Hello everybody,
I’m new to bome and this site, because I have problems with the MPD226/Ableton and even Akai won’t help me.
What I want to do:
I want to use the Akai Pads for Guitar Effects in Ableton Live Lite to toggle on and off.
The Problem:
If I set Akai Pads in their software on “Toggle” the LED movement on/off is like I want, but in Ableton I have to press twice to turn it on and twice to turn it off again.
If I set Akai Pads in their software on “Momentary” the function in Ableton is like I want (decice on/off like a toggle) but the LED movement is momentary as well and doesn’t stay on.
Best solution for me:
Trigger a Pad =>PAD LED and Device in Ableton goes on
Trigger the same Pad again => PAD LED and Device in Ableton goes off
Trigger another Pad => previous triggered Pad = PAD LED/Ableton Device turn off
Since 1 week I’ve tried everthing I could but it doesn’t work. I’ve tried with MIDI OX and Bome.
Because I’m a newbie in MIDI translation I don’t really know how that works.
I have mapped something but I think it has no effect in Ableton.
I don’t know when BOME is active. Has it to be open or does it translate even if it’s closed???
Till now I have only the trial version, because if I can’t everything run like I want I don’t want to spend money for a “maybe”.
Now in this forum is my last chance, otherwise I have to send the MPD 226 back…
I suspect you will want to select momentary mode for your pads but since Ableton Live does not set back LED feedback as you want, you will probably need to control the LED feedback in MT Pro.
With most controllers, typically a pad will light up when you send a note-on message with the same note as generated by the pad. The velocity of the note value returned to the pad, will determine its color. If you want to turn off other pads when selecting a given pad, additional MIDI messages will need to be generated back to the controller to do this for each pad you wish to update.
The attached example, for instance shows how to toggle note 44 LED on (value 127) and off (value 0). If your MPD226 recognizes LED feedback this way, then it should work for you. This is just a simple example for 1 note, you can change the rules of the on state to a different value than 127 if you want to experiment with different colors.
The one translator simply sends back to the controller, but I also have a MIDI thru path set up to send the incoming note from your Pad to your application. You will need to adjust the aliases to that of your controller and Ableton Live. Toggle-LED-Example-2020-12-13.bmtp (1.2 KB)
This Bome project will need to be open for it to work, however the window does not have to be active. You will need to set up Ableton Live to communicate with the desired Virtual Bome MIDI Port instead of directly from your controller.
Right now I don’t have a return path set up in the project file as I didn’t want Ableton Live to interfere with controlling the LED states that this project does.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
But now I think I have problems in general.
I don’t know how to send translated Midi Mapping to Ableton???
In Ableton I have my Controller surface in the options Link/Midi and whether I try to change any Input or Output for my controller, Ableton seems to ignore my other selections and forces me to use the standard Midi input/output and my vitual midi input or output has no effect.
I don’t know how I should communicate with Ableton???
Hi,
In Bome MIDI Translator you set up the outgoing MIDI port to your Application alias to Bome MIDI Translator 1 Virtual Out.
In Ableton Live you set up the incoming MIDI port for (Control) to BMT 1 or Bome MIDI Translator Port 1 (depending on how it shows up in Ableton Live).
You use “Remote” if setting up as a control surface or “Track” if setting it up as an instrument.
With that said, looking at the manual, I can’t see where it supports LED feedback. It appears to have only local control of the LED states.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
Ok I have changed that.
Now when I use your program, all actions on my pad are doubled up.
In Toggle Mode I have to press 4 times from On to OFF and otherwise.
In Momentary Mode I have to press 2 times for changing.
Pad LED doesn’t change.
In Toggle Mode: LED stays on when Note on, and off when Note off
In Momentary Mode: LED goes ON when pressed and OFF when released.
This Akai controller has it’s own Setup program. But the setup is very limited.
Maybe there is a mistake? I think I give up
Yes, this is as expected since your LED’s do not light up. I think your options are to either keep it in momentary mode (without MT Pro) and accept that you will have no LED feedback or to get another pad controller that allows LED feedback and depending on that controller capability use MT Pro if you want to customize LED feedback.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
Okay thank you very much.
I never thought that simple On Off Triggers select to suitable LED movement and a DAW control is so much impossible to create in the Midi section these days.
Then I have to look for another Midi controller and have to send back that MPD226 crap.
I’m very thankful for your time trying to help me.
Yes, the key things to look for for pads that play notes are
Velocity Sensitive (possibility with aftertouch)
LED Color Feedback.
Velocity Sensitive and aftertouch are usually more important for performance (notes, drump pads)
As far as momentary vs Toggle, if they can do both that is great but if I had to pick one it would be momentary since MT Pro can also handle a toggle like function.
Of course other factors might also be important to you like
Overall Controller Layout (size and location of controls)
Encoders or knob behavior and flexibility.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
The Mpd 226 has sensitive velocity Pads.
LED color in On or Off Mode can be changed in the Akai software.
Toggle and Momentary mode can also be choosed in the Akai software.
But in the end, Ableton says how it works in their DAW.
If you didn’t need to remotely update your LED’s (which your controller does not support) we could certainly make it work with Ableton Live but if remote LED update is important, best to move on.
