How to Learn Select Track Controller Assign

Hi,

I am in Controller Assignments Expert View on Logic Version 10.6.1 and I am trying to "Learn" "Select Track" so I can assign external controller buttons to automatically select individual tracks in Logic, i.e Controller Button 1 > Selects Track 1 Logic, Controller Button 2 > Selects Track 2 Logic, and so on...., but I cannot find a way to "Learn" "Select Track" in Logic. I click "Learn", then in Logic click the track header/blank space in either the mixer OR the left side arrange for first track #1 but controller assign does not Learn or place the parameter "select" in the parameter column, after I selected track 1. I even tried starting with track 2 selected, clicked learn and then selected track 1 header and that did not send a control message that I selected track 1 either.

How do you execute Learn "Select Track" in Expert View? (or manually execute Select Track assign)

There was a similar topic posted with an old screenshot at the following URL: https://www.logicprohelp.com/download/file.php?id=35783 but I cannot figure out how to replicate the Select Track assignments in that posted screenshot. When looking at the screenshot one can see it shows Parameter "Select" and then Class: Channel Strip, Channel Strip: Index. I even tried manually setting this up, but there is no way that I found to manually assign Parameter "Select" when in Class: Channel Strip. A solution would be greatly appreciated! (BTW I am using an older non-usb Yamaha Promix 01 as the controller over midi ports, and so far successfully setup 16 motorized faders and associated channel buttons to control track: volume, mute and unmute, and pan).

Thank you! - JRMIXMAN

Hi folks out there in Logic land! Wondering if any team member can help shed some light on my controller question. How do you execute Learn "Select Track" in Expert View? (or manually execute Select Track assign) Thx in advance! - Best, jrmixman

The select track function can't be assigned manually, you need to install a control surface to get access to it.

Thank for your feedback Jakob! I would have thought that select track would be one of the more basic manual “learn” controller functions. Trying to think of a workaround for my older Yamaha Promix 01 which does not have a controller preset in Logic. As I mentioned in my post I did successfully “learn” other controls using the Promix 01. I will keep digging around. Thx again ! Best, jrmixman

There's a few Control Surface mavericks here, and I'm not one of them. But I'll post this link to a ten-year old thread:

From time to time, someone on LPH remarks with surprise that there are no key commands for track selection. Agreed, but bear in mind that projects with fifty, eighty, one hundred tracks is not surprising, as I view other people's work on forums and tutorials. That'd be a lot of KC's, although like markers, maybe Apple could give us KC's for the first twenty tracks or so.

As for the link, I read it nostalgically. It helped me solve the problem, thanks to fader8 and shivermetimbers... wherever they are, thanks again. I agree with JakobP: I don't think Track Select is possible without a controller surface. I use a Nanopad -- sixteen buttons, sixteen tracks. I guess I'm a minimalist. But the Nanopad needs to be set up as a Control Surface.

To repeat, I'm not an expert. But the fact that there's no pre-existing control setup for your ProMix 01 does not mean it cannot be used as a control surface. My Nanopad was created with the Logic Control preset. The port assignments are what's important. The icon looks like the MCU, but it's listening to the Nanopad.

As for the link, I read it nostalgically. It helped me solve the problem, thanks to fader8 and shivermetimbers... wherever they are, thanks again.

I am, too, feeling nostalgic when I read older topics like that. Fader8 used to be such a great contributor to the forum, then one day he kinda disappeared out of the blue... years later we had Eric Cardenas, who in turn disappeared almost suddenly... not to say that we haven't had many, many more amazing contributors to Logic Pro Help, but those are two remarkable ex-members that I miss dearly.

Thank you Plowman for your reply and info. I will definitely review the topic in the link you sent me! - best jrmixman

Generally speaking, select track functions are implemented in terms of control surfaces, and they usually relate to the current fader bank position - so, on your control surface, you'd have 8 select buttons for the 8 channels of controls it has, and the first one would select the track that's the first position offset from the current fader bank, up to the 8th position. And as you bank around the fader banks up and down, the track select buttons target the new set of 8 tracks accordingly.

All that's to say, without an active control surface, you don't have access to a fader bank, as it doesn't exist (that stuff is inialised and made active when you install a suported control surface). As my many threads have illustrated, the best (though not the easiest!) way to customise Logic's behaviour (unless you are just doing very simple things) is to not use straight manual assignments, but install an MCU to get access to all the functions and MCU has, then customise them to your needs for your controller - in effect, so your controller is "pretending" to be a limited, customised MCU.

Then you can analyse and repurpose the created MCU assignments for your needs, as the MCU is a reference implementation of basically what's possible with the controller assignments, and everything to make the MCU work is set up for you.

Doing this is not for everyone. It all depends on how much you want custom behaviour, and how much time and effort you're willing to spend figuring it all out and customising it (versus just buying a proper control surface!)

Thanks des99 for your additional clarification! Is it possible for me to simultaneously keep the manual control assignments I have already setup for the Promix 01 and at the same time install the additional MCU to try with promix 01 ?

Yes, once you install an MCU, all the assignments for it are added, and you can edit, change, add to them as necessary. If you've already created assignments, you can copy/paste them to their new locations - but always backup known good CS prefs files because it's very easy to kill these, delete things or lose working assignments.

Remember to be careful as the current ProMix controller will now be sending MIDI to the MCU assignments, so things might go crazy depending on the MIDI messages involved - it's all part of the learning curve of developing customised control surfaces.