Download a free MacBook Pro Touch Bar preset for Ableton Live

Ever since Apple's Touch Bar made its debut on the latest MacBooks — we've yet to see its addition as anything other than a clever gimmick.

Well, the gimmickry might be coming to an end as Ableton-centric site pATCHES has created its own unofficial Ableton support for Apple's much-maligned Touch Bar.

“After owning a new MacBook for some time now, I can report back to say the Touch Bar is no gimmick at all – everyday applications like Photoshop, Quicktime, and Premiere get a productivity boost with app-specific toolsets right at the top of your keyboard," states the site.

“Ableton Live has not yet received any official support for the Touch Bar, so we at pATCHES put together this collection of icons, shortcuts, and macros to take advantage of the adaptable portion of your keyboard.”

The new preset adds shortcuts for some of Ableton's most important functions, including the save button, adding new audio, MIDI and return tracks, muting tracks, time controls and the ability to switch between Ableton's two main views.

To get the preset up and running on a Touch Bar-enabled MacBook, you'll need a piece of software called BetterTouchTool, which can be found on the pATCHES website, along with a breakdown of what the hack can actually do.

Currently the preset is free for the first 45 day thanks to a BetterTouchTool's free trial, but after that, you'll need to purchase a license that costs £6.50.

Recently, some clever bods turned classic retro arcade games into music making tools for Ableton Live, which you can see here.

For more information on the Touch Bar preset, head here.