How To Get The Most From Ableton Live Lite’s Drum Sample Selector

Did you know that Ableton Live Lite comes with tons of amazing drums sounds? In fact, there are so many samples in 1 drum rack alone that you likely won’t ever need drum samples again. (Unless it’s this one)

Ableton comes with a drum rack preset called “Selector Kit Clean“. Each pad in this preset comes with 128 different samples you can select with a macro knob. With this drum rack you can cycle through all of the samples available to find the perfect sound that matches your music.

Let’s take a look at how to find it and how it works.

How To Find The Drum Samples Selector

First, you’ll want to navigate to the “Drums” tab in the left sidebar.

Next look for the preset called “Selector Kit Clean”. Our copy also came with a version of this called “Selector Kit Warm”, this kit is a little more saturated and heavier. Choose whichever kit you want to work with.

How The Drum Rack Selector Works

The Selector Kit is super easy to use, just drop the drum rack preset onto your drum track, boom! Tons of samples instantly at your fingertips.

To choose your sample you use the “Sample” knob, this will cycle through 128 different samples available for that slot. So if you have the kick pad selected, you will cycle through all of the kick drum samples. If you have the snare pad selected, you will cycle through the snare sounds that come with the preset.

This drum rack also comes with parameters to adjust the shape of the sample you choose.

Attack and Decay knobs help keep your transients and tails in check.

Pitch adjustment helps keep the sample seated exactly where it needs to be in the mix.

Shaper, Tone, and Glue Compression also help sit the sample perfectly in your mix.

In addition to the individual sample controls, there are also global EQ, Shaping, Drive, and Volume parameters to further tweak your drums.

Check out our video below to see how it all works!

Why Ableton Live Lite?

If you’re new to producing with Ableton, or you want to keep your set up as minimal and cost friendly as possible, Ableton Live Lite is the way to go. You can usually get a copy for free bundled with either an audio interface or MIDI interface. More bang for your buck!

Want a free copy of Ableton Live Lite? Check out our list of audio gear that comes with a bundled copy of Ableton for FREE!

With Ableton Live Lite, you only have 8 tracks available to work with. Since the Drum Rack lets you run up to 128 samples on one rack, you can process each of your drum sounds individually on one track. This allows you to make the most of the other 7 tracks available in the Lite version of Live.