by djnarrative | 8 Mar, 2011 | Reckorder Tutorials
I really like the launchpad as both a performance and compositional tool, and its proved really useful in djing and music workshops. However there are restrictions with it, so below are some of the useful links and solutions i've found along the way. In its normal form there is a great deal you can do with Launchpad. Basically the session page controls triggering of clips in session view. The user 1 page controls drum rack & is mappable, user 2 page is max for live plugs ins and whatever you want to map, and the mixer page is for ableton mixer. All the basic info is on the novation video tutorials so start with them if you havent already http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEhsEu3NnLM&feature=related In user mode we can learn any parameter to the launchpad, (Remember to turn on the remote button on the input and output of the launchpad in ableton preferences) and here's an example of mapping the ableton cross fader. The Launchpad outputs notes at maximum velocity which is a real shame, so here's a workaround for limiting note velocity on a launchpad -http://www.novationmusic.com/answerbase/en/article.php?id=540 The launchpad also doesn't light up in user mode 1, but it is possible by following this tutorial. You can get a lot more functionality out of the launchpad, by getting a 3rd party software. I've tried (and would recommend) two in particular. The first was midi katapult, which was about a tenner, and allows you to customise the launchpad in really useful ways. The main thing i found useful was being able to colour the pads, and once i'd got my head around the programming...
by djnarrative | 8 Oct, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
The first portable controller keyboard i bought was remote 25 sl. I was particularly drawn the the automap features and the fact it had all the controls you could want. In reality the drum pads arent that useful and there are some things that have been improved in the newer version. Overall though its pretty cool as a controller. I dont have that much useful info on this as its pretty much just does what it says. Providing the preferences in ableton are setup like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abuwG63DFg it offers two main 2 options, automap mode for controlling vst plugins and ableton mode / track control (template 40), where things like faders are assigned to mixer parameters and the encoders are assignable more intituitively to plug ins with blue hand. (i.e 1st 8 parameters on top row and bottom row is assignable) There were tutorial videos when i first bought it, but they seem to have been replaced, but if i find any useful tutorials i'll post them...
by djnarrative | 8 Oct, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
The nocturn is a really useful and affordable little midi controller. It can be used for basic dj functions, but i find it most useful in the studio. Using the automap software which comes with it, setup is pretty straightforward. Basically you open the automap version of the instruments and automap will automatically map the nocturn to some of the controls. You can then map the rest by clicking learn button, moving the control on screen, and then moving the nocturn, or you can assign parameters by manually selecting the control from the parameter menu. You can rename the automap controls as you like and then save as to save the control map. NOTE for most vsti's and plug in this works fine, but for spectrasonics you must do it differently and setup control maps manually by right clickin on the parameter in e.g trilian and select “enable host automation”. This also tells you the cc number of the parameter which you then assign/select in automap. The best place to start is the novation tutorials, which are pretty comprehensive. I found this one particular useful after i'd worked out the basics And i also picked up a few useful tips from this dj mag review And you can also setup the nocturn to control ableton functions (and the 1st 8 parameters of any focused device) There was one issue with the above video, which was the focus up & down, which was sorted manually mapping the buttons to alt-up and alt-down. To focus on browser u need alt-left as well. To do this using the nocturn control map just...
