APC Mini and Max
Hey folks,
I have been eying the new Apc mini...
http://www.akaipro.com/microsites/apcseries/#.VCXjB-cgxDV
Anyone know if it will work with Max?
Hi, if work you mean will you be able to send and receive MIDI data then I don't see why not. It's just a MIDI device so should behave like all others...
Well you are assuming it is a MIDI device, which it may not be.
Even if it were, does MIDI allow you set the RGB values of the buttons?
What about the directional arrows?
it is a MIDI device...
Akai are usually pretty closed with their MIDI specs, but a quick scoot of the Live Remote MIDI script does indeed have control for all buttons and the matrix - I believe it's only 7 colour feedback tho, rather than full rgb...
Could someone explain to me how I would go about turning the APCmini's LEDs off after I turn them on? I spent a couple hours running through Max's MIDI tutorials and was unable to figure it out... Here's a data sheet about the APCmini's MIDI specs: https://d2r1vs3d9006ap.cloudfront.net/s3_images/1143703/apc_mini_midi_inline.jpg
I'm able to turn the LEDs on and change their color, but once I turn them on, I'm unable to turn them off :(
Just a guess but... set all colour values to zero?
I'm not sure what you mean, but here's some screenshots:
I can make this work with Controllermate, but not Max.
I don't have the device, so cannot check if it works. But, according to the spec, all you need is to send a "note on" message with velocity zero. Most of the objects in your last screenshots are not required.
To turn button 60 off, send the message (60 0) to the first inlet of [noteout].
sending the message (60 1) to the first inlet of [noteout] makes the LED green, but (60 0) does not turn the LED off.
I did notice that I cannot change the color again until I send (60 0), which [makenote] does automatically.
Why would (60 0) allow me to change the color once again, but not turn the LED off?
I've been having this exact same issue with the Electrix Tweaker, too.
Controllermate's [Variable Note Output] works as expected... https://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/doc/helpbook/prog/prog_2_4_2.html It turns on and off the LEDs with no issues.
Yes, all [makenote] does AFAIK is add the corresponding "note off" to the note on message, actually a note on with velocity zero.
This is indeed confusing. Is there some program you can use to see the actual MIDI stream out from Max? Maybe there is some spurious code being sent.
Seems a long shot.
So I'm using Max For Live, and it turns out that the same code works in Max, but does not work in Max For Live. It seems that Ableton is converting the "Note On Velocity 0" messages into "Note Off" messages, which don't register with the AKAI's LEDs.
So if I want to get this to work I have to find a way to send MIDI directly from the Max For Live device to the APCmini.
Or I have to buy Max, I guess.
Oh... Max 4 Live. A program about which I am happy to (so far) remain ignorant. ;-)
That qualifies as a bug that should be reported to Ableton. A DAW should not be changing MIDI streams unless asked.
I am not sure what your context is, but would buying Max even help? If you need to change the controller from within Ableton Live, that is.
You could try something simple like SendMIDI.