I’m hoping to use Play as a MIDI generator and controller for virtual instruments and effects in Ableton Live. I may be missing something, but when I turn the CC knobs on the MIDI side of Play it doesn’t seem to be consistently sending those CC values to Live. I was hoping that I could turn the knobs, sending CC information which could then be mapped to knobs in devices within Live, also hoping that automation / randomness from those knobs could also be sent out to Live e.g. Random Filter / CC74. I seem to get a mix of CC and note values, so the mapping into Live isn’t useful. I have noticed a few bugs which I’m trying to submit, but was wondering if anyone else has explored and mastered this feature?
We are aware of some issues with the MIDI CCs and working on fixes for them. As for Mapping to Live, I believe the issue may be the that note value is being sent when the CC is turned. To avoid this for mapping purposes set the MIDI Note all the way to the left to “no note”.
Current steps for mapping CCs are:
Turn on Live Rec mode
Set the Note value to No Note
Turn on MIDI mapping in your external app or device
Turn the CC value on Play you’d like to bind
To bind the next CC, empty the previous one first by double-tapping the screen button next to it .
At this point step 5 is critical as your previous cc will send on the next cc knob turn if it isn’t double tapped and emptied. Updates to refine this are likely in the future.
Thanks Mitch, I got that working by following your instructions. It is very particular though - if any CC values are associated, then these are passed through to the mapping process. I found I had to empty all other CCs before I started mapping to the knob assignments I wanted.
Correct, I forgot to mention at this time all CC values will send values after they have been turned, which is why double tapping the screen button next to any CC knob you turn is so important.
I think making it easier to set up CC value assignment is an important feature and would be a unique selling point for Play. I’ve tried various hardware sequencer tools to interface with my DAW and they all have limitations: Model:cycles has a nice sequencer, sends CC messages from Track Parameter knobs, but I’ve not had much success (yet) with trig-specific MIDI CC changes. Torso T-1 has a fantastic sequencer, but the “per step” sequencing involves multiple button combinations and so far I haven’t got it working completely cleanly.
If the Play had the ability to quickly set up CC via knobs and land the per step parameters that it does well, then this would be a strong selling point. Because the sequencer on Play is VERY good…