Hello everyone. I'm back after a long hiatus. In the interim, I've been making music and DJ'ing parties and even a charity fashion show on my custom setup, the Zero System. Originally inspired by classic video games and mecha anime , the Zero System has changed a lot since I first set it up last year. It currently consists of a controller from the original xbox game "Steel Battalion" (now minus pedals due to gear destruction), a Saitek X45 Joystick and throttle, and a 19 inch flatscreen dell monitor which I've removed from it's stand (so that it can either be laid flat on a table or propped upright for use while sitting.

In practice, that ends up like this



I've written a script in a beautiful programmable input emulator called GlovePIE/.
GlovePIE is great because it allows you to easily convert HID (Human Interface Device) data, midi, and keyboard or mouse data from one form to another.
It maps each joystick, throttle, and dial to a unique continuous controller, and each button and switch to a note command.

The Live setup I played this fashion show with is similar to the one I generally use.
A few buttons on the center console are used for navigating and loading tracks onto the right and left decks. Each of these decks has three unique, mute-able (and adjustable) EQ settings also mapped to buttons on the center console. The three triggers are used to trigger (ha!) repeats on the left track, right track, and master track individually, with the repeat length selected by the Steel Battalion controller's right joystick's horizontal position. Switching values on the grid will also retrigger the sample. Three more buttons are used to block and unblock triplets on each of these.

In addition to these repeats, three of the toggle switches are used to control mix type, on/off, and mute of a fourth repeat- which has detunes with each repeat.

The leftmost joystick controls two individually selectable things ( and so you know, most things that are individually selectable achieve that status by use of buttons for mutes). When the thumbstick on top of it is pressed in, it controls the presence of a repeating fade to grey. When another button on the other joystick is pressed, the left joystick also controls the presence of a rhythmic gate, the rate of which is controlled by the right joystick.

Additional buttons are used for triggering mutes with inverse waveforms on the left and right track to achieve easy rhythmic switches between two tracks, triggering a tapestop, triggering both left and right tracks at once, and selecting which channel is cueing.



As for the Eject Button...
Don't ever touch that button.


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Now that's the basic description of the system, but there are two things I'm still in the process of implementing. First: I have built a custom visualizer, which I would like to route audio to, and Second: some midi triggers (or fx including the fade to grey) are not recording properly, so I'd like to record the audio out directly from Live as well. I've been looking into ways to do this, but does anyone have any experience in the area?

Hope you enjoyed this. I'll try to get a webcam working this weekend to show you how it works, but if anyone's got any questions, I'm here for answers.

This is nuts! I know you've been working on it for a long time and I'm glad it's in a pretty stable/final form now. Can't wait to see video!

I'm not sure about sending audio to another program--the only way I know of on Windows is ReWire--but there's a really easy way to record Live's output. Make a new audio track, mute it, set its input source to "Master", and then arm it for recording. Then when you're ready to start, hit record on a clip in that track (which will start Live's transport) and then a bar later or whatever start your first tune. As long as you don't launch any new clips in the recording track you'll be fine.

that's gotta be one of the coolest setups i've ever seen. props.

Epic setup... I'd love to pick your brain one day.

As far as recording the Audio, have you thought about opening a channel within ableton, setting it to receive audio from the master, turn off its output, then letting it record as you play?

fucking amazing.

Wow, that's just one of the coolest setups I've ever seen.

yah dude, that is fucking amazing, ill have to check the vid later

So I've been saying I'm going to record a video of me on the controller for quite a while now. So today, when I had a spare 15 minutes or so waiting for a bus, I set up my laptop's webcam and captured it.



Big shout out to the guest MC Eliza who happens to wander into the studio while the recording was in progress.

But all joking aside, even though it's not perfect, I think it'll give you an idea of how stuff functions.
Enjoy. If I get a lot of feedback I might consider doing some more detailed (and hopefully higher quality) videos.