Akai LPD8 Tutorial: Use Pads as On/Off Switches
If you’re here, it’s probably because you almost threw your shiny new Akai LPD8 out the window. This Akai LPD8 tutorial will walk you through the steps to getting your LPD8 pads to function as on/off switches for any devices in your DAW. We will work in Ableton Live, but the principles can be applied to any DAW.
One of the more frequent uses of Akai’s pocket-sized USB controller is as an extra set of controls to supplement a main control surface. The pads in particular are perfect on/off switches for virtual devices like those found peppering the average Ableton Live set.
The idea is simple: Hit the pad and it lights up, indicating the device is ON. Hit the pad again and it goes dark, indicating the device is OFF.
But LPD8 doesn’t want to play ball.
THE PROBLEM:
It either lights up for the split second you touch it (in MOMENTARY mode), or the light turns on and off with each tap, but the device only responds when the light turns on (in TOGGLE mode). This is due to the fact that LPD8 sends MIDI Note ON/OFF messages in pad mode; Ableton Live’s mapping system only responds to MIDI Note ON messages.
I beat my head against this problem for a couple sessions, scouring forums for answers. I found the question over and over again, with very few solutions – some involving over-complicated workarounds and third party plugins or Max4Live devices. Even Akai’s own representative responded to this question (for the same problem on a similar device) with “I can certainly see the usefulness in toggling the MPD’s pads as effect indicators so I will submit this as a feature request for consideration in an update to the MPD series,” before pointing to another Akai product.
The solution is actually staggeringly simple.
THE SOLUTION:
Set LPD8 pads to TOGGLE in the LPD8 Editor software. Do not use PAD mode; use CC mode. Have the mapped device respond to any CC message between 1 and 127.
TA-DA!
LPD8 now works exactly how you want it to work – as an on/off switch with visual indicators.
IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE:
In CC mode, your pads will send the same types of messages your knobs send. You must change the CC numbers for either your pads or your knobs! Otherwise your pad and knob functions will overlap. Make sure each pad and knob is on its own CC channel in the LPD8 Editor (available for download here) before you upload the changes into your device.
SOLUTION STEP-BY-STEP:
1- Plug in LPD8 and open the editor software and select LPD8 from the drop down menu upon launch.
2- Set each pad from MOMENTARY to TOGGLE.
3- Change the CC channel for each knob. 9-16 will do
4- Upload changes and close editor
5- Open Ableton Live
6- Switch LPD8 from PAD mode to CC mode
7- Use Ableton’s mapping mode (CMD+M / CTRL+M) to assign the DEVICE ON/OFF button to the LPD8 pad you wish to control it.
8- In the mapping window, change the CC range for the control you just assigned to 1 – 127
Congratulations – you just zapped the source of your frustration. Please note you may have to remap the controls assigned to your knobs prior to this operation if you changed the CC channels of your knobs.
Have fun with your new on/off switches!
-Chris
AudioMunk
Have a music tech question you would like to see addressed? Drop me a line on my Contact page and I’ll try to help – If it’s a good one I may also consider it for an article!
