Ableton Live Drum Rack in 5 Minutes

Ableton Live Drum Rack is an amazing drum instrument for producing or live finger drumming, To take full advantage of it, program your own kits. Here are the basics to get you going quickly!
00:20 - Loading Samples and Instruments
01:16 - Individual Outputs (Track Group)
01:44 - Setting Virtual Instrument Notes
02:15 - Drum Pad Insert Effects
02:34 - Send Effects Inside Drum Rack
03:01 - Connecting the Main Mixer’s Send Effects
03:40 - Setting Choke Groups
04:16 - Setting Up Macro Controls
05:05 - Save Your Drum Rack Patch
05:22 - Conclusion (Music Producer T-Shirts!)
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#Ableton #Live #DrumRack

[@zampkampmusic]

I HAVE BEEN DOING EVERYTHING COMPLETELY WRONG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!

[@ErikHawk]

So glad that my video helped. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@TheBBmTV]

Wow I vastly underused Drum Rack. You made me jump out my chair when you dragged an instrument on a drumpad. Thanks, I‘ll be back for more. :)

[@IWOKEAGIANT]

B B BAAD WIDDIT

[@GrandCommanderMusic]

this was enormously helpful. this got me up and running so fast. my favorite way to learn. thank you.

[@ErikHawk]

You're welcome, glad it helped. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@jessdeus5818]

After 20 years using Ableton u save my life with the Main Fx return tip for drum rack!!! KUDOS

[@ErikHawk]

Awesome! Glad the tutorial helped. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@araxxisinnovations6544]

Way cool, I've been going back and forth between Reaper and Ableton and this reduces tooons of friction when it comes to sample based stuff

[@ErikHawk]

Ableton Live is so fantastic for working with samples. So many options with Live!

[@shave1669]

You always have useful info, just like when I was in your classes at Berklee. Yep, I am still learning from you so keep it coming! I just saved this video in my Music Production folder as well.

[@ErikHawk]

Thank you! And thanks for watching. I'm glad that we have this platform where we can all continue sharing and learning together :-)

[@siberianfastfood]

Excellent. Perfectly managed to concentrate all useful information in this video.

[@ErikHawk]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Essenjul]

Thanks Hawk!

[@ErikHawk]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@liweilin6649]

nice video!! drum rack have so many function and parameter lol~~

[@Super_Shaq]

Brilliant video! Thanks so much. When adjusting the note of an instrument on the drum rack, is there a way to do this in piano view? As in, a way to test all of the various available notes for that sound using a keyboard, whilst it's in the drum rack

[@ErikHawk]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video. Not in piano view that I know of, but of course you can play the notes from any standard MIDI keyboard, or even your computer's QWERTY keyboard.

[@soyozzz]

Thank You so much

[@jeanrobert6801]

Thank you. Just subscribed. Bring more please.

[@ErikHawk]

Thanks so much! I plan to do more, for sure.

[@norakat]

B-b-bad wit it ! 😆🤦‍♂️

[@mensinanis5274]

Love you man.If i were girl i would be under your table now:DDDDDDDDDD you saved a lot time to me.Thx for sharing the knowledge

[@ErikHawk]

Ha ha ha, glad the video helped!

[@DjSuess]

Just what i needed to see/hear..thanks!

[@ErikHawk]

Glad to hear it!

[@osnarfuentes]

This is gold

[@signaltouch7413]

liked and subscribed , thank you

[@ErikHawk]

Thank you! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@esmeegloria]

Great video, thank you!

[@ErikHawk]

Glad you liked it! Hope it was helpful, thanks for commenting.

[@danaifn7514]

Could please tell me how your midi is playing these drum sounds? Cause I'm connectin my midi in audio interface and the interface in my laptop but can't do this

[@ErikHawk]

A MIDI controller isn't required to hear the sounds. You can just click on the drum pads with your mouse. In fact, the audio should play on your computer speakers. Or, on your audio interface if you have one connected. If you are using a MIDI controller, make sure that it's USB compliant or you've installed its drivers. Also, that you've record armed the MIDI track that you want to play. Hope this helps.

[@kerdum]

Nice video!

[@ErikHawk]

Thanks! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@DanielIvan707]

How do I play one pad pitched up and down the keyboard?

[@ErikHawk]

You can't using Drum Rack. But you can using Simpler as its own instrument. For example, identify the pad that you want to play pitched across your keyboard. Then, unfold the pad to reveal its Simpler. Now, drag this Simpler to its own MIDI track, and Voila!

[@beyondabove]

2:30 4:24 mapping macros

[@ErikHawk]

Plus, the macro variations in Live 12 are awesome!

[@jignesh740]

Sir how many kit create and save in drum rack???

[@ErikHawk]

Virtually limitless, as many as you have space on your computer's hard drive.

[@demob8630]

my ableton11 doesn't automatically route the pads to individual outputs! i have always to route myself, why is it so?

[@ErikHawk]

The only thing that I can think of is if your Drum Rack is empty. For example, if you drag in a new Drum Rack with no sounds on its pads it won't have any individual outputs connected, because it doesn't have any samples loaded yet. But as soon as you drag a sample to a pad then the track group for the device should become active, with an individual output for each pad containing a sample. Hope this helps.

