DAW Mode vs MIDI script, not clear!

Lab MiniLab
#1

As you know, Minilab 3 is integrated with Ableton Live, but who performs this integration, Arturia or Ableton?

Does the MIDI script for the control surface come pre-installed in Ableton Live?

I don’t understand what the DAW mode of Minilab 3 is for, does it just make it detectable for DAWs and then it is governed by the DAW MIDI script, or does the DAW mode include some special kind of mapping configured at the Minilab3 level?

#2

The script is preinstalled with Ableton Live, yes. I imagine it would be written collaboratively by the two companies together, but I don’t really know the details.

#3

In your opinion, the Arturia DAW Mode does not provide any mapping, everything is controlled from the Ableton script?

What does the DAW Mode do then, does it make the Arturia recognizable as a Control Surface?

#4

That’s right. You use the DAW mode to integrate with the control surface script in Ableton, which provides two-way communication with the MiniLab for a set of predefined functions described in this guide:

If you want to make your own mappings, you can use the user programs on the MiniLab to do that.

#5

Yes, that’s right.

DAW mode makes the Minilab3 detectable as a control surface in DAWs such as Ableton. And the control is managed from Ableton’s MIDI Script.

So what are the user custom profiles for?
I think they are used to map the Minilab3 controls to different Midi and CC channels, but there is no real control over the action they perform in the DAW.

That is, you can change the type of output that each control produces but then you still need the Midi script in the DAW.

In other words, if you want to use Minilab 3 in Ableton in a different way than the way it is provided in the script, you must have knowledge to edit that script, it is not enough to make a custom profile. Or the other solution is to do manual mapping in each live set, which is not optimal.

Do you think like me?

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#6

Yes, the user programs let you set your MiniLab controls to whatever MIDI messages you choose. In the context of Ableton Live, you can then use them with the normal per-set MIDI learn functionality, or with Max for Live devices that respond to particular MIDI messages.

I haven’t tried this, but I would think in principle you could create a custom control surface script to use with one of the user programs, but I think it’s only one way. You could use the MiniLab to control functions in Ableton, but I don’t think you can control the lights or display on the MiniLab with the script.