Jonas Barsten

Is it possible to observe the loopers "mutli-button" and give visual feedback when controlled by the launchpad?

Say, Red=record, Green=play, Orange=overdub

I've tried to program the launchpad to react the same way the "multi-button" does, but I'm apparently not any good, because it's a mess:

It anyway seems quite more practical to be able to observe the state of the button, rather then programming it the to light up the same way ...

My looper-setup is by the way record, play, overdub.

visual-feedback-from-looper

This isn't the whole thing but this should help you figure it out, and it's general enough that you should be able to apply it to other things.`

I see I have not studied the live-objects good enough.

I usually have my loopers on sends, I tried to change "tracks" to "sends" in the "path"-message, but it didn't seem to work.

You need to replace "tracks 0" with "return_tracks 0", I think. Or it might be without the underscore. (And, again, the zero refers to the first return track - if it's the second, make it 1, etc.).

You need to replace "tracks 0" with "return_tracks 0", I think.  Or it might be without the underscore.  (And, again, the zero refers to the first return track - if it's the second, make it 1, etc.).


I'm having the same problem here, but I'm not skilled enough yet to use the above patches. Do you have a finished max patch which controls the looper with launchpad, so you can see in which state it is?

Yes, I do, and I have been using it for almost a year now :)

But there are some things I'll need to know to make it easier for you to understand it:

-What buttons on the launchpad do you want to control the looper(s) with?

-Where are your looper/loopers placed?
-How many are there?
-Are you going to move them around?
-What buttons on the launchpad do you want to control the looper(s) with?

Hey Jonas, great that you want to help me out!

I've tried the above patches and was able to make the looper respond to the 0,1,2 and 3 buttons from the max patch. I have my looper in the first return (A) and made the settings nneuromodulator suggested. But after that I don't know how to connect the patch to the launchpad and vice versa.

I'm gonna use just one looper (for now at least..), and always on the same return track. I want to control it with the User2 setting on the launchpad and then the buttons in the left bottom corner.

I've tried the above patches and was able to make the looper respond to the 0,1,2 and 3 buttons from the max patch. I have my looper in the first return (A) and made the settings nneuromodulator suggested. But after that I don't know how to connect the patch to the launchpad and vice versa. 

I'm gonna use just one looper (for now at least..), and always on the same return track. I want to control it with the User2 setting on the launchpad and then the buttons in the left bottom corner. 

I made a patch with comments where I try to explain it as good as possible. I didn't get to test it since I don't have a launchpad here, but "it should work", please let me know if you need further explanation :)

Hey, thank you very much for your efforts! I'm gonna try it out tomorrow and see if I can make it work. I'll let you know!

Sorry for this late reply, but I had to work very hard this week so didn't have time until now to check it out.

I get the thing working, and that's great. The only thing is that the lights don't go off when I change the loopers status. So at the end all four knobs are on and don't go off again. I think this is not the case when I use your multiple button but I don't know how to cennect it. Maybe you can explain this to me?

O, and one other question: do you know if the 'clear' button from looper sends an output as well? Then I can give this a function as well.

Sorry for this late reply, but I had to work very hard this week so didn't have time until now to check it out. 

I give up !!! I've been working all day long, for days to try to receive the visual feedback of the ableton looper.

I tried differents way, including bome's midi translator, new remote script for apc40, m4l, ... but since I'm not that good at code and so on, I could only try to catch everything what was going on on forums and try to imitate and copy, and than, HOPE for it to work !!!

But NO WAY...... I'm struggling so much !!!

I ask your help please. I could open those patchs bellow, but even so close to the finishing point, I'm not able to do it.

When I try to make a m4l patch with those informations above, and put it in a midi track in Live, it seems unable to even receive midi on that track from the APC. Please people. I'm totally lost and I reaaaaally need those feedback...

Hi there !!!
I give up !!! I've been working all day long, for days to try to receive the visual feedback of the ableton looper.
I tried differents way, including bome's midi translator, new remote script for apc40, m4l, ... but since I'm not that good at code and so on, I could only try to catch everything what was going on on forums and try to imitate and copy, and than, HOPE for it to work !!!
But NO WAY...... I'm struggling so much !!!
I ask your help please. I could open those patchs bellow, but even so close to the finishing point, I'm not able to do it.
When I try to make a m4l patch with those informations above, and put it in a midi track in Live, it seems unable to even receive midi on that track from the APC. Please people. I'm totally lost and I reaaaaally need those feedback...


Are you sure you are not messing up the control surface- and midi-settings? You have to turn on "track" on the apc40 input in midi settings to make it visible as "midi-input" on "midi-tracks".

What controller are you using? apc40? what button on the controller do you want to do what? where is your looper placed in the live set? If you specify this, I might be able to help you out.

Jast as a reminder: learning Max takes around 100 hours, do it, you will not regret it.

Sorry for my late reply ... You know christmas etc ...

1st question: Could you post the patch you are using, that would make things easier.

