Hi everyone, new to S-Gear and loving it so far! I was using the stand alone on Windows 10 with an FCB1010 and am considering moving to hosting from within Ableton Live.

I've got parameters automated quite happily in Live, however I can't find a way to map preset up/down as I could easily from the stand alone version of S-Gear.
Clicking the preset up/down button in Configure mode (to make the parameter available for mapping) triggers a preset change and adds every parameter for mapping, but preset up/down isn't available.

Is there a standard CC the VST3 will respond to for this or am I going about this wrong?

I'm using the latest version of Live (just downloaded it), likewise with S-Gear.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris.

Edit:
I've switched to the VST2 (in C:\Program Files\Scuffham Amps\S-Gear) and don't get the same "map everything" behaviour when clicking patch up/down but it doesn't allow this to be mapped so I'm now suspecting that this function may just not be available?

Hi Chris,

The preset up/down midi mappings are available in the VST2, you need to configure controllers on the S-Gear MIDI screen, and also map midi messages to the plug-in. Preset up/down are not automatable plug-in parameters therefore will not show up on the Ableton parameter list for S-Gear.

The VST3 format plug-in does not handle Midi. Only parameter automation. There is a 'Program Change' parameter exposed by the S-Gear VST3, usually this is treated as a special parameter by the DAW and not exposed for automation. I don't know of a method to automate VST3 program changes in Ableton, perhaps it is possible.

Thanks Mike, I did notice that the MIDI menu appeared in the VST2 version, I just hadn't connected the two!

I've got it working but what I suspect are the limitations of my stock FCB1010 are now starting to show - it only works in Ableton Live if sending CC value of 0 then 127. If I only send 127 repeatedly it doesn't respond, so I have to double press the pedal to trigger a patch change.
This might not be too bad in a live situation (a kind of safetly?) but the standalone S-Gear responds to a single CC 127 value and therefore a single press.

I appreciate this may be my lack of Ableton Live knowledge, but thought I'd mention it in case it rang any alarm bells with you or anyone else.

I contemplating trying other hosts (I am fortunate enough to have a Live licence through work so haven't explicitly invested in Live for this purpose you see) but am unsure whether I'm battling Live and need something more straight forward or if I'm just experiencing the differences between stand-alone and VST versions?

I appreciate your time,
Chris.

cj.allen321 wrote:

I've got it working but what I suspect are the limitations of my stock FCB1010 are now starting to show - it only works in Ableton Live if sending CC value of 0 then 127. If I only send 127 repeatedly it doesn't respond, so I have to double press the pedal to trigger a patch change.

I think you need to configure the FCB1010 to send a momentary midi message. Then it should send 127 when you press and 0 when you release. The Preset Up/Down controller expects a momentary message like this (if the FCB is configured for latching, that would explain why you are having to switch twice).

I see what you mean now, yes.

As far as I can tell, a stock fcb1010 will only send latching CCs, but unO gets around this with the additional options.

I've checked with a midi monitor and if only 127 is being sent on each press, the stand alone (which says the preset up/down mapping is momentary) does respond, but the VST 2 or 3 doesn't, unless a true momentary message if 127 then 0 is sent.

Chris

I have had great luck with Ableton and S-Gear by having different presets on different Ableton tracks.

Now I am trying to use a single Ableton track and use my FCB1010/Uno to change presets 1-5. I don't need preset up/down I just need to hit button 1 on the FCB1010 and have this select preset 1 in the S-Gear bank, button 2 for preset 2, etc.

I don't see any midi enabled preset select option. Any help would be appreciated. Using S-Gear AU plugin on MacOS

my controller is sending a value of 127/0 for button 1 CC 22, CC 23 for button 2, etc

You need to use the command "Program Change" on FCB-UNO.
PC1 to PC5, not CC.

Does anyone know If the AU version of S-Gear supports preset switching thru Ableton in a manner that functions like the standalone S-Gear app does?

What evades me is how to capture this using Ableton's MIDI learn function. I can capture any S-Gear automation parameter - e.g. turn the driv thru on/off simply by selecting the parameter then MIDI learn then hit the button I want to associate to the parameter on the FCB, very straightforward.

The trick is how to capture the preset change in Ableton. Selecting the preset up/down arrows on the S-Gear UI adds every single S-Gear parameter to the S-Gear AU plugin panel in Ableton (this is noted on other threads).

Would love to know how you have captured PC1-5 changes and mapped this to buttons 1-5 in Ableton to select presets 1-5. If you can send a screenshot of the MiDI mapping window that would be cool. thanks

You can send Midi Program Change messages directly to the VST2 or AU format S-Gear plug-in.

In Ableton:
- Add S-Gear to an Audio track (e.g. track 3)
- Configure a Midi track to route it's 'MIDI To' to the S-Gear audio track and select the S-Gear plug-in



S-Gear on audio track 3 should receive both CC and PC Midi messages routed from the Midi track.

Hallelujah! worked EXACTLY like you said and it took about 15 seconds to update.

I have been pursuing complicated instrument racks with multiple instances of S-Gear, using MIDI clips to trigger the program changes, etc.

I'd be happy to document this jewel of know-how if users would find it interesting.

UPDATE: I deleted the instance of S-Gear AU in the channel and rebuilt. I now have the MIDI automation restored.

Interesting development. I have previously mapped S-Gear controls to my FCB1010 board via the "Configure" function on the S-Gear plugin in the Ableton track. All the FCB buttons and expression pedals map/work fine.

I then added the midi routing channel so I could have program changes change S-Gear presets. Mike's fix worked perfectly.

BUT, now I don't have a way to edit the S-Gear parameters via the Configure button on the S-Gear plugin.
I would like to remap one of my S-Gear parameters but don't have and obvious way to edit/remove existing parameters. I am able to add *new* S-Gear params.