Triggering Band Cues in Ableton
Matt McCoy shows us how you can trigger band cues during a worship set using Ableton Live and a SoftStep Foot controller.
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7 Comments
Paul Case · December 26, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Awesome!!!! So could you also set up pads in different keys and use them in toggle mode one trigger them over the top of loops you are running normally without interrupting them? Great work BTW 🙂
Matt McCoy · December 26, 2011 at 10:40 pm
Yep! You definitely could! Or you can use the “12 Step”, which I’ll make a video of soon.
Paul Case · December 30, 2011 at 11:39 am
Saaweeeeetttt
Ben · January 20, 2012 at 11:40 am
Can you talk a bit about your pedalboard setup there? Very intrigued. I noticed particularly the video game controller on there. I’ve built some custom pedals and am always interested in new/better ways of doing things.
Also, who makes the soft step controller? I play guitar/keys for an artist and use an Akai keyboard along with an Akai trigger pad to fire samples. It would make things a lot easier if I could keep my hands on the guitar and trigger with my feet on some songs!
Matt McCoy · January 20, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Bottom left is the aBility controller – a midi foot controller with 20 banks, 6 patches per bank.
The small square button is a MIDI switch for stopping ableton.
I use the game controller to trigger band cues within Ableton. I use a program called USB overdrive, which allows me to trigger key commands using the game controller.
Top right is an LR Baggs DI for my guitar.
The softstep controller is made by Keith McMillen Instruments. I HIGHLY recommend the SoftStep. It’s the best pedal out there. Each button can be programmed to do just about anything you want. Pressure sensitive, multi-directional, twist with you foot to control as a knob, etc. Check it out for sure. We have some available here: http://loopcommunity.com/hardware/softstep-foot-controller
We give away a Preset too that makes the SoftStep very easy to use.
Ben · January 20, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Thanks for the info! I’ll check that out.
Sean Gallagher · August 3, 2013 at 1:19 am
Hey, I’m having a weird issue with my controller for Ableton. It’s been working great since I got it and all of a sudden it just quit triggering Ableton. For some reason, unknown to me, it looks like I’m getting a signal to the program because the upper right corner lights up when I press buttons on the controller but nothing fires. I can fire with the keys on my laptop as well as my MPK25 midi keyboard it all works. I’m not sure why it’s not working now. There is no reason why it shouldn’t be working unless there is something wrong with the controller that I don’t realize is messed up. I’m using an m-audio midiman anniversary edition midisport 2×2 as the interface and the aBility controller to trigger. Also, I can’t find a website or a way to get ahold of Baron Youn any more. I lost his number when I had to get a new phone. Things are not going well for me in this situation. Any thoughts?