Mackie Control (abbreviated to MCU), its predecessor Logic Control and their respective extension units (XT) are control surfaces that use a proprietary MIDI protocol to control digital audio workstations (DAWs), especially their mixing sections. However, these control surfaces have two drawbacks: they are definitely not cheap and require quite a bit of space. If these are no restrictions to you, by all means go and try them.
If, on the other hand, you have a certain lack of money or available space (or you have a controller that is simply too good to be exchanged for an MCU), you might have found just the application you need. It might not support your MIDI hardware controller yet, but if you know a bit of Python (or a programmer who does) it should be pretty easy to change that.
Download and install the latest version of Python 3.9 on your computer.
Please also download and install these libraries:
- PySide2 (version 5.15.2 or above)
- pygame (version 2.0.0 or above; please note that pygame's MIDI implementation is still in its infancy and may thus occasionally crash Python MCU)
You'll also need virtual MIDI ports or cables to connect Python MCU to your DAW and hardware controller. I have successfully used loopMIDI or MidiYoke NT (Microsoft Windows) and JACK (GNU/Linux), but others may work just as well.
When you're done, open the directory with your file manager and run the
application by double-clicking on the file python_mcu.py. To get rid of the annoying
console window on Microsoft Windows, try double-clicking on python_mcu.pyw, instead.
Here's a word of warning. Although I have taken precautionary steps, there is some inherent risk that your controller might be destroyed by running Python MCU (mine was, once, when I was trying to change a lot of code at once). So please read the :ref:`License` before you run Python MCU, especially the sections Disclaimer of Warranty and Limitation of Liability.
That being said, here's how to set up Python MCU...
- Emulation:
- Choose between "Logic Control" and "Mackie Control". The latter should be fine for most current DAWs. The extension units "Logic Control XT" and "Mackie Control XT" have been added for completeness, but I don't think you'll ever need them.
- Connection:
Determines how Python MCU connects to your DAW. If you're having trouble with connecting, try changing this setting.
"Challenge / Response" forces Python MCU to register with your DAW (which will only work if your DAW supports this), whereas "Wait for MIDI data" simply waits for some data on the MIDI input port. "Assume successful connection" has been added for testing purposes – this setting assumes the presence of a Mackie-Control-aware DAW without checking.
- MIDI In/Out:
The virtual MIDI cables that connect Python MCU to your DAW. I freely admit that it's not easy to understand the routing of virtual MIDI cables, so I recommend using the first cable to send data from Python MCU to your DAW and the second one to send data from your DAW to Python MCU:
This way, you can simply look at the screen-shots in this document and set up Python MCU and your DAW accordingly.
- Controller:
- Select your hardware controller and the MIDI ports it provides or is connected to. There is a text field directly below which might give you some hints on connecting your controller to Python MCU.
For the controller assignments of your hardware, please have a look at .
This adaption makes good use of preset #32 (Ableton Live Automap), so you either have to select this preset whenever you want to use Python MCU or set it up as your default preset.
Whenever you press the Automap button, Python MCU temporarily stops to let you do your thing in Automap. When you're done, simply press the Automap button again.
You may also connect a sustain pedal to the "control pedal" input and use it to alternately start and stop playback in your DAW. If it doesn't work, you'll have to change the preset: Edit > Sustain Pedal > Ports: ComnPORT and MidiChan: ComnCHAN. Don't forget to save your changes...
- Emulation:
- Mackie Control (Wait for MIDI data)
- Emulation:
- Mackie Control (Wait for MIDI data)
- Emulation:
- Logic Control (Challenge / Response)
- Emulation:
- Mackie Control (Wait for MIDI data)
Ableton Live 8
Cockos Reaper 4
Emagic Logic Platinum 5
Image-Line FL Studio Pro 10
I haven't got a Mac, but things should work just as well. Please report working configurations to me. Thanks!
Python MCU consists of three parts:
- the MackieHostControl class communicates with a connected sequencer using the Mackie Control protocol, translating the raw protocol to something much easier to read and use
- the generalised MidiControllerTemplate class and its more specific relatives handle all the details of sending data to and receiving data from your hardware controller, again translating raw protocols to something easier to read and use
- finally, the McuInterconnector class connects the MackieHostControl and MidiControllerTemplate classes (and thus your DAW and hardware controller) with each other
This modular design means that the application happily works away with the irrelevant implementation details being effectively hidden from you. As long as you adhere to the internal protocol, you may easily add your own controller to Python MCU by deriving a class from MidiControllerTemplate.
If all this means nothing to you, go find yourself a Python programmer (or learn Python yourself, it's rather easy and a lot of fun!). As long as you know the relevant MIDI implementation of your hardware controller and worked out a suitable layout of its buttons and controllers, hooking into Python MCU is pretty simple. If you don't believe me, just have a look into the directory.