Lock an input device to a track and still play it with Push

[Tobia]

Hello

I would like to lock an input device (AKAI LPD8 pads) to a specific track ("LPD8") so that those pads always play that specific drum rack, whatever I might be doing with Push.

I tried selecting the AKAI device as the MIDI From of the "LPD8" track and setting Monitor to In. It does work, in the sense that the LPD8 always sends events to the "LPD8" track, but it presents two problems:

1. when I select another track with Push, the LPD8 plays that other instrument too; I want it to *only* play its specific "LPD8" track
2. I cannot play the "LPD8" track with Push anymore, because its MIDI input is locked to the LPD8 device.

I worked around the first issue by setting all other MIDI tracks as Midi From = Ableton Push, so that they ignore the LPD8 device, but I cannot help feeling it's kind of a fishy solution, and it still doesn't address the second issue.

What is the recommended MIDI routing for my use case? I would think it's quite common to lock an input device (a keyboard, pads, whatever) to a specific track.

[Tobia]

Ok, for those who might stumble on this in the future, I found a solution that works:

• Set all regular (instrument) MIDI tracks, as well as the default for new MIDI tracks, to:
  • MIDI From = Push
  • Monitor = Auto
  This makes them playable from Push and from their clips, but not from other input devices, even when the track is selected or armed.
   
• Create a new empty MIDI track for each external input device, with:
  • MIDI From = Your input device
  • Monitor = IN
  • MIDI To = The instrument track you want to play with the device
  • MIDI To, second popup = The second item in the list, which should be the instrument name or the first MIDI filter (NOT Track In)
  This makes a track that will always receive notes from your device and send them directly to the instrument, bypassing the armed/unarmed status of the instrument track.