Control Ableton Live's Playhead position from Max via the Live API
Hi there, I've been looking at developing a system which would work within Live via the API and allow control of the play head position from an arbitrary input source. For example, I would like to control the playback read position using a phasor~ from Max.
I've had some limited success using the "set current_song_time $1" message however it seems that there is some competition between the playback position I am specifying using the message and Live's own internal clocking/playback mechanisms.
What I'm wondering is...
Is there any means to put Live into a form of rewire slave mode from within Max so as to use hostcontrol~ or something similar
Is there a means to input a read position as a signal value which would override the internal mechanisms of Live and control playback from within an M4L device? Possibly using live.remote~?
Is there a means to disable Live's internal playback system while I specify read position using the "set current_song_time $1" message as I've done already, so as to eliminate the interplay I've described already?
Any ideas?
The only way I could think of doing this is within a clip. You don't want to try and fight against Live's Master playhead methinks.
A quick idea would be to look into the function 'move_playing_position'. It's a function of clips in Live. If you need to have multiple tracks in the mix, you could probably tie this same value to all the clips to scrub them all. Still not signal rate, but it's worth a look.
Hi Evan, thanks a lot I'll try this and report back!
Heya Evan, I just tried this out, it was exactly what I needed. Thanks a million!
Out of interest, how did your implementation look like? I'm running into the same issue, and "move_playing_pos" is not working for me so far.