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Setting up Touché/Lié in Ableton Live

This article explains how to set up Touché or Touché SE to work within Ableton Live 9 and higher.

Scanning Lié inside Ableton Live

Ableton Live scans its plug-in database on every launch.

In macOS, Live will scan the default folder for VST and AU plug-ins, which contain Lié.

In Windows, our Lié installer will place Lié.dll (the plug-in file in VST2 format) in C:\Program Files\Vstplugins if you didn't choose another directory during installation. This is the standard folder that Live uses for VST2 plug-ins. If you defined a Custom Folder for VST2, you will have to manually move the Lie.dll to this folder. You can look up the directory that you set here:

Ableton Live 9: Options -> Preferences -> File & Folder -> Plug-In Sources

Ableton Live 10/11: Options -> Preferences -> Plug-Ins -> Plug-In Sources (see screenshot below)

For more information on the subject, read articles directly from Ableton:
ableton.com - Using VST plug-ins on Windows
ableton.com - VST/AU plug-in doesn't appear in Live

Enabling MIDI Input from Touché (SE)

  • Go to the Link MIDI tab in Live's preferences and activate the 'Track' button for Input TOUCHE on a PC or "Main Port (Touché)" on a Mac. Leave 'Sync' and 'Remote' deactivated. Also, don't activate any button for Touché's Outputs.
  • Please make sure to not activate any button for "TOUCHE (Port 2)" on your PC, or for "Control Port (Touché)" on your Mac. This would interfere with the recognition system between Lié and the Touché hardware.


 

Loading Lié in a track

  • Navigate to the Plug-Ins category in Live's browser, and find Lie in the list.
  • Drag and drop Lie to a MIDI track.
  • Make sure that this MIDI track has "All Ins" activated for "MIDI From". This way it will both accept notes from your keyboard as well as parameter changes from your Touché (SE).
  • Activate the "Arm Recording" button of the track.

Editing automations

You will find the automation that you recorded as 'Envelopes' in the Clip View of the respective Clip.

  • Double-click on the Clip that you recorded, no matter if in Session or Arrangement View.
  • In the Clip View (bottom of the screen), enable the Envelopes view by clicking on the little 'e' in Live 9, or on the automation symbol in Live 10/11.
  • Choose 'MIDI Ctrl' from the dropdown menu and find
    • 16 - (Controller)
    • 17 - (Controller)
    • 18 - (Controller)
    • 19 - (Controller)

Mapping parameters without Lié

Controlling other functions with the Touché Mapping Utility

You don't want to be limited to control only VST instruments loaded inside Lié with your Touché (SE)? If you want to comfortably map any parameter that is available for Live's MIDI Learn functionality to a dimension on Touché (SE), please use the Max4Live device available as a free download in your Expressive E customer account. In order for it to work, please

  1. Download and install Max4Live from ableton.com. Attention: Max4Live is only available for owners of Ableton Live Suite, not for users of Intro or Standard.
     
  2. Make sure that Touché (SE) has the DEFAULT internal memory loaded (CC16/17/18/19 with linear response and full MIDI range on all 4 axes).
     
  3. Download the Touché Mapping Utility from your Expressive E customer account.
     
  4. Drag & drop the downloaded *.amxd file from Windows Explorer directly into a track in Ableton Live. The utility will from there on be available in your User Library in Live's browser as well.
     
  5. Arm the recording for the track you placed the utility in. Touché (SE) will now cause the thin lines in each of the four slots to move, indicating that the connection is made.
     
  6. Click on 'Map' in one of the four slots of the Utility, the button will begin to blink.
     
  7. Click on any mappable control element in Ableton Live's GUI to assign it to the slot.

You could also bend the curve with the slider below each slot, draw a custom sensitivity curve by clicking inside a slot, and set min/max values.

Since the Touché Mapping Utility is capable of doing global mappings and doesn't depend on being on the same track as the parameters that you assign, you are able to have multiple utilities in one project, each doing a separate thing. Switch through them via enabling or disabling the 'Arm recording' button on the respective MIDI track they are loaded in.

Mapping directly with Live's MIDI Map mode

If you can't or don't want to use our Touché Mapping Utillity, you could still use Touché (SE) as a MIDI class-compliant controller in Ableton Live.

  • Go to Preferences -> Link / MIDI and activate the 'Remote' button for 'Input: TOUCHE'.
  • Use the MIDI Map mode as described by Ableton: Making custom MIDI Mappings

Tip: To have a better separation between the axes, when Live expects you to move just one axis that you want to map (for MIDI Learning), temporarily decrease the sensitivity of your Touché (SE) to the minimum via turning the Encoder counter-clockwise.

Attention: The axes that you map with Live's MIDI Map mode won't be able to get through to Lié anymore. If you want to use Lié again, make sure to disable the 'Remote' button for Touché in the MIDI settings again.

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  • 29-Dec-2021
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