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MIDI mapping in Ableton 9 tutorial | Remotify Skip to main content Tutorials Pricing Help Community Register Login MIDI mapping in Ableton 9 tutorial by John Carney last updated Aug 11, 2018 MIDI mapping in Ableton Live is an essential tool, but it can be troublemaking to a new comer of Ableton or plane music production in general. Today we’re going to go through everything you need to know in order to understand this powerful feature. From explaining how MIDI works, setting up, to wide techniques for creating sets of MIDI mappings inside Ableton, which you can use then and then in all of your projects! If you’ve came here looking for an wordplay to why Ableton MIDI mapping isn’t working for you, then this tutorial has all of the answers for you. table of contents What is MIDI What is MIDI Mapping How to set up your midi controller for midi mapping in Ableton How to MIDI map a tenancy Managing MIDI mappings Tweaking MIDI mappings Saving MIDI mappings Full list of Ableton MIDI Mapping options What is MIDI? If you’ve been producing or performing music for any value of time, I’m sure you’ve heard the term “MIDI”. But to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s just quickly go over what MIDI unquestionably is. Originally ripened when in the 80s, Musical Instrument Digital Interface (or MIDI for short) is a liaison standard for musical hardware which allows separate pieces of equipment to “talk” to each other by sending performance data when and forth. MIDI doesn’t unquestionably send any audio, just signals or “MIDI messages” which a piece of software (in our case: Ableton) will interpret and use to either generate sound using a MIDI note message, or tenancy internal functions of the software - i.e. move the master volume slider when you turn a knob on your equipment. This is why MIDI keyboards and controllers don’t produce any sound, their use is to simply interact with the software by sending MIDI messages. What is MIDI mapping? The worthiness to MIDI map is one of the most useful features in Ableton Live. Rather than stuff tied to your mouse and computer keyboard, MIDI mapping enables you to connect a performance friendly instrument to your computer such as a MIDI piano keyboard (i.e. LPK25 mini) or MIDI controller (i.e. APC40) and tenancy functions inside Ableton. This way of working is much increasingly natural for music megacosm and performance, plus it’s a lot increasingly enjoyable than stuff hunched over a computer screen for hours, clicking away. Ableton’s built in MIDI mapping engine allows you to select what each button/knob/pad on your MIDI controller/keyboard will tenancy inside Ableton when you press/turn/tap it, permitting you to take any controller or keyboard which sends MIDI data, connect it to Ableton and create a set of custom controls, specific to your own unique workflow requirements! For example, lets say you want to focus your sustentation on mixer controls, you can map your MIDI controller to functions like track volume, panning & mute. Or if you want to tenancy the various parameters of a virtual instrument or device then you can map it to those. We will go through the steps involved in creating MIDI mappings but first and most importantly, you need to make sure that your equipment is setup correctly inside Ableton. How to setup up your midi controller / keyboard ready for midi mapping in Ableton Live Setting your equipment up correctly is super important. It’s unquestionably a very simple process but this is often the point where people not familiar with the process are left wondering: why is Ableton MIDI mapping not working? So I suggest you get this right first, surpassing going any further! 1. Connect your MIDI keyboard/controller to your computer First things first, connect your equipment to your computer. This will be via USB which you can plug directly into the computer’s usb port and you’ll be ready to go. Some people use a piece of equipment tabbed an audio interface as a hub between the computer and equipment. An audio interface is normally used for connecting analog gear such as microphones and other instruments to a computer but an audio interface can moreover act as an external sound card. If you’re experiencing latency issues between your equipment and computer then using an audio interface can help remedy this. Once connected, fire up Ableton Live. 2. Set your preferences Go to the preferences menu inside Ableton. In mac, this is found inside the Live menu and on Windows you’ll find it inside the Options menu. In the preferences menu, click on the “Link Midi” tab and squint for the MIDI Ports section. If you have unfluctuating your midi controller and Ableton has recognised it then you will see its name listed here twice, both as an input and output option. You now just need to turn Track and Remote on for both of these and tropical the preferences menu. That’s all there is to it and should only need to be washed-up one time, your equipment is now ready to be MIDI mapped! How to MIDI map a tenancy Ableton’s midi mapping engine is simple to use, here are the steps you need to create a mapping. 