RC Surface

Português: README.pt-BR.md · página em português

Live landing page: interactive surface map, install walkthrough and workflow reference.

RC Surface is an extension for Ableton Live 12 that serves a control surface in the browser of a phone or tablet: pads, knobs, faders, XY pads, mixer, transport and track recording. Each control can move a Live parameter, play a MIDI note or launch a Session clip. The phone motion sensors, microphone and camera can be mapped the same way. Nothing is installed on the phone. The extension runs inside Live on the official Extensions SDK and serves the surface over local HTTPS.

Requirements

• Ableton Live 12.4.5+ Suite (Beta) with the official Extensions SDK.
• A phone or tablet on the same trusted Wi-Fi/LAN: iOS 15.4+ Safari or Chromium on Android, held in landscape.
• AbletonOSC (UDP 11000 / 11001), optional: core parameter bindings and sensors work without it; REC, Launch Clip, TRN, AUT in SYNC and Deep Sync need it.

Quick start

1. Download. RC-Surface-2.1.0.ablx and RC-Midi-Receiver.amxd (plus the optional RC-Audio-Sender.amxd) from the 2.1.0 release. Verify the files with SHA256SUMS.txt.
2. Install. Double-click RC-Surface-2.1.0.ablx to install in Live (restart Live if it is open), then enable RC Surface under Options → Preferences → Extensions.
3. Connect. In Live, open Extensions → RC Surface → Show panel and scan the QR code with the phone. Install the certificate authority of this computer once, from the plain page at the HTTPS port + 1; the Certificate section of the Network tab links that page. If the phone does not open the page, open the Network tab: it shows the address the QR code uses and has FIND SETUP.
4. Control. Use the seven surface tabs to control Live. Tap MAP in the header to bind parameters, trigger MIDI notes or launch clips.

Storage: RC Surface stores projects, presets and mappings in storageDirectory/surface-v2/ (schema 2). See docs/INSTALL.md.

Pages

Desktop keyboard control nudges any continuous control (knob, fader, XY pad, toggle, square) when the client has focus. The header overlays MAP, AUT, TRN and CFG sit above the pages, and CFG opens Config Mode (CFG).

Page	What it does
PERF	12 velocity/pressure pads (modes A/B/C/D), two Static/Physics XY pads, 8 synced LFO/Square toggles (T1–T8) and 4 snapshot slots. The LFO waveform preview shows the active modulator shape (sine, triangle, ramp up, ramp down, square pulse with swing/ratchet) and the rate ceiling in the SYNC modal before sending to Live.
MIX	8 mappable rotary knobs (270° arc) and 8 mappable full-height faders.
SNP	16 snapshot slots that recall surface control states.
SNS	Phone motion (accelerometer/gyroscope) and 3D orientation sensors with posture calibration.
AUD	Real-time microphone analysis with 12 spectral/band-onset descriptors. K-weighted loudness shows momentary, short-term and integrated loudness, with ITU-R BS.1770 weighting.
VID	Local single-hand camera tracking (bundled MediaPipe Hands) with continuous X / Y / Z / PALM / FACE inputs and up to 15 learned poses (G1–G15).
REC	Recording station with three local views (RECORD / ARRANGEMENT / CLIP, with Record as the default) sharing one fixed capture bar (REC / STOP, PRE-ROLL, PASSES, START / END, CLICK) and one fixed mode bar. The User Guide describes the three views.
MAP	Header overlay for on-phone mapping: bind a touch or sensor source to a Live parameter (Bind), trigger quantized MIDI notes through RC-Midi-Receiver.amxd (Trigger Note), which passes upstream MIDI through byte-for-byte (midiin → midiout), or fire Session clips and clip-advance rules (Launch Clip). The response-curve and Burst handles need a 0.6 s hold.
TRN	Header overlay for transport and locators.
AUT	Header overlay for XY gesture loops: record and loop movement on XY 1 and XY 2 after a 3–2–1 countdown, synced to Live (1–5 bars) or free (1–30 seconds).
CFG	Customize each pad individually (modes A/B/C/D and Mode D burst timing), the T1–T8 modulators and the independent Static/Physics XY behavior (friction, bounce, speed, trails).

What is new in 2.1.0

• REC. Three views (Record, Arrangement, Clip) share one capture bar; tracks are listed with ARM / SOLO / MUTE and a volume fader.
• Network tab. The QR code uses the address that reaches the network. The tab shows the reason for the choice, USE pins an address and FIND SETUP lists each address with its own QR code.
• Local certificate. A certificate authority of this computer signs the server certificate for localhost and private network addresses. The Certificate section of the Network tab links an install page on the HTTPS port + 1.
• CFG. Tap CFG in the header to enter configuration mode, then tap a pad, knob, fader or XY pad to edit its settings.
• macOS. The AbletonOSC link starts with the server.
• Compatibility. 2.0 mappings, presets and projects work unchanged; reload the browser after installing. Recording and playback have not yet been verified in Live on macOS.

See the 2.1.0 release for the files and the full notes.

Documentation

• User Guide: surface tabs, gestures, mapping modes, snapshots, calibration and Stage mode.
• Installation Guide: certificates, LAN setup, companion Max for Live devices and troubleshooting.
• Customization & Control Catalog: complete control name catalog (pad-*, knob-*, fader-*, xy-*, toggle-*, sensor.*) and extension points.
• Compatibility · Contracts · FAQ
• Security Policy · Privacy · Contributing

Development

Requires Node.js 24.16.0 (Node 24.x) and the Ableton Extensions SDK/CLI tarballs (1.0.0-beta.0) placed in vendor/ (see vendor/README.md).

npm run check:vendor
npm ci
npm test
npm run lint
npm run ci
npm run build:prod-ablx

Security

Warning

Security notice: RC Surface runs an HTTPS/WebSocket server on your local network. Controller and admin actions require rotating session tokens, but the bridge is designed strictly for trusted home or studio networks. Do not expose ports to the public internet or share session QR codes or URLs. See docs/SECURITY.md for the full threat model.

• Local processing. Camera frames and microphone audio are analyzed locally in the phone browser; raw media never leaves the device.
• Max for Live devices. Trigger Note requires RC-Midi-Receiver.amxd on the target MIDI track. Replace legacy v1 receiver instances in older Sets so no unauthenticated UDP port stays open.

License

PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0: free for noncommercial use, redistribution and modification; commercial sale of this software or modified versions is not permitted. See LICENSE for the full text and the Required Notice. © Gabriel Worm · https://github.com/ntworm/rc-surface.

Ableton and Live are trademarks of Ableton AG. RC Surface is an independent project, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ableton AG.