Controlling arpeggiator/beat repeat rate by aftertouch ?

[beatz01]

Hi,

is there any (non M4L) way to control the arpeggiator's rate (for instance 1/16-1/32) through aftertouch ?
If not, can i do something like that with the Beat Repeat ?

Thanks !

[TomKern]

Neither can be controlled by after touch. And except for a few select parameters in Lives synths (or 3rd party instruments) none of the others can't either.

What you would need is something to translate the AT message (format Ax xx xx) to a regular Control Change (CC) message (format Bx xx xx).

That can easily be achieved with certain M4L devices, MIDI remote scripts or software like Bomes MIDI Translator.

Depending on what MIDI controller is sending the AT messages there might also be software from the manufacturer that lets you reassign AT to CC (like for NI controllers)

[beatz01]

Thanks for the answer, just what i assumed unfortunately.
I'm gonna check out the Bome Midi Translator.
I was thinking about buying the Akai MPD 218 drum/ midi pad controller which has the pads sending aftertouch but i don't think the unit's editor allows for translation of AT messages into CC'S (i think).

[siliconarc]

You sure that Akai model has aftertouch? No mention of it in the manual. Their first pad controller (mpd16) had it but that was around 10 years ago

[TomKern]

You sure that Akai model has aftertouch? No mention of it in the manual. Their first pad controller (mpd16) had it but that was around 10 years ago

I looked at it on Thomann.de. It said the pads are pressure sensitive. Doesn't necessarily mean that they use the AT format to do so. If OP is in luck maybe they use regular MIDI CC messages. It also mentions MPD Editor software to change mappings. If they did a half decent job with it it would let you change AT to CC as well.

(BTW seems like a great controller for the price)


I mean I assume we are taking about Multi AT here, right? Where every pad sends a different AT message, instead of the old school AT that sends the same message over all pads combined (which would have the format Ax xx). Which is incidentally the only AT that Live can even receive. That's why they had to butcher the Push Multi AT to the old style AT in Live.


I wonder though about the usefulness of controlling something like ARP rate with pressure since it is a non-continuous value. It would be difficult to hit a certain rate and keep it constant. And you would need to keep pressing the pad to maintain the rate. Occupying one hand in the process.
I also use pressure (Multi AT on the Launchpad Pro, translated via Bomes MT to MIDI CC) for effect processing and it is a very expressive way to play, but I only use it for continuous parameters. For example D/W on reverbs and distortion or Note Length or decay values.

[siliconarc]

Ahh yep you're right, it says "The pads are pressure- and velocity-sensitive, which makes them very responsive and intuitive to play." in the manual. No mention of ''aftertouch' in the PDF but if pressure is sent as a cc, all good for op.