PULL Ableton Device/VST controller

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
xmonsta
Posts: 167
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:44 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by xmonsta » Mon Jul 14, 2014 11:18 pm

We have provided answers to the questions in this post beneath. However, before answering these questions it seems appropriate to make the following statement:

As you may know, Ableton native devices are actually really amazing. However, they are quite small and difficult to control with a mouse. The one thing this software does really well, is that it unlocks new potential within Ableton native devices and provides a completely new experience for them. Using this software (PULL), you'll find yourself making sounds that you didn't think were possible, using only Ableton devices.

There are a 2 ways of using this software:

1) Switch mode:

Switch mode loads all Ableton device templates onto the Lemur at once and creates a very snappy user experience (as shown on the video). All the available memory for the Lemur is used, so it's not possible to use this app in conjunction with any other Lemur template. We are actually exceeding the allowed memory on the Lemur (which doesn't cause any problems) and have devised our own way of uploading this template to the Lemur (outside of the Lemur editor). You will be able to load VST/Maxforlive device templates in here, but these will not be switchable (they will need to be sent to the app through WIFI).

2) Send mode: -

In Send Mode, when you select a device, the device template is sent to an empty container on the Lemur (a very small amount of memory is used, only enough memory to load the current template). This is very light weight and allows you to integrate this app into a customised template (such as SHOVE (the lemur PUSH emulator), Livecontrol2, or your own template). Send Mode is also very fast and responsive (1-3 seconds to send a device template, depending on template size).

Requirements:

PULL requires the Lemur iPad app, Max For Live and Ableton 9 in order to work. It will not work with the Legacy Lemur, or other iPad software.

Pricing:

The price for PULL will be £25, based on the significant amount of development time invested and the relatively small user base. All updates and support will be free of charge.

CPU load:

PULL requires virtually no CPU load and is very light weight - only sending a small amount of parameters at a time. We have also implemented a fix to the Live/Max integration, due to an extremely talented developer (Lee, at http://www.sigabort.co). This allows you to keep adding devices and to "hot-switch" parameters in Ableton (thousands of parameters at once), within less than a second. This was previously not possible and as a nod to Lee we will be writing up a section on our site explaining the great work he's doing in improving the LiveAPI. You should also check out his software at http://sigabort.co/m4l.html. Some very cool controllers for Ableton can be found there.

Parameters not available in Ableton API:

Vocoder and Operator bands - These are unfortunately not editable through the API. We will try to suggest Ableton add these. There are only a few other parameters that are unavailable in the API (such as some of the parts of Looper), but most are available.

Connection:

PULL uses OSC over WIFI (there's no camera dock, midi, or hard wired connection). It is very fast (since you are only controlling a few parameters at once). PULL is designed as a workflow tool and may not be suitable for a Live performance. If you want to use it for a Live performance an adhoc WIFI connection may provide more stability.

VST and Max Device templates:

PULL works best when managing Ableton devices exclusively, however, it is possible to load VST and Max Device templates (and we will create as many as we can). These templates are subject to limitations that are set by 3rd party developers (there are some parameters you just cant manage, such as the grid in Effectrix, but most are available). There are also limitations in Live itself (live can only manage 128 parameters of a VST). We are working towards a solution for this, trying to push for Ableton to increase this limit, or even hosting VST's inside Maxforlive (pushing Cycling74 to improve this capability) and also contacting 3rd party VST developers to make their parameters accessible to touchscreen devices. We will start by adding VST templates that have less than, or near to 128 parameters (most NI, Korg, Fabfilter and Sugar Bytes have less than 128 available parameters and most of these are available to Ableton). In short, there are only a few, really complex VST's that exceed the 128 parameter limit (mainly synths, such as Albino, or Zebra2 which most people prefer to use with a mouse anyway, due to their enhanced user interfaces), so we should be able to provide templates for the majority of VST's.

