Ableton Forum

I am trying to get some more out of the user mode but I can't get past this basic problem:

How do I get the LED feedback to my Launchpad Pro to be INDEPENDENT from the track output?

I know I can set the track to send MIDI notes back to my Launchpad on Channel 6, which is nice if you want to make "light shows". But of course this is useless for any meaningful user mode applications because it occupies the track output and blocks it for notes to make actual music with. I've been searching the web up and down and spend two days already trying to figure this out. I've also hacked my way into some Isotonik patches but I couldn't find the answer.

Thanks for any hints!

You can always take the MIDI output of the track as another track's MIDI input.

chapelier fou wrote:You can always take the MIDI output of the track as another track's MIDI input.

I know, but that doesn't solve the problem, especially not when trying to interface with hardware like I am trying to do.

It seems in the Isotonik patches it works over the live.text buttons that seem to use the Live API to communicate directly with the Launchpad LEDs without sending Midi into the track.

It's strange Novation wouldn't put this into the manual, because without it the whole LED feedback aspect of the Launchpad is kind of useless.

It's not in the manual because it's not documented by anyone including Ableton themselves...

Cheers
D

M4L doesn't have direct access to MIDI ports (unless you use 3rd party externals), so there isn't a straightforward way of controlling a controller's LEDs from it. You can either do it by using a MIDI track to route MIDI messages to the controller. Or you can create a device that works in conjunction with a MIDI Remote Script (such as the Launchpad Pro script included with Live).

In either case, this document is useful for finding the MIDI messages you need to send to control the LEDs.

In the case of the latter, there is limited documentation on it here. Although it's stated that the info is specific to Push, it's not. We included the same interface in the Launchpad Pro's script.

The basic gist is that you grab controls from the script (via grab_control) and then you can utilize them in your device. For example, once grabbed, you can control the LEDs of buttons/button matricies via send_value. The values you'd send can be found in the controller's reference guide linked above.

metastatik wrote: We included the same interface in the Launchpad Pro's script.

Does it mean that you can natively grab and release controls ?
Is it the case with the LP mini ?

For the sake of clarity, all MIDI Remote Scripts are native whether they're included with Live or supplied by 3rd parties.

With the Launchpad Pro script included with Live, you have access to the interface covered in the LOM docs so, yes, it allows for grabbing and releasing controls.

The Launchpad script included with Live (which you'd use with the Launchpad mini) does not provide that interface. I don't like pushing products on forums, but one of our scripts for the Launchpad (Arsenal_LP1) includes an extended and completely documented version of that interface that allows for grabbing/releasing controls and much more. Check out docs and example devices here and video coverage here.

metastatik wrote:For the sake of clarity, all MIDI Remote Scripts are native whether they're included with Live or supplied by 3rd parties.

With the Launchpad Pro script included with Live, you have access to the interface covered in the LOM docs so, yes, it allows for grabbing and releasing controls.

The Launchpad script included with Live (which you'd use with the Launchpad mini) does not provide that interface. I don't like pushing products on forums, but one of our scripts for the Launchpad (Arsenal_LP1) includes an extended and completely documented version of that interface that allows for grabbing/releasing controls and much more. Check out docs and example devices here and video coverage here.

Absolutely astonishing stuff.