Stencils are arrangement breakdowns of popular songs in Ableton Live that show every instrument in a song and where to put it on the timeline. You can learn from them and fill them out with your own sounds, coming up with something completely unique. Every section is placed, color coded and professionally organized to the highest level so you can make quick decisions and stay in the creative flow.

A remake gives you the whole song. Presets, processing, musical choices, all of it. Great for learning, but you are working inside someone else's sound. A stencil gives you the outline and nothing else. Play in your sounds, move the sections, take it wherever you want. The structure helps you stay organized and make decisions on the fly, so you stay in the flow state.

No. It opens with nothing but stock Ableton devices, so there is nothing to install. Fill it in with whatever plugins and samples you already own.

Both, used differently. If you are learning, it is a guide. The sections are already placed, so you find out where things go by filling them in rather than guessing. I color code these in extreme detail so you can spot patterns easily and speed drill sections to get your reps in. If you already produce, it is an organization and decision shortcut. You skip the blank session and spend time working on the music and the song itself. They use it to get ideas down quickly and pick the best one, rearranging the structure and the instruments on the fly as the song demands.

You can, but following it note for note usually makes a track harder to finish. Add something that is not there, take out what is not needed, and practice rearranging the pieces in different ways until you find what works for the song you are making.

No, and they are more fun when you do not. Take that house stencil and bump it to 140, or turn a dubstep arrangement into a tech house track. Have fun with it, be creative, and bring your own sound to arrangements you would not normally think to use.

No. It is a structural map of how the record is built. Nothing from the original recording is included or reproduced.

Yes. Everything you put into it is yours. Release it, sign it, play it out.