While attempting to demo my AbleSet integration with Open Stage Control, I imagined a future for AbleSet where users can build a modular native all-in-one control surface for Ableton, with tracks at the core.
As I mentioned, I love that AbleSet is html based because it gives us so much freedom to manipulate. It seems that solutions like Open Stage Control are also largely built on html, css, and JS. If AbleSet grew into a fully fledged control surface software with interactive widgets for sending and receiving midi and OSC, the possibilities would be limitless. It would blow TouchOSC and Open Stage Control out of the water by providing something that they cannot: Leo’s playback system. And of course it could allow the AbleSet ecosystem to interface with other non-Ableton DAWs through OSC and/or MIDI.
I’m very pleased with AbleSet and Open Stage together, but the goal is always to simplify, condense, and eliminate superfluous parts where possible. I’m anxious to see if there’s a possible long play to introduce some of those GUI elements into AbleSet. “One Server to Rule them All!”
I’d pay the license fee twice over for a marriage of AbleSet and a fleshed out modular controller like Open Stage/TouchOSC with a built-in editor.
agreed! although probably out of the scope of this application, with the new midi functionality it would be cool to be able to tag tracks. I would love a MainStage alternative. I love how it hosts all the VSTs and I can have patch lists and everything, but for some stupid reason decided by Apple, MainStage is incapable of running as a ReWire Slave to an external clock, which means that it can’t sync tempo related fx perfectly to live tracks. Ableton however doesn’t have a good way to keeping all my keyboard sounds separate from the tracks and let me build my own layout to control it all easily.
Could you showcase some ways that you use open stage control? I downloaded it but it looks pretty daunting but amazing none the less. I am more of less looking for a MainStage replacement simply because it can’t run as a rewire slave.
You should check out GigPerformer by Deskew Technologies as an alternative to MainStage. Way better and more flexible, IMO. They gave their own scripting language, so you can go as far down the rabbit hole as you want to.
Regarding Open Stage, I’m mainly using it as a way to see both of my AbleSet machines running concurrently. You can also create custom buttons for OSC control like TouchOSC. See more here Ableset Workflow with Open Stage Control