1. Turn on MIDI Map Mode The first thing you need to do is put Ableton into MIDI map mode. To do this, find the MIDI Map Mode Switch (labelled MIDI) which is located in the top menu bar towards the right hand side. When you click this, you’ll notice a lot of things turn blue. This ways you’re in mapping mode and Ableton is waiting for you to add some mappings. 2. Select a parameter you want to tenancy Everything displayed in undecorous is MIDI mappable, which as you can see is quite a lot! click a tenancy you want to map and you’ll see that it becomes highlighted in verisimilitude or a verge appears virtually it. 3. Attach it to a physical input on your controller/keyboard Now turn/twist/press the physical input on your MIDI controller/keyboard that you want to tenancy it with and you will see a value towards over the control. This tells you that a MIDI mapping has been tying to the parameter. 4. Test your mapping To test that the tenancy was mapped correctly, turn off MIDI Mapping Mode and move the physical input on your MIDI equipment. If all went well then the respective parameter inside Ableton will moreover move / change. That’s really all there is to it, to add increasingly mappings simply turn MIDI Mapping Mode on then and create some more. Managing MIDI mappings You can see a full list of all the mappings you have created inside the Mapping Browser.Withoutturning MIDI Mapping Mode on, the main browser window on the left hand side automatically switches to the Mapping Browser. So just ensure that you have this viewable by clicking the thunderstroke near the top left of the screen so that it points to the right. To delete a mapping, you can either select the parameter directly or in the mapping browser and printing delete on your computer keyboard. Tweaking MIDI mappings In the Mapping Browser, there a some controls which can be tweaked depending on what they are. Track Activator Buttons (also known as mute buttons) can be inverted, meaning if you use a toggle tenancy on your controller, you can reverse it so that when your controller toggle is on, mute will be off and vice versa. Device parameter mappings have 2 uneaten options which indulge you to specify min & max percentage values. For example, you can tell Ableton, to only turn a device parameter to 70% when the physical knob on your MIDI equipment is turned all the way to right. Saving MIDI mappings The way to go well-nigh saving your mappings is to simply save your Ableton project, then whenever you unshut that project then you’re mappings will be there and ready to go. This way of saving mappings has a major drawback, you need to re-map everything each time you create a new project. This isn’t a good workflow and very time consuming, luckily there a couple of ways you can get virtually this problem with varying success. 1. Save your mappings to a zippo template Rather than starting with a completely zippo project each time, this method works by creating all of your MIDI mappings in a zippo project and saving it. Whenever you start a new project you should then unshut this specific project as your starting point and go from there. Unfortunately If you forget to use it as a starting point and get deep into a new project surpassing realising your mistake, then you’re out of luck, you’ll need to re-map everything manually. To stave your inevitable forgetfulness, you can set it to be used automatically whenever you start a new project. To do this, use the “save current set as default” sawed-off found inside the preferences > file / folder. 2. Save instrument rack mappings If you only want to save mappings for devices and VSTs (Virtual Studio Technology) then its possible to export these separately for re-use in any project. To do this, you should first ensure that your device is inside an Instrument Rack, then you can stilt and waif it into the browser window where it will be saved as a .adg file. An 'adg' file can be pulled into a project with all midi mappings instantly available. This method is limited to instrument racks only, saving tracks in the same way doesn’t save mappings. Here’s a unconfined video which quickly walks you through this process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNGPEcb0k0c 3. Use a MIDI Remote Script MIDI Remote Scripts are similar to MIDI mappings but one of their big bonuses is they’re totally separate from your projects. You can load one at any point from the Preferences menu and all of the mappings contained in it will instantly automap to your controller/keyboard. Any equipment which has its own custom set of Ableton functions that automap to the controller, will most probably be using a Remote Script to unzip this. Ableton provides a large hodgepodge of Midi Remote Scripts purpose built for specific controllers. Inside the 'link midi' tab of the preferences menu, you'll see the title 'control surface'. You can select upto 6 variegated tenancy surface scripts. You can create multiple Remote Scripts and switch between them whenever you need to, or plane add shift buttons to requite each tenancy on your equipment multiple functions. As well as stuff worldly-wise to do everything that regular MIDI mapping can, MIDI Remote Scripts moreover have the worthiness to tenancy Ableton Live in ways which regular MIDI mapping can’t. For example, with MIDI Remote Scripts you can tenancy anything on the currently selected track inside Ableton, this includes volume, sends, mute, panning