Setting up a Loopback Track is a very useful way of working with Divisimate. You can create a MIDI track in your DAW and send it out to the Divisimate Loopback Port. This way instead of playing live, you can pre-record, edit and program MIDI in your DAW, send it to Divisimate and record the result on other tracks in the same DAW project. This is especially useful if you are not a good piano player, or you want to send really complex music to Divisimate.
Working with Logic Pro and Divisimate used to be much more complicated than it is today. With the new MIDI Input features introduced in Logic 10.7, the setup is as simple as it can be and there is no need to touch the MIDI environment. In this article, we’ll take you through the essential setup of a loopback track in Logic 10.7 and also explore some additional workflow options for this technique.
So here’s how you set up a loopback track for Divisimate in Logic Pro 10.7 and above:
1. Enable the Loopback Port in Divisimate
Open Divisimate and go to the settings page. Below the list of available inputs there is a checkbox that says “Activate Loopback Port”. Activate it.
Divisimate will urge you to be careful, but you will know what you are doing, so you can discard the warning.
2. Create a new External Instrument Track
Go into your Logic Session and create a new External Instrument track. In the track creation menu, you can already choose an output on the lower right. Select Divisimate Loopback Channel 1 in this menu.
3. Select your keyboard as an input
In the inspector on your new external instrument track, select your Keyboard (or other preferred MIDI input device) as an input. This step is crucial! Do not choose “All” as an input on your loopback track. This option includes the Divisimate Ports and will create an endless feedback loop that can cause Divisimate and Logic to freeze.
4. Set up your instruments and record and play from your loopback track
And that’s already all the essential things you need to create a loopback track. You can now record MIDI on your Loopback Track and it will already be sent through to Divisimate.
Add Instruments to your project and connect them as usual to the Divisimate Ports and you can record enable them and record the resulting orchestration from Divisimate at the same time while you play back whatever is happening on your Loopback Track. If you are unsure how to set up your instruments with Divisimate, refer to our Logic Quickstart!
But what if you want to use multiple controllers with the Loopback track?
As Logic only allows you to select one MIDI input decice on your loopback track, and you can not choose the “All” option from the input menu, there is currently no easy way to have multiple controllers – like a keyboard and a breath controller – record on the same loopback track.
You could use a third party software to combine two MIDI devices into one IAC port. But it is also possible to have just two (or more) loopback tracks in Logic at the same time and record them simultaneously. Just create a second, new external instrument track, choose the other controller of your choice as an input, and send it to the Divisimate Loopback Port as well. You can now record enable the two tracks at the same time (along with your instruments) and record them simultaneously. Here’s how this could look:
What else can I use the Loopback Track for?
You can also use the Loopback Track to send MIDI remote commands to Divisimate. This way you can automatically switch between presets as you play back your programmed MIDI on the Loopback Track.
In a MIDI region on your loopback track you can program either Program Change or CC31 messages to switch presets or change a number of other settings in Divisimate. Here’s how the different values correspond to different functions:
| Program Change / CC31 | Function |
|---|---|
| 1-100 | Perform Pads 1-100 |
| 101-110 | Performance Quickload 1-10 |
| 121 | Power On |
| 122 | Power Off |
| 123 | Bypass On |
| 124 | Bypass Off |
| 125 | Set Divisi Mode: Top Down |
| 126 | Set Divisi Mode: Bottom Up |
| 127 | Set Divisi Mode: Fill Voices |
If Divisimate is not reacting correctly to these messages, go to the Settings page in Divisimate, and in the lowest row of the window click “Remote Settings”. Here make sure that “Listen to Program Change” and “Listen to CC31” are enabled (depending on which one you choose).
