LAUNCHPAD mapping 4 decks 4 traktor (w/ leds)

DJ Software & Apps Controller Mappings
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LAUNCHPAD mapping 4 decks 4 traktor (w/ leds)

So, I bought a launchpad because i wanted all those buttons, for hot cues, and other such fun… plus the fact that you could get LED feedback was auh sum!

but damn if that thing was difficult to figure out!!!

first, its meant to play with ableton. Anything else requires novation’s automap which is a pain to use with traktor. I thought i was bound by this marriage thinking that the only way to get midi messages from launchpad to other softwware, mainly traktor, was while the automap server was running. Needless to say, that whole thing was terrible. But then i noticed something in traktor’s midi controller setup…

if you select “general midi” and choose “launchpad” for in/out ports guess what? you can send midi messages directly from launchpad to traktor like any other controller. Then its all a matter of figuring out what you want to do.

I have searched the web and all my searches ended up with results = 0. I couldn’t find a good explanation, nor a fully mapped out launchpad, specially nothing complete with responsive LEDs (but i knew it was possible cause i saw a youtube vid of some dude doing such stuff). So after many hours of reading, testing, configuring, etc… i got my launchpad to work. Not sure i’ll keep this mapping entirely, but for now, its cool to see that what i put on paper actually works in practice.

So first off, here’s my setup so if you have something similar, you can try it out and see if it works:

  • MacBook 13" (os x 10.5)
  • traktor pro
  • novation launchpad

that’s it as far as this particular experiment goes. I don’t really have the resources nor time to try the different combinations of operating systems, drivers, and traktor versions, but if anyone wants to give this a go for other setups, please please do so and share your feedback. I’m sure i’m not the only one who would like to know more about this.

There are some gotcha’s to all this:

  1. you don’t have to run automap (which is not really a gotcha but a note)
  2. I’m not sure if launchpad is meant to run the way i’ve done it, but whatever, it works for me now and seems stable
  3. i’m by no means a midi expert nor programmer and i’m still learning a lot
  4. i don’t guarantee this will work, but if it does and people like it, auh sum!

Here is a detailed view of the mapping:
MAPPING-VIEW (description in caption)

So here’s what you have to do:

  1. download the tsi files i have created (4 total, 1 for each deck. I don’t like flipping through huge mapping files in the small traktor window, sorry)

A-Deck TSI [download]
B-Deck TSI [download]
C-Deck TSI [download]
D-Deck TSI [download]

  1. open traktor first and import the files.
  2. make sure that for each mapping file, launchpad is selected as in/out ports. (not sure if the mapping files do this automagically)
  3. once imported, close traktor
  4. connect your launchpad via usb (all LEDs will/should be off)
  5. open traktor
  6. once its ready to receive midi, click on all the buttons and it will light them up according to their current state. It should look like this photo:
    INITIALIZATION PICTURE (description in caption)

Here are some other photos with explanations in the captions:
HOTCUE STATES PICTURE (description in caption)
FULLY LOADED PICTURE (description in caption)

I don’t have a complete understanding still of some of the concepts and discovered some on a fluke. However, i will say this, what i’m really hoping for is that some of you see what i did (hopefully it works on your setup) and can play around with it more. Also, please leave any feedback as to what you think or suggestions or anything. I’ll try to help out as much as i can since i’m usually pretty busy (i’m surprised i even got this going). Anyhow, thanks again…

migz

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This seems pretty awesome. Great work!

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thanks!!!

one thing i did forget to mention…

when closing traktor, the LEDs usually stay on for me. Don’t know what’s going on but i think launchpad doesn’t reset itself. If you try to re-open traktor, it might or might not recognize the device.. who knows, but just to be safe, always disconnect the launchpad from the usb cable, then reconnect and open traktor. This seems to work for me as a “reset”.

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Hi there mate the tsi´s files doesn´t work for me

I had entered in traktor scratch pro and when i import then it the traktor scratch pro doesn´t let me select the category to import the tsi´s files you made. perhaps something its missing, which trakor did you use for it?

please helppp me, i want to use the launchap monster to with traktor.
:sunglasses:

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You are wonderful.

I may buy one of these to replace my Oxygen8.

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@dj4niq: I checked my NI Service Center to double-check my version. It says i have Traktor Pro and my version number would be 1.2.2 (I just bought it a few months ago online). Not sure if you’re running an older version or if pro n scratch are different. If you could tell me what you did that would be helpful as well.

Also, i recommend 2 things:

  1. make sure automap is not running while traktor is open and launchpad is connected. To clarify, when launchpad is connected and automap is open, i believe automap may ‘take over’ in a sense of the midi messages (but i can’t confirm this, i may be wrong). I rebooted my laptop, checked to make sure automap wasn’t running by doing a ‘top’ command in my terminal. Then connected my launchpad. Finally i opened traktor. At first, the LEDs are off. However, as you load trax with hotcues assigned, the LEDs will light up. Also, check out the images I have. I explain some detail in those too.

  2. Make sure you have the latest usb drivers for the launchpad. You can get them for free on the novation site.

The only other thing i can think of that would cause issues would be that your launchpad is sending different midi note messages than mine, in which case you’d have to remap, but wouldn’t be so bad since it would be just a re-learn function.

Might also wanna check out other threads like this one: http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96055

hope it helps!

@Foxfire… lol…thanks. I’d be curious to find out if this works successfully for anyone other than me. In which case i’d say, yea go buy this thing.

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Ha!

