App preset

Ableton Live: controller layout for Mac

Ableton Live can be driven from a game controller, a MIDI pad, or an adaptive controller on a Mac. InputConfig sends real keyboard and mouse events, so the app sees an ordinary keyboard and mouse. This is the layout the app's Smart Preset Maker builds for it: Transport, record, scenes, undo.

Get the preset in two clicks

  1. Open InputConfig and click Smart Preset Maker on the welcome screen.
  2. Search for Ableton Live and pick it. The layout below is created as a preset in your sidebar, named and ready.
  3. Press Activate. Every row can be changed afterwards: the editor's Scan button rebinds any control the moment you touch it.

The full button map

ControllerSendsWhat it does
A / CrossSpacePlay / Stop (Space)
B / CircleF9Record (F9)
X / SquareTabSession / Arrangement (Tab)
Y / TriangleReturnLaunch scene (Enter)
D-pad upUpSelect up
D-pad downDownSelect down
D-pad leftLeftSelect left
D-pad rightRightSelect right
LB / L1Command (Left), ZUndo
RB / R1Command (Left), SSave
Right stick downScroll downScroll down
Right stick upScroll upScroll up

Button names follow the Xbox / PlayStation pair shown in the editor, so A / Cross is the bottom face button on either pad. On a Switch Pro Controller the bottom button is labelled B; the mapping still fires on position.

Tips

  • A is the spacebar transport; B records, X swaps views.
  • D-pad navigates clips; Y launches the selected scene.

Make it yours

Nothing here is fixed. Rows can be re-scanned to a different control, given hold and double-tap actions, chords, turbo, macros, haptic or spoken feedback, and per-binding deadzones and sensitivity curves. The binding editor guide covers every option, and the controller map shows what each control is called.

Related

Download on the Mac App Store