Ableton Forum

I'm new to Ableton Live Lite, which came bundled with my new Novation Launchkeys 61 Mk3. I can play and record drums using the keyboard. E.g., if I load the Impulse/Backbeat drum rack, I can play all 8 basic drums sounds with the middle-C octave, and I see a level indicator light up just to the left of the device UI. When I push Shift-Pad2 on the Launchkey controller to switch to drum pads, though, I don't hear anything. I do see that same level indicator light up, so the software is sensing that the pads are being struck. But the software doesn't associate them with any sound.

Any advice on how to troubleshoot this? I'm using Windows 10, a universal ASIO sound driver, and Ableton Live Lite. Many thanks.

Hi there, welcome!

The Impulse drum instrument is a different instrument from a Drum Rack instrument.

The Impulse only has 8 slots/sounds, spread over the middle-C octave. That’s probably why you’re not hearing anything when you change octaves / play the drum pads on the Novation.

Have a look in Live’s browser for Drums > Drum Rack and you should find Drum Racks which contain more that 8 sounds.

HTH

Thanks for that very helpful post! That fixed it. As you say, there are plenty of racks with 16 drum sounds.

OK, back to the drumming. Thanks again!