Midi controller + Reface CP + MacBook

[TomHarris826373]

Hi all,

I have a novation launchkey which is connected to abelton live on a MacBook pro.
Where I can use the track selector to change between tracks in abelton live which I have different vst plugins on.

I also have a Yamaha Reface CP and I want to be able to use the novation launchkey to be a slave of both the reface and abelton live and be able to play them separately

I have seen that potentially a MIDI Solutions 1-In/4-Out Quadra Thru might work although I am not sure.

Basically I want the following:

novation launchkey
|
|
V
(Something here)
| —————- |
| ————-— |
V ——— —— V
Reface | MacBook pro

I am unsure how I would be able to swap between reface and MacBook Pro while still being able to select different tracks in abelton live.

Thanks for the help.

 

[b3maniac]

If you don't get an answer here, you might try the Mainstage forum. https://macprovideo.com/forums/audio/mainstage

 

[SeaGtGruff]

The Launchkey doesn't have a traditional MIDI OUT port, just a USB-MIDI port, so you won't be able to use a MIDI Solutions box, since it uses traditional MIDI DIN connections.

Instead, you could use an iConnectivity mio4 to take the USB-MIDI signal from the Launchkey, clone it, and send it to two or more devices. The Launchkey would connect to the USB Host port on the back of the mio4, then you could use a MIDI cable to connect the mio4 to the reface, and use a USB cable to connect the MacBook to the USB port on the front of the mio4.

Usually if you want to use a single controller to play two or more different sound modules or other devices, you set up the controller to send on different MIDI channels depending on which sound module or device you want to play-- for instance, use channel 1 to control the reface, and use channel 2 to control Ableton Live.

Most modern controllers let you define multiple zones-- typically as many as four zones, although this depends on the controller. For instance, many synths let you define 16 zones, so if you're using the synth as a controller then it could have 16 zones. But actual controllers don't usually have 16 zones. I don't know what the Launchkey's zone capabilities are.

Anyway, each zone can be set up to use a different MIDI channel, so by switching from one zone to another you can instantly change which MIDI channel the controller is sending on.

Then you would have your different sound modules or other devices listen for different MIDI channels, such as setting the reface to respond to MIDI channel 1 and setting Ableton Live to respond to MIDI channel 2.

The mio4 has software that can be used to program it, so you might be able to program the mio4 to direct the Launchkey's MIDI signal to either the reface or the MacBook based on some message that you send from the Launchkey. However, I'm not familiar with all of the mio4's capabilities in that respect.

 

[TomHarris826373]

That’s great.
Many thanks for the great suggestion.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I downloaded the manual for the Launchkey, and it doesn't appear to have any zones at all. You can select which MIDI channel you want it to send on, but you have to press some buttons on its console to do that. I'm not sure, but it looks like the buttons go up and down a channel at a time, so if you want to switch channels fairly quickly while playing then you'll want to use adjacent channels, such as 1 and 2.

The other possibility might be to program the mio4 to switch from the MacBook to the reface, or vice versa, when it receives some MIDI message from the Launchkey, but I don't know if that's something the mio4 can do.

Also, before you go off and purchase the mio4, you might want to see if there are any alternatives. For instance, there's another interface called BomeBox which might be able to do it. BomeBox is from the same people who make Bome MIDI Translator Pro, which is a program that can do all sorts of MIDI signal processing.

EDIT: I've just been glancing at the BomeBox information, and it appears to have the Bome MIDI Translator Pro software built into it. The BomeBox costs more than the mio4, but it might be more versatile and powerful.