Novation // Circuit

Thanks for the insight! Good job all-round :grinning:

Maybe someone could quickly check for me the absolute lowest note number the circuit can reach? I know seems like a stupid questionā€¦ Then I ran into this limitation on the Qunexus :slight_smile:

Still wondering about triggering the analog rytm :-o

Itā€™s the full range of MIDI notes. Right from C0 to (I think) G10.

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Thank you! Thatā€™s a big help for me.

You pulling the trigger soon? (no pun intended)

Iā€™m not sureā€¦ Would still need to find out whether itā€™s a good option as a finger drum controller. I mean, otherwise Iā€™m pretty convinced :slight_smile:

Yeah I love the idea of using it to sequence my Nord Drum 2, would be perfect.
Only snag is I fell into the modular abyss and Iā€™m not sure Iā€™m equipped with the requisite strength to pull myself out again!

At least you know that you can get down low with the midi notesā€¦
Got a real soft spot though for the Circuit and each update seems to make it more attractive. If Novation manage to allow samples as oscillators for the synths then I shall be forced to take actionā€¦
Wondering if next year they will release another version of some sort.

Watch this space eh?

The samples as oscillators idea is damn brilliant. I think thatā€™s a bit unlikely, though, as itā€™s a bit advanced :slight_smile: I mean, to wrap your head around as a casual user. Iā€™d love it.

My reasoning is that if Iā€™m low on space, the circuit is the same size as a drum pad controller, AND it has all this excellent extra stuff going onā€¦ But yeah, still need to figure out what it is exactly that I need to do. :slight_smile:

Iā€™d recommend against getting a Circuit for a controller if thatā€™s the overwhelming need. Itā€™s a bit limited there at present, locked to specific midi channels. Maybe a future update will address this. But if using it as a controller is a side benefit to all else it offers at its price point, itā€™s awesome.

Iā€™m seriously considering a Launchpad Pro now though. Itā€™s a dedicated controller and it just got Circuitā€™s Scales feature.

Can you disable quantize when recording finger drumming?

Nope. Youā€™re locked to the Circuitā€™s grid.

I think thereā€™s a point lost here for the Circuit, which is worth considering for anyone whoā€™s considering buying one, no matter the reason - as a tool for writing songs, composing and structuring, itā€™s quite unlike any other.

Itā€™s the first real attempt at a stand alone instrument based on a grid interface. As such, it has a quick and flexible sequencer for composing, and the way itā€™s built makes you come up with ideas as well as longer structures, like no other tool would. In that sense, itā€™s unique. Since itā€™s loaded with two synths and a couple of drum tracks, you can also execute on those ideas right away, both working on sound and structure in a combination thatā€™s to this point, unique.

So when youā€™re considering the Circuit for this and that, it could be worth considering that youā€™re approaching it from what you already know and what you already want. I suggest you approach it with curiosity, as in ā€œI just donā€™t know what this is gonna unlock for meā€. Because Iā€™m pretty sure if you use it coherently, as a tool for writing, structuring and playing, youā€™ll find tracks within you that youā€™d find nowhere else.

In that sense, Iā€™d compare it to the Octatrack or the OP-1 - not in terms of features or function, but in terms of the way theyā€™re designed, you will create things on those instruments that you wonā€™t come up with anywhere else. That has nothing to do with features.

Given the price point, and the proper resell value (at least here in Sweden), itā€™s a small risk to take compared to what it might give you in return.

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For the price it is a useful tool. Besides its onboard sketchpad looper sequencer functions, it is a pretty decent portable controller too.

There will be more updates coming (scales expansion has been mentioned) & looks like Novation will expand it as much as they can; they seem to want to ship as many as possible, rather than cripple it to protect similar products - which is a healthy attitude.

Love to see it get more programmability as a controller, allowing mapping of any midi message to pads, buttons & knobs, plus midi feedback to light up the pads RGB. Micro timing would also be great.

can you elaborate on LP pro vs Circuit as a controller? Circuit has the benefit of encoders and sound engine.

Basically, at this time, the MIDI output from Circuit seems geared towards being able to MIDI record a Circuit performance for later playback. The channels are locked (1 and 2 for synth, 10 for drums, 16 for some additional control - I donā€™t know if 16 transmits data), as are the control-change numbers on the encoders.

So using it as a potential controller for a small chain of instruments (in my setup, thatā€™d be things like Machinedrum, Monomachine, DSI Evolver, Streichfett, Meeblip Anode, Volcas, etc) is difficult - Iā€™d have to constantly be setting various devices to be on Channels 1 or 2 and the encoders would only be randomly useful per instrument.

Now, in a small setup (say Circuit plus Volca or Evolver), this may be fine. And the Circuit has a sequencer as well, which the LaunchPad Pro does not.

LaunchPad Pro makes it easy to change MIDI output channels, making it useful in a multi-instrument or multi-timbral setup. For that feature alone, itā€™s interesting. A future Circuit update may address this, but ā€œfutureā€ and ā€œmayā€ are hard to hang ones hopes on.

LaunchPad Pro does not have encoders, but it does have a ā€˜mixerā€™ mode where you can play the grid like sliders. They have a video of using this to change parameters on the Machinedrum. But, I think the MIDI CC numbers in this mode are frozen (like the Circuitā€™s encoders) and itā€™s a crapshoot how it will work with gear.

The biggest downside of the LaunchPad Pro as a controller is that itā€™s still geared primarily towards Ableton Live use. I hope that the success of the Circuit as a standalone device may encourage Novation to make some new controllers (or add these features in the Circuit) that are divorced from Live. Iā€™d like to see a hybrid of the LaunchControl XL (has a template editor to allow one to assign how it talks MIDI; is nothing but encoders and sliders) and the LaunchPad Pro (grid based performance / note entry tool).

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If you look on the official Novation Circuit editor/software site, there have been templates made for LP and Circuit. I do not use Live but I recall seeing that over there a few times so it sounds possible to use Circuit in that fashion but to what extent, no idea.
I use the Circuit as a nice mobile sketch pad and also in studio experiment having it midi sequence my Waldorf Pulse and other hardware synths, then thereā€™s the sample import and flipā€¦it just keeps getting better. A very inexpensive toolā€¦but I still want an OP-1.:grinning:

Crazy as it sounds, Iā€™m selling my OP-1 and probably going to pick up a circuit to fill the OP-1ā€™s shoes.

Circuit midi out to iPadā€™s THOR :heart_eyes:

Funny you mention this. This combo is what Iā€™ve been playing with past weekend. Circuit + iPad is a great mobile sketchpad combo.

That sounds crazy.
Sorry you pitched a beachball there, I had to hit it!
But all the luck to you fella!

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