I’ve been wrapping Scaler 3 in Element using this Reddit solution so I can send the various Scaler MIDI channels to different Ableton tracks via Mac’s IAC Bus 1. This isn’t a great solution, though, because:
You have to save not only the Ableton project but also the Element session or you lose everything
Element steals keyboard focus from Ableton so you can’t play keyboard or even start/stop the track with the space bar
You have to click through Element to get to Scaler
Could we cut out the middle man? Can Scaler – like Element – output to an alternative MIDI Port (instead of the track’s MIDI) as well as a channel? For example, Mac’s IAC Bus 1, Channel 2, then we could send MIDI to an Ableton track receiving only on the IAC Bus 1 port*, Channel 2. That way Scaler continues to get the host’s keystrokes and Scaler sessions are saved with the project – and I won’t have to go back to Sync’d Scaler 2 hosts!
I’ve had a play with 3.1 and while sync is a big improvement in that we can now put mix effect devices on multiple tracks and use the DAW to mix again* (thanks!), it suffers from instruments always having to be inside Scaler. I can’t just see Serum 2 in Ableton’s devices, for example. I have to go through Scaler to get to it (and because of that I can’t use Serum’s macros from Push’s knobs while I’m using Scaler).
If we use Lead/Follower, it also means that each of the tracks in Scaler’s arranger is now split across multiple tracks, so we can’t see the whole idea with all of the tracks and articulations in a single Scaler window (which is S3’s greatest innovation for me). It spreads things out and makes everything a lot of clicks to work with.
If we could send directly to any MIDI port – opening up the IAC bus – as well as the channel, we wouldn’t need to have more than one instance of Scaler, we’d be able to see all our arrangement in a single Scaler window (like in other DAWs with better MIDI routing than Ableton), and we’d be able to access our main devices and VSTs straight from the track rather than making Scaler the middle man on every track across the whole mix.
Further, if I’m going to use Scaler it neutralises the Push 3, because there’s no way of getting to the track’s VST inside Scaler. The only way I can think of getting around this is for every Scaler track to have a paired MIDI track receiving only from its own follower, but that doesn’t solve the issue of the arrangement being spread across tracks (and it would make the live set pretty crowded).
@davide, I’m so sorry to be persistent, especially so close to a release that has clearly seen a huge amount of effort and especially because it’s Ableton’s fault not yours, but is it possible to add the means to send MIDI to a port as well as a channel?
*oh, and pinch to zoom is here! You lovely people.
@Tristan Would be the best person to look at this as he is our Ableton Certified Trainer. Tristan let’s discuss at some stage, I know this can be done individually within each DAW channel in Logic thereby making this superfluous.
Hi @rgarner . It’s an interesting proposition. Obviously Element is doing something Scaler 3 (and other plugins) is not regarding MIDI output where it’s able to directly address individual channels of the IAC Bus. I guess it’s bypassing Ableton Live and directly communicating with the OS. Perhaps this is a functionality that could be somehow integrated into Scaler.
We’ll need to chat with devs to figure out what is possible, thanks for all the info!
Obviously Element is doing something Scaler 3 (and other plugins) is not regarding MIDI output where it’s able to directly address individual channels of the IAC Bus
Yes, I posted this once and deleted it thinking “oh, that’s daft, VSTs are only meant to output audio or MIDI to the current track” and then realised “well, Element is doing it” and then had to type it all a second time
If it helps, it looks like this is a test in the Element repo for how Element handles ports and channels. I’ll admit I’m mostly web and Ruby and it’s been 25 years since I did any C++ so this may be a helpful in – or not!
It’s able to address any channel on any port at all – so I point it to mioXL (OB-6) for example to go direct to a synth if I’m only interested in capturing audio. It just happens that Mac’s IAC Driver Bus (and by extension loopMidi for Windows) is extremely useful for this use case of “throw this MIDI over Ableton’s wall for me so that I can catch it in that MIDI track over there”.
Good god you’ve only gone and done it. It’s too late for me to try now but I look forward to flinging MIDI around the studio – and mixing in the DAW again! – tomorrow. Thanks, folks.
This has turned Scaler into almost the ideal sketchpad. Play a section and just hit Ableton’s own MIDI Capture and suddenly you’ve got all the MIDI clips recorded to all the tracks you’re sending to at once. Just … bravo. This makes Scaler 3 + Ableton an absolute joy. A parts/B parts are now more or less Scenes. Stopped using 2 now
Just one caveat for people doing the IAC driver bus thing: by default, Ableton routes MIDI from All Ins to new tracks. This means if you output to the IAC driver bus from Scaler (any channel!), it will loop back into itself and create feedback, missing notes, and chaos. On the Scaler instance’s track, don’t forget to pick a single non-IAC input device to avoid this problem.
