LiveControl Complete Control of Ableton Live Using Your iPad or iPod

I’m having trouble connecting. Some things I’m a bit unclear on.

1) Does the “livecontrol_to.txt” just go right in my user directory alongside “Library” etc…?

2) The instructions say: “Install the Template on your device (included in the zip file above)” I’m not sure where that is. Are those the png files in the “doc” folder? What are the steps to install the Template?

3) I’m trying to use my MacBookPro which is networked with a iMac/web via wi-fi. I’m just not sure I’ve got the right local address. I thought I found the IP but it seems it’s actually the iMac’s. Now I’ve found my MacBookPro’s IP and that doesn’t work either. How can I find the right local address?

Okay wait…I seem to have figured out most of my questions to a degree…I have LiveControl working receiving from Live to iPod but iPod to Live is not…no midi light in Live. Any clues as to what I might be doing wrong?

Okay I got it!! Sorry for all the questions…turns out I needed the network IP not the name in TouchOSC…though I saw a video of someone using the name there (that’s why I tried it) TouchOSC does call it “name/IP address” Anyway really happy to have sussed it out. Thanks for all your work on this set up. Now one l last overarching question…Is there no way to do this with out a router/internet connection using p2p network or other way? How can you use this on a gig without a connection? Am I missing something?

On your mac you can try making an adhoc network and binding to those ip addresses.

if you have bonjour running you can type in the name of your computer instead of the IP address, p2b.

Hi, This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Is there no way it’ll work with Live 7 ?

Afraid not, the api is quite different between the two versions

That’s OK I decided to upgrade anyway and it all works a treat. Thank you.

Works great with my iPad! – When toggling between devices it sometimes loses the device-controls… a bug or due to the network? – Anyway, great work!!!! Its a poor-mans Lemur

Bonjour !

After some time trying to understand why it didn't work on my computer* I finally succeed !
First of all I thought it was an emulation on µ from jazzmutant, without the need of maxforlive and obviously the lemur. However, some points made this way more interesting:
-the feedback on the volume faders (the green right and left levels) and in the clip launcher (position of the clip while playing).
-Even if it's not very easy to use on an iPod Touch, the sequencer editor is magic, I was waiting something that works this way for a long time !!
-the XY pad is … magic ! And so easy to use, I mean … just wow !

I think this point that can be improved:
-In the device tab, the on/off button on the corner left should be a toggle button. When the device is on in Ableton, the button should be red-filled, and empty when the device is off.

I love the work you've done with livecontrol, I have no idea how you did it (I don't code…) but I think Apple sold another iPad, not because of their propaganda, but because of your LiveControl thing

Long Live to you !

((Steo))

Have a few shows coming up.. may I make a shirt that says LIVECONTROL wins fk u lemur!!

i'd like to say great job with this. i got it working pretty easily and it has HUGE potential. however, i have some feedback.

firstly, the clip-launch buttons don't work as i would expect. i default all my clips to launch using repeat-mode so that if i hold the trigger button down it will repeat. using livecontrol it sends only a note-on message so in repeat-mode a clip will forever repeat. to be correct it should send a note-on when you hold down and a note-off when you release.

secondly, the clip names are obviously filtered – seems like the spaces and vowels are all removed which is a silly assumption to make, no? i would also like to ask how many characters the ipad version supports? my clip names are sometimes up to 40 characters long and i would hope that this information can fit on the ipad-version buttons.

thanks…

DOOOD!!
That would be soo damm funny!
DOO IT!!!

I've installed Live Control onto my Mac(for my iPad). The only problem that I am running into is that Touch Osc only works when I adjust Ableton settings from my Mac (as opposed to adjusting controls on the iPad). In conclusion, I am not receiving any response from the iPad. Everything else, as far as I know, is connected. ??
Thanks.

Any way it can be made so it works with the latest version of Python?

It has pass the proof of fire!! :

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w284/zarbeat…

My name is Zarbeat(SiteHolder,Prosthetic Pressings) and I approve this amazing build!! great job ST!!

