Building a custom external foot switch.

[andregriffin]

Hi Ron,

I've just completed my new board, centered around the GT, for Ableton use. I've built a nice little I/O box and if I have the room, I'd like to add an extra switch or two with lights the top of the I/O box. I was wondering if you could tell me part numbers for the switches used in the GT, and if there's anything tricky in wiring up the LEDs to function. You don't have to give me the whole recipe, just asking a little guidance! Thanks!

Attached is a pretty picture of my board.

 

[jjozwia]

Sorry this has nothing to do with the switches/LEDs but since you mentioned you were using it for Ableton... Started experimenting with the RJM for Ableton last weekend, were you able to find a way to control arming tracks? I can do it but could not get it to read state so my state didn't follow changes made in the app. The other part struggled with trying to find a way to select a song defined on the RJM and have it call a scene for that song in Ableton.

Cheers

 

[andregriffin]

Sorry this has nothing to do with the switches/LEDs but since you mentioned you were using it for Ableton... Started experimenting with the RJM for Ableton last weekend, were you able to find a way to control arming tracks? I can do it but could not get it to read state so my state didn't follow changes made in the app. The other part struggled with trying to find a way to select a song defined on the RJM and have it call a scene for that song in Ableton.

Cheers

You might be able to do that with the Selected Track Control remote script. It's capable of a lot, but I use a gutted version for a relatively simple task.

I use it to cycle through and launch scenes. I defined a Preset Action (consistent CC with unique value 0-127) on each song/preset on the GT, and mapped that CC to the scene selector in Ableton. Then I also have one CC set to launch the selected scene. This allows me to create song/set lists on the GT that correspond to scenes in Ableton. Other than that, I just use the GT to toggle devices on/off, send messages with IA Cycle, use expression pedal data, and basic transport controls.

 

[jjozwia]

Really appreciate it, had not come across this one yet and sounds like what you're doing solves the songs/scenes mapping. Will give that a shot and go from there! Cheers

 

[rjmmusic]

Hi Ron,

I've just completed my new board, centered around the GT, for Ableton use. I've built a nice little I/O box and if I have the room, I'd like to add an extra switch or two with lights the top of the I/O box. I was wondering if you could tell me part numbers for the switches used in the GT, and if there's anything tricky in wiring up the LEDs to function. You don't have to give me the whole recipe, just asking a little guidance! Thanks!

Attached is a pretty picture of my board.

The GT switches are extremely difficult to get unless you're willing to buy them 1000 at a time. We're willing to sell you some at a reasonable price. Last time I checked, Small Bear Electronics sold the same switch mechanism with a smaller button cap at the top, but their site seems to be down right now. Look for a momentary footswitch with two terminals and a rounded off switch button.

The LEDs are easy - just follow the diagram we have in the manual.

 

[matt-phaeleh]

Sorry this has nothing to do with the switches/LEDs but since you mentioned you were using it for Ableton... Started experimenting with the RJM for Ableton last weekend, were you able to find a way to control arming tracks? I can do it but could not get it to read state so my state didn't follow changes made in the app. The other part struggled with trying to find a way to select a song defined on the RJM and have it call a scene for that song in Ableton.

Cheers

You need to be using bi-directional midi to get the GT to respond to Ableton. Whilst I haven't actually looked into this further, it was an initial 'meh' moment when I first started setting up my setup. But in theory if you've got the spare midi ports it shouldn't be a problem, and should then work in the same way as standard midi controllers. It's definitely possible as I've seen Ron helping other people out with devices talking to each other both ways.

If the songs are loading a specific preset on the GT you need to set up the preset actions for that preset to send CC or note information which correspond with the scene in Live. You do need to be careful setting this up if you have multiple preset actions or any other CC/Note info sending at the same time for the same device/channel, as Live can get a bit confused which CC/Note you want to map to a specific action. Whilst it's a bit odd, I've found making preset pages with all the CC numbers/notes i'm planning on using in Live, and then mapping them before making the actual pages/presets I'm going to be using on the GT can sometimes make the process a lot easier and faster.

 

[andregriffin]

You need to be using bi-directional midi to get the GT to respond to Ableton.

That is correct. I am using one 5-pin XLR with custom built boxes/cables on both ends to interface with the ins/outs at my interface and the GT. All my Ableton stuff revolves around scenes with nested instrument/effect racks for each song. Automation clips that fire with each scene (song) launch adjust the macro control on those racks to activate the necessary devices for that song. The GT basically only uses IA actions, as presets are essentially useless for my application (unless I had commonly reused/master effect racks or something). Therefore I have one unique preset per song, loaded as the local page, and 1 global page with basic transport controls, etc. Each preset has a preset action with the same CC number that is mapped to the scene selector. The unique value sent along with that CC selects the corresponding scene number in Ableton, eliminating the need to hard-wire every scene in every set to some CC number to keep track of. If I feel like launching the scene from Ableton itself, I have an automation clip that fires back the corresponding Program Change to the GT so that it keeps up with what song I'm on.

 

[matt-phaeleh]

That all makes sense, and apologies for pointing out the obvious, is sometimes worth saying for people!

I got bored of trying to suss out how best to use the Live midi side of things, so ended up skipping it and doing everything in Max/MSP which gave me a whole lot more control over everything, despite eating up a lot of time figuring out the Live API side of things. I'm only really controlling some basic stuff from the GT though, with anything more complex being done from the Livid controller I use alongside it. I'm planning on gutting it all and redoing all my coding again fairly soon, so no doubt will be back on here more often asking Ron more annoying questions!

In regards to the arming situation again, whilst it's slightly old, there's a good example of controlling that side of things with M4L if you're feeling up for going down the rabbit hole which that is, here: https://cycling74.com/forums/topic/how-to-armun-arm-tracks-with-m4l/ I haven't had a proper look at the code, but if you weren't having much joy with it still, it might be worth having a look at this and similar posts on the Cycling 74 forum!