Ableton Forum

Is it possible to turn scale awareness on / off from max patch i guess it should be since you can control it from a clip?



I guess this is a feature request...
//Bo

Scale awareness of what device ?

In ableton main window the main on/off is available from clip automation but not from a max patch. ??

First of all, there is no "main on/off". The control on Ableton top bar is only a quick access to the currently selected clip(s) scale awareness settings.
It does nothing more than you can at the clip level. Is it useless ? Make your own opinion.

Then, M4L API has access to root_note, scale_name and can return scale_intervals. They are properties of the song (live_set) even if they affect clips and not the song. Weird ? Make your own opinion.

chapelier fou wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 13, 2024 5:45 am

Then, M4L API has access to root_note, scale_name and can return scale_intervals.

yes, and not the on/off state of the scale awareness:

Even though this can be controlled from a clip, it cannot be reached from the API, as it stands.

That feels like an omission. Like, having to use the api to *trigger a clip* that has the on/off state on it seems pretty hacky at this point.

caveat: I can’t do jack in M4L…

but, the state shown in the toolbar is reflective of all selected clips—and behaves similar to when you select multiple clips to manipulate in the editor (i. e. shows asterisks when clips don’t all have matching settings). so I suspect it’s not an omission, so much as a practical limitation due to the fact that it’s possible to have multiple scales on different clips playing simultaneously. in Arrangement view, it makes sense that typically you’d only want one scale at a given time, but Session view “breaks” that, since it needs to be able to play any clip at any time, alongside any other clip that may or may not be in the same key.

slow.robot wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:16 pm

but, the state shown in the toolbar is reflective of all selected clips

yes, but it's a bit of a red herring here. the issue is that this on/off can neither be controlled for the set, nor for the individual clips.

In contrast this is a function that *can* be controlled for devices, so you CAN do that with something like a Scale device, where the parameter "use Song Scale" *is* exposed. Even things like the individual aspects of Scale Awareness in Meld are accessible.

Above all, may I ask why it would be useful ?
Unless I'm wrong, a clip scale is useful for two things :
- Play with Push (or whatever capable controller). If the scale is disabled, Push still displays the selected scale. So what would it change ?
- Edit clips : then it is only useful when you're working with the mouse. And then what's wrong with clicking the on/off icon ?

So, to me the real question (to the OP) is : what do you want to achieve ?

As a correction to my previous post,
Clip scale is also useful (and this is maybe the most important aspect) to rule every scale-aware device in the track. If you turn the scale off ot a clip level, then every scale-aware device assume the scale is chromatic. Not sure how having it accessible via the API would be interesting in this case neither.
But I'm super happy to be proven wrong.

Machinate wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:31 pm

slow.robot wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 14, 2024 3:16 pm

but, the state shown in the toolbar is reflective of all selected clips

yes, but it's a bit of a red herring here. the issue is that this on/off can neither be controlled for the set, nor for the individual clips.

that's kind of my point--there's no such thing as a global scale at the 'set' level, and it doesn't make sense for there to be one, given how Live works. I assume it does make sense to have access to that in M4L--I could definitely understand there being use cases for that.

but then again, maybe I'm misunderstanding. been doing a lot of that the last week or so.