usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

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dugdigit
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2018 12:20 am

usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

Post by dugdigit » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:59 am

Hi folks,
I've been trying to find a simple 5 or 6 button usb midi footswitch that will control the basic functions of the ableton looper: record, overdub, play, stop and clear
After purchasing the Tech 21 mongoose footswitch I realized it was only midi out, with no usb capability, so I decided to return it. While on the phone with the sales rep about returning the pedal I got talked into getting a Nektar Pacer footswitch, which has usb capability and was supposedly fully integrated for use with ableton. It arrived in the mail today and I immediately realized that it is not integrated with ableton, although it can be programmed as midi note controller. That would be fine, except that after I record a loop with my bass guitar and I start playing the keyboard, if I play a note on the keyboard that corresponds with one of the midi notes I've associated with the looper it reads it as a midi message to the looper. Besides the fact that this footswitch is far more complicated than what I need, it also seems to be incapable of doing the basic task I require, namely allowing me to record and loop a bassline while I play the keyboard over it. The general factory mapping that they suggest for most DAWs is totally useless, and on top of it all when I stop play and restart it the global BPM is reset to 999 :cry:
At this point I'm thinking I need to return this f**ing thing as well, unless there's something I'm missing here. Midi mapping is not my strong suit, simple stuff is no problem but with multiple controllers things get complicated pretty fast. I have a push 1 I use for triggering clips in session mode and an akai mpk249 I use as a keyboard but I'd really like to be able to integrate a live-looped bass guitar with a foot switch so I can loop a bassline and jam over it. It seems like such a simple request but I can't seem to find the right piece of gear for the task.
Any ideas are welcome,
Thanks

JuSchu
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:12 pm
Location: Wuppertal (Germany)

Re: usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

Post by JuSchu » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:05 pm

dugdigit wrote:It arrived in the mail today and I immediately realized that it is not integrated with ableton
They didn't make their own Ableton integration with a Python script (that way they would have a much deeper Ableton integration) but just programmed it in a way you can use it in Mackie mode. And you could basically do that with any controller you can reprogram to different MIDI messages.
You can use it in Mackie mode like this http://support.nektartech.com/PRODUCTS- ... etup-Pacer
Any manual MIDI mappings overwrite the ones of a Control Surface (such as the Pacer in Mackie mode) and the Pacer also has some unused buttons in Mackie mode. So you could still add some mappings.
In Mackie mode, there are already buttons to select the track. When you enter the MIDI mapping mode in Ableton there are new buttons in every channel that is not a return channel (also the master) to trigger the clip slot in the selected scene (also if there isn't any clip, then it means stop or record clip) or start the selected scene. In the master, there also appear mappable buttons to select the scene. This way at least you can achieve what you want in a clip workflow instead of the Looper workflow. For guitar players, it's not as good as the Looper but it's better than nothing.

For a better integration using the Looper that doesn't rely on manual MIDI mapping, you don't need the right hardware, you need the right script for any hardware. The Behringer FCB 1010 is a little bit more common. Perhaps someone already wrote a script for that controller. If such a script exists you could reprogram your Pacer to use the same MIDI messages. The script doesn't really care if the device is actually is a FCB 1010 just like the script for Mackie mode doesn't care if it's an actual Mackie Control.
I don't know if such a script exists but at least I can tell you it's technically possible since I write such scripts my own.
dugdigit wrote:if I play a note on the keyboard that corresponds with one of the midi notes I've associated with the looper it reads it as a midi message to the looper.
Just set the keyboard to a different MIDI channel. But don't change the channel in the Pacer. If you do that the Mackie Mode won't work anymore.
If you use the Ableton integration with your keyboard you also shouldn't change the channel of the buttons, knobs, and faders but only the channel of the keys and pads.

peeddrroo
Posts: 4774
Joined: Fri Mar 26, 2004 10:25 pm
Location: France

Re: usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

Post by peeddrroo » Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:35 pm

If you're still looking for a solution, I just launched a Kickstarter campaign for a MIDI controller that connects to Live's Looper.
You can check it here.

colcob
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:45 am

Re: usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

Post by colcob » Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:11 pm

You just need to switch it to the preset that sends CC message (D4 I think), then midi map the Looper controls in the normal way. Using the Pacer in Midi Note mode is not going to work well as you've discovered.

BCleaveS
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:42 pm

Re: usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

Post by BCleaveS » Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:43 pm

Hi,
I've done a lot of work trying to integrate the Pacer with Ableton. Here are some tutorials with links to my sysex files.

* "Setting up your New Nektar Pacer for Mac": All you need to set up your Nektar Pacer. From installing new firmware to downloading and installing these 5 presets, this is all you need to get rocking with Pacer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ea0WaqgTIw

* "Nectar Pacer Programming: Ableton Live [Tutorial 1]" (2019) Earlier video showing physical customising of Pacer's presets and foot switches. This is a guide to setting up individual Presets so you can give different CC values to each of the 6 pedals, in 5 presets, giving you 30 options, all on one foot board. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYMQAJRR3ls

* "Programming LEDs to Respond to DAW Changes": How to get LED lights on your Pacer to turn on and off in synch with the changes in your DAW. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RzwTGMM4jk

* "Fast Customisation Using a Web-Application": Using a web-app instead of manually programming in each of your options for the foot switches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6KCoImZiNw

* "Nektar Pacer Tutorial: Customising and Integration with Ableton and other DAWs" : Learn to use customised presets for templates with Ableton and other DAWs. Some creative workarounds to give you 4 programable foot switches per Preset! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvIq5oCcpWg

Mareq
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:23 am

Re: usb footswitch for looping with ableton looper

Post by Mareq » Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:24 am

Hello.
I created a full and automatic Ableton Live and Nektar Pacer foot controller integration: https://payhip.com/mareq
It configures Pacer automatically, sets the colors according to Live's tracks colors, full LED feedback, record and trigger clips, group tracks support, audio overdubbing, zero need of Pacer configuration, automatic track arming, undo/delete all clips, scene/tracks mode, etc.
Full workflow for efficient live looping and operating Live clips by foots.

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