mouse wheel in ableton

[onomatopoetik]

hi,

I tried to use the mouse wheel to change values in Ableton plug ins.
so I click on a value or knob and use the mouse wheel, but it does not change any value at all.
I´m using a Mac, and the mouse wheel works... so, what am I doing wrong?
thanks!

[Rivanni]

You not doing anything wrong.
You cannot change values in Live using the scroll wheel. You can do this only by click-and-drag (and double-click to reset the value).

[cmkadmin]

Requests for this go back years and years. It would be simple, programmatically to implement a mouse hover with value change using the wheel (or even require a click on the parameter first, which is fine). Holding the mouse button down and dragging the mouse sucks and is inaccurate and I don't have everything mapped to the Push via a Macro.

Simple - and super, super user friendly addition. I do not see it in the Ableton 12 feature list. Bummer.

[Machinesworking]

I think mouse wheel scroll was never introduced because Ableton Live is supposed to be, well, a live performance DAW.
Mouse wheel scroll for knobs and sliders in any DAW is subject to randomly changing a parameter and that goes against the UX that Ableton wants for Live.

Just so people know though, once you select or click on a fader or knob, the arrow keys work to move it up/down left/right this includes numerical entry boxes. and selection boxes in general in Live. Shift gives you fine adjustment.

[Rivanni]

I think mouse wheel scroll was never introduced because Ableton Live is supposed to be, well, a live performance DAW.

That might be true but there is no reason to introduce this functionality now. For some time now, Ableton Live has not been solely a performance tool. There are a lot of users that don't use Live for performances.

Mouse wheel scroll for knobs and sliders in any DAW is subject to randomly changing a parameter

Using the scroll wheel to change values in plugins or other programs works fine. No accidental changes and certainly no random ones. If that were the case, there would be many complaints, and people wouldn't want this feature in Live.

and that goes against the UX that Ableton wants for Live.

How do you know what Ableton wants?
I don't see how it would go against the UX. Live 12 introduced the ability to use the keyboard to navigate inside Live fully. That didn't hurt the user experience.
If using the scroll wheel to change values is made optional (and it should), it will not negatively impact the user experience either.

Just so people know though, once you select or click on a fader or knob, the arrow keys work to move it up/down left/right this includes numerical entry boxes. and selection boxes in general in Live. Shift gives you fine adjustment.

Using the scroll wheel eliminates the need for mouse clicks, arrow keys, and shift key. The mouse wheel provides more precision and accuracy.
And if not, you can always use the other methods in combination with scrolling.

[cmkadmin]

Ableton is, of course, a full featured DAW. It’s not just a performance tool. It may have started out that way, but it’s definitely not now.

[milkformycoconut]

Here is a little Autohotkey script for mapping keyboard arrow keys to scroll wheel of your mouse, so you can change values with mouse

WheelUp::Send, {Up}
WheelDown::Send, {Down}
return

Plus with Shift for finer control on some, and bigger jumps on other

+WheelUp::Send, +{Up}
+WheelDown::Send, +{Down}
return

Thanks to people on AHK forums

[Machinesworking]

I think mouse wheel scroll was never introduced because Ableton Live is supposed to be, well, a live performance DAW.

That might be true but there is no reason to introduce this functionality now. For some time now, Ableton Live has not been solely a performance tool. There are a lot of users that don't use Live for performances.

Mouse wheel scroll for knobs and sliders in any DAW is subject to randomly changing a parameter

Using the scroll wheel to change values in plugins or other programs works fine. No accidental changes and certainly no random ones. If that were the case, there would be many complaints, and people wouldn't want this feature in Live.

and that goes against the UX that Ableton wants for Live.

How do you know what Ableton wants?
I don't see how it would go against the UX. Live 12 introduced the ability to use the keyboard to navigate inside Live fully. That didn't hurt the user experience.
If using the scroll wheel to change values is made optional (and it should), it will not negatively impact the user experience either.

