Ableton Forum

Hi Live community,

I recently downloaded some .midi files from the internet to try and make a remix track. But the problem is that I can't seem to find a way to import the files. Dragging and dropping the file on a midi track doesn't work, create > import midi track doesn't work and importing from the Live browser doesn't work either.

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance!

If you are on Windows and you can't drag the MIDI file in, make sure you are not launching Live with admin rights. That can create issues with drag-n-drop. Can also try and use the browser in Live to open the file.

Hi all,

sorry if this is a repeat problem. But I also cannot import .mid files into Live standard 9.7.7. I am running Windows 7.

The files are OS update files for my hardware Access Virus b synth so from a verified source (directly from manufacturer website).

I tried:
running Live as admin or not
drag/ drop from Explorer or Live Browser
drag into pretty much anywhere in Live

Nothing works. In the Session window I can place the file in a midi track but hitting the play button doesn't load the file into the virus. I've verified MIDI inputs/outpus etc.

Any ideas? Thanks for the help.

If the MIDI data is sysex you need Max 4 Live, otherwise Live can’t handle it.

Hi TLW

thanks for the info. Good to know.

So if I have researched correctly, I need to purchase Max for Live (and potentially Live 10) after having already bought Live 9 standard for a few hundred EUR in order to import a simple .mid track (sysex or not)?!

That seems a bit ridiculous. My sequencer 20 years ago could handle this already.

Any work arounds?

Thanks

It’s been a few years since I used a PC DAW but as i recall pretty much any Windows MIDI software capable of handling sysex should be able to do the job, and there are quite a few free tools such as MIDI-OX, or this - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/midi- ... verviewtab#.

Live’s MIDI handling has often lagged a little behind the competition - I used it very little for years because compared to Sonar Live’s NRPN handling was somewhere between none at all and atrocious.

try to renaming .midi to .mid, weird but work for me.

I have figured a way to get this to work, i.e. import midi from FL Studio to Ableton.

Here are the steps -

Go to Tools > Macro > Prepare for midi export. This converts all the channels to midi out channels instead of audio. This allows for midi output.

Then export the entire song to midi.

Import into Ableton (as drag and drop) and you will see all the tracks as midi data in their respective tracks. From here you can add your own choice of instruments and effects.

Ps. Do not save the FL Studio project after this else you will loose all the instruments and audio. Simply close and do not save. This way your original project remains as is when you open it again.