[Tip] Looping with Mackie Control emulation!

[bulo]

This is crazy, didn't know that you can actually emulate the controllers available in the midi preferences.
Mackie emulation works great with my ozonic... except the V-pots whose don't have a normal behaviour.
Someone has experienced some problem while emulating V-pots?
Thanks

[4rest]

um.....
i am lost here guys.
i set up my fcb1010 as follows
midi note 96 = C6 which is supposed to = scene up.
sending on ch.1
mackiecontrol set in prefs.
remote enabled.
yet i get nothing.

i have searched and searched but all paths lead me to this
thread.....and the tutorial is missing images and the covert site has no
info anymore.

i am using live 7

any ideas what the hell i could be doing wrong?

thanks

[mooncaine]

2 ideas to help find and solve the prob:

1. Is the "Remote" button enabled, in Preferences, for the MIDI interface that connects your pedalboard to your computer? It needs to be enabled for the MIDI input there.

2. Can you confirm that your pedalboard is sending the right note, on the right channel? I use MIDI Monitor for that. Windows users can use MIDI-OX, I'm told.

BTW, you should probably check Preferences to make sure Ableton Live isn't sending MIDI data back out to the pedalboard. That can cause probs.

[jah4life]

so I can't seem to find the list of all of the mackie control #'s that used to be on this thread. Was that deleted? Anyone have a link to that?

Also I'm having a difficult time setting up my Rolls Midibuddy to work with this. I've been trying to use Midipipe first to convert the Program Change messages that come from the midibuddy to note messages, then using several instances of keymapper to change the notes from the midibuddy to the desired mackie control note #'s. It's all sent out through Midipipe output 1.

IN live I have the mackie control selected as a control surface, and the input as midipipe 1.

Instead of performing the expected functions, my buttons, regardless of the key mapper settings in midipipe, only function to arm and disarm the first several tracks in live. So I know that it's somehow working.

Do I need multiple pipes in midipipe, each with a separate key mapper in order to do this? do I have to then reproduce all of the program change -> note change settings in each separate pipe?

Perhaps someone could be so kind as to walk me through the midipipe setup for this step-by step? Thanks.

[jah4life]

Nevermind about the midipipe thing, I think I have it figured out. I'm still searching for that list of Mackie Control Note #'s though. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Also it seems that the ZOOM control only launches clips, not scenes. Any way to launch a scene using this method? If not, then any alternatives?

[mooncaine]

The link is in a post from me, in this thread somewhere, I think. Sorry, can't search it out for you right now. I definitely posted it, because it was me who printed the list in HTML format and put it online. Can't recall right now where, though.

[friend_kami]

Nevermind about the midipipe thing, I think I have it figured out. I'm still searching for that list of Mackie Control Note #'s though. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Also it seems that the ZOOM control only launches clips, not scenes. Any way to launch a scene using this method? If not, then any alternatives?

http://home.comcast.net/~robbowers11/MCMap.htm
http://www.mooncaine.net/live_6_mackie_ ... cb1010.htm

note: the second link, you have to add one octave (ie: c-2 is c-1 in live).

working on a bomes script to turn my hercules into a mackie (well, sort of), using those two sites.

[baseinstinct]

I just phoned Mackie. There actually are whitepapers but you have to sign a non-disclosure agreement to get them. What Mackie wants to protect this way seems to be the part of the protocol that goes back to the MCU and e.g. controls the display. For us end-users this part of the protocol is, of course, not so very interesting and it would be nice if Mackie would at least publish the codes that go in MCU->computer direction, wouldn't it? Maybe a couple of emails to Mackie from some of you might help.

Has anyone finally compiled a full list for Mackie Control for Ableton Live?

[mooncaine]

I compiled this years ago:

http://www.mooncaine.net/live_6_mackie_ ... cb1010.htm

It looks like friend_kami posted a more complete list as an HTML page, two or three messages earlier in this thread.

[Spanner_]

Just wanted to thank previous contributors for this. Still applicable today. Can't imagine why there isn't just a list of non-UI functions to map to custom midi but nevermind.

Various pictures and links are down from this thread and some other sources I found didn't seem to be accurate (like zoom being on 99 or 111 aka D#7)

Here are a few midi notes and what they do when configured as a Mackie at present:

Channel 1 MIDI note:

96 UP
97 DOWN
98 LEFT
99 RIGHT
100 ZOOM <- this one being the magic button for live looping.

[baseinstinct]

Thanks for sharing. Can you please clarify 100?
Sounds promising but not clear what zoom does and how it applies to looping.

[Spanner_]

"Zoom" appears to be some magic contextual button that exists on Mackie devices.

In Ableton live 11, hitting the zoom button on a Mackie device will start recording in the selected clip slot (if the track is armed). It will also stop a clip recording that is in progress (stopping it at the appropriate point as per the quantise setting - e.g. at the end of the bar) and leave the clip playing on loop once the recording has ended.

If you have a launchkey or launchpad, it is the same as using the session mode to hit the clip slot to start a clip recording and then when you are done, hit that clip slot again. This stops the recording and sets it playing. Great, but not great if your hands are occupied.

Using a footswitch to pretend to be the Mackie 'Zoom' button just allows the stop/start in the same way. I tried other methods like using a midi to key program to pretned to be a PC keyboard and hit the return key, as that appears to work similarly, but I was wanting to use the launchpad to start recording (and choose the clip slot / track) and then use a footpedal to stop that active recording. The return key didn't work because starting with the launchpad didn't select the clip slot for the return key to stop it.

The Zoom button implementation appears to work just fine with the launchpad starting the recordings in any clip slot. "Zoom" will then stop it and set it playing on loop.

The "100" is the midi key to send. I have my footswitch configured to send value 127 on Channel 1, Note 100 (which is an E7 or E6 depending on where you start counting your octaves) and then follow up with a 0 on Channel 1, Note 100. i.e. a key press and release.

To make this work, you have to configure Ableton's midi settings for your midi device with "Control Surface" set as a Mackie Control (even though your midi device isn't a Mackie), ensure "Remote" is ticked for the input and then configure your midi device to send note 100 (for zoom). The Mackie devices have loads of other functions you can also emulate by sending other notes (like moving clip selection left, right, up, down and a lot more that I don't intend to explore). With this method, you do not have to do any manual midi-mapping to Ableton UI buttons.