Get beats finished faster

MIDI Loop libraries offer a wide range of drum beats from different genres that provide a good starting point for new tracks. They can be used not only in Live, but also with an external drum machine. Using Live, you can easily import them and then edit them further. In the following workshop, you‘ll learn how to transfer these MIDI loops and how to assign all drum sounds correctly. 1 Load MIDI Clip

To transfer a MIDI loop to a hardware drum machine, either create a MIDI clip and program a beat or load a MIDI clip from an appropriate library into an empty MIDI slot. If you don‘t have a MIDI loop library, just look under the keyword Free MIDI Loops on the internet, like groovemonkee.com [1]. 1

2 Listen to MIDI template

If the MIDI clip is available as a Standard MIDI File (SMF), load any drum rack into the track to listen to the clip. This MIDI track will serve as a guide when you adjust the MIDI notes in the next step so that they correspond to the sounds of your drum machine, so that the kick also triggers the kick there, and so on. 1

3 Create a routing device

So that you don‘t have to tediously move the MIDI notes back and forth in the clip, create a universal routing device. This will route the MIDI notes to the drum machine once, so that you can then play each MIDI loop immediately. To do this, create a new MIDI track and copy the MIDI loop you want to transfer into it. 1

4 Create chains

Load the default preset of the MIDI Effect Rack into the track. Open the chain list and right-click in the field where the MIDI effects are dragged. Select Create Chain from the context menu. Open the editor for the note zones. Limit the key zone to the first MIDI note of the clip, for example, C1 for the kick. 1

5 Assign MIDI note

Next, the note defined in the Key Editor, in this example the kick, must be adjusted so that it outputs the MIDI note that triggers the drum sound of your drum machine. To do this, load the MIDI effect pitch at the end of the chain. Adjust the Pitch control so that the kick of your drum machine responds to it. 1

6 Record MIDI loop

Duplicate the chain in the chain list and repeat the steps for the next MIDI note in the clip. Repeat this procedure until there is a chain for all notes in the Effect Rack. Now all you have to do is sync drum machine and Live via MIDI Sync, start the clip in Live, and press record on your drum machine to transfer the clip.