The Definitive Guide to Programming the FCB1010 for Live

Share your favorite Ableton Live tips, tricks, and techniques.
Loopy-Joe
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:55 pm

Post by Loopy-Joe » Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:53 am

anybody tried adjusting the physical resistance of the pedals on the fcb1010
I find them kind of flimsy...be nice to tighten em up a bit...anyone tried this?
suggestionsd about how to...reluctant to mess with it

10,000 Volt Ghost
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:28 am
Location: my chair

Post by 10,000 Volt Ghost » Tue Jan 09, 2007 5:59 am

Okay... I have a question that's a little off topic, but still related to the FCB1010. First, let me set up a scenario...

Let's say that on Bank 00, Patch 1 I have expression pedal A set to control the volume of track 1. Then, on Bank 00, Patch 2 I have expression pedal A set to control the volume of track 2. In both cases, Pedal A goes between values 0 to 127.

Now, let's say that expression pedal A is currently pulled back (value 0) and I want to raise the volumes of both track 1 and track 2 sequentially. So first I select bank one and push expression pedal A up to 127. Next I select patch 2 so that I can use expression pedal A to raise the volume of track 2, but I have a problem because expression pedal A is currently set in the 127 value position (pushed all the way forward) due to my raising the volume of track 1. If I pull back on expression pedal A, the volume automatically snaps to a value somewhere around 127 and I'm not able to have a nice fade in.

Currently, to defeat this I need to have another patch created where expression pedal A doesn't control anything. I select that patch, move the pedal to the desired postion, then select patch 2 and raise the volume of track 2. It works, but isn't the most favorable solution and that's where my question comes in.

Does anyone know of a program or some such which will defeat this? I'm thinking that a possible solution would be for this program to inhibit any values from being passed to Ableton until the pedal is in the position that corresponds to current value of the parameter that is to be controlled. So, in my example I would be able to bring expression pedal A back towards value 0 and it wouldn't affect Ableton at all until I actually transmitted a 0 value at which point the pedal would now pass values to Ableton and I could perform my fade in.

That's just my theory of how it might work, but if anybody knows of an application or other workaround which would allow me to achieve my goal I would be very appreciative to hear about it.

Loopy-Joe
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:55 pm

Post by Loopy-Joe » Tue Jan 09, 2007 8:02 am

im really not the guy to answer this but it does ring a bell. I read it somewhere
The problem you describe is also evident of knobs....hence the continuous rotary controller.
If i recall the solution lies in the behaviour assigned to a controller...it can behave in various ways....one is to be relative....(it increases or decreases the current setting relatively)
two is to be absolute(it jumps to the current setting of the knob)
three is a clever one where it blends the current value and the new value to avoid the jump(sort of like a ramp)
As for how to assign these things and where you can do it...your on your own...someone else will have to help
hope thats helpful

billy1
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:18 am

Post by billy1 » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:14 pm

mousetrapreplica wrote:I use the FCB1010 purely for record arming so I can play .operator and simpler patches through my MIDI equipped guitar. I have just figured out how to use the fcb for live looping into Ableton, and it is mindblowing what you can do without your hands!

I have to say that I have never found a use for the MIDI CC commands that the FCB has. How do you guys use MIDI CC?(and I am not referring to the MIDI CC on the expression pedals; I know how to use those)

Hi there..the use of midi cc's is explained very well by clarity in the very first message of this topic...they are the pedal 6 n' 7 in programming the preset...n' the concept is the same as midii cc's for expression pedals but instead of being able to send all values from 0 to 127 u will be able to send only 2 values (a min. n' a max for example for on\off functions...as I said i prefer to use midi notes (pedal 10) for those on\off functions but that's just your choice.
And for live looping I'd suggest U to discover n' try out the amazing mobius as a vst into ableton live..the flexibility U will have with the FCB ,the live's routings n' mobius potential all together will be a dream come true I assure U
take care
...billy1

billy1
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:18 am

Post by billy1 » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:33 pm

10,000 Volt Ghost wrote:Okay... I have a question that's a little off topic, but still related to the FCB1010. First, let me set up a scenario...

