In this article, I’ll show you how to display the current state of Ableton Live’s Looper device as coloured LED feedback on your MIDI controller.
This allows you to instantly see what each Looper device is doing without having to look at your computer screen.
You can choose the LED colour displayed when the Looper is:
- Stopped
- Recording
- Playing back
- Overdubbing
The script supports up to eight Looper tracks. You can place the Looper anywhere within a track’s device chain and the script will automatically find it.
This is a free configurable script for Control Surface Studio 3+ users.
What You’ll Need
- Control Surface Studio 3 installed on your computer. You can upgrade to CSS3 for a discounted price. Login to your Remotify.io account then go to https://remotify.io/product/control-surface-studio-3
- Ableton Live 10, 11 or 12.
- A MIDI controller with LEDs that can receive MIDI feedback via MIDI velocity.
- The free Looper LED Feedback – Multitrack script.
Part 1: Download the Looper LED Feedback Script
Open Control Surface Studio and go to the On Remotify section.
Select the Scripts tab and find the Looper LED Feedback script.
Click the download button. The script will be added to the My Scripts section of Control Surface Studio.
Go to My Scripts and open the downloaded script.
The script already contains all of the Reaction mappings needed to find the Looper devices and display their current states. You only need to attach your controller template and select the inputs you want to use for the LED feedback.
Part 2: Add Your Controller Template
Add an existing controller template to the script or create a new one.
Your controller template needs to contain the pads or buttons that you want to use for the Looper LED feedback.
Open each input and configure its MIDI data by pressing the corresponding pad or button on your MIDI controller.
Make sure that each input has the correct MIDI message type, channel and value for the physical control you want to use.
Part 3: Select the LED Feedback Inputs
Once your controller inputs have been configured correctly, open the mapping named:
Select LED Feedback Inputs Here
This mapping contains an Action Block for each of the eight supported Looper tracks.
Starting with Action Block 2, select the controller input you want to use for each track’s LED feedback.
For example:
- In the block for Track 1, select Pad 1.
- In the block for Track 2, select Pad 2.
- Continue this process for each Looper track you want to use.
You don’t have to configure all eight tracks. Only select inputs for the number of tracks you need. you can disable the others.
Once you have finished selecting your inputs, save the mapping and then save the script.
Part 4: Choose the Looper State Colours
The script can display a different LED colour for each of the Looper device’s four states:
- Stopped
- Recording
- Playing back
- Overdubbing
The MIDI velocity values used to produce these colours will depend on your MIDI controller. Check its MIDI implementation guide or test different feedback values to find the colours you want to use.
For example, the configured inputs could display:
| Looper state | Example LED colour |
|---|---|
| Stopped | Dim red |
| Recording | Bright red |
| Playing back | Green |
| Overdubbing | Amber |
Your controller may use different velocity values or offer a different selection of colours.
Part 5: Generate the MIDI Remote Script
When you have finished configuring the LED feedback inputs and colours, click:
Generate Script into Ableton Live
If Ableton Live is currently open, close it and reopen it so that it can detect the newly generated MIDI Remote Script.
If you are using an Ableton Live beta version and have the Reload MIDI Remote Scripts option available, you can reload the scripts without closing and reopening Live.
The Looper LED Feedback script can be used with Ableton Live 10, 11 or 12.
Part 6: Set Up the Script in Ableton Live
Open Ableton Live and go to:
Settings/Preferences > Link, Tempo & MIDI
In the Control Surface menu, select:
CSS Looper LED Feedback Multitrack
Next, select the MIDI input and output ports for your controller.
The MIDI output is particularly important because this is how Ableton Live sends the LED feedback to your MIDI controller.
Part 7: Add Your Looper Devices
Add a Looper device to an Ableton Live track.
The script will automatically search the track’s device chain for the Looper. It does not need to be the first device on the track, so you can position it wherever you need it within the chain.
Once the Looper has been found, its current state will be displayed on the corresponding pad or button.
For example:
- The first controller input displays the Looper on Track 1.
- The second input displays the Looper on Track 2.
- The third input displays the Looper on Track 3.
You can add Looper devices to up to eight tracks and receive instant state feedback for each one.
Why Use Looper LED Feedback?
When performing with Looper devices, it is important to know whether each Looper is recording, playing, overdubbing or stopped.
Displaying this information directly on your MIDI controller means you can:
- See the state of each Looper at a glance.
- Spend less time looking at your computer screen.
- Avoid accidentally recording or overdubbing at the wrong time.
- Monitor up to eight Looper tracks from your controller.
- Create a more focused and reliable live performance setup.
You can also add more mappings to the script using Control Surface Studio’s collection of MIDI mapping options. For example, you could map the same pads or additional controls to operate the Looper devices as well as display their current states.
Summary
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| LED states | Stopped, recording, playing and overdubbing |
| Maximum tracks | Eight |
| Looper position | Can be placed anywhere in the track’s device chain |
| Controller requirements | MIDI controller with LEDs that accept MIDI feedback via MIDI Velocity |
| Ableton Live versions | Live 10, 11 and 12 |
| Script name in Live | Looper LED Feedback Multitrack |
| Availability | Free for Control Surface Studio 3+ users |