Looper's Delight Archive Top (Search)
Date Index
Thread Index
Author Index
Looper's Delight Home
Mailing List Info

[Date Prev][Date Next]   [Thread Prev][Thread Next]   [Date Index][Thread Index][Author Index]

RE: Mobius Baffling Phase 3



[andy]
> ps, this seems to confirm that Ableton is pretty much broken
> in terms of Midi routing.

Well all I can say is that it's working perfectly here, in both Live
7.0.12 OS X and 8.2.2 for Windows.  I get Note Ons, Note Offs, and if
I merge notes and controls they all come through and the controls are
ignored.  Kevin, what version of Live do you have?

I did some more research on Live's MIDI preferences.  The "Track"
knob causes the MIDI to be sent from the input device to the MIDI
tracks.  It must be On.

The "Sync" knob determines whether Live will sync to the MIDI clocks
sent by the device.  It doesn't matter what this is since the FCB
isn't sending clocks but I would keep it Off.

The "Remote" knob determines whether Live will use this device for
Parameter Automation.  Parameter automation is a VST concept that
means that MIDI is received by the host and mapped to a parameter that
is exposed by the plugin.  When you use parameter automation, the
plugin does not need to receive MIDI, it receives commands from 
the host to change the value of a parameter.  These changes can
be recorded into a host track and replayed, hence the name "automation".

Parameter automation is almost always used for simpler effects plugins
that have a set of "knob" parameters that sweep between a range of
values.  Volume levels, modulation, distortion, eq, etc.  The plugin
does not have to worry about MIDI, it just tells the host about
the available parameters, and you connect MIDI to the paramaeters
in the host.  In Live this is done by "Edit MIDI Map".  

You can use parameter automation with Mobius but most people don't
because you have to set it up differently for each host.  If you
click the little wrench icon in the MobiusVst2 plugin it will expand
to the right to show the default parameters that Mobius exposes.  You
should see Input Level, Output Level, Feedback, Secondary Feedback, 
Pan, Selected Track, Quantize Mode, and Switch Quantize.  Let me
know if you see anything else in this area.  

[Kevin]
> Well here is the weird thing then; if I only have Track on, Live does
> not recognize the midi controller.  If I add remote, it registers the
> signal.  No remote, no Midi.  Doesn't matter if I have track on or
> not, remote is the only thing that seems to determine if I get
> through.

This suggests that you are trying to use paramater automation and
not sending MIDI directly to Mobius.  There is no need to have Remote
on if you are not using parameter automation.  Please send your
mobius.xml file to jeff@circularlabs.com.

What do you mean by "recognize the MIDI controller"?  The only
thing you should see is the level indicator in the MIDI track bouncing 
when you press a button, but you need to have the "In" button 
under "Monitor" on.

Do you by any chance have Novation's Automap?  It sometimes installs
without asking if you have a Launchpad or another control surface.  This
tries to automatically map MIDI events to plugin parameters and it
may be interfering.

If you have been using an old Live set, create a new one from scratch
to make sure you don't have any random MIDI mappings active.  In a Live
audio track right click over the level slider.  You should see s menu
contining "Edit MIDI Map".  Select this and a "MIDI Mappings" window
should slide into view on the left.  This should be empty.  If it isn't
then the mappings may be interfering with the MIDI stream.  What do you
have here?

Here's a video that is actually a bit inaccurate, several sources
suggest that "Remote" is used when you want to use "knobs" but that
isn't true, it is used only for parameter automation.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkC6WZa8nuw

Here's the most accurate if terse description I could find directly
from Ableton.  Scroll down to point 8.  

    http://www.ableton.com/pages/faq/midi_sync

Even this is misleading though.  Setting Track to On isn't just for notes,
it will pass CCs and pitch bend and anything else as well.  Otherwise
you couldn't use your mod or pitch wheel.  Remote On is ONLY used for
parameter automation which is what Live calls MIDI Mappings.

Again, in the MIDI Sync preferences page turn off EVERYTHING except the 
Track/On button 
for the INPUT device you are using.  Do not have anything on for OUTPUT 
devices just
to rule out any weird echo problems.  In the Control Surfaces area at the 
top everything
should be "None".  Live's MIDI Map window should be empty.  Automap if you 
have it
should be turned off.   We can probably turn some of those things back on 
if you need
them but initially we need to have the purest Live environment we can get 
to determine
the source of the interference.

In Mobius you should be using the MIDI Control window to create MIDI 
bindings, check to 
make sure the bindings are actually for notes and not the stray CCs that 
the FCB can send.
Check the Plugin Parameters window and make sure you only have the default 
set
of controls.  There should be no functions in here.

Jeff