LiveControl for ipad/ipod!

also, for clearer indication of the clips, it would be good that the pads in livecontrol have the same color as in ableton (but dimmed), and that playing clips have a bright green border (recording clips could have a red border) or light up brighter. pads that have no clips could then be greyed out for even better visualisation.
it could also be an option in the preferences, to fit the needs for each user

Hey ST8, any word on cue volume? That's one big thing that's lacking that the APC40 has. Best, Jason.

yes this does a lot of what the apc does. if youve got an ipad its more like the lemur mu. Certainly not required

looks like a character set issue, whats your native language? and what characters have you put in your repeater name?

I would like to know how to make it work with Live 7

Hi,
LiveControl is very great but it would be great if in the session view we had volume control and especially 8 tracks + master track.

cheers
marek

Wow! I love this app! It's justified buying an iPad for me. I can now sell off my Launchpad, Trigger Finger, Korg nanoPad and nanoKontrol. lols.

One thing I have been looking for is a way to refresh the app with clips. Sometimes, I exit the app and go back in, but all of my clips are not labeled. Is there a way to do this within the app instead of going into Ableton preferences an deselecting and reselecting the midi controller?

Keep up the great work and be looking for a donation from me.

Kiko Lombardi
visitronix.com

just hit up or down on the clip launcher, should refresh the page

Hi,

Loving Live Control… But is there a way to scroll in octaves in the Pattern Editor? If not, can there be?

Thanks

hello! first of all thanks for this jewel of an app.
it will change the way we perform. i already used it in live sets.
but i have the following problem:
after a couple of opening of live 8.1.3 i have freezes at startup, i have to trash the entire application and install from scratch(so the midi scripts folder is reset) , then if i reinstall livecontrol all is ok for a few application openings once again, then again freeze.

Hi,

thanks for this great application!
It works fine, but I have some problems:

On the iPad I don't get any updates about clipnames, or labels of triggers.
Is there a solution about this?
I googled about this, but there wasn't a satisfying solution.

I'm using the new version of TouchOSC on iPad, using OS X 10.6.3 + Ableton Live 8.1, and of course Revision 123 of this great app here

Thanks for your help in advance.

Nevermind, solved the problem: Read the f'ing manual…

Works great, thank you for your work!

Are you using bonjour host names or ips? Might be a problem resolving the hostname causing Live to be unresponsive for a while

I've lusted after a Lemur for quite a while now. Live Control and Touch OSC with the iPad gets me really close. I got it working last night and had a great time with it. I'm finding it a little wonky to get proper communication established. I run VMwares Fusion with Win XP on my Mac. I found that I have to reboot if Fusion was running even if I have shut Fusion down or else Touch OSC won't connect to my Mac. My selection box in Ableton is only 4 rows? Live COntrol will display track and clip names for only these four rows and not the other 3 available rows. I also found that I need to set the LiveCOntrolTo device to None and then back to LiveControlTo in Lives control surface setup in order to connect to Live.

Very impressive but will need to be more bullet proof for someone who wants to perform with this setup.

Mac OS 10.5, Live 8.1, Touch OSC 1.5

I also had to disconnect my Launchpad because two selection boxes were displayed in Live. Is it possible to use Live Control and the Launchpad? I'll be donating when I get everything working solidly.

Excellent! Thanks!

thats not too hard to add i guess on the clip length fader or something?

think this is a bug, might be fixed in the next release!

Just reloaded the new mac version with 8 tracks in mixer/launcher seems a bit buggy i.e. track 8 controls master channel, Master channel does not work, vol faders on launcher not working and grid does not correspond with ableton. prior to this all worked perfectly.

I have checked all settings a number of times and still have same problems (as previously mentioned worked perfectly before update). Brilliant work and I will definitely making a donation.

