Applies to Launchpad Mini MK3
Setup for the Launchpad Mini MK3 up with Ableton Live 11 (11.0.1 or later)
Please make sure the first steps you take are to check for any hardware updates pending for your Launchpad Mini MK3 using the Components software. This can be downloaded to your host Mac or Windows PC. The link below offers both the use of the online version or if you prefer, a download link for the stand-alone version:
Updating your Novation hardware first will ensure that the Launchpad Mini MK3 is ready for integration to the Ableton Live software.
Please follow the following steps for setting up your Launchpad Mini MK3 in Ableton Live 11:
1. Please connect your Launchpad Mini MK3 to the host computer (either Mac or Windows) via the USB cable supplied with the hardware.
2. Open the Ableton Live Lite software (bundled with your Launchpad Mini MK3) or any other licensed copy of Ableton 11.
3. Go to the Preferences > Link/MIDI tab: this differs between Windows and Mac.
For Windows users, please access this through the Options drop-down menu, selecting Preferences.
For Mac users, access can be found by selecting the Live dropdown menu (next to the Apple logo- upper left corner) and select Preferences. When the menu opens please go to the LINK MIDI tab as demonstrated below:
Proceed to select the Launchpad Mini MK3 from the Control Surfaces field:
Set the Launchpad Mini MK3 for the Input and Output ports as illustrated below.
(Windows)
Repeat the same selection for output as well.
(Windows)
DAW and MIDI are two options. The DAW option is what you need to select on macOS. For Windows, this option is slightly different. If you are using Windows, please select the option which does not include MIDI.
Finally, set the MIDI ports section to match the settings below for the TRACK and REMOTE fields:
Once this is set up as demonstrated above, close the Preferences menu (ESC) and you will notice a range of Tracks and Scenes captured in focus in the Session view (red rectangle):
This is an indication your Launchpad Mini [MK3] is now synced to the Ableton Live Session.
In any of the MIDI Tracks, please double-click on the empty track cells to create a few blank clips.
This will help you test that the Launchpad Mini MK 3 is ready to be used in Live for working with any Audio and MIDI files. As you will see, when you insert these blank clips, the pads on your Launchpad Mini MK3 will light up with the corresponding LED colours:
