Ableton Forum

So I own and use an Akai Force in conjunction with Ableton Live 11 and this might be more of a limitation of the import function of the Force, but I would like to be able to create a project file within ableton that is mainly midi clips with CC data being sent and just import the ableton save file into my akai force because my Force is meant to be the "brain" of my setup with other external hardware FX units.



The midi clips might contain one note or no notes and I would just like to send the CC data to automate different FX that the other hardware has. However, when I create a project file, all of the midi clips that contain CC data are just blank when imported. If I add a note to the clip, the note will be saved but none of the CC data whatsoever is saved with the clips.



I have tried importing the premade clips and saving, it didnt work. I have tried importing the clips to ableton, exporting the clips from ableton and reimporting to the project so I can arrange in ableton but it still doesnt get saved with the project. I also tried "printing" the clips into the arrangement window and copying them back into the session view and that doesnt work either. Does anyone have any work around that would save the midi clip with the CC data so I can still arrange in ableton?



I would really like to be able to create ableton projects on my computer and just import the project instead of importing the individual midi clips and having to arrange them on the force.

When you import a MIDI clip made on the Force into Live, is the CC data still present, and if so, in what form? MIDI CC in Live’s clip view, automation, or other?

You say you don’t want to import individual clips. Is MIDI CC data retained when you do?

I don’t have a Force, but when I import an exported MIDI clip in another DAW (Bitwig, Luna, Reaper), the MIDI CC data is retained. Bitwig can open Live projects and also imports all CC data.

Sounds to me like there’s a problem with converting the MIDI to Force’s MPC Pattern format.
I saw there are many topics on this MIDI-to-Pattern conversion, and even some conversion tools. So someone must know the solution.

Thank you so much for the reply!

I have tried mainly exporting midi clips out of FL studio or MPC beats and when importing just the clips by themselves into the force the CC data is retained. I also have similar success when converting the clips to MPC pattern files then importing onto the force. It's mainly when saving the ableton project with midi clips in the session view (or even the arrangement view) that nothing is retained.

When I import the project onto the force, a blank midi clip is put in place of the one with the CC data. For some reason if I put a note into the clip it will retain the note but no CC data. Whenever I reopen the project on a computer the CC data is retained but not when it get imported onto the force. It is encouraging to hear that bitwig will open the project files and retain the data so hopefully in some capacity the data is still actually there and maybe there is some sort of work around I am missing, I would really just like to be able to arrange projects with the drag and drop workflow of a computer rather than the "load" and search window that the force has. I'm trying to load like 50 or more midi clips to control a lighting software via the force without a computer and having to load that many cilps is just kind of a pain.

Whenever I have tried to import a force made clip it seems to retain any data that is greater than a zero value so it seems to work pretty well but it's the reverse going from the computer to the force that seems to have all the issues. From my experience it only saves audio files to its corresponding clip placement and midi clips with only Note data. Nothing else seems to transfer over from the project file.