We hope you enjoy this software as much as we do and look forward to helping you integrate this, and other tools we are working on, into your setup.
Last edited by xmonsta on Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
http://www.xmonsta.com Music devices and controllers for Ableton Live

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h3rtz
Posts: 252
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:35 am
Location: Beijing

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by h3rtz » Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:33 am

when?


drchoc
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:26 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by drchoc » Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:21 pm

This looks amazing. 8)

bytheriver
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:53 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by bytheriver » Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:55 pm

Sounding better and better! Very hard to get £ out of me since I got addicted to Eurorack gear, but this might just do it!

Edit: One question, looking at the way this works will it follow and snap to the device you select through push?

For example, if I have a chain of 4 devices on a channel and navigate using push to the 3rd one along so push shows the 8 parameters, will shove snap to control that device or does it require a mouse click?

xmonsta
Posts: 167
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:44 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by xmonsta » Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:01 pm

bytheriver wrote:Sounding better and better! Very hard to get £ out of me since I got addicted to Eurorack gear, but this might just do it!

Edit: One question, looking at the way this works will it follow and snap to the device you select through push?

For example, if I have a chain of 4 devices on a channel and navigate using push to the 3rd one along so push shows the 8 parameters, will shove snap to control that device or does it require a mouse click?
Yes, you got it. That's exactly what it does.

PULL works with PUSH, your mouse, any controller (APC40, Shove, Livecontrol2). Any device that's selected will flash up on the iPad, ready for editing.
http://www.xmonsta.com Music devices and controllers for Ableton Live

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Muze
Posts: 172
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:01 am

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by Muze » Tue Jul 15, 2014 11:42 pm

Looks awesome - will it work on an iPad 2? (I have Lemur)

xmonsta
Posts: 167
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:44 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by xmonsta » Tue Jul 15, 2014 11:53 pm

Muze wrote:Looks awesome - will it work on an iPad 2? (I have Lemur)
Yes, iPad 1 & iPad 2 - as long as you have Ableton 9, Max and Lemur installed it will work.
http://www.xmonsta.com Music devices and controllers for Ableton Live

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stoersignal
Posts: 500
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Location: vienna

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by stoersignal » Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:00 am

xmonsta wrote:
Muze wrote:Looks awesome - will it work on an iPad 2? (I have Lemur)
Yes, iPad 1 & iPad 2 - as long as you have Ableton 9, Max and Lemur installed it will work.
WHEN?

h3rtz
Posts: 252
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:35 am
Location: Beijing

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by h3rtz » Wed Jul 16, 2014 11:30 am

xmonsta wrote:
PULL works best when managing Ableton devices exclusively
does that mean that you shouldn't have 3rd party plugins in your device chains? or does pull simply ignore non-ableton devices?

mauronedj
Posts: 313
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:20 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by mauronedj » Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:10 pm

Subscribed :D

Great idea, I'm in search for this for years now :D
Hope it work well.
Cheers,
Mauro.

Theo Void
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by Theo Void » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:55 pm

Looks amazing. Can't wait to try

xmonsta
Posts: 167
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:44 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by xmonsta » Wed Jul 16, 2014 5:58 pm

h3rtz wrote:
xmonsta wrote:
PULL works best when managing Ableton devices exclusively
does that mean that you shouldn't have 3rd party plugins in your device chains? or does pull simply ignore non-ableton devices?
Yes, it will simply ignore 3rd party plugins (if it can't find a template for them). You can use 3rd party plugins as much as you like.
Last edited by xmonsta on Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
http://www.xmonsta.com Music devices and controllers for Ableton Live

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xmonsta
Posts: 167
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:44 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by xmonsta » Wed Jul 16, 2014 5:59 pm

stoersignal wrote:
xmonsta wrote:
Muze wrote:Looks awesome - will it work on an iPad 2? (I have Lemur)
Yes, iPad 1 & iPad 2 - as long as you have Ableton 9, Max and Lemur installed it will work.
WHEN?

We're hoping to launch this weekend :)
http://www.xmonsta.com Music devices and controllers for Ableton Live

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Retape
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:11 pm

Re: iPad device controller - Speed up your workflow!

Post by Retape » Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:09 am

xmonsta wrote:We're hoping to launch this weekend :)
Still waiting! 8)

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