Worlde Blue Whale25 Ableton tutorial - connect, setup & midi map

Worlde's Blue Whale25 is a fantastically adaptable midi keyboard that is extremely useful when coupled with Ableton Live. This device has a great range of features, making it ideal as an Ableton Live controller.

This tutorial will explain all you need to know on using the Worlde Blue Whale25 with Ableton Live. This includes connecting, setting up and midi mapping the Blue Whale25.

Article Contents

Does the Worlde Blue Whale25 work with Ableton Live?
Does the Worlde Blue Whale25 come with ableton Live included?
How to connect the Blue Whale25 to ableton
How to midi map the Worlde Blue Whale25 in Ableton Live
The Limitations of midi mapping the Blue Whale25
Why can’t I hear my Push in Ableton Live?

Does the Worlde Blue Whale25 work with Ableton Live?

In short, yes, the Worlde Blue Whale25 is compatible with Ableton Live.

The lack of a MIDI remote script in Ableton Live does not restrict users from midi mapping the Blue Whale25 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 Blue Whale25 is a MIDI enabled device, it will work with Ableton Live.

Making your own midi mappings is a breeze with Ableton Live, which gives you the ability to control a lot of components of the software with your Blue Whale25.

Does the Worlde Blue Whale25 come with ableton Live included?

The Blue Whale25 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. Even though Intro and Standard are both effective, Suite offers a lot more, including 70GB of library sounds, compared 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 Blue Whale25 to ableton

Connecting the Worlde Blue Whale25 with Ableton Live is pretty simple, and when the two are linked you'll be able to adjust the software's parameters from your midi keyboard.

1. Connect the Blue Whale25 to your computer via USB.
First, connect the USB cable to both the Blue Whale25 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 Blue Whale25 from the list of available devices.
Click the the MIDI Sync tab, make sure that Input and Output for the Blue Whale25 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 Blue Whale25 (Sync can also be optionally checked).

The Blue Whale25 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 Worlde Blue Whale25 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 Blue Whale25, such as a knob or fader.
4. The parameter you selected is now mapped to the physical control which you moved on the Blue Whale25.
5. Moving the physical control on your Blue Whale25 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 Blue Whale25

For the fastest way to map your Blue Whale25, you can't go wrong with Ableton's midi mapping system, but make sure you take into account these limitations...

Saving your Blue Whale25 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 indicates that each control on your Blue Whale25 is capable of controlling only one parameter in Ableton Live.

Limited Ableton parameter options to map to

Ableton’s internal midi mapping mode is unfortunately missing many control options. Options such as selected track and selected device control aren’t possible using this method. You can see a list of all available Ableton midi mapping options here.

We have a great solution to these problems

If you're looking to get the most out of your Blue Whale25, 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 Blue Whale25's mappings across all of your Ableton Live sessions,
- map multiple Ableton parameters to a single control on your Blue Whale25,
- access many more Ableton parameter controls for your Blue Whale25, 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 Blue Whale25 in Ableton Live?

There are several possible causes:
1. Make sure that the Blue Whale25 is connected properly to your computer via USB and that the cable is not damaged.
2. Make sure that the Blue Whale25 is selected as your audio input and output device in your audio settings.
3. Make sure that the correct driver is installed for the Blue Whale25.
4. Make sure that the Blue Whale25 is selected as the input device in Ableton's MIDI Preferences.