APC 40 FAQs, features and questions

friend_kami · Post by **friend_kami** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:38 am

heavensdaw wrote:
friend_kami wrote:so.. how does it perform with group tracks then?
does it map all the faders to the tracks within the group, or just the master fader for that particular group track?
Surely it will depend on wether the 'group' track is expanded or not, no?

Hd

well, i guess so yeah. would make sense, however i have read some posts claiming that it maps by default to the group track and its children faders no matter what. this is why im asking.

im also curious (not sure if that has been answered or not) whether or not you ave bankswitches for the faders so that you can have say, 32 tracks and switch between them using bank switches like you do on.. well. any controller that has faders basicly.

maomao · Post by **maomao** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 5:59 pm

Hidden Driveways wrote:How does one sign up to beta test the APC40?

send a job application to Ableton!

maomao · Post by **maomao** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:01 pm

beats me wrote:Then toss in another 3 or 4 months of bug fixing. So we're talking maybe July or August before this combo can be trusted. Not hatin', just sayin'.

the combination is already VERY solid. trust me

friend_kami · Post by **friend_kami** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:37 pm

Rave wrote:
heavensdaw wrote:
friend_kami wrote:so.. how does it perform with group tracks then?
does it map all the faders to the tracks within the group, or just the master fader for that particular group track?
Surely it will depend on wether the 'group' track is expanded or not, no?

Hd
if i remember correctly it doesn't make a difference, well at least with my controller. I'll get back to you.

if it doesnt, then its kinda useless for me more or less.
especially if its limited to 8 tracks (no bank switch action for tracks then).

Amaury · Post by **Amaury** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:43 pm

friend_kami wrote:
Rave wrote:
heavensdaw wrote: Surely it will depend on wether the 'group' track is expanded or not, no?

Hd
if i remember correctly it doesn't make a difference, well at least with my controller. I'll get back to you.
if it doesnt, then its kinda useless for me more or less.
especially if its limited to 8 tracks (no bank switch action for tracks then).

Hi,

See Jan's post here, it should apply to the APC as well:
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?p=833836#833836

Regards,
Amaury

jonny72 · Post by **jonny72** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:29 pm

The big problem I have is that I'd need to be able to adjust EQ on at least 2 tracks simultaneously.

Will there be a simple way, out of the box without using M4L, to do this?

Such as split the bottom bank of 8 rotaries so that 4 of them can be used as EQ for one track and the other 4 as EQ for another track? Obviously you'd need some way of assigning which track is on each of the 4 sets of rotaries.

If not, some kind of DJ mapping mode built in would be very, very useful.

el_camello · Post by **el_camello** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:24 am

i asked a few questions earlier, i'm super curious about this and it hasn't been addressed yet:

the step sequencer seen in the promo (and other MAX "hacks" of the APC):

can you switch between 'normal' APC and MAX-Hacked APC easily? what's it like?

honestly, i flat out just don't understand how it works, i'm wondering if the MAX patch will be somesort of 'device' inserted on a midi track that can be turned on or off? if so then it would be pretty awesome to be able to assign keyboard commands to quickly change to new APC functions.

nepotist · Post by **nepotist** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 2:53 pm

How does the size of this compare to the triggerfinger in thickness and weight? Just wondering if I can fit it in my backpack.

4.33 · Post by **4.33** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:43 pm

el_camello wrote:i asked a few questions earlier, i'm super curious about this and it hasn't been addressed yet:

the step sequencer seen in the promo (and other MAX "hacks" of the APC):

can you switch between 'normal' APC and MAX-Hacked APC easily? what's it like?

honestly, i flat out just don't understand how it works, i'm wondering if the MAX patch will be somesort of 'device' inserted on a midi track that can be turned on or off? if so then it would be pretty awesome to be able to assign keyboard commands to quickly change to new APC functions.

from the video it looks like you can - the person clicks on a midi clip and APC instantly goes into step-sequencer mode, created by max.

however, it'd be good if anyone can confirm this

friend_kami · Post by **friend_kami** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 5:13 pm

Amaury wrote:
friend_kami wrote:
Rave wrote: if i remember correctly it doesn't make a difference, well at least with my controller. I'll get back to you.
if it doesnt, then its kinda useless for me more or less.
especially if its limited to 8 tracks (no bank switch action for tracks then).
Hi,

See Jan's post here, it should apply to the APC as well:
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?p=833836#833836

Regards,
Amaury

excellent. thank you.

djsynchro · Post by **djsynchro** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 1:29 am

They are doing it as you expect: This is massive!! It means you can group stuff like drums (probably minus the kick) together and conveniently control them from 1 fader! 8 groups is plenty for a live situation, will save a lot of bank flipping and not knowing where you are!

djsynchro · Post by **djsynchro** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:47 am

Mmm just read the beta manual chapter about the APC... I like it. I think the best thing is that they went for 1 button 1 function as much as possible, which will make it much more pleasant to work with than pressing lots of modifier keys... looking good. What's up with the price in Europe though dammmit!!!!

maze23a · Post by **maze23a** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:25 am

Will max for live be the only way to use
the apc as a stepsequencer?
Cause if i'm not interrested in max on a whole,it
will probably be very expensive!

Fieldy · Post by **Fieldy** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:01 pm

jonny72 wrote:The big problem I have is that I'd need to be able to adjust EQ on at least 2 tracks simultaneously.

Will there be a simple way, out of the box without using M4L, to do this?

Such as split the bottom bank of 8 rotaries so that 4 of them can be used as EQ for one track and the other 4 as EQ for another track? Obviously you'd need some way of assigning which track is on each of the 4 sets of rotaries.

If not, some kind of DJ mapping mode built in would be very, very useful.

you can also remap the controls in the traditionally way as well

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:28 pm

will i be able to use the knobs to control vj patches in max for live?

as in: the jitter stuff is in a channel, recieving midi and audio, doing its thing, and knobs are built in to adjust certain paramenters,

in this set up, will i be able to adjust these knobs with or without the max/jitter window open

or would i have to program that in max as well (won't be a problem)

second question that arises, will 4 gb or ram on a macbook pro be enough to run simple 3d random geometry with simple textures and play a live set (audio only) at the same time using jitter stuff in max for live?

or would i be better off running max seperately from live?