Akai LPD8 Setup for Renoise Duplex v1.0
by Per Abrahamsen (Per128 - www.per128.com)
Allows control of track mute, level and effect parameters
Preset file for LPD8 Editor included
Note: The UI layout is not consistent with the hardware because the “columns” property is broken ATM.
Extract into “Duplex/Controllers/”
ha, nice! have one of those at home so i’ll give it a shot.
tusen tack! (=
I’m thinking off buying one, how is the (velocity sensitive)quality of the pads?
it’s quite alright but i’d like it to be a bit more sensitive. light taps might not always register which can be a bit annoying.
haven’t used the apcs so i don’t know if this how it usually is. i’d recommend trying it out. i use it mostly for just to knob twiddle filters in renoise now.
it’s a steal though.
Thanks Per! This is fixed for the next version. The Mixer thought the device was a grid controller 
Jonas, they need quite a bit of pressure to trigger, so the whole range of velocity is mapped to a small range of pressure. For some USD50 though, it’s a good purchase imo. There’s also the mpk mini
Awesome, Danoise. I’ll update accordingly when it’s updated.
Thanks for info, I was expecting the velocity to be kind of fiddly as I have the small keyboard version which also sucks registrating very light key presses. It is still useful as it will fit in my laptop bag 
.
I have an Akai MKP25 and APC40. I think I am going to take your mapping and build off of it since there is nothing else comparable that I can find for them.
I will be sure to post the results. Thanks!
Don’t forget to check out the (recently updated) PDF manual for Duplex, it contains more than a few clues as to working with control-maps etc.
Used the mapping already Created in DUPLEX to rebuild the mapper.xml from the MPD32 into a close approximation of the MPK25. Unfortunately since I cant find where to add new controller mappings to the system in Linux there is no way to test unless I install Renoise on Windows or Mac maybe since the /Controllers folder does not seem to exist anywhere.
Also not sure how to add a 25 key keyboard to a row yet and have not done MIDI dumps to find the actual command codes produced by this mapper, but there is no point in going any further since I cant use or test it until I figure out where these damn things go in the filesystem…
Did you check out the manual? Unfortunately I’m not a linux user myself, so the linux hints are based on what others told me.
On OSX, you can also show the Renoise application ressources in the Finder by right-clicking and selecting “Show Package Contents”
RTFM then. Thanks man. No wonder I couldn’t find it;
/root/.renoise/V2.6.0/Scripts/Tools/com.renoise.Duplex.xrnx/Duplex/Controllers/MPK25
I don’t run as super user (root) all the time, so installing after
sudo su
it installs to /usr/share/ and the .xrnx folders end up in /root/.renoise instead of my user account in /home.
I am off to figure out how to navigate the .lua file settings this morning and then set the return codes for each button from midi dumps to the .xml file. Maybe this thing will be done today.
From the Duplex manual:
Q: Is it possible to trigger notes using Duplex?
A: No, it isn’t. The current state of the Renoise API does not include “realtime methods”, which would be a
requirement for this sort of thing. If Duplex was able to generate notes, their timing would be slightly
unpredictable, and for this reason the Renoise developers have decided not to implement such a feature
at this time. Until then. the best option for triggering notes would be to use your controller plugged directly
into Renoise.
So I should not create the keyboard portion at this time right? That pretty much erases the value of this controller in Duplex for the time being unless I am missing something (which is highly likely.)
I will figure out how to hook the MPK series up directly to the Renoise API and work on Duplex mapping for the APC 40 instead. I am still going to finish this, as I am running a Linux realtime kernel so it might work fine anyway, but others might not get much use out of it.
Hi,
Since you have a low post count, and your controller looks more like a traditional keyboard, I’m going to cover the basics for good measure. Consider this a slight derailing of the thread, maybe not useful…
You do know that you don’t need Duplex to midi map, right?
@see: MIDI Mapping - Renoise User Manual
Duplex is a project that aims to do certain things, but others aim to do different things. Two projects that aren’t Duplex come to mind.
Renoise-router:
Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting.
FaderPort driver:
http://tools.renoise.com/tools/faderport-driver
All this to say that the Lua API and Renoise as a live tool are evolving. Contributions and discussions are more than welcome.
Cheers.
Understood
The reason I was trying to use Duplex is that it allows for definition of my devices, but since the Renoise API cant take realtime input from Duplex, it looks like a waste of time to go any further.
Since Renoise does not have any of the features I need to use my controllers and I cant find a way to build said features, I think I am going to have to find something else. I have been working at this for a couple of weeks now and still cant make music without manually adding samples and loops with my mouse. Might as well still be using Acid.
Keep the $80.
What features do you need that do not exist?
You do understand there is the integrated MIDI, as well as the scripted Duplex, yeah?
Good luck finding a more mature and stable DAW on Linux if you do decide to go elsewhere.
spydersyne: I think it would help greatly if you describe exactly what you are trying to achieve and why, as there might be other ways than the ones you have tried thus far. Duplex is a tool of convenience, it does not add any fundamental MIDI features to Renoise. It seems to me that you are just looking for support for your hardware, which already should be in Renoise as-is?
Hardware support is a big deal
There is no way that I can find to define the MPC functions, time division controls, octave controls, bank toggles, level controls, etc. to a Renoise midi map without a lot of work. I haven’t even looked at the hardware pitch bend but am pretty sure I would have to write that too.
If I wanted to write everything myself I could just continue to pimp out LMMS. It might take me months to do anything useful here. Sure it’s a hobby and I like to contribute to projects, but I wont be able to use it for anything for awhile.
I am going to try and rip through the manuals cover to cover instead of skimming them like before, but am eager to be able to use this equipment soon, and as much as I hate Ableton and don’t want to buy another Mac tower, that is option 2 if I cant get this going soon.
Don’t get me wrong, this thing is awesome and I love it. I just cant find any way to use it without abandoning my hardware investment for the time being.
Renoise is good at two things.
It’s not modelled after a tape recorder, like some of the more conventional DAWs.
Many of us approach the program for what it is, a tracker first and foremost. So, when I compose, I do patterns of 128 lines, but when i jam… Maybe the patterns are 1 line and I build it into a step sequencer with Rube Goldberg-esque device chains to compliment the band I’m jamming with.
That said, you should be able to plug in your MIDI device, select a VSTi instrument, and start jamming away. Or, if it’s a synth, send data to the device and have it make noise. This will work out of the box? As others have pointed out, it would be great to know what you want to do…
I want to be able to assign a drumkit to the MPD pads to use. Currently the keyboard does make noise (input midi code into the track) when I assign it an instrument, but I cant take advantage of the MPC Swing or load samples to banks for banging out beats, etc.
Does that make sense?
Just trying to figure this out. I really didn’t expect it to be easy, but have no clue how to integrate the features of the device. Thanks for your guidance and patience in advance. I have a lot to learn about the interface still. Sorry to be a bother.