If you have your audio file already open in your Finder, simply open up Ableton alongside it, and drag the file into a new audio track. This is the most straightforward way of importing audio, but it is also time consuming because you can only select one file at a time, and you have to sift through your library each time to find the audio file.Īn easier method is directly adding audio files into Ableton by simply just dragging and dropping.

Locate the audio you’re looking to import and select it.

Head to “Create,” then select “Import Audio File” In order to import the audio, you can do the following:

While Ableton has a large built-in library of sounds and samples that come with the DAW, it’s only natural that producers will seek out their own desired samples and sounds. It’s much simpler than it seems we promise. But first, let’s get into the basics of downloading samples and plugging them into your DAW. For us, it starts with downloading a quality sample pack, and from there, simply digging in. The possibilities are endless.īut for Ableton producers who are not familiar with the art of sampling, you may be wondering where to begin. You can take a vocal sample from a Classical Indian composition, chop up phrases of the vocal run, pitch each clip to a different note, and then create a melodic percussion loop out of it.

You can take a sample of a wine bottle being broken on pavement, add a few mixing effects, and layer it underneath a snare in your drum beat, adding unique foley textures. All of a sudden, you have something completely new.

You can take samples of symphonic chord progressions, reverse them, pitch them up an octave, and double their tempo. Whether you’re making old-school hip-hop tracks and chopping up samples of soul artists or writing Lo-Fi beats and sampling downtempo one shots and rain sounds, Ableton allows you to manipulate samples in every creative way imaginable. One of the greatest facets of Ableton is the program’s unique ability to utilize samples in various creative ways.

How to import midi files into ableton