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Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:04 pm
by nowtime
I've been googling for a while here and I find nothing on how to program the user mode like a normal midi controller. I see no midi editor. (??)
Can you assaign a pad to any CC or note, assaign it's toggle on/off, color behaviour, etc.? Just like a Behringer? There is no user manual! (??)
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:16 pm
by sporkles
Must... resist... making... snappy... food... related... comment...
Anyway; you can use the L(a)unchpad with Automap, which presumably lets you set it to send whichever MIDI signal you
please, but I'm not sure if it works with Automap in Live. The user page sends regular notes if you use it with an ordinary
MIDI track.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:21 pm
by nowtime
OOOps. Typo. I saw it. I didn't fix it cuz I thought it was cute.
This sucker is not a normal programmable midi controller. Is it? It would be obvious it it was. I am shocked here. WTF? Maybe I need to go look at Akai
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:40 pm
by squelcht
Mmmmmmm, Lunchpad
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:55 pm
by Tone Deft
User 1 maps to drum rack nicely. it's not velocity sensitive but that's been fine for what I've been doing.
as far as playing piano notes I've only done that a few times. the notes aren't laid out as a keyboard but I kind of liked noodling on it now know exactly what notes I was playing. slap a scale preset on it and use your ears.
no, it's no midi editable. insert the usual 'max4Live' reference. it would be pretty simple to make a max patch that converts the notes to a normal chromatic scale.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:52 am
by nowtime
I guess my question is unclear. In the user mode, can I assaign pad 1 to send CC 7-3 pad 2 to send CC 7-4, etc?
I feel like I'm speaking moon language for something that sould be very obvious.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:59 am
by Tone Deft
Earth to nowtime, we have you cleared to land at Delta Charlie Niner Niner. that's why I wrote "no, it's not midi editable. insert the usual 'max4Live' reference. it would be pretty simple to make a max patch that converts the notes to a normal chromatic scale."
... or CC numbers. there is no midi editor for it. there's barely a manual, just a foldout sheet with the basics and there are no drivers for it.
you want 1 pad to send 4 CC numbers? or by "CC 7-3" you mean channel 7, number 3?
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:48 am
by nowtime
Yeah. I guess my mind is boggled by the fact that this basic functionality is not included in a MIDI controller for Ableton Live. And doubly boggled that I seem to be the only one who needs it as I have read nothing about this "lack" in all of the raves regarding this product.
I want to use it as a controller for an 8 track looper. No pages. Good visual cues.
But that is moot seeing as though my system won't even run 8 loopers. Time to give up my vision. Until the Abes fix the "you've run out of memory" problem, I seem to be able to use only one looper per set. Which sucks.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:00 am
by Tone Deft
I'm home now and can look into it closer.
if I go into User 2 I can assign the bottom row of buttons to the track on/off for 8 tracks. the LED lights up to reflect the state of the on/off button, IOW if I toggle the tracks on the APC or with the mouse, the LP is updated.
I've used User 2 with max4Live and User 1 with drum racks but I haven't done midi assignments with it so I couldn't say before, now I know.
hth?
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:34 am
by chapelier fou
nowtime wrote:And doubly boggled that I seem to be the only one who needs it aonly one
You are absolutely not.
I am waiting for answer from ableton.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:31 am
by Dexes
In another thread I wrote:ayahuasca wrote:I have the launchpad with the standard automap, but it's not clear to me how automap can act as an editor librarian to remap the launchpad.
Automap doesn't act as an editor, it
is one. Though it works slightly different from most controlers editors. Instead of changing the messages the LP sends to your computer (these messages are allways the same), when you enter automap mode it intercepts the message and changes it to whatever you want it to be.
This way
a) you can save 100s or 1000s of pages of templates on your computer and the production costs could be reduced as there's no need for installing a memory for loads of templates.
b) You can attach any launchpad to you computer and your templates will be there.
with standard automap (or "pro") one can change the mappings of the launchpad pads? in user mode, say one pad's default is channel 5 note 5, with automap one can rename that pad to, say, channel 9, note 34?
this is the ONLY thing that automap does/the reason it exists. But forget about the "user 1" "user 2" etc. you have to enter automap mode (hold down user2 and press the down arrow) then you will get a screen like this:
select a square and click in the parameter field at the bottom and you will get this:
The only differences between standard & pro are: use multiple controlers with automap simultainiously, drag & drop controls on the automap gui & being able to map qwerty keyboard keys
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:27 pm
by chapelier fou
Okay but automap cannot change the way the LP interprets velocities for led feedback, can it ?
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:46 pm
by Dexes
chapelier fou wrote:Okay but automap cannot change the way the LP interprets velocities for led feedback, can it ?
No, but noone asked about velocity feedback in this thread. The question was whether one can change the midi messages that it sends, just like any other standard midi controler.
While strictly speaking the answer to that is no, you can change the messages live recieves (which is in the end the same thing) with the free app that comes on the CD in the box. But still you get people posting that one would need to buy a €250/$300 programm to do this, which is, to put it simply, bullshit.
Learn how to set up automap, and every button can sent whatever midi message you want to live, 3rd party plugins, other DAWs, or any other programm that is able to recieve midi messages.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:48 pm
by chapelier fou
I was just asking for personnal stuff, sorry. I was about to try automap, so you saved me some time.
Re: Lunchpad - programmable like normal midi controllers?
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:12 pm
by Dexes
Sorry, didn't mean to react so harshly, the 'but' at the beginning of your post made me think you were trying to contradict me. And it generally winds me up a bit if some poor guy who's just spent money on a new controler gets told he has to spend even more on another programm to do something which he can do just as well without it.
While the "use max4live" reference is valid for the APC, the lauchpad lets you do exactly this for free (and if you have another automap controler remote SL/nocturn, you get a free update to automap pro, which lets you map keystrokes to the buttons, so then you can perform commands like: save (as) / copy / paste / duplicate / etc. just by pressing a button on your launchpad).