Arturia Drumbrute Ableton tutorial - connect, setup & midi map

Arturia's Drumbrute is an incredibly multi-faceted midi controller and is a powerful addition to any Ableton Live setup. This midi enabled drum machine has a wealth of features that make it ideal for use with Ableton Live.

This tutorial will show you the whole process of how to operate the Arturia Drumbrute with Ableton Live. It will cover the steps of connecting, setting up and midi mapping the Drumbrute.

Article Contents

Does the Arturia Drumbrute work with Ableton Live?
Does the Arturia Drumbrute come with ableton Live included?
How to connect the Drumbrute to ableton
How to midi map the Arturia Drumbrute in Ableton Live
The Limitations of midi mapping the Drumbrute
Why can’t I hear my Push in Ableton Live?

Does the Arturia Drumbrute work with Ableton Live?

In summary, the Arturia Drumbrute is usable with Ableton Live.

Despite the lack of a default MIDI remote script existing within Ableton Live, it is still possible to midi map the Drumbrute to a variety of functions.

Any edition of Ableton Live, from Intro to Suite, will be compatible with any device that transmits MIDI data. This works for all editions of Live, for instance 9, 10, and 11. As the Drumbrute is a MIDI enabled device, it will work with Ableton Live.

Creating your own midi mappings in Ableton is simple, and gives you the ability to control a variety of Ableton Live's components with your Drumbrute.

Does the Arturia Drumbrute come with ableton Live included?

The Drumbrute includes a complimentary version of Ableton Live Lite, but its available features are not as extensive as those in Ableton Live Standard or Suite.

There are three main versions of Ableton Live: Intro, Standard and Suite. Although Intro and Standard are both powerful, Suite offers extra features, such as 70GB of library sounds, in contrast to Standard's 10GB.

For those who want to guarantee they have access to the largest selection of Audio and MIDI effects, we suggest investing in Ableton Live Suite, as it has a much larger selection than the Standard edition.

How to connect the Drumbrute to ableton

Linking and configuring the Arturia Drumbrute to Ableton Live is not too complicated, and once you have them paired together you can control the software's settings from your midi enabled drum machine.

1. Connect the Drumbrute to your computer via USB.
First, connect the USB cable to both the Drumbrute and your computer.
2. Launch Ableton Live and open the MIDI preferences.
Double click the Ableton Live icon to launch the software. Then, in the top menu of Ableton, go to the Preferences menu by opening the ‘Live’ menu and clicking ‘Preferences’.
3. Select the Drumbrute from the list of available devices.
Click the the MIDI Sync tab, make sure that Input and Output for the Drumbrute are checked.
4. Ensure that the ‘Track’, ‘Remote’ and ‘Sync’ boxes are all checked.
In the ‘MIDI’ section of this tab, make sure the ‘Track’ and ‘Remote’ boxes are checked for both the Input and Output of the Drumbrute (Sync can also be optionally checked).

The Drumbrute is now ready for use with Ableton Live.

How to midi map the akai mpk mini in Ableton Live

After you have connected the Arturia Drumbrute to Ableton Live with the aforementioned steps, you can now use MIDI mapping to link up the physical knobs, pads, keys etc on the device to their corresponding features in Ableton Live:

1. Select the MIDI Map Mode button in the top right corner of the Live window. The button should turn orange, indicating that the MIDI Map Mode is enabled.
2. Select the parameter you wish to control in Ableton by clicking it with the cursor, the parameter will become highlighted.
3. Move a control on the Drumbrute, such as a knob or fader.
4. The parameter you selected is now mapped to the physical control which you moved on the Drumbrute.
5. Moving the physical control on your Drumbrute will now move the position of the corresponding parameter in Ableton.
6. Repeat steps 2 - 4 for any other parameters you wish to map.
7. When you’re finished mapping, press the MIDI Map Mode button again to disable it.

The Limitations of midi mapping the Drumbrute

With Ableton's midi mapping system, you can swiftly map your Drumbrute, however, you must be aware of a few restrictions...

Saving your Drumbrute Midi Mappings is cumbersome

Saving your mappings can be a problem as mappings are saved with an Ableton session, so if you start a new session you will need to re-map your controls again.

Ableton MIDI mappings are one-to-one

Through a one-to-one MIDI mapping, each control on your Drumbrute can only be assigned to 1 parameter in Ableton Live.

Limited Ableton parameter options to map to

Unfortunately, Ableton's internal midi mapping mode does not include every control options, options such as selected track control and selected device control unfortunately aren't possible. You can view a comprehensive list of all Ableton midi mapping options here.

We have a great solution to these problems

If you're looking to get the most out of your Drumbrute, our Ableton Midi Script Creator tool 'Control Surface Studio' is exactly what you need!
With it, you'll be able to:
- save and re-use your Drumbrute's mappings across all of your Ableton Live sessions,
- map multiple Ableton parameters to a single control on your Drumbrute,
- access many more Ableton parameter controls for your Drumbrute, than Live's internal midi mapping mode allows.

Learn more about Control Surface Studio and see how it can help you by clicking here!

FAQ / Troubleshooting

Why can't I hear my Drumbrute in Ableton Live?

There are several possible causes:
1. Make sure that the Drumbrute is connected properly to your computer via USB and that the cable is not damaged.
2. Make sure that the Drumbrute is selected as your audio input and output device in your audio settings.
3. Make sure that the correct driver is installed for the Drumbrute.
4. Make sure that the Drumbrute is selected as the input device in Ableton's MIDI Preferences.