User's Manual

590 MIDI and Key Remote Control
27.2.3 Mapping to Absolute MIDI Controllers
Absolute MIDI controllers send messages to Live in the form of absolute values ranging from 0
to 127. These values lead to different results depending on the type of Live control to which they
are assigned. A value message of 127, for example, might turn the Volume control on a Live
track all the way up or play a Session View clip. Specifically, MIDI controller messages from 0
to 127 can produce the following effects on controls in Live:
•Session View Slots — Controller values 64 and above are treated like Note On messages.
Controller values 63 and below are treated like Note Off messages.
•Switches — For track activators and on/off buttons in devices, controller values that are
within the mapping’s Min and Max range turn the switch on. Controller values that are
above or below this range turn it off. You can reverse this behavior by setting a Min value
that is higher than its corresponding Max value. In this case, controller values that are out-
side of the range turn the switch on, while values inside the range turn it off. For all other
switches (such as transport controls), controller values 64 and above turn the switch on,
while controller values below 64 turn it off.
•Radio Buttons — The controller’s 0...127 value range is mapped onto the range of avail-
able options.
•Continuous Controls — The controller’s 0...127 value range is mapped onto the param-
eter’s range of values.
Live also supports pitch bend messages and high-precision (”14-bit Absolute”) controller mes-
sages with a 0...16383 value range. The above specifications apply to these as well, except that
the value range’s center is at 8191/8192.
27.2.4 Mapping to Relative MIDI Controllers
Some MIDI controllers can send ”value increment” and ”value decrement” messages instead of
absolute values. These controls prevent parameter jumps when the state of a control in Live and
the corresponding control on the hardware MIDI controller differ. For example, imagine that
you have assigned the pan knob on your control surface to the pan parameter of a track in Live.
If the hardware control is panned hard right, and the Live control is panned hard left, a slight
movement in a hardware pan knob that sends absolute values would tell Live to pan right, caus-
ing an abrupt jump in the track’s panning. A pan knob sending relative messages would prevent