Let's say that on Bank 00, Patch 1 I have expression pedal A set to control the volume of track 1. Then, on Bank 00, Patch 2 I have expression pedal A set to control the volume of track 2. In both cases, Pedal A goes between values 0 to 127.

Now, let's say that expression pedal A is currently pulled back (value 0) and I want to raise the volumes of both track 1 and track 2 sequentially. So first I select bank one and push expression pedal A up to 127. Next I select patch 2 so that I can use expression pedal A to raise the volume of track 2, but I have a problem because expression pedal A is currently set in the 127 value position (pushed all the way forward) due to my raising the volume of track 1. If I pull back on expression pedal A, the volume automatically snaps to a value somewhere around 127 and I'm not able to have a nice fade in.

Currently, to defeat this I need to have another patch created where expression pedal A doesn't control anything. I select that patch, move the pedal to the desired postion, then select patch 2 and raise the volume of track 2. It works, but isn't the most favorable solution and that's where my question comes in.

Does anyone know of a program or some such which will defeat this? I'm thinking that a possible solution would be for this program to inhibit any values from being passed to Ableton until the pedal is in the position that corresponds to current value of the parameter that is to be controlled. So, in my example I would be able to bring expression pedal A back towards value 0 and it wouldn't affect Ableton at all until I actually transmitted a 0 value at which point the pedal would now pass values to Ableton and I could perform my fade in.

That's just my theory of how it might work, but if anybody knows of an application or other workaround which would allow me to achieve my goal I would be very appreciative to hear about it.
How about the damn pedal B?!...lol...I'm just kidding n' probably I'm missing something of your setup 'cause I'm surprised U never mentioned pedal B...even if U're using pedal B for another function well then move that function on another patch...in the scenario U described the vol track 1 n' vol track 2 has to be in the same patch so U won't have midi relative\absolute problems n' U won't even have to bother to change the patch...in addition I personally would assign the very same exp pedal controllers for all the presets in bank00 so U are free to use all the buttons from 1 to 10 as U wish n' then if I need to controll other functions with the exp pedals I would do that from bank01...that way with simple up n' down buttons U will have all the functions U want with exp pedals n' at the same time U will free all the other buttons for other functions

10,000 Volt Ghost
Posts: 8
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Location: my chair

Post by 10,000 Volt Ghost » Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:02 pm

Hey Billy,

Just for clarification, I was only trying to give a simple example to demonstrate the problem. The reality of my particular situation is that I'm currently running 8 looping tracks in my setup so even if I assign both track 1 and 2 to pedals A and B, the problem will still exist once I try to volume tracks 3, 4, 5... etc... This isn't even taking into consideration that I also have other banks where the expression pedals control various effect parameters.

So basically, the issue is that no matter what I'm going to come across a situation where I'll need a pedal (either A or B) to be in a given state to do what I want, but it will be in the exact opposite or some place in between.

10,000 Volt Ghost
Posts: 8
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Location: my chair

Post by 10,000 Volt Ghost » Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:08 pm

Hey Loopy Joe,

Thanks for the heads up. It looks like setting the midi type to "relative" might help my situation (currently it's set to absolute). I'll have to play with it a bit to see how it works.

10,000 Volt Ghost
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:28 am
Location: my chair

Post by 10,000 Volt Ghost » Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:27 pm

Okay... just tried the relative controllers and now I remember why I was dissatisfied with that solution. The problem now is that while it does in theory work in a way that would solve my problem, it creates a new one. That is, to use the volume example, my fade ins or outs are now relegated to being quick. I can no longer pull off a long slow fade in or out and I assume that this is due to the fact that my value ranges for increments and decrements have been cut in half. So while I may end up using the relative controller option for now, I'd still be interested in other solutions.

sawatzki
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:58 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

best solution with a "reset patch"

Post by sawatzki » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:12 pm

Hi 10.00 Volt Ghost,

I was just thinking about your problem, and after fiddling around a bit with my fcb and live, i find the use of a patch with unassigned expression pedals the most practical solution. I tried using my right foot on the exp pedal and my left foot on switches 1 and e.g. 2

patch 1 being my general reset patch.
patch 2 (or any other patch in the bank) being the playing patch.

just my 2 cts

btw. did you look into ControlAid? I just got it and will be fiddling with it this evening...

greetz
sawatzki
Ableton Live 8 controlled by Automap Universal? Second our request at this topic!

