APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Share your favorite Ableton Live tips, tricks, and techniques.
Jinsai
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by Jinsai » Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:46 pm

This may be a ridiculous question, but is there a way to map the volume faders to different CC functions (without Max for Live)? And by doing so, have them no longer control the volume faders, so I can use a separate controller with automated sliders for that?

S4racen
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by S4racen » Sun Feb 06, 2011 7:24 pm

Jinsai wrote:This may be a ridiculous question, but is there a way to map the volume faders to different CC functions (without Max for Live)? And by doing so, have them no longer control the volume faders, so I can use a separate controller with automated sliders for that?
You need to have the apc40 selected as a midi device as well as a control surface in your preferences and then midi map away in the usual manner....

Do a google search for AKAI APC40 tips, if you find a link to AKAI's website they ran a couple of newsletter type things that gave ideas for what else you might map things too....

Cheers
D

morten_oester
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by morten_oester » Thu Feb 10, 2011 8:35 pm

Hi!

I have recently experienced a problem with my APC40 and Ableton Live. Simply, the master fader and the crossfader just don't work with ableton. It did in a few days, but now it does'nt.
If I connect my m-audio axiom pro, the master fader responds to the master fader on the axiom, and I can map the crossfader in ableton to a knob on the axiom. But still nothing on the APC.

Everything else on the APC works the way it should..

Any ideas?

best regards

Morten

yur2die4
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by yur2die4 » Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:02 am

You may have accidentally assigned something on another midi controller that uses the same CC#'s as the Master Volume and Crossfader. One quick way to fix this is to turn off Remote for the APC40 in Ableton Live's MIDI Preferences. Otherwise, you'll have to figure out which knob/button/whatever, and where, is re-assigned and have to change the CC# on that. Chances are, your Master Volume and Crossfader are controlling something else in your set :)

morten_oester
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by morten_oester » Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:41 am

yur2die4 wrote:You may have accidentally assigned something on another midi controller that uses the same CC#'s as the Master Volume and Crossfader. One quick way to fix this is to turn off Remote for the APC40 in Ableton Live's MIDI Preferences. Otherwise, you'll have to figure out which knob/button/whatever, and where, is re-assigned and have to change the CC# on that. Chances are, your Master Volume and Crossfader are controlling something else in your set :)
If it was that simple, I would be very happy. But it is not. Nothing is custom midi mapped when I start a new Live set. So that is not the problem. And I have already turned off and on the remote in the preferences.

But anyway..some good ideas. :) I'm more and more beginning to believe that it is a hardware failure in the APC.. :(

xaviergray
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by xaviergray » Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:40 pm

Is the APC40 now unavailable throughout Canada? I asked at Long & McQuade today and they said it was on back order for about a year, so is my only option to buy used?

mustachesweat
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by mustachesweat » Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:50 am

I just got an APC40 today, and it works with my iMac running ableton live trail version, but when I plug it into my 13" Macbook running OSX 10.5.8 and ableton live 8.2.1, it doesn't even show up on the preferences under midi sync.....

under the mac's Audio Midi Setup it shows up as USB Midi Device. Just no recognition from Ableton.

please help

G.t.
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Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 1:25 pm

Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by G.t. » Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:46 pm

Hello everybody!

I've already posted it in a separete topic, but there's no reaction.
Maybe this topic the right place for this:

I've got a strange problem with my APC20.

It was two times my unit do this:
The stop clip buttons started to blink and all the clips stopped. When I tried to restart a clip, it was stopped immediately. The unit did this even if I've unplugged from the computer and switched the power off. When i swicthed on (without the computer) the buttons strated blinking again. It was taken at least two hours without power when the unit was started to work correctly. I brougth back the unit to the shop where I bought from. They tested it, and as they say, couldn't reproduce the problem.They told me, it could be a software bug. It works now correctly, but I am affraid it wasn' t the last time when the problem occours. Is there anybody, who has similar experience with APC? The notebook is a Dell Vostro with Win 7. (First time I used a Lenovo with Win XP on it.) The Live release is 8.2.1.

I made a wideo to demonstrate the problem, check it on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... MVkuYE99e4

Thx,
G.t.

pokorean76
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by pokorean76 » Wed May 11, 2011 11:51 am

Check Moog if you're lookin in Toronto, or Play de Record....when i was looking for one, L&Mc were always on B/O....at Moog, you can go on waiting list...they will call you, like they did with me.:)

j4yj4y
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by j4yj4y » Thu May 12, 2011 4:57 pm

Forgive me if this question has been asked but I haven't been able to find a complete answer.

My musical counterpart and I are interested in building a Live Set in which we both have full control via our APC40's. Last night we proceeded to hook both APC's to two of my Macbook USB Interfaces. Upon doing so, we went into Preferences -> Midi Sync and set Control Surfaces 1 and 2 to Akai APC40 and Akai APC40(Port 2). Both APC's linked up like they were mapped but anything that was triggered would trigger identically on the other APC. If he was triggering clips and I used my bank selector it would shift his grid, etc.

Now the Akai Website Mentions:

Can I use two APC40s at once?

Yes, you can use up to six APC40s at the same time. In Ableton Live, a red box around the clips is indicated for the first APC40. A yellow box is indicated for the 2nd APC, and so on. Each will show a different colored ring around the clips.

That configuration is exactly what I would want to do. A box defining my APC and a box defining his with completely independent focuses. Any ideas? Thanks!
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mescalin
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by mescalin » Sat May 14, 2011 8:16 pm

Can anyone explain how I would skip 8 or 5 squares but without holding shift, is this possible, shift moving is the only way i cannot get lost yet it requires two hands!!!!

sorry if this is noobish tech wise i'm more into the music side

Ableton 8, NI Massive, Max 4 Live, other stuff

S4racen
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by S4racen » Sun May 15, 2011 10:06 pm

Sorry Shift is the only way....

Cheers
D

antandra
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Re:

Post by antandra » Mon May 16, 2011 5:05 am

[nis] wrote:
nebulae wrote: I'd like to know the rationale behind no velocity sensitive pads.
Another reason why they are not velocity sensitve (besides the cost factor) is the size of the pads. Even though veloctiy sensitive pads would look nice on the product sheet, at this relatively small size it's not really fun to play something on them. Making them velocity sensitive would just be a waste of money IMHO.
nebulae wrote: I'd also like to know if you will include an option to not accidentally stop playing - meaning being able to to disengage the Stop button for live performances.
You can simply remap the stop button on anything else.

Best,
Nico
I remapped my stop button to a turntable stop effect using the Artilery2 plugin. Comes in really handy, because I can still stop it if I want to, but it doesn't happen by accident.
Cheers,

Antandra
Producer/Performer
http://www.antandra.com

Tell me and I'll forget; Show me and I may not remember; Involve me and I'll understand.
-Chinese Proverb

eshaa83
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Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by eshaa83 » Wed Jun 01, 2011 9:53 am

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i like your way of thinking...
keep on sharing good things to your friends

xaviergray
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Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 4:15 am

Re: APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

Post by xaviergray » Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:26 pm

Hey all, I'm trying to custom map my new APC and it absolutely won't cooperate at all. Everywhere I've looked says just to press the MIDI map button and map the controls like you would with any controller, but as I try to map tempo to the cue knob, for instance, all it does is change the cue level and not even respond to my attempted mapping. I'm using the standard version of Live 8.2.1, not the APC40 version. Any ideas on what I need to do to make it work?

EDIT: Nevermind, set it to Remote Input mode and it works now. No drawbacks to having it set to this though, are there?

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