dropped.

Taz Pro uses locator names (in Arrangement View) and scene/clip names (in Session View) to build the CueList. Certain naming patterns allow special functions.

The following locator names will cause the transport to stop automatically when the playhead reaches them. These locators do not appear in the CueList.

LOOP ON [# of beats]: Turns the loop brace on immediately, activates looping, and sets the loop length to the specified number of beats. For example, LOOP ON 8 creates an 8-beat loop at that locator position. This locator does not appear in the CueList.

LOOP OFF: Deactivates the loop brace when triggered. The playhead does not jump; the loop simply turns off. LOOP OFF cues do appear in the CueList and are marked with the ⦸ icon in the Tags column. You can include descriptive text, such as
​BRIDGE LOOP OFF, and Taz will still recognize it as a LOOP OFF cue as long as it contains the words "loop off."

A locator named NEXTCUE will make the playhead automatically jump to the next cue in the current Show Preset when the playhead reaches it. This locator does not appear in the CueList.

Prepending these characters to a locator or clip/scene name will control which cues appear in the CueList and whether Spoken Slates are generated:

In OPT-OUT mode (default), all locators appear unless prefixed with -. In OPT-IN mode, only locators prefixed with * or # appear.

Cue lengths are entered manually by appending a slash and time to the locator name:

Song Title / 3:42

Time is formatted using the MM:SS format. Any value of 60 or higher in the minutes section automatically rolls over into hours in the CueList (e.g., 75:00 in the locator name displays as 1:15:00 in the CueList).

This time appears in the Time column of the CueList and is used to calculate
​Total Preset Runtime and Total Preset Remaining. Without a specified time, cues display "–".

Taz Pro pairs with Oaktone's Oakboard hardware to enable seamless mapping, advanced functions, and display cue information on Oakboard Floor Vista.

Taz Pro 3 supports up to five Oakboard devices simultaneously, in case more than one member of your band or backstage crew needs to control playback. No additional setup is required beyond simply connecting the devices.

A connected Oakboard Floor Vista can display:

If an Oakboard is disconnected mid-show, reconnecting it will automatically update the display to show the currently selected and playing cues.

Taz Pro 3 introduces the V2 SysEx protocol for full Unicode support on Oakboard Vista displays. If your Oakboard firmware is version 2.0.0 or later, cue titles in any language, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, and special characters, display correctly on the hardware.

For Oakboards running older firmware, Taz Pro automatically falls back to the legacy ASCII protocol. If a cue title contains non-ASCII characters and the firmware predates version 2.0.0, the display shows "UPDATE FIRMWARE TO 2.0.0" as a prompt to upgrade.

Visit oaktone.com/programmer in a Chrome browser to check and update your firmware.

Taz Pro 3 saves the following preferences per Live set:

Taz Pro 3 includes a session logging system for troubleshooting. Logs are saved to ~/Documents/Taz3/taz_debug.log and the last 5 sessions are retained. Individual module debug output can be toggled at runtime for targeted diagnostics.

Taz Remote is a web-based remote control built into Taz Pro 3. Any device on your local network can access it through a browser. No app to install, no account to create. There is no limit to how many people can connect to Taz Remote.

The code is persistent: it survives restarts, reboots, and reopening your Live Set. Your crew scans once and that link keeps working, night after night. If you need to revoke access (a crew change, a lost phone), you will have to regenerate the code and everyone will have to re-scan.

Users can also designate specific ports. The Read Only port will always be the main port number + 1. For instance, if the main Taz Remote port is 8800, the Read Only port will automatically be 8801.

By default, Taz Remote displays:

Tap a cue in the list to select it. Double-tap to launch it (if Double-Tap to Play is enabled in settings).

Tap the gear icon (⚙) at the bottom-right of Taz Remote to access Taz Remote's settings:

There are two ways to put Taz Remote into a read-only state:

Server-side Read Only: Toggle Read Only in Taz's settings panel (below the QR code). This generates a dedicated URL and QR code on a separate port that displays the live setlist without transport controls or the ability to select or launch cues. This is the recommended option for band members, crew, and stage managers, as it is server-enforced and cannot be overridden on the phone.

Client-side Read Only: In Taz Remote's settings, turn off Transport Controls and Double-Tap to Play. This hides the PLAY and STOP buttons and prevents cue selection on the device. This is the recommended option for quickly locking down a phone that's already connected to the non-read-only URL. Note that refreshing the page resets these toggles, so for a more permanent read-only setup, use the server-side method above.

No. Every connection requires the access code from your QR Code. Without it, the page won't even load, so port-scanning your Mac gets a locked door. Taz also refuses connections from other web pages on the network.

Use Opt-Out mode with * prefixed cue names. Enable Taz Slates for spoken cue announcements through your monitors. Connect a Floor Vista for on-stage display. Use SMART update mode.

Use OFF update mode to prevent scanning lag with large cue counts. Create multiple Show Presets for different act configurations. Use the # prefix for cues that need to appear in the list but shouldn't generate slate audio (e.g., lighting cues or scene changes).

Enable Loop Follow to automatically loop the selected cue. Use Taz Remote to control playback from anywhere in the venue. Double-click cues in the CueList for quick jumps.

Set up Taz Remote in read-only mode on a tablet backstage or at front-of-house. Crew and band members can see a living digital setlist of the show, including current position and time remaining, without being able to accidentally interrupt playback.

Taz Pro 3 · Oaktone · Stage Tools for Storytellers