Livid Guitar Wing Ableton tutorial - connect, setup & midi map

Livid's Guitar Wing is an exceptionally flexible midi controller and is a powerful tool when is used with Ableton Live. This midi controller has a plethora of features, making it perfect for Ableton Live.

This tutorial will explain all you need to know on using the Livid Guitar Wing with Ableton Live. This includes connecting, setting up and midi mapping the Guitar Wing.

Article Contents

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

Does the Livid Guitar Wing work with Ableton Live?

In short, yes, the Livid Guitar Wing is compatible with Ableton Live.

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

All forms of Ableton Live, Intro, Lite, Standard and Suite, can work with practically any instrument that sends out MIDI data, and it will be compatible with all versions of Live such as 9, 10 and 11. Due to this, the Guitar Wing will be usable with Ableton Live.

You can create your own custom Ableton midi mappings easily, which allows you to control much of the functionality in Ableton Live with your Guitar Wing.

Does the Livid Guitar Wing come with ableton Live included?

Ableton Live Lite is not provided with the Guitar Wing, 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.

If you're looking to make sure you have the full range of Audio and MIDI effects, we suggest you go with Ableton Live Suite, as it has far more than the Standard edition.

How to connect the Guitar Wing to ableton

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

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

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

For the fastest way to map your Guitar Wing, you can't go wrong with Ableton's midi mapping system, but make sure you take into account these limitations...

Saving your Guitar Wing 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

A one-to-one MIDI mapping means that each control on your Guitar Wing can only be assigned to a single Ableton Live parameter.

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 Guitar Wing, 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 Guitar Wing's mappings across all of your Ableton Live sessions,
- map multiple Ableton parameters to a single control on your Guitar Wing,
- access many more Ableton parameter controls for your Guitar Wing, 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 Guitar Wing in Ableton Live?

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