$Page Connecting MIDI Control Surfaces

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$0 allows hands-on control of most of its interface via external MIDI keyboards and
control surfaces. This lesson will show you how to set up your MIDI controllers to
add tactile remote control to your $0 experience.

This lesson assumes that your MIDI keyboard or control surface uses a /USB port/
for communicating with the computer. If it has only MIDI jacks, and no USB port,
then you'll also need an external /MIDI interface/ to connect it to. Ableton
regularly offers bundles containing $0 and various MIDI devices in the Ableton
online shop. Please check the $Link Ableton website <http://www.ableton.com> for
details.

Before we begin, please verify that your external MIDI keyboard or control surface
is connected to your computer and powered on.

*Windows users note:* USB devices must be connected and recognized by the operating
system /before/ launching $0.

Please click on the /Next Page/ button below to continue.

$Page Instant and Manual Mappings

$0 uses two complementary methods for interfacing with control surfaces: /Instant
Mappings/ and /manual mappings./

-> $0's Instant Mappings extend native support to many of the control surfaces
available today. Instant Mappings provide a common approach to control which adapts
whenever possible to the selected element in $0. After you've completed this
lesson, you'll want to check out the $Link *Control Surface Reference* <Lesson:/3-
Hardware Setup Category/5-Control Surface Reference>, which details how each
natively-supported controller interacts with $0.

-> If your MIDI controller is not supported natively, it can still control most of
$0's interface through the creation of manual mappings. This approach defines fixed
mappings between the parameters in $0 and each button, knob, pad or slider on your
control surface. Manual mappings can also be used to override Instant Mappings when
both methods are enabled. After completing this lesson, you'll want to learn how to
$Link create your own manual mappings <Lesson:/Sub-Lessons/Creating Manual
Mappings>.

Open $0's Preferences by selecting them from the Live menu in Mac OS X (or the
Options menu in Windows), then click on the /MIDI/Sync/ tab.
MidiSyncTab.tif

$Page Control Surface Setup

The upper half of the MIDI/Sync tab defines up to six natively-supported control
surfaces. Your first step will be to check whether your control surface is
supported natively, by clicking on the first chooser in the /Control Surface/
column:
RemoteSLControlSurface.tif
Select your control surface if you see it listed here. If not, you'll want to
continue to the next page to enable manual mappings.

After selecting your control surface, use the /Input/ and /Output/ choosers to
define the MIDI ports which it is connected to.
RemoteSLPorts.tif

If the /Dump/ button to the right of the output port becomes enabled, then a
/preset dump/ is required to configure the chosen controller for use in $0. You
should only need to dump to your controller once unless you've changed its internal
settings.
RemoteSLDump.tif

*Before* pressing the Dump button, consult the manufacturer's documentation to

ensure that your controller is ready to receive SysEx preset dumps. The dump will
change some settings within the controller; If you have customized these settings
before, be sure to make a backup copy of them before pressing the Dump button.

The Instant Mappings for your MIDI controller are now set up. With one more step,
we can enable the additional use of manual mappings.

$Page Enabling Manual Mappings

Manual mappings between $0 and your control surfaces are configured in the lower
half of the MIDI/Sync tab. All MIDI ports which are available to your computer are
listed here. Each entry has three On/Off switches: /Track, Sync,/ and /Remote./

Enable the Remote switch for each /Input/ port in this list which has a control
surface connected to it. If native support for your control surface wasn't
available on the previous page, you'll probably want to enable the Remote switch
for your /Output/ ports as well (so that $0 can send feedback to the controller if
possible).
MidiInputRemoteButton.tif

Enabling an input port's Remote switch tells $0 that it should listen for MIDI
control messages arriving from that port. The other two columns enable this device
for MIDI synchronization and for input to $0's MIDI tracks. For more information
about these uses of MIDI in $0, please see the lesson on $Link Connecting MIDI
Keyboards <Lesson:/3-Hardware Setup Category/3-Connecting MIDI Keyboards> and read
the reference manual's "Synchronization and ReWire" and "Routing and I/O" chapters.

You're now set up for remote control! The Preferences window can be closed. Next,
we're going to verify your connections, then leave you with a useful technique for
locking natively-supported controllers.

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*Tip:* If you have overridden Instant Mappings with manual mappings, you can easily
switch back to the Instant Mappings by deactivating the Remote switch of the
respective input port. Activating the switch again will re-establish your manual
mappings.
DividerHandsOn.tif

$Page Verifying Remote Control Setup

You can always verify that your MIDI controller is communicating with $0 by
touching any of its knobs, faders or keys. As you do this, $0 will acknowledge that
MIDI messages are being received by flashing an indicator in the upper right corner
of the application window:
MidiInputIndicator.tif

If a knob, fader, or key is remotely controlling a parameter in $0, the /Key/MIDI

In/ indicator will flash when receiving messages from that control.
MidiIndicator.tif

The indicator immediately below it flashes whenever $0 sends feedback to a MIDI

controller. This is used to keep motorized faders and status LEDs up to date.

$Page Locking Control Surfaces to Devices

Most native control surfaces will focus on the currently selected device in the
selected track. If one or more of these controls surfaces are active, you will
notice a small icon in the title bar of the selected device. This icon moves along
with the selection.
OperatorHand.tif

If, however, you would like to control a specific device with your control surface
regardless of whether it is selected or not, you can /lock/ your control surface to
that device. To do so, $ContextMenu on the device's title bar and select your
control surface in the context menu's 'Lock to Control Surface' section:
OperatorLockMenu.tif

Some control surfaces don't support locking to devices; their entry in the device's
context menu will appear disabled.

To unlock the control surface from the device, simply repeat these steps. If you
lock the same control surface to a different device without unlocking it, the
control surface is first unlocked from the device it was previously locked to.

Some control surfaces use a button to lock/unlock the currently selected device. If
a device is locked/unlocked using such a button, $0 will confirm the action with a
status bar message as shown:
RemoteLockingStatus.tif

$Page Staying in Control

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By setting up remote control, you've tapped into one of the most powerful and
expandable ways to work with $0. We recommend that you read the following two
lessons, which will teach you how to *use* your new abilities!

Access $0's $Link Control Surface Reference <Lesson:/3-Hardware Setup Category/5-

Control Surface Reference> at any time to see the specifics of each natively-
supported controller's operation within $0.

If you've enabled manual mappings, you'll definitely want to follow the lesson on
$Link creating manual mappings <Lesson:/Sub-Lessons/Creating Manual Mappings>.