Send-State LED's - Traktor and Ableton - Bome Forums Archive 2005

facecrime

2013-08-01 22:49:56

So I am working on mapping a layout for Traktor and Ableton so I can switch between the two with a press of a button on my Vestax VCI-400. I have made quite a bit of progress, but I am trying to iron out the kinks in my plan. I have been able to get LED feedback in both programs working moderately well using translators to pull the midi outs from the programs to switch off LED's. What I would like to be able to do is have the LED's work perfectly so when I switch between Traktor and Ableton the LED's all reset each time.

I'm thinking I will need to make some kind of shut off LED translator to turn off the LED's for the program I am switching from but I am at a loss for something to make the LED's come back on for the program I am switching to. I need some kind of "Send State of all Midi Outs" function. I am thinking I will have to do something with MAX or Python (neither of which I know much about) for Ableton, but I have no idea what the process would be for Traktor. I am hoping I can do this all with some clever translator work but not quite sure how to approach it. Any help on this would be more than appreciated.

DvlsAdvct

2013-08-02 14:32:37

Hi Facecrime

This is a common issue you will run into while using MT with multiple programs, or even complex files using one program. The solution I have found is to use global variables to store LED states and timers to trigger them when presets switch. So what you would do is create a preset for all of your Ableton LEDs and Traktor LEDs which is always on, and each translator assigns a global variable so the state of that function is saved by MT. The output would be a timer, and would look something like this:

Code: Select all

Translator 1: Ableton Clip Play
Incoming Signal: 90 00 pp
Rules: g0=pp
Outgoing Signal: Clip Play Timer 0ms Delay

Now, obviously this will be a little more complex depending on how Ableton sends its MIDI out to MT, as I don't remember if clip states send out like that. I can do some research into some other projects I've created but it will have to wait until after the weekend. Regardless, you would then have a Preset for those timers to trigger to your controller, so it would look something like:

Code: Select all

Translator 1: Clip Play Timer
Incoming Signal: Clip Play Timer
Rules: pp=g0
Outgoing Signal: 90 40 pp

That would mean that when the Timer goes off, the output triggers to the controller. Now the piece that matters for what you want is you duplicate these translators and change the Incoming Signal to "When Preset is Activated". Since the LED preset is always active and is storing these states even when the controller isn't controlling Ableton when your VCI back to controlling Ableton from Traktor the Output preset will activate and all of the signals will update. You'd need to do the same for Traktor as well. I'd recommend keeping a spreadsheet of all of your global variables so you don't lose track.

If it would help I can provide a preset or two which I have created that use this as an example.

Hope that helps
Jared