[@zeibeats]

how do u access the mute on mpk controller on pads

[@ErikHawk]

I assume you mean the choke group? The choke group setting is set in Drum Rack. Then, just playing your pads accesses the choke/mute function. The programming, how the instrument responds, is set in the Drum Rack device itself. Hope this helps.

[@dalespencer5489]

I just spent a whole lot of time looking for a breakdown of the Drum Rack functions and this was the ONLY video that made any sense! I understood all the aspects but when I try to create a drum rack by selecting the samples and sounds for the pads, then input notes for each of the pad/chain items. When I save it, and try to load into another live set, the notes are gone???? Any help clarifying will be greatly appreciated!!

[@ErikHawk]

Hi Dale. It sounds like you're trying to link MIDI notes in a clip to your Drum Rack patch? If so, you'll need to save a Live clip instead of just the patch. The Live Clip feature is awesome and it's explained very well in Live's user manual.

[@dalespencer5489]

@@ErikHawk Erik! Thanks! Yes exactly what I was looking for!!!

[@mundaemundae8597]

Yes

[@amykim4834]

Sweeet video! Do you know if there's a way to see the sound wave view of drum rack (or its separated tracks) in session view? Thanks!!

[@ErikHawk]

I think you mean in the Arrangement view, right? You can see the Drum Rack pads' audio files in the Session View. You won't see these audio files on tracks in the Arrangement View because they're samples in a MIDI device rather than audio clips on an audio track. Not sure if this addresses your question?

[@m4rch3n1ng]

i hope i'm not too late, but from what pack is that snare sample ("Dry Snare 6.wav")?

[@ErikHawk]

It's in a Cymatics pack, Ableton Projects Collection - Trap 1\Trap - Wonk Project. Here's the website, cymatics.fm/

[@ErikHawk]

It's in a Cymatics pack, Ableton Projects Collection - Trap 1\Trap - Wonk Project. Here's the website, cymatics.fm/

[@diegob6729]

is there a way to stop the sample view to move on last played pad?

[@ErikHawk]

Good question. Not to my knowledge.

[@diegob6729]

Found it later on, it’s the little arrow pointing to the right the last little icon on the left row 👌😀

[@theimprovisorsguide]

awesome! thanks!

[@ErikHawk]

Thanks for watching and commenting! I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@kadi_chetty]

Hi When I press Midi on ableton, the drum pads aren't highlighted, even when arm recording is on. please help

[@ErikHawk]

Make sure that you're playing the right octave on your keyboard. For example, if Drum Rack is showing the pads in the octave of C1, be sure that you're playing the notes in the octave of C1 on your MIDI keyboard. Good luck.

[@captainyami4605]

Thankyou!

[@ErikHawk]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@dangala6915]

How to use BFD3 in drum rack?

[@ErikHawk]

You can drag a VST instrument directly onto a pad in Drum Rack. But of course, keep in mind that the pad is only going to play the note assigned. So, if the pad is assigned to C1 then it will only trigger C1 on BFD. So, not the most efficient way of doing this. Alternatively, you could just use Drum Rack as a controller for a single instance of BFD on a MIDI track in your session. With BFD already on a MIDI instrument track in your session, drag an External Instrument device to a pad in Drum Rack. Then, assign this External Instrument to control a note on BFD. Do this for each pad in Drum Rack. This way, you just have one instance of BFD in your session and you're using the Drum Rack pads to control BFD. Way more efficient! Just thought of this :-)

[@chrisharbin623]

One of the only things youboob has done right is that it's constantly finding Abelton stuff, most of it is good. I know this is old, but it was a very good vid. But the "bb bad wit it" sample needs to go ;)

[@ErikHawk]

Thanks for watching and commenting. "bb bad wit it" 😂

[@uriels4097]

how can I automatically set the volume to 0db?

[@ErikHawk]

The usual way it works in Ableton Live is: Select the control/parameter then press Delete on your computer keyboard. This clears the parameter and sets it back to its default setting.

[@uriels4097]

@@ErikHawk but by default setting it's -12db for the volume and I want to set to 0db

[@ErikHawk]

@@uriels4097 Oh yeah, like on Simpler's Volume parameter the default is -12 db. I don't know of a shortcut but what I do is, select the control, then press a number (such as 0), and then press Enter. Voila!

[@uriels4097]

@@ErikHawk yeah that's what I do but it's annoying when you drop a bunch of samples in the drum rack

[@JAM-k8h]

I feel like a second grader in a calculus class watching this. I dont even know what have these words mean. Assign the macro to the open group send on the main send return channels reverb what

[@ErikHawk]

It is like learning a new language. It requires practice and study. Consider taking some music production classes at Berklee Online if you'd like to turbo start your learning.

[@matthewmagee31]

Guys, what in the world is wrong that when I record, and not all notes are recorded that are played. Such as hitting a kick drum, only 1 of 2 will be recorded. It’s even worse playing piano.

[@ErikHawk]

It might be a broken MIDI controller. I would check you MIDI controller and USB cable with another program to see if it's working. If it isn't working with either program it's probably your MIDI controller. Good luck.

[@jamescopp138]

youve shown everything except how to open the drum rack itself...

[@ErikHawk]

The Show/Hide Devices button on the left side of the device. Hope this helps.