Eightify – Roland TR-8 Ableton Script

The Roland TR-8 is one of the best drum machines for quickly creating drum patterns, its 16-step sequencer is ideal for quickly tapping drum patterns in,
and its groups of robust knobs and faders are great for on the fly sound tweaking,

But it has many limitations…
Limitations such as:

• No option to record or import in new samples, meaning you’re limited to the built-in 808 and 909 sounds.
• Only 2 bars of 16-step sequencing which is ok, but can feel pretty limiting if you’re wanting to sequence in long patterns across many bars.

Combine the TR-8 with Ableton Live for more possibilities 

Integrating it as a MIDI controller with Ableton Live is a step in the right direction to get around the TR-8’s limitations.

Using the TR-8 to play the pads of an Ableton Live drum rack gives you the possibility to access an unlimited supply of samples…
And you can record sequences of unlimited length!

Even when combined with Ableton Live, it still has limitations
Using the TR-8 as a Midi Controller in Ableton Live means that you’ll lose control over each sample’s volume, decay and other handy sound shaping parameters which you would control with the TR-8’s knobs and faders.

Yes you can MIDI map the knobs and faders to macros inside a drum rack,
but you’re then limited to controlling only 1 drum rack in your session as Ableton’s internal MIDI mapping controls only allow for 1-to-1 mappings.

This means that if you want to control another drum rack in your session, you would need to spend a tedious amount of time remapping all of the controls again.

The Roland TR-8 has the potential to be an awesome Ableton MIDI Controller,

If only these limitations could be fixed…

Well now they have!

Introducing Eightify

“Eightify” is a premium Ableton MIDI remote script,
built specifically for the Roland TR-8 and designed to give you dynamic control over ALL of your ableton drum racks,
instantly and in any of your Ableton Live projects!

The Eightify script gives you:

• Instant control of any selected drum rack in your session,
• Record patterns of any length into the currently highlighted clip slot.
• Track & scene navigation
• 3 modes of functionality for the knobs and faders
• Auto maps the TR-8 in every session, so there’s no need to MIDI map each time
• The 11 faders control each pad’s chain volume (auto 0db)
• Includes a pre-configured Ableton drum Rack for easy use with the TR-8

The 3 modes

The Eighify script includes 3 switchable modes which change what each of the knobs control.
The mode active mode can be changes by using the ‘Mode Switcher’ knob (The TR-8’s ‘Reverb Level’ knob)

The Multifunctional Clip Recording Knob

This ingenious control gives you the ability to arm, record, overdub and delete a clip, all from a single knob on the Roland TR-8!

• Turning the knob a quarter of the way, arms the selected track (midi from the TR-8 begins playing through once the track is armed)
• Turning it to back to the left, unarms the track (TR-8 MIDI steps coming through)
• Turning the knob up a third, begins recording a clip into the empty clipslot
• Turn turn it past half way, to stop recording the clip
• If the clip slot already has a clip, turning it to the left, turns overdub on
• Turning to the right, turns overdub off.
• And turning all the way to the right, deletes the selected clip

The knob below also gives you the ability to duplicate and halve the selected clip loop

The Included Drum Rack 

The Eightify script also includes a ready to use Ableton drum rack which is configured to work specifically with the TR-8, giving you immeditate pad, macro, send and return controls.

• Each pad’s name matches a channel on the TR-8.
• Each pad is preloaded with an instrument rack & sampler,
• Pad macros are connected to essential funcions such as decay, transpose and sample selection. As these are macro controls, you can easily change their assignments to whatever you want!

Multiple samples can be added to each pad by dropping them into the sampler.

Make sure to distribute the selection of the samples across the full range, then you can use the pre-configured macro knob 4 to select each sample.

• To add multiple samples on a pad,
• drop them all in,
• then open the zone tab,
• click the ‘Sel’ button,
• then right click and select ‘distribute ranges equally’.

There are also 2 return tracks, each one is pre-configured with its own group of 4 macro controls.

Edit the Eightify script with Control Surface Studio

Installation

• After purchasing and downloading Eightify, you will receive a zip folder.
• Download this to your computer and then unzip it.
• Inside the unzipped folder you will see a folder named ‘css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8’, this contains all of the script files and is the folder which you will move into Ableton Live shortly.
  
• There are 2 ways to install the Serumify script into Ableton Live which we have detailed below. We also have video tutorial here: https://youtu.be/r9xUD-tPLUg?si=IehmTswqGd-QBAJ_

Installation: Method 1

• Manually create a folder called “Remote Scripts” within your Ableton Live User Library.
  The default User Library locations are:
  Windows: \Users\[username]\Documents\Ableton\User Library
  Mac: Macintosh HD/Users/[username]/Music/Ableton/User Library
• Note: the above ‘User Library’ locations are automatically set by Ableton Live. If you have changed this, then you will need to create the ‘Remote Scripts’ folder at the new location which you have changed it to.
  You can check the location in Ableton Live > Preferences > Library > Location of User Library…
  
• Place the ‘css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8’ folder and its contents into your newly created “Remote Scripts” folder:
  
• In Ableton Live’s browser, you will then see the script in your User Library. 
• 

Installation: Method 2

• Alternatively, you can place the ‘css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8’ folder and its contents here:
• Windows: \ProgramData\Ableton\Live x.x\Resources\MIDI Remote Scripts\
• Mac: 
  • Find the Ableton Live application in Finder, right click on it and select “Show Package Contents”
  • Navigate to: /Contents/App-Resources/MIDI Remote Scripts/
  • Place the ‘css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8’ folder and its contents inside the “MIDI Remote Scripts” folder

Setup Ableton Live Preferences

• Launch Ableton Live (close and re-open if it’s already open).
• Open Live’s Preferences → MIDI tab.
• Find and select ‘css Eightify for Roland Tr-8’ in the Control Surface dropdown menu.
• Select “Tr-8” for the Input (ensure you have connected the Roland Tr-8 to your computer in order for this option to become available).
• Leave the ‘Output’ menu option blank. 
• Also, In the ‘MIDI Ports’ section, check ‘Track’ and ‘Remote’ for:
  In: css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8 Input & Out: css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8 Output​​
  
• You will see a status message appear at the bottom of Live which reads: (css_eightify_for_roland_tr_8) > Mixer Mode is active. (Note: this message could get blocked by other active midi remote scripts).
  
• Eightify will now be active with your Roland Tr-8.
• Use the ‘MIDI Clock Sync Delay’ option, located in the ‘Out: TR-8’ MIDI Ports section (see above) to sync the playing of Drum Rack pads from the Tr-8 with Ableton Live’s metronome. 

Drum Rack setup

• Add the included Drum Rack named ‘Eightify – Roland TR-8’ into a MIDI track in your Ableton session (you will need to add your own samples to each pad). 
• In order to control the drum rack from the TR-8, select/highlight it’s track in your Ableton Live session.
• Make sure the track’s ‘monitor’ is set to ‘Auto’.

FAQs

1. Which versions of Ableton live does Eightify support?
   Eightify is available in versions for Ableton Live 10, 11 & 12. Please ensure that you purchase the correct version for your Ableton setup.
2. Which operating systems does Eightify support?
   Windows & Mac
3. Where do I put the script after I have downloaded it?
   Please see the Installation instructions above.
4. I have added the script but it isn’t showing/working in Ableton Live. What should I do?
   Please ensure you have correctly followed the installation steps above.
   The script is designed to work with the Roland TR-8’s default MIDI settings. Ensure that you haven’t altered these settings before using any software.
5. Does Eightify work with Ableton Live 9?
   No, Eightify is only available for Live 10, 11 & 12