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Author Topic: How to set up in Ableton? Not listed as a control surface.  (Read 3035 times)

briantully

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Hi I just bought the Keystep 37 and was hoping I could use it with Ableton to replace a very old Korg microKONTROL. I am shocked to see that the Keystep 37 doesn't appear under Ableton's control surface options whereas my old microKONTROL did. Is there something extra I need to install to get it showing up within Ableton Live 11? I've already downloaded and installed the latest Keystep 37 firmware via Arturia Software Center and I've tried looking through MIDI Control Center to no avail. I'm on a Mac, so I thought this would be "plug-and-play". Any tips on how to set the Keystep 37 up with Ableton?

KBryantmvp

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Re: How to set up in Ableton? Not listed as a control surface.
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2022, 05:21:50 am »
Following this topic.

I find incredibly surprising that there's little to non help out there, not even on youtube, on how to integrate the Keystep into an Ableton workflow. I see the potential of this device but I haven't been able to use it at all so far.

MajorFubar

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Re: How to set up in Ableton? Not listed as a control surface.
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2022, 01:51:01 pm »
Sometimes I think it's because the DAW manufacturers don't really view the Step devices as flexible midi controllers that keyboardists would choose to use in a DAW. This is probably Arturia's fault for equipping the original KeyStep with nearly zero midi configurability beyond changing its midi channel. Most of its controls and buttons couldn't be mapped to anything, other than the start/stop/record buttons. So when the KS37 and KS Pro appeared, they all got tarred with the same brush (if you'll forgive the probably-UK-specific idiom).

I chose the original KeyStep to use in my almost-entirely-in-the-box studio because it was the only mini-sized midi controller in Arturia's whole lineup with aftertouch. Though it seemed very obvious from the start that the KeyStep was not really aimed at me. Bizarrely, Arturia's MiniLab controllers do not have aftertouch even though in every other way they more accurately fit my needs in terms of features and configurability, but for me aftertouch is absolutely vital.
2022 Apple Studio Max 32/32/2TB Monterey • V Collection 9 • Analog Lab 4 + 5 • KeyLab 88 • KeyStep

briantully

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Re: How to set up in Ableton? Not listed as a control surface.
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2022, 06:29:24 pm »
The Keystep 37 is my second Arturia midi controller (I also have the Keylab MkII 61). I bought the Keystep 37 because of its smaller footprint, so that I could place it on my desk at arms length for whenever I felt inspired. The Keylab MkII is too big for that and requires some manual moving/setup to hook up whenever I want to use it.

I assumed the Keystep 37 would behave similarly to the Keylab MkII 61 in that it would show up as a control surface within Ableton. But you know what happens when one assumes. I definitely have buyers remorse, especially since I have no interest in the Keystep's built-in step sequencer features -- I just want to use my DAW. If I had to do it all over again I definitely would choose one of the Novation LaunchKey controllers instead.

 

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