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Using Koala with Push and Ableton
Ableton is amazing, especially with the Push, but Koala is still way quicker and more fun for sampling. I have finally worked out how to use Koala inside Ableton.
You need two tracks. One is an audio track, with the Koala AU loaded. Then, create a MIDI track, and load a Drum rack into it. You can point this MIDI track's output to the Koala audio track, and it works, but none of the drum pads is colored on the Push (2 or 3)
My preferred way is to add an External Instrument device to each drum pad, and then point each one of these to the Koala audio track. Then you can color the pads how you like.
Then, in Koala's own preferences, you can MIDI map its pads to these drum pads. I use colors to divide the Push's grid into four 8x8 sections, one for each page of Koala.
Now, you can use all 64 pads to match Koala's 64 sample pads, but I sacrificed one 8x8 section controlling other things in Koala. For instance, I have Push pads for doubling clip length in Koala's sequencer, and for toggling keyboard mode.
I have the input of the Koala audio track set to resample. This way, I can select the Koala MIDI track, and instantly sample to any of its pads using the Push. It's great.
I only wish there was a way to have the Push's pads change color when a sample is already loaded to the corresponding pad in Koala.
Comments
@elf_audio
Ok, this is going to sound ridiculous, but it’s actually quite practical.
I am using Duet Display to use my iPad as a second screen for my Mac. If I drag the Koala AU window (hosted in Ableton) to the iPad, I can use it with touch, just like it was actually on the iPad.
Advantages: Everything in the project stays in Ableton. You don’t have to bother with MIDI, Ableton Link, iDam, or iConnectivity boxes. Plus you get to control Koala by touch.
Disadvantage: you can’t put the Koala AU in horizontal orientation, which means you have to navigate 2 pages of FX.
And why Koala in Ableton? Because it’s so much easier and faster to sample stuff and get something grooving.
Can I ask how you host Koala in Ableton? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I don’t have audio bud atm but I’d get it for this purpose.
Thanks in advance
If you use the iOS version of Koala (requires an Apple Silicon Mac), then it just shows up as an AUv3 in Ableton.
I've written a blog post about how to use Koala with the Push via ADAT. It really works well. The combo is amazing—all the power of the Push, MPE, and so on, with Koala's hyper-fast sampling.
The best part is, once set up, all you do is connect the iPad to the ADAT box, and it's ready.
https://straightnofilter.com/how-to-use-koala-sampler-with-ableton-push-standalone-via-adat/
Also, now that Koala has a few extra keyboard shortcuts, I got a dedicated keyboard for it. Notice the different keys for
YUIO
PHJKL
Which gives me a subtle visual cue about which keys switch sequencer banks.