2nd question: Just give me a sec. and I'll check ...

So NO "undo" or "clear", but both are MIDI-mappable, so one could send MIDI out from the patch and back into Live as MIDI remote data trough for example the OSX-integrated MIDI switch "IAC", but then you would need an external called [lh_midiout].

1st question: Could you post the patch you are using, that would make things easier.
2nd question: Just give me a sec. and I'll check ...

0 = device 0/1
1 = control 0-3
2 = feedback 0.-1.
3 = reverse 0/1
4 = "input - > output" 1-3
5 = speed -36-36
6 = quantization 0-14
7 = song control 0-2
8 = tempo control 0-2

Today, thankfully to your patch, I could finally observe the first parameter of the looper, the multibutton... Just what I needed. I don't have actually my APC40 today with me but I took just a part of the patch to try if I could observe and I guess I'll be able to get those parameters to the led of the APC.

According to the learning of max, I'm doing it, of course !!!! I think it's the best think to do being a musician !

I'm now busy with the kind of tutorials about live API.

Thank you very much and I'll keep in touch.

Hi Jonas !!!
Thank you very much for your help !!!!
Today, thankfully to your patch, I could finally observe the first parameter of the looper, the multibutton... Just what I needed. I don't have actually my APC40 today with me but I took just a part of the patch to try if I could observe and I guess I'll be able to get those parameters to the led of the APC.
According to the learning of max, I'm doing it, of course !!!! I think it's the best think to do being a musician !
I'm now busy with the kind of tutorials about live API.
Thank you very much and I'll keep in touch.

I've been working on patches, and searching the net everywhere about solutions.

I even noticed that you're the one who started a post about "looper visual feedback" about one year ago, that I read already.

So, anyways, I'm still struggling a lot. But now I know where is my problem. I can easily observe the looper parameters (because there are some live abstraction all done, so ... I did nothing new)

When I am in Max, I can get midi signal from my APC, so I can manage the midi streaming, but when I use Live + a m4l patch to stream some midi, Live is still unable to receive any sources from max. The only source of midi that live is able to get is from the computer keyboard. I checked all the possibilities of setup in Live. My in and out apc40 midi are on, even some from and to max1, and some IAC drivers. In Max midi set up, everything is on.

Something strange is that when I double click on a midiin or midiout, ... I should reach a pop up menu with all the available midi port, just like in max. But when I open my m4l patch, "nothing" happen. I really have a problem of routing midi from Max to Live. Do I have to use so third party program (pretty sure I don't) ??? I'm on mac.

Please someone can help me... I'm losing so much time !!!!

Hi Jonas,
I hope you are still around.
I've been working on patches, and searching the net everywhere about solutions.
I even noticed that you're the one who started a post about "looper visual feedback" about one year ago, that I read already.
So, anyways, I'm still struggling a lot. But now I know where is my problem. I can easily observe the looper parameters (because there are some live abstraction all done, so ... I did nothing new)
When I am in Max, I can get midi signal from my APC, so I can manage the midi streaming, but when I use Live + a m4l patch to stream some midi, Live is still unable to receive any sources from max. The only source of midi that live is able to get is from the computer keyboard. I checked all the possibilities of setup in Live. My in and out apc40 midi are on, even some from and to max1, and some IAC drivers. In Max midi set up, everything is on.
Something strange is that when I double click on a midiin or midiout, ... I should reach a pop up menu with all the available midi port, just like in max. But when I open my m4l patch, "nothing" happen. I really have a problem of routing midi from Max to Live. Do I have to use so third party program (pretty sure I don't) ??? I'm on mac.
Please someone can help me... I'm losing so much time !!!!
Thank you very much !

m4l does not support external MIDI, so double-clicking the [midiin] or [midiout] is not suposed to do anything in m4l. All the MIDI has to go trough Live.

There are, as mentioned, some externals called [lh_midiout] and [lh_midiin] but that would just be solving a problem that does not have to be there.

Because you can get MIDI from your APC40 into your m4l-patch trough Live, it is just about the preferences in Ableton Live.

1 - In MIDI settings in Live, turn off all control surfaces, and turn off all other MIDI-in and -outs further down on the page.

2 - Still in MIDI preferences, Find where it says something like "APC40" - input, to the right of that, there are three buttons you can turn on, only turn on the one that is in the "track" column.

3 - Navigate to the MIDI-track (be sure it is a MIDI-track and not an Audio-track) where you have placed your m4l-patch, and in the input-dropdown-menu right above the volume fader (in session view), choose your APC. If you do not see this dropdown-menu, press "alt+cmd+i"

4 - If you now use the [notein] object in your m4l-patch, you should receive data from your APC.

If this doesn´t work, maybe you can record your screen where you explain the problem and share it on dropbox or something similar, and I'll have a look on it tomorrow, in Norway it is getting late, so I'll have to go to bed now.

You can record your screen with "quicktime player" file-> new screen recording.