Great Software on the iPad, but i have the problem that when i map parameters in Ableton, the first on Bank 2 in LiveControl is “skipped” and so all following have wrong names.. it comes back if you click on the parameters, but when changing the Bank in LiveControl again they´re wrong again..
Anybody had that too?
Hope this gets fixed soon.. just decided to exclude my Novation Remote SL Zero to replace it by the Pad with this on for my Set

Wonderfull ! Amazing ! You changed my life! Thanks so much for your work. Sharing it for free is really nice of you … As soon as I get money I send you a donation !

Thanks so much again!

Can`t get it work

It's all really cool. The only problem that I have is that I loose the connection from the ipad to ableton very often. Most of the time it happens when I press stop. I still get changes from ableton but I cant send anything. It happens every 5 minutes or so. I had the problem with older versions as well but it seems that it got worse after installing 128. Before that I could work for an hour or so. To make it work again I have to go to midi prefs and unselect / reselect the LiveControl device. Is this a network issue I'm having? Anybody else with the same problem?

using bonjour host names or ip address? Try with ips. Also enable debugging, then start the debug server and see if you get any errors, if so mail me the error log!

Cool man thank you so much for that
I´ll test and let you know if it works out here. is it already a new version with the labeling fix?
Really looking forward to those Buttons how will they be mapped? Is it going to be by order (Rotary,Button,Rotary,Button,..) per Page or will the Button be after the Rotaries per Page or ? Will be interesting to find out
Keep up the great work, really can´t think of anything else missing in your Controller for very nice Ableton fun maybe some new Ideas will come up as soon as Richie releases the Griid Controller.. have you seen it yet?

FIrst, thanks you for sharing this, good work.Second, how do you use the step sequencer/drum pads/ and keys, they do not seem to trigger when pressed. no midi signal from the touchosc to ableton. other functions such as clips and slides work fine. Also how did you get ableton parameters to talk back to touchosc? such as ipdating clip names and stuff? sis you use max4live?

have you got the latest template uploaded to you ipad/ipod?

Hi There

I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem or a workaround. Live hangs on startup at “opening template set” when I launch it. This problem started after I installed the LiveControl template to run Live with TouchOSC. I can fix the problem by trashing Live's preferences, but then I need to reinstall LiveControl to make it work and once I've done that, I have the same problem over again.

Other possible relevant system details:

OSX 10.6.4, Live 8.1.3, latest version of LiveControl, Apogee Duet and Maestro Software, Automap.

Also, this is the dumbest question in the world, but I assume I need to run the Livecontrol software on my Mac each time I run TouchOSC, right? Or should I just be able to launch Live and TouchOSC on my iPhone?

Thanks!

Thanks for the incredibly fast reply. And I forgot to say that apart from this one annoying glitch, the software works flawlessly and amazingly well and I'm grateful for it.

I'm using hostnames. Just to be clear, it's not that Live is slow in loading, but that it doesn't load. I've tried to let it sit for 5 minutes or more, both with and without TouchOSC running on my iPhone and with and without LiveControl running on my Mac. I hadn't set up MIDI, since I have a RemoteSL keyboard as well, but perhaps that could be a problem? It's looking like I just need to trash the preferences and reinstall LiveControl. I will try IP addresses this time instead of names for my iPhone. Also, I'll create a local network (right now I'm running through my Airport router).

Anyway, I will report back. If you have more suggestions before I do my reinstall, I won't get to it until sometime tomorrow.

Okay, I think the IPs did it. For good measure, I trashed Live's prefs, then reinstalled LiveControl, then set it up with IP addresses instead of Bonjour names. Now it works perfectly and seamlessly. In fact, I would say it works BETTER than other hardware control surfaces I've used and I've only used it on my iPhone, I'm sure the Ipad will be even better.

You'll have my donation shortly.
One question — am I missing it or is there no crossfader on the iPhone/iPod template?

Thanks again for great software.

