Plannning 2 Buy Novation Sl Mk2

Help, Support & Bugs
1

Hello all you fine people of the Renoise community :)

My trusty keyboard through almost 10 years, a Edirol PCR-50 passed away the other day, refusing to play a number of keys. I had to unplug the USB and put it out of its misery.

In its place I’m planning on buying a

after having read several positive reviews on the product.

However

doing a quick search on Automap on the Renoise forum produced numerous topics regarding the (in)stability of Automap with Renoise.
Does Automap and Renoise go together at all?
Eg.:
Does anyone out there know if the “mixer”, “instr” and “FX” buttons on the Novation SL MK2 are compatible with Renoise?
Also, does the “play” “stop” and “pause” buttons interact with Renoise at all?

PS: The Automap version being shipped with the Novation SL MK2 is “Automap 3 Pro”.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated :)

2

i dont have that keyboard your refering to,but i do own both a launchpad and nocturn,but i dont have them at my place right now,but i think that with the duplex you can make it work the way you want,but someone else that mait know more will certainly tell you here.

and you can disable automap if it wont work the way you expect,i dont have my novation controllers here,and novation have updated automap since last time i had my controllers,so dont know if stability have improved

3

Hmmm…

Still not sure though.

But I really want this keyboard, have been drooling over videos all over youtube, demonstrating the automap features.

If it works well with renoise it’d really be a dream come true.

4

We have the version without keys, and it’s great. However, I don’t know why you want to use Automap? It’s the most horrible invention ever.

All transport keys interact with Renoise btw ;)

5

Me too, Mk1.

Never tried Remote with Renoise but I liked how automap worked in Logic, selecting from controller between mixer, fx & instruments, everything premapped and easy to remap for personal taste. Couple annoying things but nothing big… eg. Automap server starts everytime with DAW & you have to create wrapped versions of external plugins.

I removed the Remote from use just yesterday to make room for d-station & g-sharp again. Much as I like how it works, I almost never used it anything else than transport, but thats just because I make almost all of my sounds with HW synths & acoustic instruments. For plugin tweaker it could be most used piece in room.

If I were looking for keyboard, I’d probably go with Novation SL, Akai MPK, Fatar, Kurzweil or some used old synth with good action & aftertoutch and would avoid CME & M-audio. I have heard good things about SL keyboard action for the price.

6

Thanks for your response guys, very helpful indeed :)

So let’s say I make a preset for a vstinstrument, and map them to my controllers on the SL mk2, will the same preset open automatically when using this vstinstrument in another song? Or will I have to map them all over again each time i load the vsti?

Void Pointer: Transport keys, are those the play- stop- and pausebuttons?
Just want to make sure what works and what not.

Again thanks, you’re making this decision alot easier :)

7

when i used automap (some time ago, it might have changed) it worked like this:

  • in the automap software (on the desktop) you select which vst’s you want to use with automap
  • automap will then clone those .dll’s like so: ‘my_vst.dll’ become’s ‘my_vst_automap.dll’ etc…
  • then you can use the cloned .dll in every daw and it will remember it’s settings…

cheers

8

I have the compact model, and it’s working smoothly. Automap FX/instruments modes are supported, but you won’t get the automap “mixer” feature working in Renoise ATM. But that shouldn’t matter much as you can run Duplex on the device in “user” mode, and get full, bidirectional integration with the Renoise transport controls+mixer+effects

9

Alright, thanks, I’m getting this now :) Can’t wait!

Great replies, btw.

10

So finally, are you happy with it?

11

Oh yeah, sorry about that. Should’ve summed up right.

Well it’s been about 3 1/2 years now, and you know what?

I could’ve gotten something alot cheaper. I’m not using the automap features (imo takes too much time to map up, and i’m not all that into live jamming. I mostly sit at my homemade studio and tweak knobs on a software VSTinstruments interface. I feel like I have alot more control that way).

And the sensitivity of the keyboard is great. I hardly ever use the portamento function… again if i want to do this, I’d program it with the mouse in Renoise with either code or Automation.

Some things are a pain in the ass too. Like if I haven’t turned the keyboard on before starting up my PC, I have to restart the PC for it to “register” that the Keyboard is active. Dunno if this is my PC, Renoise or a the Keyboard, but there you have it.

When it comes to touch sensitivity, I guess this is where it truly shines. But then again, it’s not that important for me to have perfect touch on the keys.

All in all, I could’ve easily gone for something alot cheaper and simpler. But at least this keyboard is quality, and it’ll last a lifetime. None of the keys or any functions on the keyboard has stopped working.

But I mean, if you’re into that whole “live” thing where you twist the knobs on the keyboard realtime in front of a crowd that’s cool, but then I’d suggest you get something a bit more handy. This keyboard is more for stationary composing which is what I’m into at the moment.

My two cents :)/>

Edit:

One more thing: When you use automap, you actually have to create a new copy of every (and i mean every, as in, hundreds of plugins) shortcut, which are named the same, only with automap added to the title. THis is a PAIN in the ass, especially when you have to scroll through your list of vsts and vstis… I like having my instruments and plugins organized nice and tidy, not so easy with automap.

I feel like I’m being very negative here and I don’t mean to be, it’s just that this is my second try at this automap thingie, and it sounds so effective and cool in theory, so much in fact that I had to give it a second chance… but alas, not for me.

I’ve given up on this now. Sticking with my old skool composing :)

12

definetly NOT BUY SL mk II for renoise,
duplex is useless for the SL, renoise didnt support at this stage (probably never)

i try and it is really useless for renoise, u need to map every controller setp by step, including play stop mute and so on…
ahhhh, im glad i test before i buy.

again DO NOT BUY FOR RENOISE totally no point, Renoise Fail with gears like this, terrible…
oh i just remember that week where i test some novation controllers inside renoise… broaf