Ableton and MIDI routing

This page covers the four things Live needs to do for the MSEQ: send the clock, take the notes, report the tempo, and hold the TR-8 routers. It ends with how to load the LaunchControl XL templates.

Clock

Ableton is the clock source. The MSEQ follows the MIDI clock arriving on the PiSound input, and every bit of sequencer timing runs off it.

1. Open Preferences → Link/Tempo/MIDI.
2. Under MIDI Ports, turn on Sync for the port connected to PiSound.
3. Press Play. The MSEQ starts sequencing.

Live sends its clock early, by roughly the audio output latency, so out of the box the MSEQ plays ahead of Live’s grid. Fix it with the MIDI Clock Sync Delay slider on that same preferences page (it is right underneath the port list). Nudge it until your hardware lands where Live thinks the beat is. This is the one setting worth spending a few minutes on, and once it is right you can forget about it.

MIDI routing

Each sequencer sends on its own numbered MIDI channel out of the PiSound port, so sequencer 1 goes out on channel 1, sequencer 4 on channel 4, and so on.

In Ableton, create one MIDI track per sequencer, set its MIDI input to the PiSound port and the appropriate channel number, then route that track to your instrument (hardware or plugin).

BPM detector (bpmdetector.amxd)

The MSEQ needs Live’s tempo as a number as well as a clock, because note lengths are worked out in milliseconds. daw_additions/bpmdetector.amxd reads the tempo and sends it back to the Pi as CC on channel 16 whenever the transport is running.

1. Create a MIDI track in Ableton.
2. Drop daw_additions/bpmdetector.amxd onto it.
3. Set the track’s MIDI output to the PiSound port (the same port the clock leaves on), channel 1.
4. Leave the device’s MIDI Channel menu on 16.
5. Toggle the device’s transport switch on.

TR-8 routers

Four Max for Live devices handle the TR-8’s drum voices:

Place each one on a MIDI track routed to the TR-8’s MIDI input.

LaunchControl XL User Templates

The LC user templates define which CC numbers each knob, fader, and button on the LaunchControl XL sends. MSEQ expects specific CC assignments; the provided SysEx files configure the LC correctly.

Setup:

1. Download the Novation Launch Control XL editor.
2. Load daw_additions/user_1.syx through user_6.syx into the editor and send each to the LC.
3. Each user template points that unit’s controls at one bank of sequencers:
   • U1, U3, U5: control sequencers 1–7
   • U2, U4, U6: control sequencers 9–15

Switch between templates on the LC using the User 1/2/3 buttons. MSEQ reads the active user template number and adjusts which sequencers the LC buttons address accordingly. A template belongs to a bank, not to a player, so either unit can sit on any of the six.