The MIDI Blaster is a new device that allows you to control Ableton Live using your hands. It has four sensors that detect the distance of your hand and three different presets that change the color and intensity of the lights depending on the distance.
You can get a free/donation-based Max for Live plug-in to set up the MIDI Blaster to control Ableton Live in a much deeper and customised way.
How to set up the MIDI Blaster with Ableton Live
The easiest way to connect the MIDI Blaster with Ableton Live would be to use a USB cable. You will also need to enable the MIDI Blaster in Ableton Live’s preferences. Please activate the “IN” – “Track” MIDI port in Ableton Live’s MIDI preferences.
You can create a new MIDI track and set the “MIDI From” to “MIDI Blaster”. Set the Monitor to “IN” to have MIDI messages passing through. You can now add the “MIDI Blaster Ableton Controller” Max for Live device to it. This device will allow you to re-map the MIDI control change messages from the MIDI Blaster to any parameter in Ableton Live.
How to create a MAPing for the MIDI BLASTER to control Ableton Live
To map a parameter, simply click on the “Map” button on the Max for Live device and select the parameter in Ableton Live you want to map.
How to set a control range minimum and maximum
You can also scale the MIDI control change data from the MIDI Blaster. This means that you can limit the range of values that are sent to Ableton’s parameter. For example, you could limit the range of values so that a parameter only goes to up to 50%.
Once you have mapped the MIDI control change data from the MIDI Blaster to the parameters you want to control, you can start using the MIDI Blaster to control Ableton Live with your hands.
Here are some tips for using the MIDI Blaster with Ableton Live:
- You can use the MIDI Blaster to control parameters on instruments and effects
- You can use the MIDI Blaster to create several controllers presets which can be (de-)activated and changed during a performance
Please watch the video below to get a better understanding of how you can use the MIDI BLASTER hand MIDI controller to control Ableton Live.