"Wacom to MIDI and Ableton Live" (Control Demo 2)

Featuring the updated version of the Wacom2MIDI patch.

Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTH-V309q7c


" A Max/MSP patch that takes data from a Wacom graphire 3 graphics tablet and transforms it into MIDI data.

The tablet's surface is split into eight areas.

Each area can send either MIDI note on / off information for a given pitch (where velocity is determined by the vertical position of the wacom in that area.

Or the are can send controller data - one controller for horizontal axis and one for vertical, per area. There are two such banks that can be chosen by pressing or depressing a certain button on the wacom pen. This makes for a total of 32 continuous controllers available by Wacom control.

Because of these controllers are very quick and easy to access, it makes exploring sonic elements very fluid. (if the controllers are mapped to appropriate effects parameters, as in the video)."

The MIDI map in Live

The sequence used in the video

The Live effects chain for the drum track

Wacom2MIDI (update)

The Wacom2MIDI patch can now be downloaded from here: http://www.milkcrate.com.au/_other/downloads/

THIS PATCH HAS ONLY BEEN TESTED WITH A GRAPHIRE 3 PEN TABLET ON MAC OS X.

I have updated the Wacom2MIDI patch with the following features:

• Presets for various configurations (including a default suitable for Ableton Live)
  
• 32 controllers can be controlled directly from the wacom.
  
• 2 banks of 16 each (2 controllers per area over 8 areas)
  
• Half are vertical data, half are horizontal data
  
• One bank is accessed via pressing no buttons on the wacom pen.
• The other bank is accessed via pressing the second button on the wacom pen.

Let's take a quick look at the graphic user interface.

• Tablet Device: Sets the tablet for input control
• MIDI Device: Sets the MIDI device to which the data will be routed
  
• Next to this is the channel number from 1 -16 (default 1)
• The Pitch row refers to the pitches sent by pressing on the eight areas when the lower wacom button is held down.
  
• The next CC row refers to the vertical data of the eight areas when no button is held down.
  
• The next CC row refers to the horizontal data of the eight areas when no button is held down.
• The next CC row refers to the horizontal data of the eight areas when the upper wacom button is held down.
• The next CC row refers to the vertical data of the eight areas when the upper wacom button is held down.
• The h. toggle disables or enables the output of horizontal data.
  
• The v. toggle disables or enables the output of vertical data.
• The little box of presets below this allows one to return to a default setting.
  

"Wacom to MIDI and Ableton Live" (Control Demo)

Video URL: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ao_YxHL_WEA

"A Max/MSP patch that takes data from a Wacom graphire 3 graphics tablet and transforms it into MIDI data.

The tablet's surface is split into eight areas. Each area represents a sample from a drum kit instrument in Ableton Live. The user can either trigger MIDI notes by holding down one of the buttons on the Wacom pen where the vertical position within one of the eight areas determines the velocity (the notes are recorded in a looping pattern).

Alternatively, by not pressing the button, continuous control data can be sent. This data is mapped to change the transposition (ie. pitch and speed) of each individual sample on the drum kit instrument in Live."

Wacom2MIDI

This morning i have been working on a basic Wacom to MIDI patch. Currently, the patch features the following:

• The tablet's drawing area is divided into eight sections (a grid of four horizontal and two vertical divisions).
• Each division can send either note on / off information with velocity data or continuous controller data.
• If the lower button of the graphire 3 pen is pressed and the pen makes contact with an area on the tablet, then a note on message is sent.
  
• In this case, the pitch is predetermined by the user and the velocity is determined by the horizontal position of the pen within that area of the tablet.
• If the lower button of the graphire 3 pen is not pressed and the pen makes contact with an area on the tablet, then continuous controller messages are sent.
  
• In this case, the controller number is predetermined byt he user and the controller value is determined by the horizontal position of the pen within that area of the tablet.
• The MIDI out device and channel are set globally for all eight areas.