Hi Guys…

I'm getting an error from Ableton advising it can't 'Bind' mention to change ip/ports in the LiveControl network settings… I have followed the How To Instructions to the letter but keep getting the same error…

I have opened the ports in my router, even used a second router and repeated the process. I've also used my Mac on the same network which worked first time without any issues… Perfect. But Windows 7 seems to have the same issue, tried on 2 Windows 7 pc's on the same network as the Mac…. No Joy!

One thing I have noticed, after downloading the latest version of LiveControl Rev 130 and extracting it when you look in 'Credits' within the app for the Rev number mine isn't 130 but 118…. Downloaded many times but never Rev 130

Can Anyone Help

Cheers In Advanced

Not being able to bind the ports means something else is bound to them. Is osculator running, or another program that would use those ports?

Its not the ports in your router thats the problem, its probably windows firewall blocking traffic.

Regards the version number, thats a bug, ive just not updated the number in the current release

Thanks for the Reply….

I've tried a couple of things after reading how things work through your reply, I'm using a new Windows 7 laptop with hardly any software installed… After starting LiveControl I open Command Prompt and run 'netstat' and the results show nothing using 5000 & 5001, if I'm using the wrong method to check for ports can you give me direction…

Cheers

tap “follow” and it'll lock to the current clip

you need to make sure using an iPad is ticked and saved, and make sure you have the latest template uploaded to TouchOSC

HI ST8
just wanted to post everything works absolutely perfect. Are you still thinking about the buttons in the Devices Page for complete KORE control? Somebody here had the idea of implenting the crossfader of Ableton (i never use), nice idea too Can´t think of anything else missing..
Keep up the great work, please add the buttons
Donate everybody!

Ableton doesn't see livecontrol as a device!!!!!! i'm on snow leopard

how do you connect multiple touch osc's?????

got both my ipod and ipad working….but only can use one at a time because of IP adress for ipad/ipod in live control……thanks, besides, great app……

oh ya, missing CROSSFADER

the new touch osc supports color coding… would be nice to have the clip colors.

Hey ST8. Could I get the pre-release?? Is it for iphone or ipad?

just wanted to reiterate how much I appreciate your hard work, excited about my ipad in the mail

ipad or ipod? the scroll bar should let you move more slowly if youve got an ipad.

Wow, cips colors are great. I like that the clips are blinkin now, much better.
Is the XY lock setting now saveable? It would be great to save it with the live set.

hi there! thanks so much for a great script!

i got it working with the previous version, but just updates and now i have the whole “does not bind” issue, and also live is telling me it cannot output and i need to check my network settings…

everything else appears to be working – i can see my ipad connected on my laptop in livecontrol, i can see livecontrol in network on my ipad. ive checked to make sure im installing the script into the correct live installation (its in my hd/live 8.1.3/live control/). im also on touch osc 1.6.

any idea where this could be going wrong?

Using livecontrol since there was no installer All is working as usual but no clip colors and the sliders in launcher view don’t do anything when moved…. What’s wrong?

Yes, but to confirm….should the actual name of the LiveControl installed folder be “Live 8.1.5 OS X” or should it literally be “Live x.x.x”? Should it be located inside the actual Ableton “Live 8.1.5 OS X” folder in applications that I installed when I purchased Ableton Live?

Hi – Any suggestions gratefully accepted – my second attempt at getting it working. I Followed all instructions and reinstalled Live control in directory: “applications/Live 8.1.4 OSX/Live x.x.x”.

Followed Live Midi setup – Get the clips appearing on Live OSC.

But nothing else works: Abelton produces following error message: control surface 1 “(Livecontrol_TO) > error: could not bind to incoming ip/port, check your Livecontrol network settings”

Same for me.

great btw..in device control view …i’d love to be able to tab through different devices and control their parameters/macros. I thought that this was the case when i hit device + or – but found that this is not the case. Could i be doing something wrong or has this not been implemented yet. I know we can delve into more parameters via banks…but the aforementioned option would be amazing.

If you could just upload the scripts we could show package contents and copy/paste them into midi remote scripts folder no?

I’m having the same issue, but still, unbelievable work!

