Novation Remote Sl 49 Mk Ii: Automap + Renoise

Off-Topic
1

Hi ppl,

I’m thinking about buying a Novation Remote SL 49 MK ii midi controller for use with Renoise.
Does anyone have experience here with this combination? Especially interested in how well automap works in Renoise.

Thanks!

Erik (cyrex / inque)

2

Works perfectly fine. The Automap for VSTi’s is especially interesting when you’re bored and want to create a synth-patch really fast.

The midi-mapping is extremely fast, you can have multiple “pages” of assigned controllers, you can name your controls from out your pc and see it on the LCD screen, you can have “keystrokes” assigned to buttons, etc… I can only talk good about this device. The developers leave you really free in how you want to use it…

3

I have a Remote 25SL myself but have not experimented much with Automap yet (don’t even have it installed at the moment). But there is something quite important to keep in mind when using Automap. As Novation states:

Essentially, it works by creating a new copy of each VST plugin you specify, but with the Automap software added on top. This is the necessary “magic” that allows the MIDI controller to talk to the plugins, no matter where they are used, and why Renoise doesn’t need to do anything special to support Automap at this basic level.

When you Automap a plugin, you will see two unique versions of it on your system, for example: “KickassSynth” and “KickassSynth_Automap”. You then use the cloned version in your project to use the Automap functionality, but can you see where this could potentially be a problem?

If you have a Renoise song that uses Automapped plugins and you share it with someone who doesn’t use Automap, then they will have problems even if they do have the original plugin installed, because Renoise will actually be looking for what it assumes is a totally different plugin altogether. The same thing applies if you decide to stop using Automap yourself in the future and then load up an old song file that did use it.

I’ve read a few comments online from people having problems transferring song/preset data between Automapped and non-Automapped versions of their plugins. How badly you might be affected by it sort of depends on exactly what you’re doing, but it’s certainly something important to be aware of.

4

Yes, something I didn’t mentioned. If you have a lot of plug-ins don’t enable them all as Automap-mode, because as dblue says it creates copies… Only enable it to plugins you think it might be useful for.

I’ve had no problems getting a VSTi(Automap) preset (.fxp) to the original VSTi whatsoever. :)

5

Yup. Thankfully that doesn’t appear to be much of a problem. Where it might get trickier is with pattern data, automations, etc., although ultimately I think it’s probably more of an inconvenience than an impossibility. I’m still kinda looking around the internet to find other peoples’ comments and experiences of this stuff.

6

Hi vincentvc & dblue,

thanks for the quick responses :)
I currently own a Novation Remote 25. My main reason for switching to the SL 49 Mk ii is the 4 octaves of good quality semi-weighted keys. All additional controls are simply a very nice bonus.

Considering your experiences and the fact that I’ll be using the additional controls only in moderation, I guess the SL 49 Mk ii is the choice for me.

Thanks again!

Erik

7

Oh sorry man, I didn’t mention I actually have a 25sl mkii (it is in my signature though).
Still, I think the 49 is a good purchase - when you know the keys that is. Before this midi keyboard I had a keyboard with 49 keys (m-audio axiom), and I can imagine this is a must when you’re a key-player. Though a 49 keyboard is more of a studio-thing, the good thing about the 25 is that it’s very light, movable, etc… :)

8

This weekend I installed a Novation ReMOTE 25 SL COMPACT for my stepson to play live with Renoise, went really smooth, and yes, we have a shitload of plug-ins and automapped them all, so we’re now stuck we all those copies… now I have to go through them manualy I guess <_<
All in all, it’s a puzzle, but a fun one

9

I have an SL 49 Compact, and ever since I got this thing it’s been non-stop problems. It’s such a wonderful keyboard, there are just so many stupid things. I can’t map my transport controls to whatever I want like I can with the other controls through AutoMap, and when I’m not using AutoMap, there end up being three columns of nothing inserted on the active track before any notes are entered (it enters them fine, just 3 blank columns over).