Just so people know though, once you select or click on a fader or knob, the arrow keys work to move it up/down left/right this includes numerical entry boxes. and selection boxes in general in Live. Shift gives you fine adjustment.

Using the scroll wheel eliminates the need for mouse clicks, arrow keys, and shift key. The mouse wheel provides more precision and accuracy.
And if not, you can always use the other methods in combination with scrolling.

I've used Live since 2003, I've seen 20 years of what Ableton want out of UX. I don't have any skin in this, I'm not trying to convince you because I want or do not want this feature, you and others are adamant that mouse scroll wheel support is superior and I'm simply telling you the reasons I see that have kept Live mouse wheel free for 20+ years.

I will say that what I want and what Ableton do are two different things. They offer a user experience, it's not Reaper, you don't tailor it to your needs, you either adopt it or you get upset and micro reply to people who tell you otherwise on forums. You can join the Live Centercode betas and suggest mouse wheel support and that will do some good. There's someone here posting a workaround which you might want to look into.

[cmkadmin]

Doesn't appear Autohotkey is available for MacOS.

Ableton is HIGHLY customizable via keyboard and MIDI mapping. There just isn't much in the way of customization for the mouse experience - and the mouse is just as integral to the Ableton experience as the keyboard, a MIDI keyboard/device, and the Push. I think that would make it a better product, IMHO.

[milkformycoconut]

Doesn't appear Autohotkey is available for MacOS.

Ableton is HIGHLY customizable via keyboard and MIDI mapping. There just isn't much in the way of customization for the mouse experience - and the mouse is just as integral to the Ableton experience as the keyboard, a MIDI keyboard/device, and the Push. I think that would make it a better product, IMHO.

Yeah this is for Win users.
I think there is option for Mac.

i have few more for personal mouse button combos

Switching ctrl+Alt+Left Mouse click for screen panning to Middle mouse button

#InputLevel 1
MButton::^!LButton

^+RButton:: ; Toggle loop selection
Send, ^l
Return

^!RButton:: ; Toggle clip ON/OFF
Send, 0
Return

^Rbutton:: ; Delete whatever you click on using Ctrl + Right mouse button
Send, {Click}
Send, {Delete}
Return

XButton1:: ; Crop

Sleep, 50
Send, {Click}
Sleep, 50
Send, ^l
Sleep, 50
Send, ^j
return

[login]

I have requested this since Live 9, and while it has not being implemented I have never gotten a response form the team either denying it is possible or that goes against their UX vision, just not a priority or not requested enough.

To me the biggest issue with this is that other DAWs and plugins have it so when you use Live it is just muscle memory to try to do it and it isn't there.

It is also important for ergonomic reasons since using the scroll wheel is just less demanding of wrist movement that the whole motion with a mouse or trackpad.

I now use a kesington expert mouse, so I don't miss it that much because it is just one finger anyway but for those with traditional mouse this would be great.

[Rivanni]

I will say that what I want and what Ableton do are two different things. They offer a user experience, it's not Reaper, you don't tailor it to your needs, you either adopt it or you get upset and micro reply to people who tell you otherwise on forums.

If you didn't often express your frustrations about (the lack of) certain features on KVR, I might consider this response serious.

I'm not sure why you are upset about some people wanting this feature.

You can join the Live Centercode betas and suggest mouse wheel support and that will do some good.

I'm very familiar with Centercode, and this particular feature has been requested and upvotes numerous times in the past.

There's someone here posting a workaround which you might want to look into.

There are no solid workarounds. I already tried them all in the past years.

[Rivanni]

It is also important for ergonomic reasons since using the scroll wheel is just less demanding of wrist movement that the whole motion with a mouse or trackpad.

I fully agree.

[Rivanni]

Doesn't appear Autohotkey is available for MacOS.

A really good app for macOS is Keyboard Maestro. It is not free but way easier to use and more powerful than AutoHotkey. Currently one sale.