Tips for Using Ableton Live’s MIDI Preferences

In this article, we'll look at tips using MIDI Preferences, and when to choose the right settings for different use cases.

We’ll cover the following 4 things in this post…

1. How to setup a MIDI controller/ keyboard to play instruments

2. How to control Ableton Live with knobs on a MIDI controller

3. Using a Control Surface

4. Mapping 3rd Party Plugin Parameters

1. How to setup a MIDI keyboard to play instruments in Ableton Live

Below is a screenshot from the MIDI activity section of Ableton. This view is located in the upper-right corner of Ableton Live’s screen. This is a great quick reference to know if you’re getting any MIDI signal in and out of Ableton.

Let’s go to Live –> Preferences. In our Link/ Tempo/ MIDI tab we turn on our MIDI controller's Input to TRACK to play MIDI notes into clips, etc.