(Traktor: Multi Function Button) The working list of bad combos and workarounds

[synthet1c]

I don't use traktor, I use vdj, but couldn't you just use an aftertouch drum pad like akai lpd8 which a couple of you have, to send a cc message instead of a note on/off button.

Surely there is a way to say at such and such a position of a knob to trigger an action. In VDJ it would be easy, just

param_equal 1% ? action 1 : param_equal 2% ? action 2 : param_equal 3% ? action 3 etc...

although to make it not retrigger on release you would need to set a variable at the end that cancels at the start.

param_equal 0% ? set 'ccoff' 0 : var 'ccoff' 1 ? nothing : param_equal 1% ? action 1 : param_equal 2% ? action 2 : param_equal 3% ? action 3 : param_greater 50% ? set 'ccoff' 1

in people talk its

if cc is at 0% deactivate 'ccoff'
if 'ccoff' is active - do nothing, otherwise
if cc is at 1% do action 1, otherwise
if cc is at 2% do action 2, otherwise
if cc is at 3% do action 3, otherwise
if cc is greater than 50% set 'ccoff' active

In vdj, it always reads from the start of the script, but because this is a cc note you will hit the same invervals twice so the 'ccoff' shift will prevent it from retriggering when coming back down again, this would then be canceled at the start of the cc value's, so the button will work again when pressed

'ccoff' is just a toggled variable, again I don't know how traktor operates, but It would all happen in a split second at different intervals. Which is what I think you're after.

if it doesn't work I guess I'll see you all as vdj users, because when the effects are sorted it will leave traktor way behind in its functionality, because this is a workaround that you wouldn't even need to use as you can do multiple things at once in a consecutive order. and djdecks should bring automation to the table. I'm pretty excited about it

Good luck

[lethal_pizzle]

Yep, 'inverted direct' has been around for quite a while. Manual doesn't mention it (it just says you can invert toggle and hold) but the Traktor Bible covers it.

[DJ MiCL]

but couldn't you just use an aftertouch drum pad like akai lpd8 which a couple of you have, to send a cc message instead of a note on/off button.

Surely there is a way to say at such and such a position of a knob to trigger an action. In VDJ it would be easy, just...

Thanks!

But not everyone owns an aftertouch drum pad

Even if they did, in Traktor we don't yet get to trigger events at specific CC values yet.

I am told VDJ is far advanced than Traktor in some respects and perhaps this is one of those.

[DJ MiCL]

Yep, 'inverted direct' has been around for quite a while. Manual doesn't mention it (it just says you can invert toggle and hold) but the Traktor Bible covers it.

Many more than just the manual seem to not mention it, and Traktor Bible is neither free nor cheap. More like "has been hidden for quite a while now"

Don't claim to be the first to discover at all. Just want everyone enthusiastic about mapping to know

[zestoi]

Thanks!

But not everyone owns an aftertouch from pad

true. it does help some things anyway. there is good info at the traktorbible site btw - maybe even more insight into what gets processed in what order etc. not sure.

my issue is that i need a single control in fader mode to set the effect for each fx unit and then ofc i just send a single message to traktor where the velocity specifies what effect i want. any workarounds involve sending more than a single message in some shape or form.

that experiment does prove one thing tho... that traktor doesn't need more than the 3ms to change/enable a different fx panel mode.

as for the 2ms delay working most of the time but not all, yep i am sure traktor uses some absolute time and it depends on what frame within that the first message occurs in.

I am told VDJ is far advanced than Traktor in some respects and perhaps this is one of those.

yep. from what i've read u can do some very cool stuff in configs in vdj. the name "virtual dj" is probably the worst thing about that app now they're merging code with djdecks it might get even more interesting with the next version. pcdj also has more advanced scripting options than traktor i think.

the effects in traktor are unbeatable tho - at least for now - plus i don't fancy shelling out for new software right now. i might consider torq or the new vdj tho when they come out. torq looks very cool and has a nice xml config format but not sure about actual scripting in there.

u can also script in the free mixxx ofc. so traktor is probably one of the worst apps in this area.

[lethal_pizzle]

@MiCL... It's all good. And to have a video of it more so! FWIW, as it's been around for a while, and because the manual describes 'invert' for hold and toggle correctly as active on button release, I'd suggest the bug is simply the absence of invert from the GUI: I don't think the actual behaviour of the function will change

[DJ MiCL]

my issue is that i need a single control in fader mode to set the effect for each fx unit and then ofc i just send a single message to traktor where the velocity specifies what effect i want. any workarounds involve sending more than a single message in some shape or form.

