Ableton Forum

Hi All.

I'm hoping you can help me. I'm pretty new to Ableton, and midi keyboards. I will explain what I am trying to do, and then why (in case there's a better way).

I have an M Audio 61 key midi keyboard, and in Ableton, I want to have the 1st octave of my keyboard (C1 to B1) play 2 octaves lower (C -2 to B -2) but the rest of the keyboard would play normally. I want this to happen with a single instrument, not 2 different instruments.

Here's WHY I'm trying to do this, in detail.

I want to play some Native Instruments Kontakt instruments that require key triggers from C -2 to B -2, but my keyboard doesn't go that low. If I transpose my whole keyboard, I lose the upper range of the instrument (depending on the instrument).

Right now I am working with the Kontakt Solo Trumpet, which has about a 3 octave range (E2 to F5), but I also want access to the C -2 to B -2 triggers. Since the trumpet doesn't play in the c1 to b1 range of my keyboard, it would be perfect to have those keys actually play the triggers at C -2 to b -2.

I have read a lot of things online, but nothing seems to be working for my specific need. I assume I need to make an instrument rack with the trumpet, and somehow set 2 zones, with the c1 - B1 zone lowered by 2 octaves. But I have no idea how to do this.

I am using this to play live, so adding triggers afterwards isn't an option.

Does anyone have any guidance on how this could be accomplished?
(I want to buy some half price instruments from NI in the next week, while they are on sale, but it's not worth it if I can't use them fully with the key triggers)

Thanks in advance for any help.

If I'm understanding you correctly, use a midi effect rack, and in the key zone you want to lower place a pitch shift. Let the other zone cover the rest of the keys, put your instrument after the rack. Something like this (with note zones that work for you, and with your instrument instead of an analog):