Knobbler4 turns your iPad or Android tablet into an auto-labeling, auto-coloring, multitouch parameter control surface for Ableton Live. Add the Knobbler4 device to your Live Set and use your tablet to control devices and parameters.
Map parameters in your Ableton Live set to unmapped sliders on the tablet with a single touch. No need to enter and exit a mapping mode. Access every parameter in the currently selected device, directly on the tablet.
Parameter mapping configuration is saved with your Live Set, so you can switch between songs with minimal friction. Track, device, and parameter names are kept synchronized with your Live Set as you change them, even track colors!
Parameter sliders and values are updated in real time, with the same units (e.g. dB, ms, %) displayed as what you see in Live. Double tap a slider on the tablet to reset the parameter to its default value.
Also provides a high-resolution slider that operates on the currently selected parameter in your Live Set, and a Record-Enable toggle switch to improve the process of overdubbing automation.
Here is a playlist of videos featuring Knobbler4.
(If, after following the steps below, you are having troubles, then see the Troubleshooting page.)
Knobbler4.amxd
file to Live's User LibraryKnobbler4.tosc
(or Knobbler4-with-bluhand.tosc
) file to your tablet (e.g. with AirDrop)Done
in the upper-rightNOTE: You MUST have a control surface configured in Ableton Live. If you do, then you will see the "Blue Hand" icon in the title bar of the selected device.
If you don't see it, see instructions in the Troubleshooting document to fix that.
Select any parameter in Ableton Live by clicking on it. A border or corners of a border will appear around the object, e.g. "Frequency" below...
<img alt="Selected Parameter" src="images/selected-param.png" style="width: 384"/>Touch any unmapped slider on the tablet screen.
Voila!
X
icon in the upper-left corner of the tablet screen. The sliders will all turn into red rectangles.X
icon again to leave unmapping mode.Ableton Live uses a blue hand icon to indicate which device is currently under control of a control surface.
<img alt="Selected device" src="images/bluhand-device.jpg" style="width: 384"/>If you use the Knobbler4-with-Bluhand.tosc
TouchOSC layout on your tablet, then you can use the Bluhand
tab to access all of the parameters the currently selected device offers.
If the current device has more than 16 parameters, then you can use the <<<
and >>>
controls in the upper-right of the Bluhand tab to access different banks / pages of parameters.
HOT TIP: You can assign a keystroke to a device. This lets you access all of a device's parameters on the tablet with a single keystroke. To do this:
NOTE: If you do not see the Blue Hand icon on the current device, then go to the Ableton Live settings and configure any control surface to connect any input port. You may need to configure an IAC MIDI port in the Audio MIDI Setup app if on a Mac.
Double-tap any slider to return the parameter to its default value.
Tap a track name on one of the Knobbler tabs to navigate to that track in Live.
Along the bottom of the tablet screen is a horizontal slider that is used to control the currently selected parameter in your Live Set. This parameter does not have to be mapped to a slider. You can use that slider to control the paramter with a high degree of accuracy.
Recording automation is sometimes frustrating, especially in MIDI tracks since you cannot disable recording easily. I created this feature so that I could easily record and overdub automation without recording into or changing anything about MIDI clips.
The Toggle Record Enable button gives you a way to easily disable and re-enable MIDI or audio recording in the currently selected track. The input settings are retained when recording is disabled.
/syn
handler, responds with /ack
to enable improved setup UI in the native app.Knobbler4.tosc
file (Bluhand is back, baby!); Fix value display in Bluhand if the value was a bare number; Fix bug with changing devices in Bluhand if you were not on bank 1, the display would be incorrect. NOTE: Use the Files app on the iPad to delete the .tosc
files before updating with the new version from here..tosc
files on your iPad when downloading this update!Knobbler uses the standard OSC protocol to communicate between the Max for Live device and TouchOSC on your iPad or other tablet. If you would like to develop your own TouchOSC template, or create an alternative interface (e.g. hardware!) then have a look at the OSC API specs here.
See the docs at the m4l-typescript-base repo for instructions on how to develop in this device.
Please let me know if you have any stories, good or bad, about your Knobbler4 experience. I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas of how to make it better! [email protected]