Trying to create a VU meter that sends midi CC (audio>midi)

[exaltron]

I created the device below using the multiband Max for Live example and a few other objects. Basically the idea is to take audio, split it into frequency bands, measure the dBs and then convert that number to a midi CC by banging a static CC number and grabbing the value from the dBs. Once the midi message is created, I have a midiformat object which is connected to a send object (with the receive object on another midi track).

Any reason why this wouldn't work? I imagine the dB values would have to be massaged somewhat to reflect the different scale, but I'm not getting anything at all coming through on the midi track. Maybe there is a better way to do this or an existing device that could accomplish what I'm trying to do- basically just meter different bands of audio and have those values drive some faders which in turn would send pulsewave mods to an arduino for LEDs. Any ideas?

Here's a screenshot:


and the compressed device:

<pre><code>
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-----------end_max5_patcher-----------
</code></pre>

[chapelier fou]

in the midiformat input, you got to send the controller number AND the value (a list of 2 values). What's going out of your packs is only one value.
That's all i can say having just a quick look at the picture. Hope this helps !

[chapelier fou]

Sorry i was wrong.
Maybe a 't i i' before your packs can solve the problem. Anyway you should monitor what's going out of your packs. (again, i am just trying to figure it out from the screenshot)

[chapelier fou]

in fact i don't see any reason for it not to be working...sorry.

[trevox]

A couple of issues....

The output from the vu meter is between 0. and 1. So you need to multiply the output by 127 and then convert to a integer. Also, there's an easier way of creating the cc pair using a message object. I have altered one of the routings in you patch and pasted below. Let me know if this works for you.

Note that a LOT of midi cc messages will be sent given how frequently the output of the vu meter sends data - not sure what you intend to do with the cc data, but it could potentially be quite jumpy. I put a zl change object in there to at least avoid the duplicate values getting sent out!

<pre><code>
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-----------end_max5_patcher-----------
</code></pre>

[exaltron]

in fact i don't see any reason for it not to be working...sorry.

Thanks anyway! Digging your music btw. Too bad I'm in the states- seems to be the only continent you don't perform in

[chapelier fou]

( ha ! hopefully some gigs to come...)

[exaltron]

A couple of issues....

The output from the vu meter is between 0. and 1. So you need to multiply the output by 127 and then convert to a integer. Also, there's an easier way of creating the cc pair using a message object. I have altered one of the routings in you patch and pasted below. Let me know if this works for you.

Note that a LOT of midi cc messages will be sent given how frequently the output of the vu meter sends data - not sure what you intend to do with the cc data, but it could potentially be quite jumpy. I put a zl change object in there to at least avoid the duplicate values getting sent out!

@trevox thank you so much!! This is great. I was thinking about all the crazy data that would put out since this set up is taxing an already overloaded set. I guess I could use some kind of envelope follower to smooth and/or cull the data? I will give this a try now. Hopefully the send and receive objects will work going from an audio to a midi track. thanks again!

[exaltron]

Awesome, this seems to work as is, I got three bands of audio sending different values to an LED via Arduino!!! Only problem is all that data is causing bottlenecks to the point of crashing live. Definitely will be looking into some ways to limit the data points..

[chapelier fou]

snapshot~ ?

[exaltron]

snapshot~ ?

I will post a snapshot but I think there's something missing now- I thought I had it working but it may have been an automation clip that was driving the LEDs. Can't reproduce it now

I can see that the cc data is coming through to the audio track but it doesn't seem like Live can recognize it when I go into midi learn mode. I wonder if Live can receive CC messages this way..

[chapelier fou]

i was talking about the 'snapshot~' object to limit the amount of data...
anyway i was drunk and i'm sure there are better ways.

[trevox]

I would probably consider sending OSC data rather than midi as I've done it in the past for vu meters and it worked really well without breaking Live - doesn't seem to cause much bottleneck at all. You could try downsampling the audio signal (using the downsamp~ object) or a snapshot~ object could work too, but personally, I would go down the OSC route. If you're unfamiliar have a look at the "udpsend" and/or "udpreceive" help files. There are also some pretty useful externals for routing OSC at CNMAT. You can get them for free here:

http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/

Note that when using OSC, you can route the signal anywhere on your local network like other PC's, tablets, phones etc - can come in very handy. The examples in the help files use the local machines loopback IP address (127.0.0.1).

[synnack_old]

Here's how I did something similar. You'd just replace the send object with midi CC stuff. Also see qlim for rate limiting.


<pre><code>
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r53sKNt3Zx7XqMvNnMvmMZyAFTyQY3qs6yCp8HY1eOexl0d6ijk57E9KWJqS
kmOkJMQlQ8JcgUiGpZRY5lpYzLUVcag7tCxls6F7OfMmypN
-----------end_max5_patcher-----------
</code></pre>

[exaltron]

I would probably consider sending OSC data rather than midi as I've done it in the past for vu meters and it worked really well without breaking Live - doesn't seem to cause much bottleneck at all. You could try downsampling the audio signal (using the downsamp~ object) or a snapshot~ object could work too, but personally, I would go down the OSC route. If you're unfamiliar have a look at the "udpsend" and/or "udpreceive" help files. There are also some pretty useful externals for routing OSC at CNMAT. You can get them for free here:

http://cnmat.berkeley.edu/

Note that when using OSC, you can route the signal anywhere on your local network like other PC's, tablets, phones etc - can come in very handy. The examples in the help files use the local machines loopback IP address (127.0.0.1).

Thanks for that info. The device that I'm trying to control (maxuino) is actually using OSC to send control information to an arduino, so if I understood more about the way this device is designed I could probably create a simplified version that would read the levels and send them directly to the arduino. As it is I am hoping to just hack the maxuino device and add a receive object so I can inject that data.