Mackie Control Protocol (MCP) from foot controller on Mac

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TheAnimal
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:31 pm
Location: Germany

Mackie Control Protocol (MCP) from foot controller on Mac

Post by TheAnimal » Mon Oct 24, 2005 4:40 pm

Problem(s):

- I have a Mackie Control Universal but do not always have my hands free to use it. And even if I don't have a guitar in my hands but a mic only - pressing the zoom button to stop a recording with quantization produces such a loud click that it easily screws up the recording.

- I also have a Yamaha MFC10 foot controller but it doesn't send MCP.

- I want a delete key on the foot controller.


Solution:

I used MidiPipe to make the foot controller send MCP and merge it with the data coming from the MPU. Here is how:

- MidiPipe per default has an output called "MidiPipe Output 1". This is what I had to select as input in Live's "Remote Control Surfaces" fields (Preferences).

- My foot controller is programmed to send notes 60 (button 1) to 69 (button 0) on channel 16.

Pipes:

1. "Fireface -> MidiPipe Output 1":
Midi In (Fireface - Port 1) -- This is how my MCU is connected.
Midi Out (MidiPipe Output 1)

2. "Left":
Midi In (Remote 25) -- This is how the foot controller is connected.
Channel Filter (Only Channel 16 activated) -- foot controller sends on channel 16
Channel Router (Channel 16 to 1) -- because the MCU sends on channel 1 and in the end we want everything merged there
Key Mapper (60->98, solo option activated) -- 98 is the "left" button on MCU
Midi Out (MidiPipe Output 1)

Pipes "Right", "Up", "Down", "Undo", "Zoom", and "Scrub" only differ regarding the Key Mapper settings.
3. "Right": Key Mapper (62->99)
4. "Up": Key Mapper (66->96)
5. "Down": Key Mapper (61->97)
6. "Undo": Key Mapper (65->76)
7. "Zoom": Key Mapper (63->100)
8. "Scrub": Key Mapper (64->101)

9: "Delete":
Midi In (Remote 25) -- This is how the foot controller is connected.
AppleScript Trigger with the following script:


property channel_value : 16
property note_value : 68

on runme(message)
if (item 1 of message = (143 + channel_value)) and (item 2 of message = note_value) and (item 3 of message > 0) then
-- A "note on" message was received from channel "channel_value". Key "note_value" was pressed.
tell application "Live"
activate
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell process "Live"
keystroke "h" using control down
end tell
end tell
end if
end runme


If you don't have an MCU and just want to send MCP from your foot controller you can leave away pipe 1. You could also program your foot controller to send the right notes right away but this way it's a bit more versatile. (And without an extra program like MidiPipe you don't get the delete key.

TheAnimal
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:31 pm
Location: Germany

Post by TheAnimal » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:14 am

A nice list of Mackie Control Protocol commands can be found at
http://members.aol.com/mhigrules/MCMap.htm

In that list C4 has the MIDI note value of 60.

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