My Ipad can send out all the control to Live but no feedback back to the Ipad. I’m on Windows 7 with TouchOSC 1.6 and Live 8.13. The previous version worked perfectly for me. Please help and thanks for this awesome app.

Please post a fix or update to the installer/software. It does not work. I have followed and tried every possible workaround and directories and names. OSCulator work for me on first try. What’s the problem here?

For users of Windows XP and IPAD:
Follow the installation instructions and make sure to install BONJOUR (or iTunes) before launching LiveControl.exe, and everything works perfect!! (Ports 5000 and 5001 in TouchOSC)

I must agree with other comments concerning the Installer presenting very ambiguous/misleading dialogs. Please comment.

im sure that this has already been covered, but I only have the drums and keys functioning properly in TouchOSC. I want the full capabilities of this device very very badly, and I can’t seem to figure out what the problem is on my end. I installed everything according to the directions here, and for whatever reason, I’m still having problems. any help would be greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance

Don’t get us wrong, we love it, or at least we will once we get it up and running.

Hi there I have an ipad and a pc with windows XP on it, I am using Midi ox, pure data, touch osc and of course Ableton, so far I have not got it all to talk to Ableton, if I load the simple script that came with Touch OSC and I am running the simple PD for pure data then moving controls on my Touch OSC on the ipad works fine, should I also have a live control pure data script to run when I am using your live control or am I missing the point. Is there an up to date walkthrough for getting Live control to run on my ipad and PC as the only one I can find seems to be out of date, as it describes installing Bonjour and midi yoke although I can see from your updates that you no loger need to install Bonjour and Midi yoke is now called Midi Ox. Sorry for my stupidity and thanks the work you have done so far.

Update?

Excellent work! I hope my modest donation will help you fight off starvation. Having spent good money on Griid Pro only to have in constantly crash and only launch clips, this is a godsend for us who do not have the time and resources to fiddle all night with TouchOSC. Now all I need is for Reason 5 to be able to do OSC

Hi there Carsten!

Nick from Liine here. Have you installed the 1.01 update for Griid? We cleaned up some little memory management issues which were causing some rare crashes for some users. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch at support at griid dot net if you have any issues/comments!

Hi,

Congratulations for your excellent work with LiveControl. It is indeed awesome!

I have one quick question though. Is it possible to send messages from the LiveControl template to Osculator?

What I mean is, I would like to personalise LiveControl template and add some more commands to allow me browsing my samples library on Ableton and manipulating the samples (set loop length, sample starting point, sample pitch, etc). But for this I need my iPad to send messages straight to Ableton via LiveControl and, at the same time, send messages to Osculator so it converts them into Midi and Key Combos for Ableton.

The problem is that touchOSC seems to allow me to send messages to a single host at a time. Is there a way to work this around?

Thank you very much for your help.

Cheers,
Ricardo

Mate if you manage to do that would you be so uber-kind to share the template? It would save a big load of time to have those features! Thanks in advance

Followed your instructions of putting all the files in my Live directory, and Tada! The LiveControl_TO showed up, and everything works!

It’s the installer that is causing the trouble.

LeLe, no worries! I will certainly share it in here. The template is a bit tricky though because changing to and from the Ableton browser always require double tapping the push button on the iPad… Cannot find a work around for that either.

Cheers,
Ricardo

I think I got it….nevermind…hahaha

Big up! Im sure you’ll solve it

Thanks ST8. The latest release works like a charm! I knew this would be an awesome app. Great work!

This app still kick’s TouchAble in speed! Beware people don’t buy it for studio purposes, if you delete or add tracks or clips it takes more than 30 seconds to load the interface again! It’s only usable in a live situation. Livecontrol is da way to go for studio – arrangement sessions.

Hi ST 8, I’m Ipad and Pc,live 8.1.3, the problem is I cant get the clipnames and other labels on my Ipad,how to deal with it? thanx!

I still can not transfer livecontrol to touchOSC. My host is detected but never download ‘livecontrol’ template but another strange file without templates inside !!

