The port 1 is hardwired in the mixer preset and the presets preloaded/predefined for the Ableton devices.
Regarding Q 1: I assume the synth is connected to MIDI IN/OUT 1 of the E1? Anything incoming on MIDI IN 1 is forwarded to Port 1 of the USB Device (i.e. sent to your computer). Similarly, anything sent by the computer (i.e. the remote script) on port 1 is sent out to MIDI OUT 1. You can avoid clashes by using different MIDI channels. The remote script uses channels 7-9 for the mixer and 11 onwards for the effect presets.
Regarding Q2: Within Ableton you can lock the appointed device (left click and then select āLock to Control Surface Electra Oneā). There are also configuration options APPOINT_ON_TRACK_CHANGE and SWITCH_TO_EFFECT_IMMEDIATELY that could be useful. See the README.md.
Hi, Iām interested in buying one for controlling all of my plugins in ableton live - particularly making soft synths feel more like programming hardware but still getting the ease of recall and automation. Iām not into programming or spending ages setting things up. My plan would be to download a preset for each vst that I have. I was wondering how easy it is to navigate around Ableton Live between tracks and devices. How would you navigate between controlling multiple vsts multiple different tracks? Is it quick easy and intuitive?
From what I understand you would need a preset for each instance so if you had 10 instances of Xfer serum (one on each track) you would need 10 presets loaded and to swich between them constantly rather than the controller intelligently just using one preset and changing to control and reflect the settings of a highlighted plugin on a given track. Is that correct? Iām not sure how you easy it is to change between presets especially if youāre jugging 50+ plugins in a session. Iām not sure how you would tell which preset is controlling which instance in Live.
For Ableton push you would select the track then you can scroll through the devices on that track or select which device on which channel you want to control with a corresponding button - Is it like that?
Iāve watched a lot of youtube videos but itās all focused on Bitwig and driven by moss so I have no clear idea of what iām buying when it comes to Ableton Live. Itās a shame itās not more clear how it works. Is seems like it might be a very time consuming, involved piece of gear when I just want something simple that works intuitively. Itās seems like itās much better than push for controlling individual vsts though but maybe itās not great at navigating between them intelligently. Hopefully iām wrong.
The Live remote script uploads the preset for the currently selected device to the E1 to a fixed preset slot. So there is no need to load 10 copies of the same preset for 10 instances of (say) Xfer serum.
There is catch though: you cannot simply download an existing preset for a VST from the forum and expect it to work out of the box: the remote script needs to be told about the MIDI mapping of controls in the preset (through a .ccmap, see the documentation.
If you are not into programming, the alternative is to let the remote script generate a preset for the currently selected VST on the fly. The easiest (no programming required) way is to embed a VST in an audio or instrument rack as explained here, map the parameters you want to control to the macros in the rack. In that case you can control the order of the parameters through the order of assignment to the macros of the rack.
Selecting the device to control at the moment has to be done through Live itself: there is currently no way to do that directly on the E1 itself. This is on the todo list though and we have ideasā¦ stay tuned!
requires you to use the mouse/trackpad
That would be great, even just to see a quick few minutes overview of how it works and functions when loading multiple vsts in ableton on different tracks and switching between them etc. I donāt mind mapping my devices if necessary but Iād like it to handle all the clever scripting things for me.
From what youāve said as long as I can link up all of the presets I download with the ableton remote script everything should work as I want it to? (Like Ableton Push 3 does in terms of device control but with the touch screen, more encoders and better graphics for third party vsts). How this is achieved iām not sure. Thereās a lot of information on that page! Iād want to have the presets with all the colours and nice graphics etc so i donāt think iād want the create preset on the fly option.
Sorry if a similar question is asked already. But I searched through the forum and didnāt find a definitive answer for this:
Can I see this Ableton Live MIDI Remote Script as some kind of ādriverā in order to use the E1 properly in Ableton?
I know it uses the remote script functionality of Ableton in order to āintroduceā the E1 to Ableton via Abletons defined software interface, isnāt it?
So the question is, can I use the E1 with Ableton without this script?
I have played around with the script for quite some time now and find it awesome for what itās intended for: getting the controls for the currently selected instruments/effect automatically set up in the device in a very user friendly manner.
However, sometimes I donāt want that.
Sometimes I just want to use my own patch that controls several parameters of Ableton instruments/effects spanning the whole Ableton project. I dont want the script to autoload anything, whenever I change the selected track/effect/instrument.
I found in the config py of the script, how to disable the automatic load of instrument/effect controls, by telling that I only want to use the mixer (in fact, I donāt need the mixer in this scenario neither, but there is no option for letting it do nothing).
Now I wonder if I need the script at all in this use case? But then again, I do not want to remove, re-install the script when I donāt want the automatic parameter load upon instrument/effect selection.
As for the question if the script is the ādriverā for the E1 in Ableton, I did not get the E1 properly running under Ableton without the script, but maybe I havenāt tried hard enough, yetā¦
Hopefully I was able to make clear what this question is aboutā¦
You can use the E1 without the remote script in Ableton. All you need to do in that case is create a preset on the E1 yourself, and map the controls in this preset to the parameters in Ableton manually through Abletonās MIDI learn function (like you would with any other MIDI controller). You should also be able to do so while the remote script is running, although you would indeed need to disable the automatic switching to the currently selected effect (as you did).
I am wondering if there is a way to set the Ableton script so that the focus is on a specific device name, or number at least? Or possibly some condition that would override blue hand focus if a certain name or symbol on device name was present?
I guess I should ask; is it possible to display a non-blue hand device, or is it limited to only that?
You can lock any control script to a the currently selected device: after locking future device selections are ignores until you unlock. To lock/unlock left click on the title bar of the currently selected device to display the context menu with these commands.
Iām aware, thank you. However, In Control Surface Studio I have the ability to make a certain set of controls or an entire controller go to a specific device by name or number when the selected track is changed. I was wondering if when the selected track is changed, could the script go directly to a different device than the blue hand? Like always device #3 or any device named ā#ā or any device with a name containing the character ā#ā
Even though its not what Iām looking for, Lock would also be a very useful function if it was a device button (APC 40 mk2 has a lock button) as the goal of my workflow is to get rid of the keyboard, mouse and screen altogether.
I just want the script to follow a certain device when I switch tracks and not necessarily the blue hand. Mainly because the Push already does that and itās redundant.
Iām apologise for misunderstanding your question. The functionality you describe could be implemented, I guess, but Iād have to think about how to do it (as you suggest a special character in the name make sense, as then preferences are saved with the live set). Iāll put it on the feature request list.
Regarding feature request listā¦
Would it be possible to somehow switch the āswitching to the currently selectedā effect/instrument on and off without the need of editing the config.py file?
I really like to play around with initial ideas by using many different effects and instruments until I find my preferred one for the sond. It is then, when I would start to define my own patch and switch off the atomatic switching.
It would be very convinient to not have to edit the config.py in between.
Actually configuring the remote script through a settings page on the E1 is also on the future feature list - but Iām waiting first for some firmware changes to fix some small remaining shortcomings of the current remote script first.
This is now implemented: the first device on a track whose name starts with ! is now appointed when that track is selected. The blue hand does change with that as well though (so Iām not sure this is exactly what you want).
