exotic idea: step sequencing a vst instrument via midi contr

ultrasonyk · Post by **ultrasonyk** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:00 am

hi livers,

i have an - maybe strange - idea:

i want to control a vst instrument drummachine's sequencer.
let me try to explain this weird idea, i hope y'all can understand it.

- ableton live running for example rebirth or reason or another step-sequenced
virtual drummachine.

- midi controller behringer bcr2000, which has 16 buttons. those can send
an note on/off signal.

now i want to assign those 16 buttons to the step buttons of the drummachine
to be able to run the sequencer on the vst, but control it via my midi controller.

the vst midi setup in ableton doesn't provide access to the sequencer step buttons, but only to knobs, filters, etc...

is there any tool/way/workaround to get this working?

Thanks and sorry for the bad explanation!

selthym · Post by **selthym** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:45 am

I Know exactly what you are after. I have et to find a drum machine that allows you to assign midi to the 16 steps.

I created this http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight= To do something similar. There are a few different styles of step sequencers that people have made that may also work for you.

The beauty of what you are after vs the above solutions, including my own, is that the GUI gives you 1 knob or Button to select which drum you want to control and the 16 pads are always the same.

ultrasonyk · Post by **ultrasonyk** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:36 am

Hi selthym,

well it seems that we share the desired method of creating drumsequences

makes much more fun to hit step buttons instead of clicking. i actually
hate clicking anyway...

your post seems to be almost what i want, so i will try it tonight. im at
work now, without ableton

thanks so far. i'll keep you posted

bdhm · Post by **bdhm** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 12:02 pm

http://mars.pingdynasty.com/software.oml

bcr steps is a step sequencer and arpeggiator made for the Behringer BCR2000 controller. It can also be used on its own, or with almost any other MIDI controller. If you like, you can try out the applet version, though it won't give you the full MIDI capabilities of the standalone application.

is this a help?

bd

ultrasonyk · Post by **ultrasonyk** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:06 pm

wow, sounds good too. checked the page for a second
seems to be a .jar java app. do you use it?

im wondering if it would trigger ableton via midi or be able
to run as vst or similar?

slashviper · Post by **slashviper** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:10 pm

i do that since the beginning!! i use the drum machine from microtonic that allows the trigger via midi...i guess you can do the same with reason but i'm not sure about re-birth...good luck!

ultrasonyk · Post by **ultrasonyk** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:51 pm

slashviper wrote:i do that since the beginning!! i use the drum machine from microtonic that allows the trigger via midi...i guess you can do the same with reason but i'm not sure about re-birth...good luck!

What exactly are you doing? using this java app or selthym's setup?

hoffman2k · Post by **hoffman2k** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:11 pm

The Covert Seq is a 16 step sequencer made in and for Live 6.
It is operated by a combination of MIDI effect racks, MIDI effects and MIDI clip automation.

http://www.thecovertoperators.org/archives/77

laird · Post by **laird** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:27 pm

ultrasonyk wrote:
slashviper wrote:i do that since the beginning!! i use the drum machine from microtonic that allows the trigger via midi...i guess you can do the same with reason but i'm not sure about re-birth...good luck!
What exactly are you doing? using this java app or selthym's setup?

with microtonic? No, you just feed it a MIDI note and it'll trigger it's different sequences.

I think C2-C3 trigger individual sounds, while the next octave up triggers the step sequencer patterns A1-D4. My specifics are probably off... I'm sure the microtonic manual is more accurate.

Strauzzie · Post by **Strauzzie** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:56 pm

You need a monome and the Monochrome VST (by Steve Duda and Deadmau5, btw!)

http://forum.monome.org/topic/737#new

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:16 am

Strauzzie wrote:You need a monome and the Monochrome VST (by Steve Duda and Deadmau5, btw!)

http://forum.monome.org/topic/737#new

i remember steve mentioning this and had plans to add a proper step sequencer to Lucifer before he pulled the plug... nice waste of money that was.

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:55 am

another solution is to buy an old electribe or X0X drum machine, and use it to drive Impulse (Or probably Redrum, whatever). I use one and its fantastic, all the individual drum parameters are available to control by onboard knobs, and you get the flexibility of using any samples you want, with being able to press buttons and tweak controls.

ultrasonyk · Post by **ultrasonyk** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:54 am

adventurepants_ wrote:another solution is to buy an old electribe or X0X drum machine, and use it to drive Impulse (Or probably Redrum, whatever). I use one and its fantastic, all the individual drum parameters are available to control by onboard knobs, and you get the flexibility of using any samples you want, with being able to press buttons and tweak controls.

@adventure.

the problem is not having a midi controller hardware device to control
impulse. i want to control the sequencer of a virtual drummachine. and
that doesn't seem to be possible with the standard equipment in ableton.

if i had an electribe drummachine, i wouldn't bother using software drums
anyway.

@sweetjesus

i thought monome is for apple/mac users only? shoot me if this was a
stupid statement

i'm just from the old school and very new to the
software-producing world.

adventurepants_ · Post by **adventurepants_** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:15 pm

You said in your original post that you were hoping to setup a BCR2000 to allow you to control a step sequenced drum machine.

i was just pointing out that if you were going to go to the trouble of controlling it externally via a midi controller, then a cheap X0x drum machine will give you all the control you need, in an interface thats setup for making drum beats.

probably for less than $100 on ebay.

plus you get a drum machine to use away from your computer.

corygilbert · Post by **corygilbert** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:19 pm

Oh shit!, I've got microtonic and kinda drifted away from using it in favor of more sample based drums. But I love a midi controlled 16 step sequencer. I just realized while messing with it that the sequencer midi can be routed to another channel in Live to control say a Live sampler!
Oooh, I've got a midi controlled 16 step sequencer to control Sampler.
I'm now in button pressing heaven.