Arturia Keylab Essential 61 Ableton tutorial - connect, setup & midi map

The Keylab Essential 61 from Arturia is an incredibly versatile midi keyboard and is a powerful tool when used in combination with Ableton Live. The Akai MPK Mini has a wealth of features that make it perfect for use with Ableton Live.

This tutorial will show you the whole process of how to operate the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 with Ableton Live. It will cover the steps of connecting, setting up and midi mapping the Keylab Essential 61.

Article Contents

Does the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 work with Ableton Live?
Does the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 come with ableton Live included?
How to connect the Keylab Essential 61 to ableton
How to midi map the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 in Ableton Live
The Limitations of midi mapping the Keylab Essential 61
Why can’t I hear my Push in Ableton Live?

Does the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 work with Ableton Live?

In short, yes, the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 is compatible with Ableton Live.

The Keylab Essential 61 is equipped with a standard midi remote script in Ableton Live, so you just need to connect it (see instructions below) to get it working.

All editions of Ableton Live, from Intro to Suite, can be used with any device that sends out MIDI data. This is the case for all versions of Live, 9, 10, or 11. Seeing as the Keylab Essential 61 is a MIDI capable device, it is fully suited to function with Ableton Live.

You can easily create midi mappings for Ableton, allowing you to access many functions of Ableton Live with your Keylab Essential 61.

Does the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 come with ableton Live included?

The Keylab Essential 61 offers a complimentary copy of Ableton Live Lite, but its features are limited in comparison to Ableton Live Standard or Suite.

There are three main versions with Ableton Live: Intro, Standard and Suite. Though Intro and Standard are both comprehensive, Suite offers much more, such as 70GB of library sounds, in comparison to Standard's 10GB.

Ableton Live Suite includes many more Audio and MIDI effects compared to Standard, so if you want to ensure you have everything, we recommend going with Ableton Live Suite.

How to connect the Keylab Essential 61 to ableton

Linking the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 to Ableton Live is a simple process, and when you have them connected you can control the software's parameters from your midi keyboard.

1. Connect the Keylab Essential 61 to your computer via USB.
First, connect the USB cable to both the Keylab Essential 61 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 Keylab Essential 61 from the list of available devices.
Click the the MIDI Sync tab, make sure that Input and Output for the Keylab Essential 61 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 Keylab Essential 61 (Sync can also be optionally checked).

Set up of the Keylab Essential 61 with Ableton Live is now complete.

How to midi map the akai mpk mini in Ableton Live

After linking up the Arturia Keylab Essential 61 to Ableton Live using the steps provided, you can now assign the physical buttons, pads, keys etc on the device to specific functions within Ableton Live via MIDI mapping as follows:

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 Keylab Essential 61, such as a knob or fader.
4. The parameter you selected is now mapped to the physical control which you moved on the Keylab Essential 61.
5. Moving the physical control on your Keylab Essential 61 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 Keylab Essential 61

With Ableton's midi mapping system, you can swiftly map your Keylab Essential 61, however, you must be aware of a few restrictions...

Saving your Keylab Essential 61 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 Keylab Essential 61 can only be assigned to 1 parameter in Ableton Live.

Limited Ableton parameter options to map to

When using Ableton's internal midi mapping mode, unfortunately now all options are available, controls such as selected track and selected device control aren't currently possible. View a full list of Ableton midi mapping options here.

We have a great solution to these problems

If you're looking to get the most out of your Keylab Essential 61, 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 Keylab Essential 61's mappings across all of your Ableton Live sessions,
- map multiple Ableton parameters to a single control on your Keylab Essential 61,
- access many more Ableton parameter controls for your Keylab Essential 61, 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 Keylab Essential 61 in Ableton Live?

There are several possible causes:
1. Make sure that the Keylab Essential 61 is connected properly to your computer via USB and that the cable is not damaged.
2. Make sure that the Keylab Essential 61 is selected as your audio input and output device in your audio settings.
3. Make sure that the correct driver is installed for the Keylab Essential 61.
4. Make sure that the Keylab Essential 61 is selected as the input device in Ableton's MIDI Preferences.