etc. Just create one set of mappings and tenancy any track in your project. Also, if you’ve overly used a MIDI controller such as an APC40, you’ll have seen that it puts a red outline virtually an 8 by 8 grid of clips inside Ableton, similar to the one in the picture below. With this you can tenancy the clips and tracks contained within it as a group. Plus you can move the position of the redbox virtually your project, giving you wangle to multiple groups of tracks. The drawback of these scripts is how ramified they are to write, you need to be an expert in coding python which has unchangingly been the windbreak holding alot of people back. You can however, generate these scripts automatically, using our app which you can find here. It contains a massive selection of dynamic MIDI mappings for towers the perfect setup for your MIDI controller or keyboard. Plus its all washed-up from an easy to use point and click interface, no coding required. Have a squint at this tutorial on creating a midi remote script using the remotify app Full list of Ableton Live 9 MIDI Mapping options Tap Tempo Ableton will automatically transpiration the song’s bpm and all warped audio clips to match the tempo at which you tap this button. Tempo (MIDI continuous controller) Set the current song’s current tempo using a MIDI CC style control. Tempo nudge lanugo Temporarily subtract the the tempo of the song. This is helpful when attempting to syncronize your song with flipside source such as a live musician. Tempo nudge up The same as Temp nudge lanugo but this sawed-off temporarily increases the song’s current tempo. Metronome Turn on and off the Metronome. Quantization Menu Choose the global launch quantization. This can be washed-up with a sawed-off mapping (each printing will move the quantization selection lanugo one) or with a portimento/knob/endless encoder. Follow on/off Turn follow on and off, when on, the exhibit will scroll withal during playback and alimony the song’s current position visible. Play Start playback of the song. Stop Stop playback of the song.WattleRecordSawed-offon/off Turn wattle record on/off, when this is on it will record into the arrangement. MidiWattleOverdub on/off When this is on, existing notes in MIDI clips in theWattlewill be mixed with, rather than replaces by, newly recorded notes. Automation Arm on/off When turned on, any parameter changes you make, will be recorded the session clips. This is a unconfined way to record varying versions of a prune directly in the session view. Re-enable Automation on/off When you printing this, any parameters that are currently stuff overridden in the wattle or session clips will be re-activated. Session RecordSawed-offon/off This toggles between playback and overdub for any playing clips which are currently playing in armed tracks. In MIDI clips, notes and automation can be overdubbed where is only automation can be overdubbed in audio clips. Prepare Scene for new recording This will stop playback for all clips in armed tracks and start a new recording for each of them in a scene where new clips can be recorded. It will create a new scene if necessary. Punch In Switch on/off When you vivify this, it will prevent recording in the wattle view prior to the “punch-in point”. Punch Out Switch on/off Just like the Punch In Switch, when zingy it prevents recording without the “punch-out point” in wattle view. Loop Switch on/off Turn theWattleLoop on and off.YankMode Switch on/off This turns yank mode on and off which is used insidePruneView for drawing MIDI information and automation curves inside clips. Track Select Map buttons to the title bar of individual tracks, this will select the track when the sawed-off is pressed on your controller/keyboard.PruneSlot Select Map a sawed-off to a specific prune slot. If the prune slot is empty and the track is armed, clicking the prune slot will uncork a recording. If the slot contains a prune then the prune will uncork playing. When it will uncork playing is based on its quantization settings.PruneStopSawed-offStop the prune that’s currently playing in the track. Track Launch This will launch the prune in the currently highlighted scene. Monitoring You can switch a track between 3 monitoring settings. When this is set to “on”, it will play any externally unfluctuating signals (or other tracks) through its own mixer and devices. You can moreover use MIDI from other sources to play instruments / pulsate racks that are on the track. When set to “Auto” it will only do this when the track is armed. “Off” ways that it will only use its own clips or instruments as the sound source. Send (MIDI continuous controller) Set this to a knob/endless encoder etc type tenancy on your MIDI equipment to retread the track’s contribution to the respective return track’s input. Track Pan (MIDI continuous controller)Retreada specific track’s position in the stereo field. Track Volume (MIDI continuous controller)Retreadthe output signal of a specific track in your project. Track Activator / muteVivifythis sawed-off to hear the output of a specific track or disable it to mute the track. Solo/Cue This switch has 2 variegated uses. When set to ‘Solo’, turning the switch on will mute all other tracks except for this one. When the switch is set to ‘Cue’, enabling the