......

the effects in traktor are unbeatable tho - at least for now - plus i don't fancy shelling out for new software right now.

I'm not following... but I am curious, can you explain a bit more about your issue?? Are you talking about a button or a fader? And what does it do? Sorry for my poor comprehension. A specific example would really help.

......

I used to not like the effects in Traktor because they felt more studio oriented than live performance -- just turning the dry/wet nob usually didn't produce interesting results. But now I'm sort of grateful for this because that's exactly what got me into custom mapping and TouchOSC. I would have been a total newbie in this area if Traktor had a really cool filter + effect or something by default.

[DJ MiCL]

@MiCL... It's all good. And to have a video of it more so! FWIW, as it's been around for a while, and because the manual describes 'invert' for hold and toggle correctly as active on button release, I'd suggest the bug is simply the absence of invert from the GUI: I don't think the actual behaviour of the function will change

That's really soothing to hear... thanks.

The last bit of fear that remains in me is due to the fact that the direct mode itself is sort of buggy... Has anyone ever noticed? If you set a control to button/direct/X(=value), and then to fader/direct, the fader acts like a direct button -- any movement just triggers the value X, and is eternally damaged. The only way to fix this is to delete the control and map it again, staying away from button/direct. So... when the programmers finally got around to de-bugging this flaw in direct mode... oh I pray that they fix the GUI and not the behavior of invert like you say!

[zestoi]

I'm not following... but I am curious, can you explain a bit more about your issue?? Are you talking about a button or a fader? And what does it do? Sorry for my poor comprehension. A specific example would really help.

so i have a mapping in traktor to set the effect for the fx unit with mode set to "fader". in that mode the actual effect set depends on the value of the note/cc sent out to it as you'd normally be using that from an actual fader. i just send a single midi message to traktor to set the effect i want.

so this code:

send("traktor", "effect_select_unit_1", traktor.fx["Gater"])
send("traktor", "effect_select_unit_1", traktor.fx["Reverb"])

sends out this midi to traktor:

  [traktor   ] effect_select_unit_1 c=3 v=20 p=0
  [traktor   ] b2 4c 14 [traktor]
  [traktor   ] effect_select_unit_1 c=3 v=80 p=0
  [traktor   ] b2 4c 50 [traktor]

i.e: only the value/velocity changes, the 3rd byte. it's the same control in the tsi.

and what i *want* to be able to do, to switch the panel mode to single and then select an effect is with this:

traktor.fx_control{ unit = 1, mode = "single", fx = "Gater" }

which basically is a wrapper for this:

send("traktor", "fx_panel_mode_unit_1_single", ON)
send("traktor", "effect_select_unit_1", traktor.fx["Gater"])

which sends out this midi:

  [traktor   ] fx_panel_mode_unit_1_single c=6 v=127 p=0
  [traktor   ] b5 05 7f [traktor]
  [traktor   ] effect_select_unit_1 c=3 v=20 p=0
  [traktor   ] b2 4c 14 [traktor]

but won't work when the effects unit is in group mode, i.e: it does change the mode but not the effect. even when i put a delay in there - which is the really odd thing.

I used to not like the effects in Traktor because they felt more studio oriented than live performance -- just turning the dry/wet nob usually didn't produce interesting results. But now I'm sort of grateful for this because that's exactly what got me into custom mapping and TouchOSC. I would have been a total newbie in this area if Traktor had a really cool filter + effect or something by default.

the filters aren't bad in the fx units and i quite like the mixer section filters too. the effects i tend to like the most are the only school ones tho i guess like gater+delays. having all the effects synced to the beat is great tho - something i guess u don't get with other dj apps that let u use external plugins.

[zestoi]

That's really soothing to hear... thanks.

The last bit of fear that remains in me is due to the fact that the direct mode itself is sort of buggy... Has anyone ever noticed? If you set a control to button/direct/X(=value), and then to fader/direct, the fader acts like a direct button -- any movement just triggers the value X, and is eternally damaged. The only way to fix this is to delete the control and map it again, staying away from button/direct. So... when the programmers finally got around to de-bugging this flaw in direct mode... oh I pray that they fix the GUI and not the behavior of invert like you say!

i haven't seen that but i did have a control "eternally damaged" the other day. it was my mapping for changing the fx for unit1 when in single mode. all settings looked ok but it just didnt work. the only fix was to delete and dupe/edit it from the unit2 one. but somehow (without me editting anything in the controller manager at all) this happened twice more. extremely annoying...