Any idea or suggestion ?

its not asking for the exe it just wants live folder that is why you cannot select the application

bump

same question

Simply fantastic software!
One thing that didn’t work for me though is when i want to scroll down to the forth row in Launcher page (when down button is pushed three times from top) everything except pads and keys stops working and i have to relaunch LiveControl_TO to get it back to normal, happens every time. running OS 10.6.4 and Live 8.1.5
I’ll stick to the first three (x4) rows in the meantime.

YES! I we totally agree in our studio here

Did you try creating your own network with your airport on your computer and then have the ipad sync to that? it may be more stable than just using the wireless. Sometimes that makes mine more stable. Just a thought. We had a very stable connection with the new iphone 4 and 10.6.

Hi,
I`m trying to install it on my windows, everyhthing fine until the last step where Live Control_TO doesn`t appear on ableton`s midi controller.   Template on my ipad, midi connection between my pc and ipad is fine too. 
 Any suggestion is appreciated. 
Cheers

If someone could help. Livecontrol_TO has disappeared from my Ableton control surfaces.  I’ve followed all the appropriate instructions and even had it working through my iPhone 4s for a minute.  Then I went and updated to live 8.3.  I reinstalled everything correctly and made sure the folder is in with the other MIDI scripts etc. but still no recognition.  Any ideas?

Same problem here.
I think its because one needs to have the OSC midi script installed in the current corresponding Live application folder which I did with 8.2.8 but unlike previous installs of Ableton I can’t seem to find an Live 8.3  folder so I cant place the script and thus no communication.

hopefully after poking around some more I can find where the folder has moved

On Mac OS X, you just have to right click the Ableton Live 8.3 Application and select “Show Package Contents” and find the scripts folder, here is the path:

Contents/App-Resources/MIDI Remote Scripts/

Then put the “LiveControl_TO” folder inside. and you will be up and running.

 All sorted.
New install worked perfectly

 I have the same problem, any suggestions ?

I went through all the videos on setting this up and was able to get touchosc loaded with livecontrol to work with the slides and such but the midi just isn’t working.  The problem I think is during the step in the setup video where Will is able to select “From LiveControl”. That has never shown up for me in the dropdown for livecontrol.  Got a windows 7 box with the new ipad and ableton 8.3. I’ve tried using midiyoke, loopmidi, and the touchoscbridge after I couldn’t get it to work through just the livecontrol interface.  Nothing seems to work to get the midi communicating.  If anyone knows what’s going on I’d appreciate the info.

My personal design modification for LiveControl

I tried LiveControl some days ago and loved it right away! The only thing I wished to change were some colours, because I’m a bit sensitive (or nerdy) about colours, so I tweaked them the way I like them and made them fit to my favourite Live skin. 

I also made the clip launcher section less “blinky” by stopping some buttons to flash all the time and allowed the colour grey for clips, which is important to me somehow. I think it has become a little more calm and clear. 

If you are interested have a look at http://thomas-leisner.de/2012/07/02/livecontrol-design-mod/ for preview pictures, download and instructions. You will also get the skin for Live there which inspired me, and which I love and use for years. 

Cheers, Thomas

Has anyone extended Live Control to include a crossfader? I have made the appropriate modification to the TouchOSC layout but am getting stuck on mapping using the python scripts as documentation appears sparse, any help appreciated.

hi, i´m using the livecontrol with OSCulator but i don´t have the oscd. of livecontrol, how can i get it? thanks

hi ST8… did you manage to figure out a solution for saving the locked xy pads? its a pain to assign again and again when you open a project.
best

This stymied me for a good half hour! Check that you have track monitoring turned on in Ableton.

The launcher is working/triggering clips, but the Keys does not control any instruments in ableton…it lights up green in iPad, but no response from ableton…what do i have wrong here? a midi issue? prefrences? anyone having same issue?

I see there’s an update from 3/9 … How do I install that over my current version??