switch will send the track’s output to the channels selected in the Session mixer’s Cue out chooser. Cue is useful in a DJ style setup for preparing clips using headphones. Arm Session Recording Turning this on will record-enable a track’s clips. Armed tracks record signal set in the Monitoring settings for the track. Scene Launch Set a sawed-off on your equipment to launch all clips in a specific scene. Stop All This will stop all clips currently playing in your project. When they stop is based on the global quantization settings.WhentoWattleUse this sawed-off to make Live play the contents of theWattleview. Any changes you have made in session view will stop. Scene Up &LanugoMove the selected scene up & lanugo Preview/Cue Volume (MIDI continuous controller)Retreadthe volume of the preview/cue dial. Any tracks which have ‘cue’ turned on will be unauthentic by this. Crossfade Assign Set a sawed-off on your controller to this and loop through 3 settings which determine how a specific track is unauthentic by the crossfader. If both A and B are off then the crossfader has no effect. If A is on then the track fades out as the crossfader moved right wideness its part-way position. If B is on then the track will fade out when the crossfader moved wideness the part-way to the left. Crossfader (MIDI continuous controller) You can set this to a slider tenancy on your MIDI instrument for a smooth fade from left to right (see crossfade assign) or you can map buttons to the left and right positions of the crossfader for quick position toggling using buttons on your equipment. Set / Delete Locator Assign this a sawed-off on your controller and you can waif locators in your wattle at any point during playback. Previous Locator & Next Locator Jump to the previous locator / start of the song and the next locator / end of the song. prune viewPrunemappings aren’t prune specific. They usually wield to whichever prune is selected. nudge wrong-side-up (The left sawed-off in the image) Set this to one of your buttons/keyboard keys and you can jump wrong-side-up in the playing by the value set in the global quantization. nudge forward (The right sawed-off in the image) The same as nudge forward but jumps forward in the playing prune based on the global quantization. prune scrub tenancy (MIDI continuous controller) (The middle sawed-off in the image) With this set to a tenancy on your equipment you can scrub the prune play position forward and backward. Think of it as the same functionality as a jog wheel on a DJ Controller. prune quantizationTranspirationa specific clip’s quantization setting.PruneTranspose (MIDI continuous controller)Retreadthe pitch of the prune in semitonesPruneGain (MIDI continuous controller)Retreadthe clip’s playback volume set start & set end (The 2 set buttons in the image) Assign these to button’s or notes on your equipment to set the start and end markers at the current play position. start & end (MIDI continuous controller) (The 2 sets of 3 boxes in the image) You can scroll the start and end positions in the prune to specific values. loop switch Turn on and off the clips loop switch. set loop position (The top set of 3 boxes in the image) Set the loop position, this can be washed-up while the prune is playing loop position (MIDI continuous controller) Move the clip’s loop position set loop length (MIDI continuous controller) loop length (MIDI continuous controller) (The marrow set of 3 boxes in the image) Select the length of the loop inside a prune Midi step input left & Midi step input right Set these to buttons or keys on your controller to move a clip’s insert marker to the right or left, one step at a time. midi editor preview When enabled, this will indulge you to listen to all changes or modifications made to MIDI notes as they’re created and moved. Device Select Select a specific device on any track in your project. Device ActivatorVivifyor deactivate a specific device in your project. Device Parameter controls (MIDI continuous controller) Map controls to specific device parameters. Similar posts to this How to make a Red Box script (Session Box) for Ableton Contents What is a Session Box / Red Box & why is it useful? How do I create a Session Box... increasingly Create Ableton Midi Controller Scripts in minutes Add powerful functionality such as Selected Track Control, Device Macros, Red Box, Track Select and a lot increasingly All washed-up with an easy to use App... no coding required TRY IT NOW "If you’re new to scripting in Ableton, this tool is a must. It will not only save you a massive headache, but moreover allows you to learn how it works as you go since Remotify moreover gives you an uncompiled “.py” version of the files so you can have a squint at the code. This app will make vital mapping tasks a breeze." 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Can't wait to see how this project will evolve with all those heady possibilities coming up. It has once evolved a lot since a few weeks ago when I discovered Remotify." Oneiroi Ready to get started?WangleNow, Free Take your music productions and performances to the next level with our premium built tools. Contact MIDI mapping in Ableton Live 9 Blog Privacy Policy Hercules P32 DJ Script Company Registration Number 08704283Registered in England & Wales