Re: Ableton live 8 & Akai MPK Midi
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 2:53 am
First post ever on the Ableton forums and I think it will be a good one
I have been trying to figure out how to get the MPK Mini to Instant Map to device controls and have found a solution.... couple hours of Googling and messing with settings got me up and running, so I figured I'd post and save others the time.
Anyway, there is a feature in Ableton that allows macro mapping for, as it seems, any MIDI device. It involves editing the user configuration text file.
Please note I think this is only available for and after Live 6.
On a Mac (not sure about Windows) go to:
Macintosh HD>Users>[yourusername]>Library>Preferences>Ableton>[yourversion]>User Remote Scripts
When you get to this folder you will see a text file called UserConfiguration.txt
Create a new folder inside User Remote Scripts, I called mine MPK Mini. Inside this folder, copy and paste the UserConfiguration.txt
Probably a good idea to keep a fresh, unedited copy of the UserConfiguration.txt file, in the User Remote Scripts folder.
You should have:
Macintosh HD>Users>[yourusername]>Library>Preferences>Ableton>[yourversion]>User Remote Scripts>MPK Mini>UserConfiguration.txt
Open the new UserConfiguration.txt file in your MPK Mini folder and edit the following:
GlobalChannel: 9
InputName: MPK mini
OutputName: MPK mini
Encoder1: 1
Encoder2: 2
Encoder3: 3
Encoder4: 4
Encoder5: 5
Encoder6: 6
Encoder7: 7
Encoder8: 8
The "-1" means that the program is defaulting, so when you change these to another number you are telling Ableton what channel your device (MPK mini) is located at, and further what the CC#'s for each of the knobs are.
Save the file.
Open Ableton, go to Preferences (again, not sure how this works on Windows) and then to the Midi / Sync Tab.
In the control surface drop down you should now see MPK Mini at the very bottom (or whatever you named your folder under User Remote Scripts). Add this for control surface, as well as for input and output.
Open the MPK mini editor software that came with the MPK Mini. The MPK mini has two separate channels, seems like it is two MIDI devices in one. I have the following configuration:
"PAD MIDI CH" set to 1
"Key + Knobs MIDI CH" set to 10
Knobs:
K1: CC set to 1
K2: CC set to 2
K3: CC set to 3
K4: CC set to 4
K5: CC set to 5
K6: CC set to 6
K7: CC set to 7
K8: CC set to 8
Don't forget to hit "Upload" to send the configuration to the MIDI device.
Please note that while the CC# for the knobs should match the settings in the MPK Mini Editor software, the globalchannel in UserConfiguration.txt is going to be one digit less. This is because the globalchannel in the text file starts at 0. I have set the globalchannel to 9 and entered 10 into the MPK Mini Editor for "Key + Knobs". I didn't use 1 through 8, as there was interference with the CC# to "Encoder" number. Not sure why this happens.
Here is a link that was really helpful:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/07/a ... s-control/
I have been trying to figure out how to get the MPK Mini to Instant Map to device controls and have found a solution.... couple hours of Googling and messing with settings got me up and running, so I figured I'd post and save others the time.
Anyway, there is a feature in Ableton that allows macro mapping for, as it seems, any MIDI device. It involves editing the user configuration text file.
Please note I think this is only available for and after Live 6.
On a Mac (not sure about Windows) go to:
Macintosh HD>Users>[yourusername]>Library>Preferences>Ableton>[yourversion]>User Remote Scripts
When you get to this folder you will see a text file called UserConfiguration.txt
Create a new folder inside User Remote Scripts, I called mine MPK Mini. Inside this folder, copy and paste the UserConfiguration.txt
Probably a good idea to keep a fresh, unedited copy of the UserConfiguration.txt file, in the User Remote Scripts folder.
You should have:
Macintosh HD>Users>[yourusername]>Library>Preferences>Ableton>[yourversion]>User Remote Scripts>MPK Mini>UserConfiguration.txt
Open the new UserConfiguration.txt file in your MPK Mini folder and edit the following:
GlobalChannel: 9
InputName: MPK mini
OutputName: MPK mini
Encoder1: 1
Encoder2: 2
Encoder3: 3
Encoder4: 4
Encoder5: 5
Encoder6: 6
Encoder7: 7
Encoder8: 8
The "-1" means that the program is defaulting, so when you change these to another number you are telling Ableton what channel your device (MPK mini) is located at, and further what the CC#'s for each of the knobs are.
Save the file.
Open Ableton, go to Preferences (again, not sure how this works on Windows) and then to the Midi / Sync Tab.
In the control surface drop down you should now see MPK Mini at the very bottom (or whatever you named your folder under User Remote Scripts). Add this for control surface, as well as for input and output.
Open the MPK mini editor software that came with the MPK Mini. The MPK mini has two separate channels, seems like it is two MIDI devices in one. I have the following configuration:
"PAD MIDI CH" set to 1
"Key + Knobs MIDI CH" set to 10
Knobs:
K1: CC set to 1
K2: CC set to 2
K3: CC set to 3
K4: CC set to 4
K5: CC set to 5
K6: CC set to 6
K7: CC set to 7
K8: CC set to 8
Don't forget to hit "Upload" to send the configuration to the MIDI device.
Please note that while the CC# for the knobs should match the settings in the MPK Mini Editor software, the globalchannel in UserConfiguration.txt is going to be one digit less. This is because the globalchannel in the text file starts at 0. I have set the globalchannel to 9 and entered 10 into the MPK Mini Editor for "Key + Knobs". I didn't use 1 through 8, as there was interference with the CC# to "Encoder" number. Not sure why this happens.
Here is a link that was really helpful:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/07/a ... s-control/