So you’ve got a rig set up that works wonders for you, you’re running Ableton Live and have a MIDI controller that allows you to control EVERYTHING. Patch changes, starting and stopping your stems, repeating song sections, everything at the push of a button. It’s awesome. Now, imagine having a digital version of yourself, who has their own MIDI controller who does all of this for you - so you’re able to be freed up to just play your instrument, sing, and connect with your audience, fully free from navigating and triggering all of these things manually.
Meet my friend; the IAC Driver. In this post, we're diving into how this virtual MIDI device can revolutionize your live performance abilities, giving you unprecedented control and creativity in your music production. If you’re looking to get to the next level of automation in your live set, the IAC Driver is your ticket to a more efficient and dynamic setup.
What is the IAC Driver?
The IAC (Inter-Application Communication) driver is a built-in feature on macOS that I like to describe as a built-in MIDI controller for your Ableton set. It allows different applications (or in our instance - the same application) to communicate with each other via MIDI, without the need for physical MIDI hardware. This is particularly useful for musicians who want to automate tasks within Ableton Live, or sync it with other software.
IAC Driver Setup
To get started, you'll need to enable the IAC driver on your Mac. Here's how:
- Open the Audio MIDI Setup utility.
- Go to the MIDI Studio window and double-click the IAC Driver icon.
- Check the "Device is online" box to activate it.
- Create a new bus and give it a clear, descriptive name. Or just leave it at the Default “Bus 1”.
Integrating with Ableton Live: Now that your IAC driver is enabled, it's time to integrate it with Ableton Live:
- Open Ableton Live and go to Preferences > Link Tempo MIDI (or just Link MIDI on some versions of Ableton Live).
- Under the MIDI Ports section, you’ll see the IAC Driver in the list twice, once for Input, once for Output. For Input, enable Remote (think of this as using the IAC Driver as a “remote” controller, or MIDI controller), and for the Output enable Track (pretend you’re a guitarist wanting to “track” some guitar parts in your session), this is so the incoming MIDI messages can be “recorded”.
- Use a dedicated MIDI Track in Ableton for the automations you want to make, set the MIDI Output to your IAC Driver. If you’re using multiple MIDI devices connected to your computer, you’ll want to choose a unique Channel for each device to avoid feedback loops.
Practical Applications: The IAC driver opens up a world of possibilities. Here are a few ways you can use it:
Controlling parameters of Ableton Automatically.
- Set up a MIDI Clip on your dedicated MIDI Track within your arrangement that sends (this works best in Arrangement View)
- In your Clip View, create a MIDI Note in the MIDI Note Editor section (any note will do)
- Hit Command - M on your keyboard or click on the MIDI button in the upper right of the application window, and anything that gets highlighted a purple-y/blue color can be assigned to a MIDI signal
- Start playback a measure or two before your clip plays, then while it’s playing back, but before the clip hits, click on the Stop button in the top center of the screen. Once the MIDI clip reaches the playback header, you’ll see the note you programmed in pop up on top of where the Stop button was.
- Now, exit MIDI mapping mode by clicking the MIDI button in the upper right corner again, or hitting Command - M on your keyboard, press spacebar to stop playback.
- Congrats! You’ve created an auto-stop automation for your set! Now you can place this MIDI Clip anywhere in your set, and duplicate it as many times as you want it to happen, wherever you’d like. You can also create new Notes in the Note Editor and repeat this process for other aspects of controlling the Ableton interface, like muting or un-muting the metronome, navigating between markers, etc.
Changing Presets on a Plugin
I’m a guitar player so let’s use one of my favorite plugins for this example, IK Multimedia’s Amplitube 5. This process is similar for other plugins, either built-in or third-party, so this could work for a reverb plugin, a soft synth, or even an EQ plugin, the process will be similar.
- Setting Presets up in Amplitube (process is similar for other plugins)
- With Amplitube loaded on an audio track that has your guitar input assigned, go to the hamburger menu in the upper right, click on the Control tab
- Here, you have a list of Program Change messages and can assign different presets from the Amplitube menu here. Use the defaults or replace them with your own created presets.
- How to Send Program Change Messages in Ableton
- Set up a MIDI Clip on your dedicated MIDI Track within your arrangement that sends (this works best in Arrangement View)
- In Clip Tab set the Pgm (or Program Change) message to the corresponding Program Change number of the preset you want to hear out of Amplitube.
- That’s it, now you can put this wherever you want in your arrangement, and create as many as you want
So, there you have it! By harnessing the IAC Driver, you're not just automating tasks, you're transforming your entire approach to music production. From automating presets to controlling intricate parameters within Ableton Live, the possibilities are endless. This technique empowers you to focus more on your music and less on the technical hurdles, allowing your creativity to shine through. Give it a try, and watch as your setup becomes more intuitive and responsive, like a pro.
If you're ready to take the first steps towards utilizing backing tracks or automation live but don’t quite know where to start, you'll want to download my guide here I created specifically for getting you started with a playback system that you can build and trust. Download it now to get started on your pro-level playback rig implementation!
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