Switching kits automatically with the Ableton?

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1

Hi there,

I was thinking, if there is a possibility to switch the kits with the (tempo) synced Ableton.
Let’s say I have a simple arrangement (see screen) in Ableton and want to switch to the next set every 16 bars or similar. So basically I am playing to a click and the Ableton sends the MIDI command to Sensory app which will select the next kit.

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Someone has an idea? Looking forward to hearing from you!

Cheers,

M.

2

Hi M,

Yes, this is pretty straight forward. You just have to use blank MIDI clips in Ableton to send program change messages to Sensory Percussion.

I made a quick template for you in Live 10 that demonstrates this:

ableton-program-control-of-sensory-Project.zip (18.7 KB)

I can very easily remake it in Live 9 for you if you haven’t updated to 10 yet.

Here’s how it works:

First you need to select an internal MIDI bus as the output to Ableton and the same bus as the input to Sensory:

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Here’s an article on how to create an internal MIDI bus if you haven’t created one before.

Then you create a MIDI track in ableton with the internal bus as the output:

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Then you record a blank MIDI clip, double click it and select “1” for the program change message. This is automatically mapped to the kit selector in Sensory Percussion:

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Then you can duplicate this MIDI clip on the timeline, selecting increasing program changes to correspond to the same kit number in Sensory Percussion:

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In the template I attached, every 16 bars (starting on bar 17 because I’m superstitious about not having free space at the beginning of my timelines) Ableton sends a program change message to Sensory to go to the next kit (1-10).

When you’re doing this kind of thing it’s probably a good idea to have a seamless kit transitions setup on your kits in Sensory:

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Best,
StevenZ

1 Like
3

Dear @stevenz,

This is precisely what I was looking for! Thanks a lot for the info. Looks pretty straight-forward. I will also download the template just to be sure. Thanks a lot!

4

Ableton sends a program change message to Sensory to go to the next kit (1-10).

One small question. Deos it mean the Sensory app only reacts to the 1-10 interval or can I also program something bigger like 1-25? Ableton goes to the number 128. Sensory has 99, if I am correct. So theoretically 1-99 is possible?

5

Yes,

The 1-10 was specific to the template I made, you can go all the way up to 99.

6

Hey everyone,

I recently realized this technique is much easier if you are using the Sensory Percussion Ableton Plugin, and so I created a new post explaining it here.

Thanks!

1 Like