Ableton Forum

QUESTION1.

Old, old, old question for you guys probably...
I was thinking of making one of those MIDIO128 controllers like on http://ucapps.de for clip launching.
With each song I put into ableton, I end up 2-3 channels: 1 channel with the song split up into like 20-40 clips (each part has a clip for the intro, the action, and the outro) (i'm talking about dance music right now)
and then another channel or two with one-shots from the song and with loops. (question: any idea to make less clips? heh)

so, if i want to play with lessay 5 songs at once, i'd have to make a controller with 2x5x40 buttons = 400 buttons! it'd be fun to have that, but i dunno if i wouldn't get lost in that many buttons etc. Carrying that around would suck as well.

any ideas how to use less... buttons?

of course using arrows & enter is the minimalist option. but this way, i wouldn't be able to launch/stop clips dynamically enough, at all, and that'd suck ;<<<

there's the idea of using less buttons and just setting up what i'd need beforehand. but there are those problems:
1. i don't know what i'll want to do mid-set, before the set
2. setting up the midi stuff mid-set will suck (your thoughts on that?)
3. i don't even know what songs i'd want to play, before i start the set
4. setting up a queue of songs before the set, i might as well play stuff in winamp

QUESTION2.
I have NOT been able to figure this one out...
if i want to drop an effect into the track, so that it's turned OFF by default, how do I do that? It sucks if you can't... ;<< i wanna be able to tune the effect to my liking etc, before i put it in the mix

Q1> 400 buttons might be overkill, but you do know you have 16 midi channels, right?

Q2> a real pitty... i'd really appreciate this to be an option in preferences, the on/off status of added fx, i mean. a workaround is dropping the effect in an unused track, bypass it, and drop it in the track you want it to be.

Hi,

Well, to avoid too many buttons, I use two buttons for scene navigation (those assignations appear in MIDI assign mode, ctrl M), which allows me to navigate vertically, then I use one button per track to control the track's fire button, which appears the same way between the clip area and the routing area.
At least that would save quite a lot for you, even if you still use individual buttons here and there for one shots you use anytime.
Hope that helps,
amo

Worst case scenario: load all the songs you might want to use in a set - this may be 20 songs - 40 tracks. 40 by 40 clips is way too many to trigger directly.

Now, a controller with an encoder for up/down movements in session view and a trigger button for each track could access all of this right away. This is why I'd actually recommend the MidiBox 64e instead, for your needs.

borg wrote:Q1> 400 buttons might be overkill, but you do know you have 16 midi channels, right?

So are you saying I should just change midi channels in the controller?

Q2> a real pitty... i'd really appreciate this to be an option in preferences, the on/off status of added fx, i mean. a workaround is dropping the effect in an unused track, bypass it, and drop it in the track you want it to be.

Ooh great idea! I didn't know of that. Thanks a load! That saves me a lot, lot, lot of trouble.

amo wrote:Hi,

Well, to avoid too many buttons, I use two buttons for scene navigation (those assignations appear in MIDI assign mode, ctrl M), which allows me to navigate vertically, then I use one button per track to control the track's fire button, which appears the same way between the clip area and the routing area.
At least that would save quite a lot for you, even if you still use individual buttons here and there for one shots you use anytime.
Hope that helps,
amo

Hi!
This isn't very good I think.. I always want to go back and forward between things... changing a track in one channel while starting one in another channel and stopping another one in yet another channel.. can't do it all at once with just one scene selected

Machinate wrote:Worst case scenario: load all the songs you might want to use in a set - this may be 20 songs - 40 tracks. 40 by 40 clips is way too many to trigger directly.

Now, a controller with an encoder for up/down movements in session view and a trigger button for each track could access all of this right away. This is why I'd actually recommend the MidiBox 64e instead, for your needs.

Ooh this makes for an idea...
perhaps I could modify the midibox to do something like this...
have lessay 8 tracks of 9 buttons each (9th button = stop button) and two encoders... the encoders would let you scroll through "banks" of buttons (up and down) and through channels (left and right).. there could be a display telling you which channel and which bank each of the columns represents. this way, you could have a limitless number of buttons, in any combination!

cheater wrote:

borg wrote:Q1> 400 buttons might be overkill, but you do know you have 16 midi channels, right?

So are you saying I should just change midi channels in the controller?

yes, when you assign midi notes/buttons to a clip, Live also takes into consideration the midi channel. if your controller has eight buttons, and can switch midi channel (it would be a lame controller if it couldn't), then you would have 8x16 = 128 options. of course if you need to have access to no1 and no10 simultaniously, you might have a problem. some controllers have presets, and you might assign the same cc# several times in different presets to overcome this issue.

a while ago there was this thread in which there was a link to a 16x16 matrix kind of controller... one of them max dudes i guess.

borg wrote: a while ago there was this thread in which there was a link to a 16x16 matrix kind of controller... one of them max dudes i guess.

max dudes?

excuse me, it was meant in a most respectful manner

one of those max/msp geniouses...
maybe one day, if i have time and money to spend.

oh i get it

well, the only matrix controller i know that's diy is from http://www.ucapps.de the midibox midio128 - it's great! check it out, it's easy to build.