OT + MidiPal + Drum Pad = Great!

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

The MidiPal can really breathe so much more life into the OT!! I’m using an Akai Mpd32 for drumming, and received a MidiPal today, and I’m very much used to being expressive with my fingers, not p-locks:

… velocity-sensitive sequences (velocity mapped to amp vol and scaled to the interval [30…60]) …

… note lengths recorded in the sequencer (note off triggers amp vol 0) …

… sounds flying away when holding a pad (aftertouch mapped to FX send) …

Excellent! :slight_smile:

It can also be used for a workaround regarding slice trig mode, but the points above alone deserve this new thread!

Pad triggers + OT
Octatrack vs Mpc
#2

that sounds like fun! Either your midipal/mpd combo or the quneo seems like they would unlock a lot of potential in the ot

#3

Yeah I do agree that MIDI-Pal is an extremely cool little friend for many hardware boxes.

I personally use QuNeo + a DIY MIDIPal (MIDI Bud):

  • The MIDI Monitor on itself is worth a lot for trouble shooting.
  • Remapping values using the event processor fixes the limitation of certain controllers on sending/recieveing MIDI values.
  • You can play Samples chromatically using Scales.
  • Algorythm Drum generation is a breeze.
  • The dispatcher allows for multitimbral playing of many channels like the OT monolith.

Very inspiring little tool!

#4

Hey - I have PMd you asking for more detail on this, as I’m trying to do the same thing.

#5

Very cool and interesting!!!

I´ve been looking at the Akai MPD32 as well for similar setup possibilities. But including an NM G2 Engine and other stuff into it as well.
Please share more in-depth info regarding the processes that your MidiPal taking care of.

I´ve got an MidiSolution Event Processor Plus myself plus some other stuff that might be sufficient enough depending on what my needs will be…

#6

Hi all,

Does anyone know if the MIDIpal would work with this:

http://www.alesis.com/controlpad

Or has anyone had any experience using the Alesis Controlpad straight into the OT

Thanks.

#7

What about the pads of the RYTM? Could be nice.

#8

With MK7s help, I was able to set up a User Config on the MIDIpal today which allows some of the tricks mentioned above using a Korg padKontrol.

These MIDIpal config settings essentially let you map almost any type of MIDI information to any other.

It sits between your controller and the OT (or synth, or whatever).

You use a web page to set up to 4 transformations per Config (of which there can be 4 loaded into the machine at any one time). The webpage then outputs the sysex, which you load into the MIDIpal via, say, Elektron’s C6 app.

Take a look at the page and you’ll see the potential:
http://www.midipal-editor.appspot.com/

The MIDIpal manual web page is also worth a look. There are a tonne of modes like LFOs, Scale quantizer, Arps etc etc.

http://mutable-instruments.net/midipal/manual

It’s well built, can run off a 9V battery or a power supply, well-priced and well-supported. I ordered mine on Sunday evening in the UK, and it was delivered Tuesday morning. Recommended!

#9

Right now everyone has caught onto THE tool for Elektron products. Of course you can imgaine how important the midipal was to the A4 when it was 4 x mono - via disptacher it always was polyphonic:)

So lets set up a special page right here right now and keep it running and lets squeeze the shit out of this little box!

#10

MK7 or rikrak if you wouldn’t mind sharing what has worked for you, I have both midipal and PadKontrol as well as Akai MPD18 and would love to know some specific remapping strategies and possibilities.

#11

I ordered one this past weekend to give my hardware setup (controlled by a mnm) more control over my drums’ so they’re not so stuck to the grid. Should have it today, so stoked to figure out ways to incorporate it into my setup other than just using it for an alternate clock the mnm’s.

#12

Sure.

Here’s a screen grab of settings I’ve been playing around with, based on MK7s example.

padKontrolExample.png1008×869 102 KB

Filter 1 takes the Note On and Velocity data (0 - 127) from Channels 1 to 8.

“Pass and CCize” lets the Note On number through and then maps the Velocity to a range (24 - 88) on CC25 (which is VOL on the Amp page).

Filter 2 takes the Note Off data from Channels 1 to 8.

“Pass and CCize” here lets the Note Off through but adds a CC25 of 0. This sets VOL to 0, which acts to silence the Track as you let go of the pad.

To make sense of the other drop-down options, check the Manual web page, but it all clicked for me when I saw how MK7 was doing it.

It should be pretty easy to “pass and CCize” Note On to Slice Number (CC17) in a similar fashion. :slight_smile:

This is all pretty basic. The hard thing is working out what it is you want to do.

I have a very early start in the morning, so off to bed…but I’ll be up for more experimenting tomorrow afternoon. Like Dogma suggests, it would be cool to share what we discover. It’s actually possible to upload sysex to the Filters web page, so we could use the file depository for any really complex ones.

