Advanced MIDI output

Marv_Incredible

Hey, I'm trying to light up my APC40 so that when I turn on an effect, the button stays lit up while the effect is on and goes off when I turn it off. I see that the midi output options let me choose between note and control change messages and let me select which not, but I can't seem to set the velocity, which is how the APC40 determines which colours to display. Can anyone shed any light on this please? I'm hoping to not have to use a third party tool to get the job done.

Marv_Incredible

Okay, I've made a bit more progress on this since posting. 1) ME does light up the hardware pad if I press the on-screen button, so it seems ME is doing what I need it to. 2) I read something somewhere (need to find it again) about the APC40 needing some sort of timer repeatedly set so that by thinking it's constantly receving the command, the light will stay on after the button is let go. I think this might be problem.

Nick

I don't have a unit to test, but I think that you shouldn't have to send the signal repeatedly. Perhaps it just needs some delay after you've let go of the button (but really, I have no idea).

Marv_Incredible

Ok. There's lots of long answers and a much shorter one, which I ended up going with. It seems the APC40 has 3 modes it can be in. Mode Identifier Name 0 0x40 Generic Mode 1 0x41 Ableton Live Mode 2 0x42 Alternate Ableton Live Mode When you power the unit up without Live open/installed (as I've been doing), the unit defaults to 0 or Generic Mode. Which is a bit confusing because to get it in its 'dumb' state (which I'd have personally called generic), you have to get it into Ableton Live Mode. This is easily done by installing and opening Live, waiting until the unit is connected and recognised by Live and then quitting Live. The unit now stays in Mode 1, at least until you power it down/up again. Anyways now, or at least so far, it's working as I need it to. I have the clip launch buttons mapped to the sequencer effects on/off butons and now, when I press the hardware button, the software button lights up and the hardware button stays lit. When I press it again, the light goes out on both the hardware and the software. So now I can tell which effect is selected, or how many, without looking at the screen or needing to have the sequencer window open. It also makes it slightly easier to find my way around the pads, despite there being no labels to read from. All I had to do was to add an output to my original mapping in ME and that was it. ME automatically set it to be the same note on the same channel and I didn't have to do anything more. It's early days yet, so we'll have to see how I get on. I've noticed for example, that the rotary encoder LEDs no longer light up and so far, the only colour I'm getting from the buttons is green. I believe this is because the APC40 determines its colours according to the velocity note set, which I can't seem to alter from ME. For the record, these are the values for the clip launch buttons. If it's at all possible, I'd like to know how I can set these as part of the midi output command: 0=off, 1=green, 2=green blink, 3=red, 4=red blink, 5=yellow, 6=yellow blink, 7-127=green I found a really useful programmer's reference here: http://6be54c364949b623a3c0-4409a68c214f3a9eeca8d0265e9266c0.r0.cf2.rackcdn.com/754/documents/APC40_Communications_Protocol_rev_1.pdf And a useful image here: http://www.akaipro.com/apc40map

Marv_Incredible

Update; So, using MIDIPipe, I've been able to set the velocity so that I can choose the colours of the pads and whether they blink or not when lit. Yay! The trouble is, although it's free, MIDIPipe has some basic limitations so I can't seem to pick and choose which pads do what. It's an all or nothing type of deal. Plus, it's still a 3rd party tool and I'd rather be able to do this from within ME itself which is already so close to being able to achieve this. Bomes Midi Translator and Max4Live seem like the best 3rd party options but again, they're additional and pricey. If ME had these options, many more MIDI controllers could be configured in a similar way. For reference, here are the MIDI data specs for two of my other sub-controllers: http://site2.pioneerdj.com/support/files/img/DDJ-SP1_List_of_MIDI_Messages_E.pdf http://uk.novationmusic.com/sites/default/files/novation/downloads/4079/dicer-programmers-reference2.pdf The SP1 has native controls for Serato Video, but I want to have a bash at using them to control ME, particularly for those occasions where an APC40 isn't present or practical. I'm sure the basic midi-learn programming will be straightforward enough but again, I'm hoping to be able to control the lights etc. We'll see.

Nick

Ah, that's interesting about the MIDI modes - and annoying for you that you have to start up Ableton Live just to use it :/

Marv_Incredible

So..the big question... what's the odds on seeing this additional capability within ME? ^. Even if it were just the velocity values? Even that alone would significantly increase the configurable options.

Nick

MIDI is something I'm always keen to work on - but how soon, I don't know.

DJ_Special_K

Velocity modes would make a huge difference in my workflow on the Novation Launchpad MkII +100