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Lesson time: (13min 11sec)
This lesson is part of the course Augmenting Ableton Live: The ultimate guide to using external devices
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Okay, so the next thing to do is to incorporate the Chaos Pad 3 here.
The Chaos Pad is an external effects processor. Here's how it works:
Let's go back into Live and have a look at what's going on here.
To make it easier to see, I'll double-click in the name bar to shrink it down a bit.
When I press a key or two on the Korg, the external instrument device shows that it is receiving MIDI information via the TCNear port on Channel 3, which is the MIDI channel specified for this instrument.
Next, it's bringing the audio back in via these cables into Audio 1 and 2 input.
What we want to do now is send that audio back out again to the Chaos Pad and bring it back in again into this track.
Let's select those appropriate outputs:
This is great! We can now dial in any of the many different effects presets that the Chaos Pad has, including some interesting delays and varied effects to apply to our sounds.
We've added an extra layer to this. The next step is to refine what's going on within Live to make it more versatile.
This could be due to the Chaos Pad being fun to interact with directly, but I'm going to show you how it can be done.
To control the Chaos Pad, we need to understand what MIDI information it responds to:
Let's check if the Chaos Pad 3 is being recognized in our preferences:
Go to the MIDI link MIDI tab.
In the bottom part of the window, we can see all the devices that Live recognizes as MIDI capable.
Input: kp3 pad
Output: kp3 sound
This indicates that the Chaos Pad is registering as a MIDI capable device with both input and output.
Let's close our preferences now. I'll enable MIDI map mode again and select any parameter on the screen. I'm going to use the volume on the first track and interact with the parts of the Chaos Pad that I want to control.
The first thing of interest is the XY Pad on the front of the Chaos Pad:
As I move my finger, it jumps between 12 and 13. Let's note:
When I let go, a third MIDI message (number 92) is sent , likely indicating that the Chaos Pad is active.
Next, I'm interested in the Hold button:
Lastly, I want to access the ability to change the effect program.
To test the program change, I would normally just move the program dial, but program change information is transmitted on a common MIDI channel.
We'll aim to use another Max for Live device to control this for reliable access.
Firstly, let's delete the MIDI mapping we added in the first track, and exit MIDI map mode.
I'm going to introduce the 8CC's device:
You'll notice it must be placed before the external instrument because it's a MIDI device.
This device has eight knobs, each with a dropdown menu for assigning control numbers:
As I test these, I expect to see the LED indicators on the Chaos Pad move around, but they aren't responding.
This is likely because the HCC's device is sending information on MIDI Channel 3, while the Chaos Pad receives on MIDI Channel 2.
To solve this:
Now we have two parallel chains:
Now, since we have the setup, when we move these faders, the pointer on the Chaos Pad should move left-right and up-down using the CC knobs.
We can now control the Chaos Pad and the microKorg using our Novation Excel!
Mark Burnett is an Ableton Certified Trainer who has worked with Ableton products for over 14 years. As a producer and DJ on Funk'n Deep Records, his tracks have featured at major festivals and in sets and podcasts from artists including Carl Cox and Richie Hawtin, and he has played to crowds of thousands. He also runs large-scale events such as Workhouse Project, and studied at Imperial College London. His course covers using Ableton Live to build live performances, and it suits electronic producers and performers who want to take a show out of the studio and onto the stage. read more
