Ableton Forum

hello and thanks for looking---
anyone out there know what i need to do to send cc messages to an external device? i opened up a midi track, set it to the appropriate channel (1) through the appropriate output, but i'm not able to figure out how to transmit cc messages over the midi track. please help! thanks

Racks don't normally send cc to external devices. You need to get controlchange 8 from here http://monolake.de/technology/m4l.html (which is free) or if you don't have M4L I believe you can do stuff with clyphx.

hello timday and thanks for your reply,
i downloaded ControlChange8 and dropped it into a midi track. while i am getting some kind of midi information via the track, it doesn't seem to be sending any of the cc information i've set, even when i create a dummy midi clip and play it. is there something i have to do with the track to make it send cc messages? just playing the project doesn't seem to be doing the trick and i don't know what else i'd do...
thanks

theschnauzer wrote:hello and thanks for looking---
anyone out there know what i need to do to send cc messages to an external device? i opened up a midi track, set it to the appropriate channel (1) through the appropriate output, but i'm not able to figure out how to transmit cc messages over the midi track. :? please help! thanks :)

Create a clip on a midi track and enable the Envelope View [E], which is at the bottom of the Clip properties section. Enabling the Envelope view hides the Piano Roll view.

In the Envelope properties section, first drop-down choose "Midi Ctrl", and in the second drop-down choose the CC number you wish to draw.

Set your desired grid, hit "B" on your computer keyboard, and start drawing.

theschnauzer wrote:hello timday and thanks for your reply,
i downloaded ControlChange8 and dropped it into a midi track. while i am getting some kind of midi information via the track, it doesn't seem to be sending any of the cc information i've set, even when i create a dummy midi clip and play it. is there something i have to do with the track to make it send cc messages? just playing the project doesn't seem to be doing the trick and i don't know what else i'd do...
thanks

I'm not sure....I use it to send CC to a Volca Keys and it works OK. Make sure you have the right CC number in the drop list and it should send it. Put it in before the external instrumetn plug so it is sending cc through the plugin

I think you have to have clip or track automation on - i.e. a breakpoint at the start of the clip or track for controlchange to pick up, even if the pickup mode is set to value scaling. Might it be that?

Otherwise you should be able to send cc via a MIDI clip as outsidesys suggests - the only problem with that is that you'll have to draw everything in the clip rather than set it with macros.

IT WORKED! i had to draw the cc parameter in using the automation envelopes. thanks so much guys

is there any way to send midi cc from a mapping and NOT using the envelopes section??

theschnauzer wrote:hello and thanks for looking---
anyone out there know what i need to do to send cc messages to an external device? i opened up a midi track, set it to the appropriate channel (1) through the appropriate output, but i'm not able to figure out how to transmit cc messages over the midi track. please help! thanks

I'm now using the "Control Change 8" M4L device with D16's Drumazon 909 emulation plug-in and the "External Instruments" devices in a Drum Rack to create a multi-channel 909 for "classic" techno drums. I mapped the 909 parameters (like tune, attack, decay, snappy, etc.) using the CC8 and then grouped them, so that now I can see all the parameters for the individual sounds on my Push, and I can add EQ, Filters, FX and other processing to each audio channel - creating a more hands-on workflow. Thanks for posting this!

mylkoa wrote:I'm now using the "Control Change 8" M4L device with D16's Drumazon 909 emulation plug-in and the "External Instruments" devices in a Drum Rack to create a multi-channel 909 for "classic" techno drums. I mapped the 909 parameters (like tune, attack, decay, snappy, etc.) using the CC8 and then grouped them, so that now I can see all the parameters for the individual sounds on my Push, and I can add EQ, Filters, FX and other processing to each audio channel - creating a more hands-on workflow. Thanks for posting this!

I did something very similar with a drum rack and Drumazon/Nepheton using the Map8 device and effect rack macros so I can make clean, easy to read labels on the Push 2. Here is an example of the Drumazon kick chain, external instrument, and Map8.



I route the audio through dedicated audio channels ("audio from...") instead of using the drum rack master/sends. This way I can record and process each sound individually before bussing them together.