I appreciate that there is an Ableton thread but looked through that and it didn’t feel like the appropriate place to ask this (not least because I’m on Live 11, not 12). I totally understand if this gets moved to there, though.
I’m looking to utilise a controller of some description to both create MIDI clips via a step sequencer and sequence existing clips via performance mode clip launching.
I thought that the APC series could do this but it appears that either I was wrong or that it used to be possible but now isn’t.
A lot of years (and many Live versions) ago I used Launchpad95 which I remember working quite nicely but I’ve no idea if that is still the case in 2024. If so, I guess I may have found my solution already, but I no longer have a Launchpad to try it with and would very much appreciate any insight anyone else has about how they are achieving this.
My main wishes are:
visual feedback on the controller
easy shifting between step sequencing and clip launching
nothing as OTT as the Push (i.e. no sledgehammer-for-a-nutcracker solutions)
Ah, this is really clever, mate - thanks for sharing! I had a LPP for a while too and really liked it but moved it one because I was pushed for space and really wasn’t using Ableton to sequence enough to justify the desk real estate at the time. Since sorting out the new setup with the hardware mixers I’m really starting to enjoy using Live as more than just the “mixdown stems here” application so it feels like it’s time to revisit
The Launchpad Pro mk3 is great for this. It has very good pads, works with session clips, drum racks and regular midi tracks, and has a sequencer that can “print” to an Ableton clip. The extra buttons over the smaller versions are also very useful.
I use mine alongside the Push 3, for clip recording/launching, and for switching between tracks, which isn’t always straightforward on the Push.
It’s also great on the iPad, as it auto-maps to loopy pro, which might be right up your alley. I also have a custom layout for Koala.
Oh damn, I didn’t know it did the automapping to Loopy! Having step sequencing on the iPad would be a huge additional bonus. Maybe it is time I rebought one
I have to say, over the years, I have tried just about all the Launchpad “hacks” to get extra control over Ableton. But after struggling for years to get it right, a couple of years ago, I finally caved in and bought a Push 2. I have to say, that even though a few people voice their dislike for Push. In Ableton land, there really isn’t anything that comes close to it.
I have been getting really deep with Max4live devices recently and I have even been hacking the devices so that they work natively on the Push. With the screen, the pads, the control. There isn’t anthing that comes close to the integration.
With Push 3 out now, Push 2 is in my opinion a real bargain 2nd hand, as Ableton is still actively supporting it. But a Push 2 and a Launchpad, is also a really great combo! I am looking at adding either a Launchpad, Faderfox or Midifighter to work alongside my Push 2.
I do know what you mean and absolutely appreciate how powerful Push is, but I’ve tried it before and, for reasons I can’t completely verbalise, it just didn’t work for me. There’s no reason why this should be the case, but I found myself making music differently on it - forcing myself to use Push exclusively, for example, and finding myself frustrated with both the experience and the results.
I’m not totally ruling out getting one again at some point - especially not at the prices they go for these days - but I’m more inclined to keep things a lot simpler.
I am curious why you say so. I know Ben Bohmer has videos out there using it live. But I haven’t used it so maybe you are right. It doesn’t do what you really want to do.
Yeah there used to be a Live Pack for it but it’s no longer on the site and the suggestion is that it hasn’t been supported by the software for a couple of versions
I’ve just (re)discovered an unexpected contender that on the surface (pun very much intended) seems to fulfil much of what I’m after.
I’ve got an ancient iPad (might even be an iPad 1 - it’s a 30-pin one, anyway) which lives in an Alesos ioDock. The theory was that I would use it to process audio or maybe as a Samplr tool, but I remembered that I once got TouchAble Pro… which not only works with iOS 9.whatever-this-thing-is-stuck-on, but actually works really well!
Don’t get me wrong, using the the onscreen clip editor as a step sequencer isn’t completely ideal, but it does work - plus I can split the view and have the clips on one half of the screen with the sequencer on the other!
I totally forgot this app existed and even when I remembered about it I had no expectations of it actually working!
