razzzzz Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 I admit... I LOVE key commands and controlling logic via MIDI controllers. Guilty as charged. I wanted to come up with a method where I could instantiate a certain plugin on the selected track with a push of a button on my 49SL MkII. For example, select a track, and press a button on my controller to create an instance of the ES2 synth on that track. To the best of my knowledge, this controller assignment is not available on my MkII or in Automap. I started poking around the Control Surface Setup window, and I added a Mackie Control surface. I opened the Controller Assignments window and noticed that the Mackie Control comes with a whole bunch of cool commands that are not otherwise available for users to create on their own. For example, I noticed there's a controller assignment for "Insert 0 Instantiate". I copied this assignment to my own Zone, fiddled with the settings a bit (see below), and managed to get it working such that when I press a button on my MkII, I can instantiate an ES2. Here's a breakdown of the settings: Controller Assignment Parameter Class:Channel Strip. This setting was default when I coppied it over from the Mackie Control Channel Strip: Selected Track. This was originally set to Fader Bank when I copied it from the Mackie Control. I changed it to Selected Track as I want the command to execute on the current selected track MIDI Input Message Input: Automap MIDI. This was originally set to Any when I copied it over from the Mackie Control. I had to change it to Automap MIDI so logic could see the message and execute the command Value Change: B0 49 7F. This is the CC message my button sends. It was fairly easy to get this value by creating a new, unrelated controller assignment from my SL MkII and copying the value over to the Instatiate controller assignment from the Mackie Value Min/Max: My button is either on or off, so the values of 0 and 127 work here Format: Unsigned. I left this as default Multiply: 44. This is the "code" for the ES2. Different numbers will instantiate different instruments. Mode: Direct. Used in conjunction with the multiply value above, I guess this means logic says "directly go to 44" or somethingFeedback: None. I guess theres no way to send a feedback message to my controller so I set this to None. One thing to note, if I uninstall the Mackie Control surface, the control assignment gets deleted, even though I copied it to my own zone (understandable, I guess), so I have to live with a cluttered Controller Assignment window, but the positives seem to outweigh the negatives as I now have a cool button to press So, here comes my questions: Has anybody else done this before? Any experience you would like to share? Is there an easier way that I don't know about to create these assignments from scratch without installing a Mackie Control? Are there any resources on this forum where these ideas can be collected and shared? If not, would anybody be interested if I started a thread with all the settings I found? I could, for example, find all the codes related to instantiating different plugins if people are interested. Is this sort of "hacking" shunned by the logic community? Have I committed a sin? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razzzzz Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Brief update: So after some more "hacking" here's what I got. From my SL MkII, I can now press buttons and twiddle knobs to Instantiate Sends in different send slots on the selected Track Select the Send destination for each send slot on the selected Track Instantiate Instruments on the selected Track Instantiate plugins in different plugin slots on the selected Track Some issues with "hacking" It's EXTREMELY sensitive. Meaning, there are plenty of opportunities to accidentally "reset" the Controller Assignments and loose your changes. For example, simply by opening the Control Surface Setup page and selecting the Mackie Control, Logic will reset all of the Controller Assignments back to their default value. This is to be expected as I'm technically doing something I'm not supposed to be doing. There are some strange anomalies. Specifically, sometimes Mode Changes to a mode that contains these Instantiate commands will cause the plug in instrument window for the currently selected track to appear. Actually, it's kind of cool if it could be consistent, but it's not. The multiply values for the different instruments and plugins (see my original post) isn't consistent across Audio tracks and Software Instrument tracks. For example: a value of 52 might create a Channel EQ on a Software Instrument track, but it will create a completely different plugin on an Audio track. Looks like there's a list in logic somewhere that is dynamically ordered, rather than some hard-coded list where 52 always = Channel EQ. (in other words, Channel EQ might not be the 52nd item in the plug in list when an Audio track is selected). In the end, I still think it's worth the trouble. It MASSIVELY sped up my workflow. Managed to make a song sketch in a matter of minutes using these commands + a logic template which allows me to use my jomox drum machine and my moog sub-phatty. That said, I REALLY REALLY wish Logic devs would provide users with the ability of making these assignments from scratch rather than having to hack things. I can't imagine that it would be too difficult to expose a keyboard shortcut or a controller assignment to instantiate plug ins and instruments. Also, I'm still curious to hear if other people have attempted what I am currently trying to do, and what their experiences are. .R [*] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordi Torres Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 Cool stuff, razzzzz! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 [*]Is this sort of "hacking" shunned by the logic community? Have I committed a sin? Au contraire! Many in the Logic community are hackers. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm moving this to the Tips & Tricks forum. I believe the title of this thread should be edited to reflect the specific hack you're describing. How about "Controller button inserts plug-in with Automap" or something like that? You can edit your title by clicking the Edit button on your first post in this thread. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivermetimbers Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 So, here comes my questions: Has anybody else done this before? Any experience you would like to share? Are there any resources on this forum where these ideas can be collected and shared? If not, would anybody be interested … There are/were many people who discovered and shared said discoveries with the forum. Some people went beyond the call of duty to invent a solution for less talented forum members. However, much of that stopped because a few 'hackers' stole these ideas and tried selling them for money without giving proper credit or compensation to the person/persons who invented the original configuration. I am glad to see people like yourself who are interested and actively finding solutions to help improve your workflow. http://www.logicprohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=564208#p564208 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razzzzz Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 Awesome, dudes. @David, I'd love to change the title as you suggest, but the 7 day (or however many days) "no edit" rule has kicked in, so I can't edit the original post anymore. If any mods want to change it, that's cool by me @Shivermetimbers, sad to hear :/ This forum has given me quiet a bit, so in my case, I could care less about credit received. On that note, I'll dig up some of my notes and post instrument/plugin codes, and other findings to this thread. I really wish Logic devs would provide a way to do this without a "hack". That said, I'm super happy it worked, and I hope it helps others in speeding up their workflow! ...update soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivermetimbers Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 ... I'm super happy it worked, and I hope it helps others in speeding up their workflow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 @David, I'd love to change the title as you suggest, but the 7 day (or however many days) "no edit" rule has kicked in, so I can't edit the original post anymore. If any mods want to change it, that's cool by me Done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordi Torres Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 razzzzz wrote:@David, I'd love to change the title as you suggest, but the 7 day (or however many days) "no edit" rule has kicked in, so I can't edit the original post anymore. If any mods want to change it, that's cool by me Done! But this isn't limited to automap, any MIDI controller should do. J. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 But this isn't limited to automap, any MIDI controller should do. Re-done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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