[
Date Prev][
Date Next] [
Thread Prev][
Thread Next]
[
Date Index][
Thread Index][
Author Index]
Re: Any experienced Ableton users able to give me a hand?
At 6:14 PM +0100 6/4/09, Simeon Harris wrote:
>now that's sparked my interest....i'd like ot be able to send one pc
>message from my footcontroller and have a midi clip send a bunch of
>commands to the mixer to change the "send" values...and perhaps send
>some pc messages to those plugins that can deal with them to change
>patches
>
>unfortunately, i have absolutely no idea how to do it!
>
>just looked at the manual and figured out how to create a new midi
>clip - looked at it's clip view and i see you can select "mixer" for
>the destination of the midi. but what do you draw in the big panel
>on the right?
>
>sorry mate, i've a livedunce!
Nope, no problem, Sim. You just have to get a little time to work with it.
First, it sounds like you're operating on an Audio Track. We need to
work with a MIDI track, so go to the "Create" menu and choose "Insert
MIDI Track".
Before going any further, go to the I/O section of the new MIDI
Track. There's a trick here we need to implement. You see, Ableton
doesn't implement internal MIDI routing, but we can get around that
by using a Loopback. On Mac, you'll use the internal IAC Bus. On
PC, it's a little harder only because you'll need to install
something like Hubi's Loopback Device. Since I remember your
mentioning AU's, I'll assume that you're on a Mac, and continue
through that.
One the I/O portion of the channel strip, click the pulldown menu for
"MIDI To". Switch this to "IAC Driver". That should also activate
the pulldown directly below it, where you can choose the MIDI channel
on which you want to transmit. For the sake of simplicity, let's
select "Channel 1" for the moment. Make sure that the "Monitor"
button is set to "Auto" too.
Now double-click on an empty slot in order to create a new blank
track. It should open right up for editing immediately upon
creation. Down at the lower left corner, you'll see 3 tiny buttons:
An "L", two eighth notes, and an "E". These control the "Launch",
"Notes", and "Envelopes" panes, respectively.
For Continuous Controller information, we should be looking at the
"Envelopes" pane. Click the pulldown in the upper left of this pane,
and make sure it's set to "MIDI Ctrl". Now click the pulldown
directly under it. Here, you can select a MIDI CC with which you
want to work. IIRC, something like Controller 15 or 16 is usually
fairly safe, so pick one of those.
Now, go over to the data window on the right. You should be in "Draw
Mode", meaning that the little pencil on the transport control bar at
the top of the page should be lit up. If it's not, either click that
button, or CTRL-Click (PC: Right Click) on the data pane. If
CTRL-Clicking, you'll see a bunch of quantize values (which are handy
for later, after you've gotten the hang of this) and an option for
"Draw Mode" at the bottom of the menu.
Okay, start drawing in some controller data. We'll wait here until
you're finished....
Got it? Good.
You've now made your first MIDI clip. All that remains is to connect
the controller you selected to the parameter that you want to
control. Go up and click the "MIDI" button on the top bar next to
the CPU Usage meter. The whole screen should go kinda blue. Now
pick the parameter that you want to be controlled -- let's say, Send
"A" on Track #1. Click that knob.
Go to your MIDI controller and send a message on the same CC as the
one you drew on your new MIDI clip. You should automatically get an
entry into the MIDI Bindings menu (now on the left of the screen)
which reflects your new assignment.
Oh, but sending that message from a controller is inconvenient right
now, you say? No problem, do this:
First exit MIDI Bindings mode (click the "MIDI" button next to the
CPU meter so that it's off). Now play your new MIDI clip. Re-enter
MIDI Bindings mode while the clip is still playing. Repeat the above
procedure. Live should hear the MIDI data coming out of the MIDI
Clip, and you should have a new event placed on the screen, linked to
Track #1's Send "A" knob.
When you exit this mode again, you should now see the Send "A" knob
moving back and forth in conjunction with the data you programmed
into the Clip. If you want to stop the automation, just stop the
clip.
Okay, I'll stop there for the moment, and let you try that. Let me
know how it goes, okay?
--m.
--
_____
"Image is blasphemy. Text is heresy. The spoken word is a lie."
X <--- you are here.