Hi,
I want to remap a couple of keys on my APC 40 to key commands like undo, delete, and tab. I know Bome can do this, but It will costs me $80. I know Midistroke can do midi to keystroke, but I'm having trouble getting it set up right.
I cannot seem to get the num, chan or values for the midi part right. Can anyone offer some guidance as to how to get this set up correctly?
Thanks,
JP
Can anyone help with APC40 and Midistroke?
Re: Can anyone help with APC40 and Midistroke?
Okay, here I go answering my own question....
If you want to use Midistroke ($Free) to turn midi messages into keystrokes:
1) Get and Install Midistroke @ http://www.charlie-roberts.com/midiStroke/
2) Print out a copy of this map of the midinotes sent by each button/fader/nob on the APC40
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... es#p916520
Thanks to Misa for doing this map, no I'm not affiliated with his site.
3) Use this table to find the note number you have to put into MidiStroke
http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/table2.html
So, for example. Let's say I wanted to use the Tap Tempo button to pull up the Export Audio/Video dialog window.
On the APC Map, it says the TAP Tempo button is note D#7 and it is transmitted on Chan. 1.
On the midi note table, D#7 is note number 99.
1) In Midistroke, I hit the plus sign to start a new midi note translation message.
2) I enter the note number "99" in the "num" field, "1" in the "chn" field and leave "val" blank
3) I hit the Plus sign on the right to set up the keystroke which for the Export Audio command is "Shift Command r" (It seems to work only if I use lowercase letters for the key commands)
4) Make sure that the Midistroke input is set to the APC.
5) Make Ableton the focus window by clicking the title bar for Ableton
6) Try your remap button.
Apparently, the drawbacks of Midistroke are that you can't save template files of your remappings and that you have to select the APC as the input each time you launch it.
One benefit that I noticed is that in the Midi Preferences, you can leave the Remote button for the APC40 in the off position so it stays in "native ableton" mode so to speak. When you want you remappings, just fire up midistroke and reselect the APC as your input. If you want to go back to native mode, just close Midistroke.
I've been using Live more as a DAW than for performance/DJ'ing, but I always wanted better control over devices and mixing using nobs and faders, etc. I also felt trapped to the mouse and keyboard and as a guitarist, that's a pain!
Using Midistroke, I can now speed up workflow by mapping buttons for adding tracks, opening the browser, tabbing between session/arrange, deleting and undoing, exporting audio to aiff, etc. I'm psyched I figured this out with Midistroke, because it save me the $80 I was thinking of for Bome.
No doubt we'll see more functionality coming from Bome as people get their hands on the APC for a while. Especially this guy..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YIGfhbCtw www.nativekontrol.com did some great things for the nanoKontrol and I'm sure we'll see more for the APC40 using Bome from him!
Have fun and good luck!
JP
If you want to use Midistroke ($Free) to turn midi messages into keystrokes:
1) Get and Install Midistroke @ http://www.charlie-roberts.com/midiStroke/
2) Print out a copy of this map of the midinotes sent by each button/fader/nob on the APC40
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... es#p916520
Thanks to Misa for doing this map, no I'm not affiliated with his site.
3) Use this table to find the note number you have to put into MidiStroke
http://www.harmony-central.com/MIDI/Doc/table2.html
So, for example. Let's say I wanted to use the Tap Tempo button to pull up the Export Audio/Video dialog window.
On the APC Map, it says the TAP Tempo button is note D#7 and it is transmitted on Chan. 1.
On the midi note table, D#7 is note number 99.
1) In Midistroke, I hit the plus sign to start a new midi note translation message.
2) I enter the note number "99" in the "num" field, "1" in the "chn" field and leave "val" blank
3) I hit the Plus sign on the right to set up the keystroke which for the Export Audio command is "Shift Command r" (It seems to work only if I use lowercase letters for the key commands)
4) Make sure that the Midistroke input is set to the APC.
5) Make Ableton the focus window by clicking the title bar for Ableton
6) Try your remap button.
Apparently, the drawbacks of Midistroke are that you can't save template files of your remappings and that you have to select the APC as the input each time you launch it.
One benefit that I noticed is that in the Midi Preferences, you can leave the Remote button for the APC40 in the off position so it stays in "native ableton" mode so to speak. When you want you remappings, just fire up midistroke and reselect the APC as your input. If you want to go back to native mode, just close Midistroke.
I've been using Live more as a DAW than for performance/DJ'ing, but I always wanted better control over devices and mixing using nobs and faders, etc. I also felt trapped to the mouse and keyboard and as a guitarist, that's a pain!
