Ableton Forum

Hi,
I am trying to emulate the Moldover smart knobs in Ableton. Moldover does them in Reaktor.
Moldover video: http://moldover.com/controllerism/index ... ion=videos (first video on the page, smart knobs around 4:30 in the video)
A smart knob is one knob that controls multiple effects. So I thought this could be done with the macro control mappings but there is a problem.
I'll explain it with the following example:

I want to make a knob that controls an EQ bass cut with an EQ three on the first half (MIDI 0-64) and on the second half (MIDI 65-127) another effect (doens't really matter, eg reverb). We'll focus on just the first effect to keep things simple.

I put an effect rack on a track and put in 2 effects (EQ three & reverb) in the chain. I then adjust the zone of each effect as described above. I map Macro1 to the zone selector so i can choose my effect by turning the knob. But at the same time I want to sweep the full range (-inf - 6dB) of the EQ three's Gain Low. Therefor I map the EQ three's Gain Low to the same Macro1.
This gives me the desired effect, almost...

The problem is that my first effect ranges only from 0-64 in the zone selector and the EQ sweep ranges from 0-127 so I get only half of the range of the sweep. Is there a way to make the full sweep (-inf - 6dB) over the zone range 0-64. This can not be solved by adjusting mix/max values in the mappings panel.

Please note that this is a theoretical example to keep my explanation as simple as possible. I am using Live 7.

If this would be possible a lot of possibilities would open up for live performance an d DJing. You could use just one knob to control multiple effects and even blend them in together.

Thanks a lot for helping me out.
http://www.myspace.com/stationpolaire

I suspect (but don't know for sure) that he's using some Midi interpretation software on the way into live such as MidiOX or midi yoke to translate the midi whatever way he requires.

He is using REAKTOR as a plug in to achieve this effect but i wondered if it was possible to do it just in Live with macro controls.

I see.

One way that you can do this natively in Live is with a whole heap of presets, i.e. up to 128 chains with a different preset on each - then all you're doing is switching chain.

It's a bit laborious to set up though...

I created a filter "smart knob" this way: 0-60 was a low pass filter; 61-66 was flat; 67-127 was a high pass filter. But if I ever wanted to tweak it, I had around 120 presets to tweak!

In the end I decided to create a smart filter VST instead. But so far it doesn't sound as good...

So a better way to do this would be very welcome.

maybe another idea is to limit the presets somewhat and use the zone fades to blend the presets... good idea though robbmasters...

by the way, you can download Moldover's reaktor smart knobs from http://www.controllerism.com
i am not really into reaktor, seems like a very steep learning curve just to achieve the effect I explained...

I've been trying to figure out some of Moldover's tricks too.

Anyone know how to make a MIDI note gate a track like he does? He has his black keys allowing audio from certain tracks to pass, and then mute again when released (like a transform button on a DJ mixer). It seems like it would be so simple, but all I can achieve is alternating on/off with two strikes of the key.

moodee wrote:maybe another idea is to limit the presets somewhat and use the zone fades to blend the presets...

Never thought of that! I think I'll give that a go...

ok, let me know if it works out robbmasters...

another question: is it possible to map a macrocontrol to a track's volume slider? or to other track's volume sliders?

i'm also interested in this if it's possible to make it work with live's tools. unfortunately I'm not good at racks.

i'm building a rack for this. i'll post a message with the file for download as soon as it's finished. i figured out it can be done with nested racks.

In hindsight I realised that while zone fades will work in some situations, they won't work for the "smart filter" I was trying to create - they'll effectively give it a much shallower slope.

So I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

OK, here is the smart knob I cooked up so far:

http://www.stationpolaire.be/ableton/Smart_Knobs.adg

One knob controls 3 effects:

First range: Simple Delay build up from 0 - 50%
transforms in
Second range: Flanger build up from range 4 - 1/16
transforms in
Third range: Chorus build up with delay & hipass filter

That way you can turn the knob gradually all the way to the right and this fades the track out of the mix. Turning it all the way to the left turns the smart knob off.

Download it and give it a go, assigning a midi knob to it works great...
Please leave your comments to build and improve from here...

http://www.myspace.com/stationpolaire

Oh, just one more tip:
put a compressor after the Smart Knob rack to level out some volume changes as you turn the knob...

Hey Moodee, could you upload your smartknob again?
Thanks........