dboy1929 Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Hey guys! Have any of you been using your helix to control ableton? Specifically starting and stopping songs. My idea would be to bank to each song in a set, and when I engage that bank it would start the tracks in ableton. Is this possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Equilibrium_606 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Hello, Yes this is totally possible! 1) Connect Helix to USB 2) Ableton>Preferences>MIDI Sync 3) Select Helix as a control surface (INPUT & OUTPUT) 4) Track & Remote should also be active (ON Button) 5) See attached Screenshots 6) On HELIX, go to Menu (3 Stripes) & Select Command Centre (Satellite Logo) 7) Select a footswitch (In your Case the Bank switch) 8) Scroll to Midi Note, Select the highest value G9 in this case, & work your way back when mapping 9) Helps to not clash with other MIDI notes if all in is selected 10) Edit as desire & select ok 11) In Ableton, top right corner select the MIDI button ( Live changes to a BLUE color) 12) This is midi map mode, now select the play button under the master section (SCENE) 13) Click the footswitch you mapped on HELIX & it will map in Ableton 14) A script will appear on the left side of the screen 15) Repeat as desire 16) Exit the MIDI map mode & everything should work I will be posting some videos of this topic shortly. Just trying to get time to get it recorded. Hope this helps!!! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movingmatter Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Equilibrium_606, that was super helpful! Did you ever make the videos? I would love to check them out. How are you going about over dubbing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Equilibrium_606 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Equilibrium_606, that was super helpful! Did you ever make the videos? I would love to check them out. How are you going about over dubbing? Hey there, glad I could help!! I have been working on it, but not released as yet. Just been super busy with my day job....i will however let you know as soon as i am done. Should have it up early in Jan! By overdubbing do you mean looping?? Let me know in detail what you are trying to achieve & i can see if i can help you out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radatats Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Let me know in detail what you are trying to achieve & i can see if i can help you out! I'm looking at incorporating Ableton to my setup and adding a controller. My choices are the Novation Launchpad or the Novation Launch Control XL. I'm thinking the XL would have a wider range of use for both studio and live work with my Helix. Any issues using either one of these in conjunction with Helix and Ableton on a PC laptop? Can the XL be mapped to the Helix editor? What would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Equilibrium_606 Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 I'm looking at incorporating Ableton to my setup and adding a controller. My choices are the Novation Launchpad or the Novation Launch Control XL. I'm thinking the XL would have a wider range of use for both studio and live work with my Helix. Any issues using either one of these in conjunction with Helix and Ableton on a PC laptop? Can the XL be mapped to the Helix editor? What would you recommend? What do you want to do with Abelton? Will you be running samples? Do you want to loop? I am currently running a Novation Launchpad & Ableton Push with 2 x iPad's controlling Ableton wirelessly. I do however feel that the XL will be a better choice if you want a "all in one" style controller, but with that said you can do some pretty rad stuff with the Launchpad as well. Regarding issues with Ableton & the Helix....I have not once in the past year had ANY issues running the two together. I am running a Macbook Pro, i7 with 16gb of ram....so the system is pretty stable & I have enough under the hood to help with the processing of samples, loops, automation, etc... But with that said, it all depends on what you want to do & the spec of your machine. If you can tell me what you are aiming to do, I will be able to tell you if it is possible or not. Regarding the mapping of the editor & Launchpad.....It is not natively possible. I don't know if there are 3rd party programs that will help with that. Why would you want to control the editor with the Launchpad if I may ask? Sorry for all the questions.....just trying to see what your train of thought is! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radatats Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 thanks for the response. I'm looking at running tracks and triggering samples, maybe looping too. I'm running a HP laptop. Win 10 64, 8 GB ram. I was just wondering if I could map the XL to the editor to use the knobs and sliders building and editing ptchew, no big deal. I know I can map a lot of stuff to Helix too but that means more foot work and losing some FS for live use. The XL is on sale for $150 and looked like it would have a lot of other use in the studio too. No issues running both the XL and Helix together live? That's good to know. My brainstorming and imagination tends to outpace my skills and execution so keep that in mind. If this is something I need 6 months training to figure out it may not be a good idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
movingmatter Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Hi Equilibrium_606, yes, I am using Helix as the foot controller for Ableton, to loop guitar and eventually vocals. I recently figured out how to use the "Looper" effect on a track, and that seems to work well, to loop/overdub/clear. I am now researching how to set a footswitch on Helix to cause a fadeout on the Master of Ableton, so all the tracks I have playing will slowly fade out. This seems to sound better than stopping them, abruptly. I haven't figured this out yet. If you have any insight on assigning a footswitch on Helix to MasterFade Ableton, that'd be very appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfcorps Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 MIDI control on the Helix is disappointing, can't send multiple MIDI messages from a single footswitch, lack of dedicated CTRL switches. My old Boss GT-10 could be configured to switch presets and send multiple MIDI messages with a single foot tap. When I first got my Helix I assumed, given the claims about its MIDI control, it would do as much and more than my old Boss GT-10. Not so.. I'm also using the Helix to control Ableton to start and stop backing tracks and also to trigger samples during the performance, but it was much easier with more options on my GT-10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eramones Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Guys anyone knows how can I I change an Ableton scene with and helix preset? Scene 1 > helix preset 1 Scene 2 > Helix preset 2 for example I want tho change scenes with presets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapaguitar Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Hello Guys, I've been trying to use Ableton and Helix to create the ultimate live looping rigs, but have encountered many problems... I have dedicated buttons on the Helix to: Rec Looper 1 Undo Looper 1 Rec Looper 2 Undo Looper 2 Clear All Loopers Stop All Loopers Go to Previous Scene Go to Next Scene Launch Scene Stop Transport. The Footswitches are sending the following MIDI Note On/Off: 1:D9 2:C#9 3:C9 4:B8 5A#8 6:G9 7:F#9 8:F9 9:E9 0:D#9 I have successfully played a gig like this, but realised that i needed some improvements. So i have "Select next scene on launch" active and I am trying to have scene Launch automate loop Overdubs and use dummy clips to automate preset changes on the Helix, and this is where the problems start! Sometimes when launching a scene, the helix preset won't change, and ableton won't select the next scene. I would assume this was an ableton issue, but i've realised that in this situation the helix controller footswitch light stays on permanently, and when it's a note on/off command the footswitch light should only be on when pressed. Also, sometimes the controller notes that i've assigned on the Helix change back to C-1 without my intervention... I am going crazy with this so if any one could shed some light it would be very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsrhrng Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 Hi together, does anyone of you know how to send MMC commands to Ableton? I tried to send it but Ableton seems to ignore them for whatever reason. Kind regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 If you're talking about SysEx commands you will need to buy the Max for LIve add-on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsrhrng Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 @DunedinDragon Thank you for your quick reply! Are you talking about a specific Max for Live device? If so, could you send me the link to it by any chance? I am using Ableton Live Suite 11, so Max for Live should be included by default. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted February 26, 2023 Share Posted February 26, 2023 I don't know if it's included or an add on but here's the product page. Somewhere there I'm sure you'll find out. https://www.ableton.com/en/live/max-for-live/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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