Ok, now I can get some midi from the apc. My setup is as follow:

No control surface selected (so no input, no output)

Midi ports: only APC40 inputs and outputs "track" is on.

But, of course, since I'm not using any remote control for the APC40, now it's not acting on live anymore. I guess I have to map everything by myself ? (youhou, fine :D ) The midi learn mapping mode is so not available anymore neither.

Just to know... Is all of that expected ? :)

Hello Jonas !!!!
Ok, now I can get some midi from the apc. My setup is as follow:
Live midi preference: 

No control surface selected (so no input, no output)
Midi ports: only APC40 inputs and outputs "track" is on.
So now I can get some midi to the patch.
But, of course, since I'm not using any remote control for the APC40, now it's not acting on live anymore. I guess I have to map everything by myself ? (youhou, fine :D ) The midi learn mapping mode is so not available anymore neither.
Just to know... Is all of that expected ? :)


If you want to re-enable MIDI-mapping mode in Ableton, you have to turn on "remote" on the INPUT part of your APC in MIDI-preferences in Ableton.

However, you might instead want to use some time making a custom patch where you control everything you want to trough m4l. Then you can modify and tweak it endlessly as you discover new ways of interacting with your setup.

I was finally able to build a patch with all the information I've been collecting all around the place, including your patch and other ones from this forum.

Can you explain me how can I past it on here as a clipboard ? So I can post it and you can comment and help me one more time :)

So... Now, I can send midi messages from the patch to the apc but only on a single channel at a time, cause live allows only that. But as I'm using the apc40, whose grid pads are configured to be the same note on every column but on different channels, I'm able to send message on only one column at a time.

Do you know how I could send midi messages to multiple midi channels at the same time from a m4l patch ?

Hi Jonas,
I was finally able to build a patch with all the information I've been collecting all around the place, including your patch and other ones from this forum.
Can you explain me how can I past it on here as a clipboard ? So I can post it and you can comment and help me one more time :)
So... Now, I can send midi messages from the patch to the apc but only on a single channel at a time, cause live allows only that. But as I'm using the apc40, whose grid pads are configured to be the same note on every column but on different channels, I'm able to send message on only one column at a time.
Do you know how I could send midi messages to multiple midi channels at the same time from a m4l patch ?


To paste patches here, or anywhere else as text, simply select all your objects (cmd+a) in patching mode and choose "copy compressed" from the "edit" menu. Then the patch will live in your clipboard until you copy something else.

However, since I am subscribing to this thread I get updates per email and for some unknown reason, your patch was included, but "old style", you had just copied the patch without compression. Your patch looks good, I did not know of that [bpatcher] thanks! But since I do not know more about the APC40 and what messages it is expecting, I can not really say.

Regarding your issue with channels, if you are right and each column has their own channel then I would use the external [lh_midiout] (attached).

thank you for the lhmidiout. I'll check it tomorrow !

Hey Jonas,
thank you for the lhmidiout. I'll check it tomorrow !


curious about what the outcome was for your issue.

8 months later, i'm looking to get my launchpad to do exactly the same thing you were looking to do.

curious about what the outcome was for your issue.
8 months later, i'm looking to get my launchpad to do exactly the same thing you were looking to do.
an update would be great!

I'm sorry for reopening this almost 3 Years old topic,

but I'm trying to achieve the same goal as the thread opener, getting Visual Feedback from my controller, in this case the Ableton Push.

I've succesfully managed to achieve the feedback modifying the last patch Jonas posted. Unfortunately I was not able to get the multibutton Subpatch Jonas created to work. The only thing it was doing was toggle between record and play, leaving out the other states.

What I want to achieve is one button, controlling loopers multibutton (or in this case the Max replacement) with red being record, orange overdub, and green play. I managed to get that effect by routing pushs midi out of ableton to an IAC Bus on channel two and midi mapping that one to loopers multi button. It works but it's not the nicest solution, one m4l patch that makes it work would be more practical for switching live sets etc.

So this is the Patch. I'm sorry I don't know how to get that code you guys are posting, I started patching with m4l one week ago...

P.S. ah I should've read more carefully. Here is the compressed version.

I'm sorry for reopening this almost 3 Years old topic,
but I'm trying to achieve the same goal as the thread opener, getting Visual Feedback from my controller, in this case the Ableton Push.
I've succesfully managed to achieve the feedback modifying the last patch Jonas posted. Unfortunately I was not able to get the multibutton Subpatch Jonas created to work. The only thing it was doing was toggle between record and play, leaving out the other states.

What I want to achieve is one button, controlling loopers multibutton (or in this case the Max replacement) with red being record, orange overdub, and green play. I managed to get that effect by routing pushs midi out of ableton to an IAC Bus on channel two and midi mapping that one to loopers multi button. It works but it's not the nicest solution, one m4l patch that makes it work would be more practical for switching live sets etc. 

P.S. ah I should've read more carefully. Here is the compressed version.


Visual feedback from looper