10,000 Volt Ghost
Posts: 8
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Location: my chair

Post by 10,000 Volt Ghost » Fri Jan 12, 2007 6:43 am

Thanks Sawatzki,

Yeah... that's pretty much what I've been doing (i.e. using a dummy patch) to set the position of the expression pedals beforehand. It works but I was simply curious if there was something out there that made things even easier.

No, I've never used ControlAid. I did just check out the website but alas I currently use a Windows based system and it appears to be Mac only.

sawatzki
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:58 am
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Post by sawatzki » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:08 am

10,000 Volt Ghost wrote:Thanks Sawatzki,

Yeah... that's pretty much what I've been doing (i.e. using a dummy patch) to set the position of the expression pedals beforehand. It works but I was simply curious if there was something out there that made things even easier.

No, I've never used ControlAid. I did just check out the website but alas I currently use a Windows based system and it appears to be Mac only.
On PC you might want to check Bome's MIDI Translator...

http://www.bome.com/midi/translator/mt_pro.html
Ableton Live 8 controlled by Automap Universal? Second our request at this topic!

netzstaub
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:02 am

Post by netzstaub » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:11 am

Hey people,

I wrote a remote control surface mapping for the fcb 1010, check it out at
http://bl0rg.net/~manuel/fcb1010-mappings/

Supports automatic mapping of tracks, as well as "record into next empty slot" functions. Automappping of contorl pedals as well

Customkramer
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:58 pm

The Definitive Guide to Programming the FCB1010 for Live

Post by Customkramer » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:04 am

This message is to Clarity.

I had tried doing the steps that you described in programming the FCB1010 with an Iron Maiden SysEx file. It worked but, when I left Global Settings mode. It reverted back to the preset that was there to begin with.
Also, I tried adding other SysEx files to different patches in the same bank and they all sounded like the Iron Maiden one! Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

wendyphua
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:38 pm

Ableton Live/FCB1010 Midi Mapping Problem

Post by wendyphua » Mon Dec 24, 2007 1:39 pm

hi, i'm very new to the world of midi and live looping, and am having a monster of a headache with a problem in my midi mapping.

Basically i'm using the FCB to trigger off recordings on the fly with Live. I managed to get Live to recognise the FCB1010 and have set pedal 1 (bank 00) to trigger the Track Launch button with pedal 2 stopping the track.

So i begin recording my 1st loop into track '2' by stepping on pedal 1. After recording one bar, i stepped on pedal 1 again to trigger the freshly recorded loop to begin playback. However that's when the problem begins as my FCB starts sending a message to Live to set pedal 1 to launch playback of the clip I just recorded.

Live sends me a prompt that reads "The selected controller conflicts with the previous mapping to '2'|track Launch. Do you want to replace the previous mapping?". If I click yes, pedal 1 is set to launch playback of the clip I just recorded instead of remaining as the trigger for "Track Launch".

Can anyone advise me how to stop the FCB from sending out this erroneous message to Live? getting pretty frustrated here.....

tnx,
Wendy

wendybassist@gmail.com

chris vine
Posts: 698
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:01 am
Location: Brazil

Re: Ableton Live/FCB1010 Midi Mapping Problem

Post by chris vine » Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:08 pm

wendyphua wrote: Live sends me a prompt that reads "The selected controller conflicts with the previous mapping to '2'|track Launch. Do you want to replace the previous mapping?". If I click yes, pedal 1 is set to launch playback of the clip I just recorded instead of remaining as the trigger for "Track Launch".
Hi,
This indicates that you still have the midi mapping switch in Live switched on.
Is that so? If so, make sure sure you come out of midi mapping mode once you've programmed yr stuff.
wendyphua wrote: So i begin recording my 1st loop into track '2' by stepping on pedal 1. After recording one bar, i stepped on pedal 1 again to trigger the freshly recorded loop to begin playback. However that's when the problem begins as my FCB starts sending a message to Live to set pedal 1 to launch playback of the clip I just recorded.
You can change this on the Live preferences page under Clip Launch Behavior. Should be in the manual.

Best wishes,
Chris

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