APC 20 and APC 40 controller

thomas · Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:45 am

how i put the midi omni mode ? because i make exactly what you describe and don't work ...

Joep Admiraal · Sat Mar 15, 2014 9:55 am

I attached 2 screenshots of the settings on my machine. Hope it helps.

thomas · Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:39 am

It doesn't work... i try but i don't understand. Just the first slider and first colum button on my apc40 work.

Daniel curry, can you help me plz ?

"make sure you're in MIDI omni mode." what is this mode ???

Joep Admiraal · Mon Mar 24, 2014 10:27 am

> Just the first slider and first colum button on my apc40 work
I would guess the 1-16 mode is not enabled.

>what is this mode
I think MIDI omni mode is 1-16 mode (Massimo/Jano?)

thomas · Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:35 am

Anyone can contact daniel curry ? I'm very impatient to use my apc40 =) !!!!! I've tried a lot but i don't know ...

!!!

Joep Admiraal · Wed Mar 26, 2014 9:01 pm

Thomas, please provide more information about your setup (OS, QLC+ version).
What happens when you edit a button in the virtual console, press the auto detect button and then press the buttons in the second row on your APC40?

Alessandro Grechi · Thu Mar 27, 2014 12:03 am

Hello,
I'm trying to get an APC40 working with QLC+. I set up everything as you suggest, input is working as expected but feedback still has some issues.
- Pushing button on apc40 trigger VC correctly but led button remains off;
- Clicking button on VC make the apc40 button power on

Is APC40 init message different from APC20's one?

I set omni mode 1-16 in MIDI config, then which is the best settings beetwen Program Change, Control Change and Note Velocity?

Tested on Mac and Win with QLC 4.6.1 and 4.7RC

Daniel Curry · Thu Mar 27, 2014 4:07 am

Here's a simplified explanation: MIDI data from the APC40 is like notes on a piano. On a piano and in a musical octave, you do a certain number of notes then repeat the same notes again (A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A...). Each column of the APC40 is the same notes but in a different octave. If only the first channel is working, that's because you only have QLC+ listening to the first channel of data.

To get it your board talking to QLC properly, you have to tell it to talk a different way. The most reliable way of doing this is to plug it into your computer, turn it on, then open Ableton. You should get the coloured box showing that the APC connected to Ableton. Then, close Ableton. All the lights on your board should go off. Now, open QLC+. Look at Joep's picture again:
https://sourceforge.net/p/qlcplus/discu ... .52.46.png
Make sure you have it on Midi Omni, and it should work accross all channels now. I believe the 4.7 Release Candidate has the profile for the APC40 I made, you should be able to test that out with it.

Is that working now?

Daniel Curry · Thu Mar 27, 2014 4:21 am

I have both input and feedback on Control Change and LED feedback is working for me on the top grid. The Mute, Activate, and Solo buttons are a bit weirder sometimes, they don't always go on for flash buttons and I haven't figured out why yet.

Joep Admiraal · Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:44 am

Daniel, do you still have to start Ableton before using the APC40? That would indicate the init message is not working correctly. What OS are you using?

Daniel Curry · Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:13 pm

Daniel Curry · Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:15 pm

I almost always have my APC40 connected and Ableton open on my work computer anyways, so I've never had to test your script. I just tried it and it was successful on Windows 8.1. I figured it'd be easier to talk Thomas through opening and closing Ableton than getting the init script working, one less step to troubleshoot. If is still having trouble without your script, it's one less item to examine.

Alessandro Grechi · Fri Mar 28, 2014 12:12 am

I've done some tests.
QLC+ seems sending feedback to APC correctly, but there are some issues lighting up buttons.
For example feedback for knobs works perfectly!

Using Midi Monitor I got these results:

->STATUS: VC&APC OFF, ACTION: PUSH APC40 BUTTON|

01:01:19.349 From Akai APC40 Note On 1 F2 127
01:01:19.361 To Akai APC40 Note On 1 F2 127
01:01:19.510 From Akai APC40 Note Off 1 F2 127
->RESULT: BUTTON IS LIGHT UP IN QLC VC, *NOT* IN APC40

->STATUS: VC&APC OFF, PUSH VC BUTTON
01:03:36.258 To Akai APC40 Note On 1 F2 127
->RESULT: BUTTON LIGHTS UP IN APC40 AND VC

->STATUS: VC&APC40 BUTTON ON, PUSH APC40 BUTTON.
01:06:16.241 From Akai APC40 Note On 1 F2 127
01:06:16.254 To Akai APC40 Note Off 1 F2 0
01:06:16.342 From Akai APC40 Note Off 1 F2 127
->RESULT: BOTH BUTTONS OFF

I Attach also a PDF I've found about APC40 Midi Map, maybe will be useful.

Joep Admiraal · Fri Mar 28, 2014 9:15 am

That's interesting.
Just to confirm, how are you setting your APC in ableton mode?
By starting ableton, or by using the init message of QLC+?
Can you make a slightly larger midi log with the init message included?

Alessandro Grechi · Sun Mar 30, 2014 10:40 am

Hello Joep,
I dont have ableton installed, so I'm using the init message of QLC+.
Feedback generally works (QLC replies correctly to midi event) but after that another (third) midi message is sent back from APC, so the button doesn't remain switched on.

Joep Admiraal · Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:18 am

I will get my APC20 back later this week so I can have a look at this.

thomas · Tue Apr 01, 2014 5:38 pm

i find the "problem" ... very simple -_-' !!!!

http://hpics.li/6de8c7f

Joep Admiraal · Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:28 pm

I finally found some time to test with my APC20.
The midi notes from midi monitor with my system seems similar to yours.

->STATUS: VC&APC OFF, ACTION: PUSH APC BUTTON
20:12:56.302 From Akai APC20 Note On 3 53 127
20:12:56.321 To Akai APC20 Note On 3 53 127
20:12:56.353 From Akai APC20 Note Off 3 53 127
->RESULT: BUTTON LIGHTS UP IN APC AND VC

->STATUS: VC&APC OFF, PUSH VC BUTTON
20:17:59.486 To Akai APC20 Note On 2 53 127
->RESULT: BUTTON LIGHTS UP IN APC AND VC

->STATUS: VC&APC20 BUTTON ON, PUSH APC20 BUTTON.
20:19:00.784 From Akai APC20 Note On 2 53 127
20:19:00.799 To Akai APC20 Note Off 2 53 0
20:19:00.824 From Akai APC20 Note Off 2 53 127
->RESULT: BOTH BUTTONS OFF

On my system it is working correctly. The note Off from the APC is correct. Pressing a button will send the note on and releasing it will send the note off. For some reason your APC is controlling its lights by itself instead of relying on midi messages. This indicates it is working in Generic mode instead of Ableton mode.

Can you open midi monitor before starting QLC+? Then you should see something like this in midi monitor:

20:26:36.487 To Akai APC20 SysEx Akai 12 bytes

Please double click on this row and post the details here so I can see if the correct sysex message is send to the APC.

Alessandro Grechi · Sun Apr 13, 2014 4:48 pm

Thank Joep, I tested on an APC20 and it works, so it's probably something related to sysex message which is not working on apc40.

This is the message sent to apc40:

00 F0 47 00 7B 60 00 04 41 09 00 05 F7 | G {` A |

Joep Admiraal · Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:13 pm

I checked the communication protocol document from http://www.akaipro.com/apc40map.
I think the problem lies indeed in the fact that it is now sending an APC20 message.
I attached a new midi template which coul be correct.
Can you place it in the MidiTemplates directory and test it?
On MacOs it is in this directory: ~/Library/Application Support/QLC+/MidiTemplates