Ableton/Live/UG/25 Racks/06 Drum Racks/01 Pad View
- Pad View shows one pad per MIDI note (128 in all). Shift the visible 16 pads by dragging in the overview or with the arrow keys; hold
Cmd (Mac) / Alt (Windows) to move one row. - Drop almost anything from the browser on a pad and it maps to that note: a sample makes a chain with a Ableton/Instrument/Simpler; an audio effect goes after it; another sample replaces only the Simpler and its sample, keeping effects. In Hot-Swap,
D switches the target between the Rack and the last selected pad. - Dropping several samples maps them upward chromatically from the pad.
Cmd/Alt-dragging them layers all on one pad in a nested Instrument Rack. - Dragging one pad onto another swaps their notes, so existing clips play different sounds;
Cmd/Alt-dragging layers both pads. See also Ableton/How To/Preserve Name of Clip when Dragging into Drum Rack. - Receive choosers in the chain list remap notes too; chains sharing a note all fire from its pad.
- A pad stands for a note, not a chain — every chain at any depth that receives that note:
- an empty pad shows its note, and its General MIDI suggestion in the Status Bar;
- a pad with one chain shows its name and gives mute, solo, preview, Hot-Swap, rename and delete;
- a pad with several shows "Multi"; mute, solo, preview and delete affect them all.
- With a natively supported pad controller selected in Settings → Link, Tempo & MIDI, its pads play the pads visible on screen and follow when you scroll.