Today I will show you how to work with MIDI in Ableton. Let’s get started!

• Free MIDI Files – Where to Find Them MIDI files are the sheet music of the 21st century – they tell you the chords and melodies artists wrote for songs and the often even the drum arrangements. MIDI files can contain the inner workings of a complete song. In this article, we’ll share an awesome amount of places to find MIDI files for free. Visit These Sites We’ve assembled a huge list.
• Mar 24, 2020  Ableton Newbie here, I watched a tutorial to Insert a Midi Track: 1) Applied the 'Simpler' Instrument and then 2) Added a Hi-Hat from a Sampler Pack I downloaded. I can create notes and put them in the midi track, but no luck with any sound (doesn't play when clicking on keyboard from Ableton).

By the way - if you'd like to learn more about making music in Ableton feel free to check out our new course where we're explaining all the basics you need to get started.

Oct 25, 2018  Im releasing Royalty-Free MIDI stems. Watch the video to learn how to use them. To sign up just click the link below Sign Up for free MIDI stems: https://bit.ly/2O4Yn0U.

1. Quick setup (Ableton Basics)

Let me start at the default screen of Ableton. When you load it up for the first time, this screen should show up. What I want you to do is to press the Tab key on your keyboard - it will take you to a second view, in which we’re going to be working in.

This second view is called Arrangement View. The first Session View is for collecting ideas and performing live, the actual production side of things always happens in the horizontal view.

Now if you look on the right side you should have two tracks - one MIDI and one Audio. Thats because every single sound in Ableton is either coming from one type of those tracks. We will cover the Audio type of tracks later, so you can delete it by selecting it (clicking its name - Audio) and pressing delete (mac) / backspace (win). Another way to do this is to right click there and simply choose Delete

Now you have only got one track - MIDI. You can use the MIDI track to play any instrument you like - for example the piano, a synthesizer (like SERUM), or even drums. But before we can hear any sound, we have to load up an instrument. I’m going to take my SERUM synthesizer.

To load up an instrument onto the track, we need to find it. You’ll find a lot of instruments under „Instruments” - if you’ve got Ableton Suite, then check out the Grand Piano. You can type in „Grand Piano into the search bar at the top - when you click „Instruments” it should show up.

Now, to drag any instrument onto a track, you can just double click its name and it should open automatically.

Check out our new updated course:

'Making a track from Start to Finish'

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2. Playing & Recording Instruments

Now we have the instrument open. To hear its sound you can use your computers keyboard (or if you have a MIDI keyboard, but that’s entirely optional). Make sure this button with a dot inside (called ‘Arm’ button) is red. We use this button to switch between playing different instruments (when wehave more tracks).

Now you should be able to play the instrument by clicking keys on your keyboard from A to L. You can move left/right on the keyboard by pressing Z/X. Play around and get used to it.

Now we could find a simple melody and record it into the program. That’s easy to do: you need to press two buttons which are at the top of the program. One of them is Record (circle) and the other one is Play (triangle). You can play around to find something cool. To play in time, you can turn onthis button:

You will hear a clicking sound which will help you play in time. Now try to record something - it can be random notes. After you do that, if you click on the clip and press cmd/ctrl + L, the clip will loop.

Let us take a closer look at the clip now. To zoom in at it, place your mouse on the dark grey area above the clip - the mouse should turn into a magnifying glass. If you click and drag it up and down, you’ll zoom in and out. If you click + drag it right and left, you’ll move around the timeline.

3. Clip View

Let’s zoom in at our clip.

We still can’t see which exact notes those are. To see that, we have to select the clip (just click at the bar on top). Now that the clip is blue after selecting it, you need to look at the bottom of the program.

The bottom of the program can display two things:

- the devices on a track - that’s what we’re seeing right now, Serum is our device on the left,

- or it can display a selected clip in depth - to see or edit which notes we’re playing. That’s what we want.

Switching between those two views is done by clicking those two tabs at the bottom right corner:

The same thing can be done by pressing Shift + Tab.

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Tip: Don’t confuse this shortcut with Tab, which switches between Arrangement and Session views (between our current view and the starting view with columns). These two are probably the most useful shortcuts in Ableton. When I was starting out the variety of views seemed a little bit confusing - there’s the Session and Arrangement view, and in each one you can change the bottom of the program to display the track devices or the selected clip.

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Okay, so make sure you’re in the Arrangement view and that you’ve got the clip selected. After pressing Shift+Tab you’ll see the piano keys and the notes we’re playing.

Now if you hover your mouse over the red blocks, you’ll see the note names on the left (near the piano keys) - it’s a good way to learn the key names.

Tip: Make sure the Fold button is off (that it’s grey). The Fold button will make the piano on the left disappear and it will only display the notes that we’re playing already.

Now if you click the grey bar at the left and drag left/right, you’ll zoom out/in at the notes, and dragging up/down will make you move up and down the keyboard. The grey bar on top acts just like the bar at the top of the program: dragging up/down is zooming in/out, left/right is moving through the timeline.

The zooming is a little bit weird at first, so mess around with it until you’re comfortable.

Let’s say we recorded this clip. You’ll probably want to fix some things, to make sure you’re playing perfectly in time.

You can for example resize the red blocks by dragging their left and right sides. You can also add more notes by double clicking anywhere - it will add a note between the „lines“ which are called the Grid. When you zoom in, the grid will turn smaller so that you can make more precise adjustments. Try adding a new note (block) and resizing it.

Remember to delete it afterwards by selecting it (clicking) and pressing delete/backspace.

