Guide

How to sample audio from your Mac into Ableton Live

Get a sound from a video, a browser tab or any app into a Live set: the routing way and the one-click way.

Updated September 2026 · Prices in USD at the time of writing

Before you sample: only record what you have the right to use: your own music, royalty-free or Creative Commons material, or tracks you'll clear. Streaming services' terms don't allow ripping, and releasing a sample usually needs permission from both the recording owner and the publisher. There's no "two seconds is fine" rule. More on sample clearance.

Short answer: Live can't record your Mac's own output by itself. Ableton's help centre points you to a loopback tool such as BlackHole or Loopback. Or skip the routing: record with KIBA and drag the WAV into Live.

The routing way: BlackHole into Live

  1. Install BlackHole 2ch and create a Multi-Output Device in Audio MIDI Setup (your speakers + BlackHole) so you can still hear the sound.
  2. Set the Multi-Output Device as your Mac's sound output.
  3. In Live › Settings › Audio, set the Audio Input Device to BlackHole 2ch.
  4. Arm an audio track, set its input to 1/2, press record in Live, then play the source.
  5. Stop, crop the clip, and switch your Mac's output back afterwards.

This is great when you want to process the sound live as it plays. For grabbing a sample, it's a lot of steps each time.

The one-click way: KIBA

  1. Click the ring in your menu bar. KIBA starts recording everything your Mac plays, and a timer appears next to the icon. (Or press ⌥⌘R from anywhere.)
  2. Click again to stop. The trimmer drops down with silence already cut, the peak set to −0.3 dB, and the tempo and key detected.
  3. Drag the edges, then drag the waveform into your DAW or the Finder. The file is a 48 kHz, 24‑bit WAV named like Music_140bpm_Fmin_260925-141203.wav.

Drop the file onto an audio track, or onto Simpler or Sampler. The tempo and key are in the file name, so you can find the sample again in Live's browser and set your project tempo to match.

Tips once it's in Live

Sample anything your Mac plays with one click.KIBA · $8.99 once · 7 days free · macOS 13+

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Sources