live.dial to create a scalable send level automation

    Misc

    KRAWALI
    Nov 18 2023 | 9:28 pm
    Hey,
    I would like to achieve having a send automation which is scalable by 1.0 dB increments: Let's say I have a a send automation in a track where the send level is automated to go from -16.0 dB to -14.0 dB. I would now like to trim that automation in 1dB increments so that I could trim up the send level by for instance 5dB but maintain the relative volume change of 2dB, meaning that it would result in an automation from -11.0 dB to -9.0 dB.
    Ableton Drummer has built something of the sorts: https://abletonkurse.gumroad.com/l/remap-automations-in-Ableton-Live but this only allows to scale in 1/127 increments and I require something that let's me trim consistent dB amounts.
    I am planning to implement something similar like these remap devices by using a live.dial that is controlling a send parameter of a given track using live.remote. I then plan to write my automation on that dial, but then adding/subtracting the dial output by a certain amount before sending it to live.remote in order to achieve the desired trim value in dB.
    However, I can't finde any information on how the sends in Live scale between the minimum and maximum value: When I turn my live.dial (the range is set to -70. 0. and the Unit is "Loudness (dB)") the dial position matches that of the send it controls, but the values on the dial and the send do not match.
    Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!

    • Source Audio's icon
      Source Audio
      Nov 19 2023 | 9:31 am
      I don't use Live, but passing a value through any math, and letting it out is nothing exotic, or ?
      P.S. I don't think Live really automates using db values ? probably 0. - 1. float gets sent, no mater what is displayed. You would need to translate between db and analog scale.
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    • double_UG's icon
      double_UG's icon
      double_UG
      Nov 19 2023 | 10:58 am
      https://cycling74.com/forums/response-curve-for-live-send-pot
      M4L.api.dB2Value
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    • KRAWALI's icon
      KRAWALI's icon
      KRAWALI
      Nov 19 2023 | 11:03 am
      Thanks for the reply. The db Shift math isn't the issue, the problem I am having is that the live.dial and the actual send value seem to have different scaling even if both start at -inf (=-70.) and 0.0dB - so if I set my live.dial to for instance -5dB, the value of the send parameter shows -2.9dB, so they never match. This prevents me from doing any useable math since the values are mismatched, so adding 1dB in M4L won't result in a 1dB increase in Live.
      I was wondering whether anyone had any knowledge on how to match the scales?
      dbtoa or atodb are also not giving correct values.
    • KRAWALI's icon
      KRAWALI's icon
      KRAWALI
      Nov 19 2023 | 11:28 am
      Thanks DOUBLE_UG - that helps!!
      One weird that happens with this though: it works perfectly for positive values (for instance if I am controlling track volume in the range of 0.0 to 6.0) but weirdly for negative values it is shifted by 1dB, so that a value of -6.6dB will produce a track volume of -5.6dB. However, if I type an even negative value with the keyboard into the dial (or numberbox), the value is correct. So gradually decreasing from -6.6dB to -7dB will move the volume from -5.6dB to -6.0dB but manually entering the value -7.0dB will actually set the volume to -7.0dB. Do you also have this behaviour?
      Best, Karan
    • Source Audio's icon
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      Source Audio
      Nov 19 2023 | 12:19 pm
      that db to value is limited to 77 integer values at input -70 to 6. You can not use it with float input. Also not for sends which have range -70 to 0. another joy of that crap live.
    • Source Audio's icon
      Source Audio's icon
      Source Audio
      Nov 20 2023 | 10:57 am
      I grabbed a copy of Live and captured -70. ~ 0. db as well as -70. ~ 6. db automation in 0.1 db steps -> 0. ~1. range. this was most important tool : (to hold shift and arrow down keys with key repeat rate set to slow)
      That can be used to insert db scaler into automation flow, or to use db based objects. If you want I can post example patch with embeded tables.
    • KRAWALI's icon
      KRAWALI's icon
      KRAWALI
      Nov 20 2023 | 12:31 pm
      Sure, that'd be helpful!
    • Source Audio's icon
      Source Audio's icon
      Source Audio
      Nov 20 2023 | 2:31 pm
      here is the patch with embeded colls and 2 text files with mappings.
      Live_db2a.zip
      application/zip 18.40 KB
      if you set live.dial to display db it won't show decimal places, stupid as it is ...
      so better keep float
    • double_UG's icon
      double_UG's icon
      double_UG
      Nov 20 2023 | 2:46 pm
      xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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