Cheers!

#13

Very Exciting. Thank you for sharing. Have to think up some more uses. Will post if I come up with anything interesting.

#14

Wait.
Is that a bandwagon ?
Ok I’m in… (I just bought a midipal)
excellent stuff. can’t wait til it arrives

#15

Triggering Slices turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be.

The simple solution was to set a padKontrol scene where each of the 16 pads sends Note On 84 - so no variance in Pitch - but each pad has a unique velocity: 1,3,5,7,9 etc… up to pad 16 set to velocity of 32.

The MIDIpal filter maps the Velocity directly to CC17 where a value of 32 equates to the 16th slice.

This works - each pad triggers a different slice - BUT - there is a problem with the way the Octatrack handles incoming Note and CCs.

Regardless of order, the Note is parsed first, which means a pad will play the previous pitch the first time it is pressed. This problem has been well-documented by other users elsewhere on the forum (eg http://www.elektronauts.com/t/triggering-slices-with-midi-notes/433page:4).

One hack is to delay the Note data so that it arrives after the CC data, but this isn’t possible using the MIDIpal filter web page. Even if it was, the lag would be undesirable.

It’s a problem that needs to be fixed on the Octatrack itself. Perhaps a number of MIDI modes to suit the job at hand, rather the current approach where every type of MIDI trigger is cramped in together.

Anyway - just thought I would document this afternoon’s MIDIpal experiment. :joy:

#16

This looks pretty useful, good share!

I suppose you could use it to map the REC functionality to a different MIDI controller? Sometimes when I want to sample the OCT inputs live, I don’t have enough hands - would be useful to have REC Hold mapped to a foot switch or something…

#17

A lot going on in this thread and some more people who are discussing about the MidiPal, nice! I was not here for some days. Rikrak, thanks for replying to the questions!

Currently (they can quickly be replaced), I use the 4 programs as follows:
1: velocities -> amp, aftertouch -> cue send, note off -> amp=0
2: velocities -> amp, aftertouch -> cue send
3: velocities -> amp, aftertouch -> filter wdth, note off -> amp=0
4: velocities -> amp, aftertouch -> filter wdth
Regarding cue send: studio mode, Strymon El Cap connected to Cue out/AB in.

As Rikrak said, setting routings like this up on the filter webpage is very straight-forward (involving some trial&error here and there).

@ triggering slices: yes, that’s not that straight-forward due to the Midi delay needed. based on a suggestion by Jonah, I got it working with the following workaround that involves some “finger precision” instead of delays: map notes (1-32) -> slice number, and hit a second pad to trigger notes. For instance, all 16 pads of the MPD32, or whatever drum controller you’re using, to one track, 8 of which select slices and other 8 play, for instance, a minor scale on the same track. with some practice, you can use that to trigger slices, and also play melodies.

Looking forward to hearing how all the people here in the thread (and maybe others as well) set their Midipals up!

#18

The midipal is incredible.
I’ve just been using it as part of a loop between my synth & my octatrak and the midipal.
Delay and Arpeggio, and chord memory all work fantastically well. Really is a great little box. very inspiring.

#19

Here’s a cool trick.

Use the MIDIpal CC LFO app and switch on 2 or more LFOs all set to Channel 11 (or whichever your OT Midi Auto is set to) and CC48.

Now the MIDIpal is controlling the Crossfader position and by using multiple LFOs with different resolutions and waveforms, you can emulate humanistic (or not so humanistic) rhythmical crossfader movements.

Start out by just having a single Track with a short drum sample on every other step, maybe a rim-shot.

Now set Scene B to control amount of RTRIG and RTIM.

This way you can hear what is happening as you adjust the MIDIpal LFOs resolutions and waveforms.

Also experiment with divisions of the BPM and try using MIDIpal as master clock (it’s VERY tight).

I just lost about 3 hours to a 10min experiment! :slight_smile:

#20

Here’s a cool trick.

Use the MIDIpal CC LFO app and switch on 2 or more LFOs all set to Channel 11 (or whichever your OT Midi Auto is set to) and CC48.

Now the MIDIpal is controlling the Crossfader position and by using multiple LFOs with different resolutions and waveforms, you can emulate humanistic (or not so humanistic) rhythmical crossfader movements.

Start out by just having a single Track with a short drum sample on every other step, maybe a rim-shot.

Now set Scene B to control amount of RTRIG and RTIM.

This way you can hear what is happening as you adjust the MIDIpal LFOs resolutions and waveforms.

Also experiment with divisions of the BPM and try using MIDIpal as master clock (it’s VERY tight).

I just lost about 3 hours to a 10min experiment! :slight_smile:[/quote]
Proof the OT is a time machine in disguise!