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[Exporting Korg Gadget (iPad) to Ableton Live (MacOS) - with samples!] #ipados #macos #music #panoramica
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exporting-korg-gadget-to-ableton-live-with-samples.md

Exporting Korg Gadget (iPad) to Ableton Live (MacOS) - with samples!

Korg Gadget is a great tool for jamming ideas within a touch environment, with mixer automation and a capable sequencer. Its samplers, Bilbao and Vancouver, fall far short of the standard set by Beatmaker 3, particularly where sample length is concerned, but the app is far more mature and stable, meaning less lost work and stress!

As I prefer to edit tracks in Ableton Live, I purchased the KORG Gadget 2 Plugins for Mac/PC for USD 199 (NZD 318). This allows me to export a Gadget set in Ableton Live format, so I can continue developing my musical ideas within a more familiar DAW.

Unfortunately, there's a major hole in Gadget's export functionality - samples are not exported with the project! I find this suprising given the cost of the KORG Gadget 2 Plugins for Mac/PC, and my use case for them.

The steps below are my approach to saving samples with exported Gadget projects.

A. iOS: Export project in Ableton Live format

  1. Export > Ableton Live Project > VST/16/44.1 > iTunes

AU format is also an option, but VST is compatible with Windows OS.

B. iOS: Create Samples folder

I create a folder using the standard Ableton naming convention, adding sub folders within this. I like to follow convention but there is a small risk with this approach. Ableton could theoretically add some kind of 'optimise' function to the Samples folder. This could delete samples which have been stored here, but which aren't used in the traditional Ableton way.

Note that I also experimented with using a flat folder structure and renaming samples in Gadget instead (Track 1 - Kitchen Sink etc). But renaming the sample in one instance of Vancouver did not update the link to the same sample in other instances of Vancouver. The other instances would still play, but their waveforms did not display, which was very disconcerting!

  1. Open Gadget project
  2. Take note of which tracks use the Vancouver sampler, e.g. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
  3. For the first instance of the Vancouver sampler, tap on the sample name at top left above the waveform
  4. If the sample is located in a sub folder, tap on < Documents to go to the root of the Gadget file manager
  5. Scroll to locate and open the exported Ableton format project folder - [Project name] Project
  6. Tap the down arrow icon > Create new folder > Samples > Create
  7. Tap into the Samples folder
  8. Tap the down arrow icon > Create new folder > Samples > KORG Gadget > Create
  9. Tap the down arrow icon > Create new folder > Track 01 > Create (the leading 0 is optional but helps during re-import)
  10. Repeat the previous step to create a folder for each track that uses the Vancouver sampler

C. iOS: Copy samples to Samples folder

  1. For each instance of the Vancouver sampler, tap on the sample name at top left above the waveform
  2. Tap the vertical ellipsis > Copy > Local > [Project name] Project > Samples > KORG Gadget > Track N > Copy

D. MacOS: Copy project from iPad to Mac

  1. Connect iPad to Mac with USB cable
  2. Open iTunes > iPad > File Sharing > Gadget2
  3. Locate [Project name] Project
  4. Drag and drop to the appropriate directory (TODO: keyboard shortcut?)
  5. Drag and drop the Gadget .gdproj2 project file into [Project name] Project/Backups (as a backup)
  6. Duplicate [Project name].als as [Project name] Project/Backups/[Project name].orig.als (as a backup which maps to the sample folders)
  7. Delete [Project name-Lite.als]

E. Copy samples to Korg folder

While it's possible to just Import samples from their current location, it requires more mental effort to check that you're picking the right sample, plus there's no obvious protection for samples of the same name. This way is much easier for me:

  1. Navigate to ~/Users/Music/KORG Gadget/User Samples
  2. Create a folder for the project samples: [Project name] (dropping the trailing Project as there's limited space in the Gadget file window)
  3. Browse to [Project name] Project > Samples > KORG Gadget
  4. Copy the contents to ~/Users/Music/KORG Gadget/User Samples/[Project name]
  5. Create an alias to ~/Users/Music/KORG Gadget/User Samples and copy to [Project name] Project > Samples for future reference

F. MacOS: Assign samples to Vancouver devices in Ableton Live

Gadget makes one copy of each sample available in its browser (unless using folders, as we are doing). This makes the other copied samples redundant, but it's still useful to be able check which sample was originally used by each track. This is the purpose of the backup project file [Project name].orig.als.

Additionally, Gadget stores samples in User > Music > KORG Gadget > User Samples. This custom location breaks convention with Live projects, where Collect All and Save saves files to the project Samples folder. Maintaining copies in my own expected folder structure prevents nasty surprises when I upgrade my computer.

  1. Open the [Project name].als file
  2. For each instance of the Vancouver sampler, click the Plugin-in Edit button (spanner)
  3. Pick the relevant Track N sample
  4. Click on the sample name, the waveform will appear
  5. Tap on the missing sample name (N/A)
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