Midi and Ableton Latency

Quad Cortex
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve had the Cortex Mini for a while now and I’m really impressed with the sounds I’m getting out of it.

In my band setup, we control the Cortex via MIDI. I switch between clean and distortion by using Rows 1 and 3, with both rows receiving the input signal. In Scene 1, the output of Row 3 is muted, and in Scene 2, the output of Row 1 is muted.

I would expect the scene change to happen instantly. I know that when switching scenes manually with a footswitch, the change only happens when you release the switch, and that seems to work as expected.

The problem occurs when I control the scene changes from Ableton. I programmed a MIDI track where the scene change (#43) command is exactly on the beat, but the actual change happens slightly too late.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, and does anyone know of a solution? Do I need to send the MIDI command slightly before the beat, or is there another setting or approach that gives tighter scene changes?

I’ve searched the forum for this specific situation but couldn’t find anything. If there’s already a topic about this, please point me in the right direction.

Volume/Noise Gate Automation & Scene Switching
2

Disclaimer: I’m currently in the process of transferring our live set from Logic Pro into Ableton.

So I haven’t figured out the “how” part of this yet (yet).

BUT… One of the many cool features baked into Ableton is it’s ability to assign a “negative delay value” for your MIDI commands.

You basically draw your MIDI events on the grid, like you normally would. Then you figure what the lateency lag is in milliseconds/sample.

Then in the MIDI plugins, you assign a delay with a negative value. This will trigger your PC/CC events earlier.

I think you find this in the mixer controls (visible from arrangement or session view). Enable track options for your MIDI track, and look around for plugins.

I think the little ‘D’ icon in the lower right corner turns on the track delay view for all tracks (I think… from memory… I stumbled there once…).

3

Thanks for the reply.

I did some testing and found some strange behavior.

Test 1: Transpose – Version A
The signal change uses two rows with different transpose settings:

  • Row 1: Transpose = 0
  • Row 3: Transpose = X

In Scene A, row 3 is muted at the output.
In Scene B, row 1 is muted at the output.

The result is that there is a slight delay when switching between the two rows.

Test 2: Transpose – Version B
This test uses only one row containing everything.

In Scene A, the transpose is set to 0.
In Scene B, the transpose is set to X.

In this case, the change happens instantly.

Test 3: Switching from distortion to clean/crunch
This is set up in the same way as Test 1.

Row 1 contains the distortion setup, and row 3 contains the clean setup, so both rows use a different amp. Both rows are always active, but one of them is muted at the output depending on the scene.

The result is the same as in Test 1: there is a slight delay when switching scenes.

Test 4: Muting the guitar completely
For some parts in the band, I need the guitar to be completely silent. For this, I assigned the output volume to a pedal.

In Scene A, the pedal is set to normal volume.
In Scene B, the volume is set to 0.

This change happens instantly.

So it seems that whenever two rows are both producing a signal, even though one of them is muted at the output, switching scenes causes a slight delay.

Interestingly, when I use the stomp buttons instead, the switching works as expected. The change happens immediately when the stomp button is released.

4

You’re operating well above my pay grade already.

I will say that QC’s MIDI implementation is quite lacking, especially for ‘stomp’ mode. Which is how I assume your test 1 was being done.

I’m actually surprised you go it to work at all in test 1 9without using scenes?). You might need to run a separate MIDI track with a pre-delay offset that handles your transposing & mute.

I’m pretty much brand new to QC myself, but I’ve gathered from the forum that the MIDI functions are pretty stunted - and you should generally stick to ‘scenes’.

But how that they’ve released the latest FW for PCOM updates, they’ve indicated that the next round of updates will focus on quality of life improvements (specifically citing MIDI implementation as gal). Let’s hope it doesn’t happen “soon” (which apparently is code for “someday , maybe, if we feel like doing it down the road someday. Maybe”.

5

Thanks for the compliment, and again for the reply.

Everything was set up in Scene Mode, so it was strange to me that some parameters change without any latency, while others have a slight delay.

But I found the solution.

For anyone who wants to switch instantly between two rows: don’t use the Mute function in the Output section.

I used two expression pedals. For MIDI, these are #1 and #2.

In Row 1, assign Expression Pedal 1 to the Volume parameter in the Output section. In Row 2, assign Expression Pedal 2. To do this, while assigning the expression pedal, click on “X1” and it will change to “X2”.

In the MIDI track, set:

  • #1 to 98, which is almost 0 dB

  • #2 to 0, which is off

When you want to switch rows, reverse the values:

  • #1 to 0

  • #2 to 98

This makes the switch happen instantly, without the latency I experienced when using the Output Mute function.

You can also do this with only one expression pedal assigned to the Volume parameter in the Output section. On the left, you will see two volume ranges, both initially set to 0–100. Change the second one to 100–0. This also works.

In my case, I wanted to set the volume of the two rows slightly differently, so I chose to use two separate expression pedals.

6

That’s a great workaround. I don’t transpose much, but doing the same thing with volume is like an every song situation. I’ve always ridden just switched into my scene or preset and used expression to blend between different parameters.

We’re writing on s much more active site show, so the more i can program in the less i will need to be anchored to one spot