Ableton Forum

I'm using the 30 day trial version of Ableton Live 8.2.2 (Windows 7 64-Bit) to make sure it does everything I want/need/have to have before making any purchase decisions.

I am having limited sucess trying to set up the FCB1010 by following the instructions here: http://waysidedrive.com/blog2/2009/05/1 ... eton-live/

So far, there are only 4 pedals mapped all on the same bank (00):

• 1 - metronome
• 2 - play
• 3 - stop
• 4 - record

Here is the problem I am having for each pedal:

• 1 - Only starts. If I press it again to stop metronome, nothing happens.
• 2 - Starts at the beginning of the track.
• 3 - Turns off Record (if on) and returns to beginning of track.
• 4 - Only enables. If I press it again to disable, nothing happens.

The MIDI Mappings look like this:

• 1 | CC 1 | Transport | Metronome On/Off
• 2 | CC 2 | Transport | Start
• 3 | CC 3 | Transport | Stop
• 4 | CC 4 | Transport | Global Record

Is there a way to make the metronome start & stop correctly - like when used with mouse clicks?
How would I be able to make the stop button need to be pressed twice in order to return to the beginning? So If I pressed Start after Stop once, it would pick up where it left off at - like a pause button.
Is there a way to make the Global Record button start & stop correctly - like when used with mouse clicks?

I made an interesting discovery while trying to figure out the solution.

From the site (link above)

STEP 7:
Press the UP Footswitch again and another number will flash. Will probably already be at max 127. This is the velocity. I’d leave it at 127

I changed the velocity number from 127 to 00. This made it where it would only turn off - not on - the metronome (bank 1 for my settings). So I thought if I could split the difference (128/2) I could have it set in the middle for an on/off condition. This did not work.

00 to 63 = off only
64 to 127 = on only

Now I am going to see if I can get the expression pedals (range 00 to 127) to work. One extra step but still hands free...

I finally got it to work the way I would like. As I mentioned in my last reply, there needed to be a way for the same pedal to send 2 different CC values (00 to 63 & 64 to 127).

In my first post, I followed instructions on how to manually program it. It did not cover how to input 2 CC values for the same pedal. After some more google searching, I came across the PC Editor for FCB1010 (https://secure.mtnsys.com/faq-fcb/pceditorbeta.htm) and it looked like the solution to my problem. A some trial and error I have it working.

A couple of things need to be pointed out:

After pressing the "Write SysEx" button and following the instructions that pop up, after pressing "Enter" (last step), it transfer all the changes to the FCB 1010. There are a couple more steps required to save the changes. 1) Press UP once - the numbers should go blank. 2) Press and hold DOWN until you see the numbers count backwards from 09 - I let go of it while it was counting and it finished on it's own.

When using 2 CC values, the first value should be 127 (ON) or you will have to press the pedal twice for something to happen.

Depending on your setup, not all will require 2 CC values. It is better to start with only 1 CC value and add the second one when needed.

Ableton Live responds well to midi notes - perhaps they might be less troublesome for most button presses. The only place I can see cc's being useful would be the pedals, for volume or wah or whatever. On/off stuff is trouble free for me with midi notes.

MIDI notes?

I'm new at this so please explain in greater detail.

Longhair wrote:MIDI notes?
I'm new at this so please explain in greater detail.

He means a MIDI "Note On" message followed by a "Note Off." The FCB can send different sorts of MIDI commands: Program Change (PC), Continuous Controller (CC), and notes (i.e. "note on" followed by "note off"). His point was that sending MIDI note data from the FCB (like you would pressing a key on a keyboard) is easier than dealing with CCs. CCs are useful for things like knobs and faders, where you want to be able to set the knob/fader to one of many (0-127) possible positions. That's the primary purpose of CCs: simulating the a smooth range of motion. But if you're just launching a scene/clip, arming a track, etc., notes can handle that.