Using Akai MPK mini mk3 with Ableton Lite
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marycordelia
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2024 1:47 pm
Using Akai MPK mini mk3 with Ableton Lite
First, do these two play well together? And if so, does anyone know enough about this integration to be able to work with in learning how to use it. I'm looking for someone I can hire for a few hours.
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marycordelia
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2024 1:47 pm
Re: Using Akai MPK mini mk3 with Ableton Lite
I'm sensing this might not get any answers, but just replying to myself, so I can set it to notify me when a reply is posted!
Re: Using Akai MPK mini mk3 with Ableton Lite
Do these two play well together? I would say "yes" and "no". I'll try to explain why:
When you connect the MPK mini to your system, Ableton will/should detect it (you can check under Preferences > Link/Tempo/MIDI: You should see "MPK mini mkIII"/"MPK mini 3" under Control Surface, Input and Output). Be sure to set the MPK mini to the program "Ableton Live" (by holding PROG SELECT and pressing pad #2 - the display will show "PGM: AbletonLive"). Now you should be able to play notes and hit the pads on the MPK mini in Ableton Live (notice the flashing indicator in Ableton Live's upper right corner when you play).
You will notice that the default velocity setting of the MPK mini is close to unuseable (you have to hit the keys REALLY hard to get a note velocity above 50 or so). Apparently no technical specification of the MPK mini can be found (if somebody found some - please let me know!). I recommend to check out https://incenp.org/notes/2022/akai-mpk- ... ocity.html where some friendly person has documented a way to change the default velocity settings (which also isn't documented anywhere by Akai!).
Using the knobs on the MPK mini to change parameters in Ableton Live is not working too well by default. I found out that setting "Takeover Mode" to "Value Scaling" (in Ableton Live under Preferences > Link/Tempo/MIDI) works quite ok. There are also some useful tips for this topic on https://richardmedek.com/2016/01/13/abl ... s-encoders.
I wanted to map the pads of my Akai MPK mini mk3 in CC mode to the transport controls in Ableton Live but weren't really successful so far (see my post here: viewtopic.php?t=250026).
So bottom line: The MPK mini 3 will work with Ableton - but do not expect that everything works perfect "out of the box". Be prepared to do some tinkering. I hope that the information above will be helpful.
When you connect the MPK mini to your system, Ableton will/should detect it (you can check under Preferences > Link/Tempo/MIDI: You should see "MPK mini mkIII"/"MPK mini 3" under Control Surface, Input and Output). Be sure to set the MPK mini to the program "Ableton Live" (by holding PROG SELECT and pressing pad #2 - the display will show "PGM: AbletonLive"). Now you should be able to play notes and hit the pads on the MPK mini in Ableton Live (notice the flashing indicator in Ableton Live's upper right corner when you play).
You will notice that the default velocity setting of the MPK mini is close to unuseable (you have to hit the keys REALLY hard to get a note velocity above 50 or so). Apparently no technical specification of the MPK mini can be found (if somebody found some - please let me know!). I recommend to check out https://incenp.org/notes/2022/akai-mpk- ... ocity.html where some friendly person has documented a way to change the default velocity settings (which also isn't documented anywhere by Akai!).
Using the knobs on the MPK mini to change parameters in Ableton Live is not working too well by default. I found out that setting "Takeover Mode" to "Value Scaling" (in Ableton Live under Preferences > Link/Tempo/MIDI) works quite ok. There are also some useful tips for this topic on https://richardmedek.com/2016/01/13/abl ... s-encoders.
I wanted to map the pads of my Akai MPK mini mk3 in CC mode to the transport controls in Ableton Live but weren't really successful so far (see my post here: viewtopic.php?t=250026).
So bottom line: The MPK mini 3 will work with Ableton - but do not expect that everything works perfect "out of the box". Be prepared to do some tinkering. I hope that the information above will be helpful.