How do I set up Ableton Clip Controls?

Question

I was hoping to design a clip launcher and control surface for Ableton live 6 and use the Ableton feedback to show if a clip is still playing,  but I am not sure if I should use momentary or toggle buttons... neither seems to be consistent at showing the clip status.  Any ideas on this?

Comments

I'm going to need to look into this. I'm not positive that Ableton gives that feedback over generic MIDI.

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YES..! this is really true..! I'm trying to do the same thing... with no results... It (feedback which "shows" or best to say lights up when clip is playing) WORKS with "Momentary" or "Drumpad" as subtype of buttons and "Note On/Note Off" as Message Type... BUT..! sometimes when I push button on MIDI Designer and Ableton starts to playing "that" clip... button on MIDI Designer doesn't light up..! the worst thing that it can happen at any moment and I don't know (understand) what is the reason of it..!

Answer 1

thanks,  it seems like the status is being transmitted however it is not very dependable. I have had best success with momentary buttons however they will often stay lit after the clip plays and finishes or if i retrigger the button to "stop" the clip then it will not respond to the stop.  

I love the control scheme and possibilities... this is the only issue so far.. with the exception of some latency problems using the wifi midi networking.

Comments

Hi anon, momentary actually seems to work pretty well (which surprised me, I didn't know that Ableton does that). Let's FIRST assume that you're having network issues (the latency is a clue, not a problem) and diagnose from there. Can you set up an "ad-hoc network?" Try this: http://mididesigner.com/help/ad-hoc-connections-osx/ and let me know how it goes.

Also, what do you mean, "if I retrigger the button to stop?"

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for me I have setup my ableton clips with momentary buttons. however they highlight for the first iteration of the loop then are unhighlighted after that, even tho the clip is still playing. Am I doing something wrong? This is a problem for me as I need to know what clip is playing at any particular time.

cheers

Answer 2

thanks,  it seems like the status is being transmitted however it is not very dependable. I have had best success with momentary buttons however they will often stay lit after the clip plays and finishes or if i retrigger the button to "stop" the clip then it will not respond to the stop.  

I love the control scheme and possibilities... this is the only issue so far.. with the exception of some latency problems using the wifi midi networking.