Ableton Live Quick Tip: Demoing Note Velocity Values

When you’re programming drum lines, one of the easiest and most effective things you can do is add velocity automation.  These subtle changes in velocity can take an otherwise bland loop and add a more organic feel.  If you combine this with editing your note triggers off the grid, you’ve got a simple recipe for extremely effective rhythm creation.

Unfortunately, editing individual velocity values can get pretty tedious so it makes sense to do anything in your power to simplify and speed up the process.  One oft-overlooked feature of Ableton Live is the ability to automatically demo different velocity values without the need to continually trigger the note manually from the sequencer or your keyboard.

At first glance this might seem really lazy, but after you’ve been slaving over a composition for a couple hours you begin to appreciate anything that lets you avoid unnecessary movement.

All you need to do is hold the mouse button down on a velocity value in the editor and drag up and down and Live will play back what each value will sound like in the final loop.

The following short and sweet video shows this functionality in practice: