VCI-100 with Traktor Pro (4 decks/each selectable separately)

[DJPhaidon]

What my intensions for this .tsi is to be able to use it without any midi translators, even though I will probably check out the programs for my own sake. I have some great ideas in the works though, more so than my ability to find time for it sadly enough. 1 more day of work and I'll have ample time to hash it out.

Some of the features that are upcoming

-Each side deck contol will be able to control two decks and fx independently from the other side, even while the other deck is in one of the four modified modes.
-Loop contol will be completely separate from the deck control, unless you are in the loop modified mode
-FX will be able to be controlled in the normal spot or on each deck independently
-and to top it off, I have devised a layout that should indicate most of the info regaurding the modified modes

[DJPhaidon]

The file has been updated. I'm moving it to my first post as well as removing all the links to the previous files.

[DJPhaidon]

update complete, it's bed time for this guy

[Zac Kyoti]

DJ Phaidon, thanks for the contribution. I'm working on my own 4 deck tsi for DJTT, but until it's done I'm using Traktor jacked into Ableton to serve for additional channels. The main thing standing in the way of using 4 decks in Traktor with one VCI (for me) is this: When using modifers to switch between decks A/B and C/D, the soft takeover functionality is disabled. This leads to volume and parameter jumps that are unacceptable for me in performance. Have you looked into this during your experimentation? Any leads? I started a thread for this problem, but there have been no replies thus far...

[DJPhaidon]

When using modifers to switch between decks A/B and C/D, the soft takeover functionality is disabled. This leads to volume and parameter jumps that are unacceptable for me in performance. Have you looked into this during your experimentation? Any leads? I started a thread for this problem, but there have been no replies thus far...

Looked for the thread, but couldn't find it, so I'll reply here.

I agree that this is a problem, and there are limited work arounds that could be used to overcome the problem, that I've discovered anyway.

1) You could put all the knobs and faders in relative mode with a really large sensitivity, that way when you switched decks, the knob you move would take over where the deck was at instead of where the knob was at. One problem with that is that the knobs could end up in a max'd out or min'd out state with no real way to reset them without clearing a deck, adjusting the knob, and then reloading a deck.

2) As with my set up, all the decks require 2 modifiers to work. So in order for a control for deck 1 to work, M1-1 and M3-1 through M3-4. Certain functions like deck copy, x-fader select, and monitor select set M1 to 0, so in essence, you have 0 functions available to use until you select decks a-d again. While in the zero state, you could adjust said knobs/sliders to the position needed for the deck to minimize the jump in parameters, but this is still a work around, not a fix

so basically, I have found work arounds, but not fixes. I think it would have to be corrected in traktor pro, cause putting 4 decks on a 2 deck controller is destined to have limitations and problems that wouldn't be encountered using a 2 deck setup. I would ultimately like to have a controller that was set up for 4 decks, but having priced out Richie Hawtin's setup, it's a little out of my reach a the moment.

DJ Phaidon

[DJPhaidon]

Here's a list of the modifiers used in my set up in case you would like to change or remap functions on my setup

M1-1 Deck 1
M1-2 Side 1 FX
M1-3 Deck 3

M2-1 Deck 2
M2-2 Side 2 FX
M2-3 Deck 4

M3-1 Side 1 Normal
M3-2 Side 1 Modified
M3-3 Side 1 Cues
M3-4 SIde 1 Loops

M4-1 Side 2 Normal
M4-2 Side 2 Modified
M4-3 Side 2 Cues
M4-4 Side 2 Loops

M5-0 Normal
M5-1 Loop Size
M5-2 Loop In
M5-3 Loop Move

M6-0 Normal
M6-1 Deck 1
M6-2 Deck 2
M6-3 Deck 3
M6-4 Deck 4

M7-1 FX Chained
M7-2 FX Advanced

M8-1 FX Chained Toggle
M8-2 FX Advanced Toggle
M8-4 X-fader Select
M8-5 Monitor Select
M8-6 Deck Copy
M8-7 Deck Loading

[DJPhaidon]

Also, I totally forgot last night that I added some keybindings for quick beatmapping and hotcue set up. Here they are

(on the numpad)
Clear Delete Grid marker
= Set Grid marker
/ Half BPM
* Double BPM
num + Move grid marker forward
num - Move grid marker backward
num enter BPM tap

(on arrows)
Up Increase BPM Fine
Down Decrease BPM Fine
Right Increase BPM Default
Left Decrease BPM Default

Home Store Cue/Loop
End Cue Delete
Page up Next cue
Page down Previous cue
Num 1-8 Set current Cue to hotcue of corresponding number

` Consistency Check
Enter Search/Search clear on doubletap

[Zac Kyoti]

1) You could put all the knobs and faders in relative mode with a really large sensitivity, that way when you switched decks, the knob you move would take over where the deck was at instead of where the knob was at. One problem with that is that the knobs could end up in a max'd out or min'd out state with no real way to reset them without clearing a deck, adjusting the knob, and then reloading a deck.

Yeah, this was what I tried first, and yep, I got plenty of max'd and min'd out controls in normal operation.

2) As with my set up, all the decks require 2 modifiers to work. So in order for a control for deck 1 to work, M1-1 and M3-1 through M3-4. Certain functions like deck copy, x-fader select, and monitor select set M1 to 0, so in essence, you have 0 functions available to use until you select decks a-d again. While in the zero state, you could adjust said knobs/sliders to the position needed for the deck to minimize the jump in parameters, but this is still a work around, not a fix

Good thinking, but hell, I wouldn't even be able to keep track of all the knobs I turned...

I would ultimately like to have a controller that was set up for 4 decks, but having priced out Richie Hawtin's setup, it's a little out of my reach a the moment.

Haha! Word.
It's kinda strange to me that soft takeover isn't an issue in T3 - I've got a really wicked 4 deck tks, but hey, I'm loving Traktor Pro so I'll hold out for the fix.

Anyway, gotta give some love to the minimal set-up; often the most creativity springs from having limited tools. I still love my Casio SK-1!!

[DJPhaidon]

Will be out of the DJ office for about a week for the holidays, but fixes and upgrades to the .TSI will be out shortly after that. I'm also using MIDIPipe for Mac to add some enhanced features to the FX section, and will also try to program Bome's for the same functionality. Have a great christmas everyone!

DJ Phaidon

[B33SON]

Awesome work so far.

As for my keyboard layout. I'm still working out some issues and adding some cool new features. I've had a chance to jam with it on TPro and have really liked it so far. I've been playing out all the time lately so it's been hard to get a night at home to really get the last issues worked out, but I'm off next week so I play to make some real progress. I'll keep u posted.