The Midi Grid

Previous Section: Introduction to Lights

Lights: The Midi Grid

The first step to making MidiExt (or Lightweight, MidiFire, and any other alternative) lights is by handcrafting each frame in Ableton's midi grid. MidiExt is a Max for Live device, so it only works inside Ableton. Other DAWs like FL Studio can’t use it properly. In the midi clip, each frame is drawn manually. This might sound tiring, but it’s also what gives launchpad lightshows their high level of control and precision. Luckily, due to new plugins made by those in the community, this tedious process has become much more streamlined and faster.

Each pad on a Launchpad corresponds to a specific midi note value, arranged in an 8×8 grid. A single flash is represented by a short midi note. The duration of the note dictates how long the pad remains illuminated. Brief notes produce rapid flashes, while extended notes create sustained lighting. The visual colour output is controlled by the velocity of the midi note.

Once exported, the midi file is loaded into the MidiExt device. This is done by placing MIDIext onto a new MIDI track and selecting the exported file through the device’s file loader. MIDIext then reads and plays back the MIDI content, translating it into real-time light signals routed to the connected Launchpad.

To get multiple pages for lights, the same procedure as the Sample Placement is followed, except with Ableton's Midi Effect Rack (which looks identical to the Instrument Rack) being used.

However, MidiExt is not the only modern way of making lights for Launchpad performances.

Next section: Apollo Studio