Does a game controller send out midi?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
Frantic
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Does a game controller send out midi?

Post by Frantic » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:40 pm

I am a self-proclaimed OG Nintendo nut.

I had a nintendo controller modified a while back to have USB on the end instead of the normal connection, so that I could plug the Nintendo controller could be plugged into my PC. This allows me, with an emulation program, to play every old Nintendo game imaginable with the OG controller. Quite fun.

I was wondering the other day... does the Nintendo controller send out midi messages? Would it be possible to get Live to recognize the controller as a midi-input?

I would LOVE to be able to select and launch scenes using the directional pad to select scenes, the B button to launch and the A button to stop all clips. 8)

Any thoughts?

Nixon
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Post by Nixon » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:42 pm


hambone1
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Post by hambone1 » Wed Sep 13, 2006 12:42 pm

Not directly, but there are a number of utilities to convert gamepads/joysticks into MIDI or keystrokes.

Search around the forum. You'll find lots of good stuff.

jeskola
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Re: Does a game controller send out midi?

Post by jeskola » Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:33 pm

Frantic wrote:I am a self-proclaimed OG Nintendo nut.

I had a nintendo controller modified a while back to have USB on the end instead of the normal connection, so that I could plug the Nintendo controller could be plugged into my PC. This allows me, with an emulation program, to play every old Nintendo game imaginable with the OG controller. Quite fun.

I was wondering the other day... does the Nintendo controller send out midi messages? Would it be possible to get Live to recognize the controller as a midi-input?

I would LOVE to be able to select and launch scenes using the directional pad to select scenes, the B button to launch and the A button to stop all clips. 8)

Any thoughts?
performing a spinning pile driver or a Shoryuken uppercut button combo to unleash a filter sweep - i like it!! 8)

Bassfrq
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Post by Bassfrq » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:17 pm

[i][b]Bob Dylan[/b][/i] wrote: Noting the music industry's complaints that illegal downloading means people are getting their music for free, he said, "Well, why not? It ain't worth nothing anyway."

Frantic
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Post by Frantic » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:36 pm

^^^ Looks like that link is a device driver for a Mac... I'm running a PC.

I'll do some searching around the forum, and I'm definitely interested. Thanks again.

mikemc
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Post by mikemc » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:53 pm

this is exactly what you need:

http://fireballtrailers.com/rejoice
UTENZIL a tool... of the muse.

Frantic
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Post by Frantic » Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:26 am

^^^ Yes! 8O Thanks much!

*edit: After I try all this I will of course report back with the results...

Frantic
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Post by Frantic » Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:00 pm

Is there a "midi yoke for dummies" thread somewhere on this board?

I just searched around but can't find one. I must just be slow, but I can't wrap my head around how to use midi yoke. Do I need to download midi-ox too? Does one run through the other? Is there a tutorial somewhere?

*sigh*

fatrabbit
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Post by fatrabbit » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:34 pm

I know for a fact that Xbox controllers are just connected via USB (they changed the actual shape of the ports for obvious reasons).

Frantic
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Post by Frantic » Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:54 pm

UPDATE: Ok, I've got Midi Yoke installed and running. Ableton can see the Midi Yoke channels.

I've managed to get the start, select, a and b buttons on the NES controller to trigger some messages to ableton. I can assign those buttons to anything that lights up blue when I press the midi button. woot!

Strange thing is that I can't seem to get any midi signal out of the directional pad. I'm sure it's just me not fully understanding mapping... I've never really mapped anything before, so Midi Yoke is confusing me as to how to get it to do what I want.

More to come......

sgx
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Post by sgx » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:31 am

fatrabbit wrote:I know for a fact that Xbox controllers are just connected via USB (they changed the actual shape of the ports for obvious reasons).
Yeah, and the xbox360 wired controller is actually real USB.
Image

slatepipe
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Post by slatepipe » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:50 am

hi frantic

let me know how you get on. i tried doing that midi yoke and rejoice thing ages ago to try and get a usb joystick to work as a midi controller but my brain nearly collapsed in the process. i just cant get my head around it but if you have success i'll have another look into it.

good luck

-art-
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Post by -art- » Mon Oct 09, 2006 11:35 am

People will do interesting things with the Wii controllers once its released i imagine. I remember attending a performance once where this chick played her av art piece on xbox, it was pretty cool. Depending on where she went depended on how the visuals and music changed.

mikemc
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Post by mikemc » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:18 pm

Frantic wrote:Is there a "midi yoke for dummies" thread somewhere on this board?

I just searched around but can't find one. I must just be slow, but I can't wrap my head around how to use midi yoke. Do I need to download midi-ox too? Does one run through the other? Is there a tutorial somewhere?

*sigh*
Here is a very simple one, loopbe1, free to try, costs about $11 for a license:

http://nerds.de
UTENZIL a tool... of the muse.

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