After some advice before I dive in too deep what’s best way to set up custom actions for launchpad/renoise interaction?
MIDI seems pretty easy but then you don’t get feedback, Scripting is super flexible but comes with learning curve, maybe Duplex is the right middle ground. I’m after a quick and easy way to map things like instrument and track selection, pattern triggers, to the buttons on the LP.
There are some awesome tools out there already, step sequencers, grid pie and so on, but I tend to find each one has a little bit of what I need so rolling my own may be a good idea for me, and good to learn at little more about things underneath.
EDIT#1 - just read Duplex can’t trigger notes, that’s one of my requirements to have part of the LP playing notes of an instrument (current track), I’ve got automap PRO btw, so I’m wondering if MIDI is going to be the way for me.
Yep, it’s stated as not available because of the lack of realtime options in the Renoise API. Any tool have to deal with these limitations, so even though workarounds exist, they involve routing MIDI/OSC signals out from Renoise and back in, which is really not very elegant or precise. So while it’s not impossible to make it work, IMHO the complexity of such a setup would be completely opposite to the plug-and-play philosophy of Duplex
For the here & now: if sample triggering from the launchpad is vital to you, I guess you have no other choice but to use the Launchpad as a basic MIDI keyboard.
However, if I were in your place, I’d swap the Launchpad sample-triggering with a proper keyboard or some pads and create a custom Duplex performance configuration for the Launchpad. Best of both worlds?
Thanks for the quick reply and confirmation re: note triggers.
I’ll have a dabble, I’m also thinking “start simple” is good and I know how to configure MIDI/automap with Renoise so I will start there for now.
Automap is pretty good actually, very easy to custom program each LP button with a note, a CC, momentary, toggle etc and as I have the Pro version I can map qwerty commands and combos to buttons on the LP also, mix that in with the flexi MIDI mapping in Renoise and I can design a layout to trigger sequences, as well as play instruments and change DSP params.
Hmm, this didn’t end where I thought it would but it’s good, you’ve helped remind me that I can get some miles out of the LP this way with Automap + Renoise. The LP is always flirting on my “sell it” list but Renoise keeps pulling it back off the shelf!
EDIT: automap gives me the feedback/LED stuff “free” also
Hey, I just bought a Launchpad, and have set it up as a neat sequencing live-tool now, just with basic midi mapping in Renoise.
Problem is, I don’t get no color action at all, and I can’t innstall Automap on that particular system. So what i’m wondering is how can Duplex help me here? I don’t need any more features, I dont’ want to change the mappings, I just want to be able to program the button colors, that’s all. Thanks
Color action, program the button colors…you want them to do something, right?
I don’t know…since you don’t explain how your live-tool works, I can’t recommend one thing over the other.
Have you tried to connect your instruments to the Launchpad MIDI port (look in Instrument Settings > Ext. MIDI), and see if broadcasting those notes presses are helping (it should light up when notes are entered/played)?
In any case, Duplex is free, and as easy to install as every other tool. The latest beta version is recommended, as it comes with fully adjustable colors.
PS: I’m working on a sample-triggering application, even though earlier in this topic I said I wouldn’t be
Hey Danoise, thank for the reply. Now that I’ve managed to install the latest Duplex and tested it thoroughly in 2.8, i’m superhappy, this was exactly what I needed. Love the templates for the LP, time to hit the road Thanks!
I’ll just resurrect this thread, since four years have gone by.
Has anything changed concerning this subject?
I use an Akai APC Key 25, which has a 8x5 matrix similar to the Launchpad. I can map the samples I want to use via Keyzones onto said matrix, but the buttons don’t light up at all. It would be nice to see which of the keys is mapped to a sample and even better to see which sample is playing currently. Is there a way to do that?
And also: Is there a way to schedule the triggered samples so that they will always be on time regardless of human inaccuracy (like Ableton does)?
what’s best way to set up custom actions for launchpad/renoise interaction?