Using Midistroke, I can now speed up workflow by mapping buttons for adding tracks, opening the browser, tabbing between session/arrange, deleting and undoing, exporting audio to aiff, etc. I'm psyched I figured this out with Midistroke, because it save me the $80 I was thinking of for Bome.
No doubt we'll see more functionality coming from Bome as people get their hands on the APC for a while. Especially this guy..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4YIGfhbCtw www.nativekontrol.com did some great things for the nanoKontrol and I'm sure we'll see more for the APC40 using Bome from him!
Have fun and good luck!
JP
Re: Can anyone help with APC40 and Midistroke?
JP, I tried your example. It worked, but if I hit the Tap Tempo again too quickly, it still changes tempo. Do you have a way to suppress the original APC40 note message, which could be a problem in other situations? For example, when I reassign the metronome message to toggle the browser, I don't want to be toggling the metronome at the same time. If nothing else, I guess I could assign the key to something inconsequential in the Live set so that Live uncouples it from its original function, but I dislike repetitive remapping.
Jim
Jim
Re: Can anyone help with APC40 and Midistroke?
Jim,
Good catch. I never even noticed that - I was tired when I figured out the Midistroke thing.
I initially thought that the dual behavior was because I had the REMOTE turned on for the APC in midi prefs, but the same behavior happens when it is off as well. I'm not sure how to fix this situation for that button, but you could try remapping to one of the clip buttons in an empty slot. The same behavior seems to happen with the midi overdub and rec quantization buttons as well. I also remapped nudge +/- to add audio and midi tracks.... I have also remapped clip stop buttons for TAB (for session/arrange switching), Browser, undo, delete, and zoom +/-.
Since I use Ableton mainly in arrange view for my own recording, and session view for fun, re-using the clip stop buttons while in arrange mode works for me. But if I'm jamming on Tom Cosm's Swagger in session view, my remapped buttons also send the Stop Clip messages.....which I can see might be a problem for you.
As far as the TAP, nudge, and overdub and rec quantization are concerned, I'm okay with them firing both commands - TAP only changed the tempo if you hit it more than once within @ 3 seconds. Nudge is a momentary setting and I rarely add tracks while the audio is playing, so a momentary change in tempo isn't an issue, especially if it returns to the set tempo when released (which it does). I typically hit export only at the end of a night when I want to dump my mix to my ipod, so generally, play has stopped.
Sorry this solution doesn't seem to work for you, but so far, the issues don't really seem to be causing me trouble, but that is because of how I'm using Live.
Maybe you could accomplish what you want to using Bome's midi translator?
Regards,
JP
Good catch. I never even noticed that - I was tired when I figured out the Midistroke thing.
I initially thought that the dual behavior was because I had the REMOTE turned on for the APC in midi prefs, but the same behavior happens when it is off as well. I'm not sure how to fix this situation for that button, but you could try remapping to one of the clip buttons in an empty slot. The same behavior seems to happen with the midi overdub and rec quantization buttons as well. I also remapped nudge +/- to add audio and midi tracks.... I have also remapped clip stop buttons for TAB (for session/arrange switching), Browser, undo, delete, and zoom +/-.
Since I use Ableton mainly in arrange view for my own recording, and session view for fun, re-using the clip stop buttons while in arrange mode works for me. But if I'm jamming on Tom Cosm's Swagger in session view, my remapped buttons also send the Stop Clip messages.....which I can see might be a problem for you.
As far as the TAP, nudge, and overdub and rec quantization are concerned, I'm okay with them firing both commands - TAP only changed the tempo if you hit it more than once within @ 3 seconds. Nudge is a momentary setting and I rarely add tracks while the audio is playing, so a momentary change in tempo isn't an issue, especially if it returns to the set tempo when released (which it does). I typically hit export only at the end of a night when I want to dump my mix to my ipod, so generally, play has stopped.
Sorry this solution doesn't seem to work for you, but so far, the issues don't really seem to be causing me trouble, but that is because of how I'm using Live.
Maybe you could accomplish what you want to using Bome's midi translator?
Regards,
JP
Re: Can anyone help with APC40 and Midistroke?
JP, thanks for the feedback. I downloaded Bome and gave it a quick try (the 'swallow' option looked promising), but the original message still got through. I think I'll drop it for now. I use Live mainly for its Session View anyway, and there's plenty of APC40 functionality built-in to keep me happy for now.
Jim
Jim