Tomash Ghzegovsky Digital Warrior Ableton tutorial - connect, setup & midi map

Tomash Ghzegovsky's Digital Warrior is an incredibly multi-faceted midi controller and is a powerful addition to any Ableton Live setup. This midi controller has a wealth of features that make it ideal for use with Ableton Live.

This tutorial will teach you everything needed in order to use the Tomash Ghzegovsky Digital Warrior with Ableton Live, including the processes of linking, setting up and midi mapping the Digital Warrior.

Article Contents

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

Does the Tomash Ghzegovsky Digital Warrior work with Ableton Live?

To put it briefly, the Tomash Ghzegovsky Digital Warrior is compatible with Ableton Live.

The lack of a MIDI remote script in Ableton Live does not restrict users from midi mapping the Digital Warrior 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 Digital Warrior will be usable with Ableton Live.

You can create your own Ableton midi mappings with ease, giving you the power to control many of the features of Ableton Live with your Digital Warrior.

Does the Tomash Ghzegovsky Digital Warrior come with ableton Live included?

The Digital Warrior doesn’t come with a copy of Ableton Live Lite, so this would need to be purchased separately.

There are three main versions of Ableton Live: Intro, Standard and Suite. Whilst Intro and Standard are highly functional, Suite includes an additional 70GB library of sounds, in comparison to Standard's 10GB.

If you prefer to have all the Audio and MIDI effects, we recommend getting Ableton Live Suite, because it comes with much more of them than the Standard edition.

How to connect the Digital Warrior to ableton

Connecting and setting up the Tomash Ghzegovsky Digital Warrior with Ableton Live is a relatively simple process, once you have the 2 linked together you will be able to control parameters of the software from your midi controller.

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

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

Ableton’s midi mapping system provides a great way to quickly map your Digital Warrior, there are however, some limitations to be aware of...

Saving your Digital Warrior 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

Through a one-to-one MIDI mapping, each control on your Digital Warrior 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 Digital Warrior, 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 Digital Warrior's mappings across all of your Ableton Live sessions,
- map multiple Ableton parameters to a single control on your Digital Warrior,
- access many more Ableton parameter controls for your Digital Warrior, 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 Digital Warrior in Ableton Live?

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