Hexler Touchosc Ableton tutorial - connect, setup & midi map

Hexler's Touchosc is an incredibly multi-faceted midi controller and is a powerful addition to any Ableton Live setup. This midi 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 Hexler Touchosc with Ableton Live. It will cover the steps of connecting, setting up and midi mapping the Touchosc.

Article Contents

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

Does the Hexler Touchosc work with Ableton Live?

To sum it up, the Hexler Touchosc is fully compatible with Ableton Live.

The lack of a MIDI remote script in Ableton Live does not restrict users from midi mapping the Touchosc to multiple functions inside the program.

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 Touchosc 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 Touchosc.

Does the Hexler Touchosc come with ableton Live included?

Ableton Live Lite is not provided with the Touchosc, so it needs to be purchased separately.

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.

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 Touchosc to ableton

Connecting and setting up the Hexler Touchosc with Ableton Live is a simple task, after they're connected you'll be able to adjust the software's parameters from your midi .

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

The Touchosc will now be setup and ready to use with Ableton Live.

How to midi map the akai mpk mini in Ableton Live

After successfully connecting the Hexler Touchosc to Ableton live following the steps above, you can now MIDI map the physical knobs, pads, keys etc on the device to functionality within Ableton Live by doing the following:

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

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

Saving your Touchosc Midi Mappings is cumbersome

Mappings are saved along with your Ableton session. Therefore, if a new session is created, you must re-map all of your controls.

Ableton MIDI mappings are one-to-one

A one-to-one MIDI mapping indicates that each control on your Touchosc is capable of controlling only one 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 Touchosc, 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 Touchosc's mappings across all of your Ableton Live sessions,
- map multiple Ableton parameters to a single control on your Touchosc,
- access many more Ableton parameter controls for your Touchosc, 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 Touchosc in Ableton Live?

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