4. Starting from a blank clip

You’re maybe wondering if it’s possible not to have to record a clip first, but to just draw in the notes. To do this, you’d have to make a blank MIDI clip.

Select an area on the TRACK (at the top, not the CLIP). I selected the blue area:

Next all you have to do is right click in the upper area of the selection (at the level of the ‘bar’ on top of our first clip) - the dropdown menu will show an option ‘Insert MIDI Clip’ - that’s what you need to click.

Watch out: If you right click below that area, the dropdown menu won’t display this option.

Now that you’ve got a clip, you could draw in your notes in the Clip View.

Thanks for reading, good luck with your music making!

k-pizza

I’m k-pizza, a chill trap music maker who likes to share his experiences with other producers. I’m regularly going to show up with music and content at PML.

Listen: https://souncloud.com/k-pizza

If you’re looking for free MIDI files, you’ve come to the right place!

MIDI files are a staple for musicians all over the world. These days, you can find thousands of free MIDI packs and folders on the web.

MIDI files made their first appearance in the music industry in 1982. Since its release, musicians have praised the MIDI protocol as revolutionizing the music industry.

With just a single MIDI file, a user can control the music produced from multiple sound modules. The sound may be coming from a sampler, a hardware synth, a soft synth like Xfer Serum, a drum machine, or something else.

MIDI files are used prolifically in today’s world as well, and there is an abundance of MIDI songs available on the web.

In fact, many musicians today download these files from the internet to save time working out how to create the perfect chord progression, or to save time when remixing a well known song. These range from MIDI songs to MIDI samples to MIDI chord progressions to MIDI loops.

We have scoured the web to find and compile a list of free MIDI downloads. In the list below, I have cataloged a large number for free MIDI files by type.

Haywyre’s Advanced Jazz Chords Midi Pack

First of all, I must tell you about a free midi pack that is available exclusively on BassGorilla.com. It was created by classically trained musician Haywyre.

Haywyre is a highly respected electronic music producer. He is signed to the huge record label MonsterCat Records.

He created this free midi pack of jazz chords for musicians to download and easily use jazz chords in their own music.

Free MIDI Files Of Chord Progressions

Free chord progression midi files – download and enjoy!

This list contains free MIDI chord progressions. These are triad chords and vary for each of the MIDI loops.

I recommend that you download all of them, so you can drag and drop them into your workstation (Ableton Live / Logic Pro / FL Studio etc.) and see how each chord progression sounds.

You’ll notice that some of these chord progressions sound uplifting, while others sound whimsical, mysterious or even melancholy.

You can use different chord progressions or combine different combinations of chords to create dramatically different moods in your music.

Free MIDI Files Of Loops

The items in this list are packs of free MIDI loops. These packs offer a wide range of MIDI songs composed by professionals. The free MIDI files in each pack cover a plethora of music styles.

Free MIDI Songs

In this list, you will find a variety of popular free MIDI songs ranging from modern pop to hip hop, house music, EDM, RnB and even classic rock.

All of the music has been converted to the MIDI file format.

These files are perfect if you want to remix a famous song in your digital audio workstation.

EDM, House Music & Electronica Midi Songs

If you want to remix house music, EDM or any other styles of electronic music, these midi songs could make a huge your life easier.

You’ll be able to easily drag and drop the chord progressions, lead melodies, bass lines, drum patterns and other midi data into your DAW of choice.

From there, you’ll be able to start designing your own sounds or using presets to create an entirely new feel to your remix.

Downloaded Midi Files Won't Play In Ableton 7

You’ll also be able to start changing up the melodies, chords, drums and bass lines to make your own version of the original song.

Hours of fun can be had by remixing songs, especially when you have access to these midi files. They can make life much easier if you don’t have a strong grasp of music theory.

RnB and Hip Hop Midi Songs

Since the 1980’s, Rnb and hip hop has grown into a huge category of modern music. Taking influences from funk, blues and jazz, RnB and hip hop has influenced a lot of modern electronic music.

That’s why it’s such a great music category to remix. You can get some very interesting results when you create EDM remixes of RnB and hip hop songs. Of course, if you prefer, you can stay within the same genre when remixing a song.

Modern Pop Midi Songs

Many electronic musicians find mainstream pop music “cheesy” and boring.

But modern pop has been borrowing influences from more underground styles of electronic music more and more in the last few years.

Ellie Goulding has formed an extremely successful career, singing over a wide range of musical styles, from modern pop to EDM and RnB.

She has been able to achieve this while maintaining a higher level of artistic integrity than many other singers who cross over into the mainstream.

Download any of these files and dissect them, remix them, or borrow parts of the songwriting to create your own music.

Hard Rock, Punk Rock & Heavy Metal Midi Songs

Downloaded Midi Files Won't Play In Ableton Download

Hard rock and metal has been fuzed with hip hop since the 1980’s, when Aerosmith joined forced with Run-DMC to create “Walk This Way”.

Since then, Linkin Park has collaborated with Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys have produced their own fusion of punk and hip hop tracks, and many others have followed suit.

Download any of the midi songs below to create your own versions of these iconic rock songs.

Classic Rock Midi Songs

Remixes of classic rock songs are less common than remixes of hip hop, RnB, modern pop and electronica.

Downloaded Midi Files Won't Play In Ableton Download

Despite that, you can still remix classic rock songs and create something truly original and captivating for your listeners.

Downloaded Midi Files Won't Play In Ableton 10

Here’s an expansive list of free midi songs for classic rock songs. Download, dissect, remix and above all else, have fun!