Well, I’m in the process of changing over to a 4 deck setup. Got the Audio8, and am going to purchase a DDM4000 when I get the cash.

The launchpad is attractive for two reasons:

First, your setup would almost EXACTLY compliment my workflow. I’d probably change a few things, but it’s almost perfect, and would give me the control I want (I’ve got 1200s for scrubbing through tracks)

Second, I’m a computer science major and I’m in love with the programming possibilities:

It’s got me drooling, yo.

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@Foxfire

Right On! i’m a software g33k…

cool that you have a similar workflow. i’d be curious to know what you’d be able to do with this. Ask santa for one..lol

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Haha, sweet. We have a pretty capable comp sci music group here…they’ve been averse to DJing stuff (THUS FAR), but they’re working on some really cool stuff. Might have to try to convince them to work with me on the Launchpad.

You know it man :wink: If Santa won’t give me one, the money I make working over break will provide.

You will hear from me when I have one in my hands :3

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Mistermigz

I did the recommendations you suggest me mate, my launchpad indeed sendthe signal to traktor and it respond, but the lights do not light on, it´s frustraiting, i,m hopping to see it shining and glowing. last the tsi´s files you made doesn´t work for me. but no problemo i mapp it in learn mode and it work´s my problem are still the lighting feedback.

system:

macbook pro
traktor scratch pro
novation launchpad
evolution uc33 e

:disappointed: S.O.S

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@dj4niq

ok cool, sounds like your half way there. Bummer you had to re-learn the midi notes, i was really hoping that the midi notes from my launchpad were the same as yours, however, not a problem. The toughest part is knowing how to do this in the first place.

For your particular problem regarding LED feedback, the fix should be simple. For the purposes of this example, lets focus on the “A” Deck. (This corresponds to the A-launchpad.tsi file i have in my original posting)

For this example, we’ll map out one of the hotcue LED’s on the “A” deck…

  1. Open up Controller-Manager in traktor’s preferences
  2. Make sure “A-launchpad - Gerenic Midi” is selected from the “Device” drop down.
  3. In the “Assignment table”, look for “Select/Set-Store Hotcue” and make a note of which midi note it’s mapped to according to your setup. On mine, its midi note “Ch01.Note.C-1”
  4. Now in the “Assignment Table” look for “Hotcue1 State”
  5. Enter the midi note you have from step 3. (On mine its “Ch01.Note.C-1”)
  6. Load a track into Deck A.

The LED should be on at this point because all the other settings (besides the actual midi note) have already been set via my mapping file (should be the same as well). You will have to do this for all the “Outs” in the midi assignment table because you have re-learned the midi notes for your particular launchpad.

Hope this helps, let me know if it does/doesn’t and we’ll go from there.

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@dj4niq:

Here’s another example for you…

For this, we’ll focus on the “A” Deck again. We’ll focus on “Play/Pause” function to keep things simple.

So here are some steps to follow:

  1. In traktor, open up Preferences.
  2. goto Controller Manager and make sure “A-launchpad - Generic Midi” is selected in the device drop down.
  3. In the “Assignment Table”, selected “Play/Pause” which you had done to re-learn the midi note. Remember the midi note you mapped for play/pause since you’re going to need it next.
  4. Now, in the “Assignment Table”, there should be an entry for “Play/Pause” for midi out. Click on that and make sure it has the same midi note as step 3. If it doesn’t, change it.

i’ve learned for the most part that for every MIDI IN that you have in which you want some sort of feedback (mostly LED feedback) there should be a corresponding MIDI OUT. They should also be mapped to the same note in most cases.

Anyhow, the steps above are just for the Play/Pause function/button. You will need to do this for all the “OUTS” in your assignment table since you had to ‘re-learn’ the midi notes according to your launchpad. As for any other settings on the midi outs, the only thing you should have to do is map the midi notes, all other settings should stay the same as per my mapping file as i don’t think those change.

Also, on some occasions, the changes are not instant, so in order to see what you’re doing, you should reload Deck A with a new track or touch the buttons to see if they are responding. After all this time i’ve noticed that there are still some buggy things between launchpad and traktor. I would assume that most problems fall upon the launchpad’s side because its new and mostly intended to work with ableton, but as more people use launchpad for other things, the hardware/firmware should also progress.

Hope this helps, let me know if it doesn’t.

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No led feedback>!! For me

Well my friend i did all the hot cues on deck A and also on deck B and traktor responses to it but there it´s still not led feedback in my launchpad. i relearn everthing but no lighting!!!
helppp
S.O.S

14

Wow, excellent job.

I made a similiar stuff but using Automap, and it is pretty stupid to load Automap if you can do it without.

I was wondering how to change the led color, and you answered my question with those TSI …

I will go on further dev with my own version (which use vertical layout) using the same techniques from your TSI

thanks !

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@trz303 :

Thanks a lot!!! glad i was able to help you with your setup and glad to hear that your going to take it further. I was thinking of vertical layout but ended with what i have. I definitely would like to see what you come up with. So when you have something going, please share with! And definitely, if you don’t need automap, don’t use it, it just creates extra processing cycles on your machine…

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thanks! signed up to the forum specifically for this template! works great except for some reason my hot cues are permanently lit up like in your hotcue states picture. but everything works fine. anyway. im going to try and ad to this. possibly using the arrow keys at the top of the launchpad for browsing tracks and user 1 and user 2 to load deck a/b. currently i am only using decks a/b from your template id like to set up some of the other buttons as pitch up/down and bend. or maybe keep the four decks and lose four of the hot cues. anyway thanks for the template!

i will try to post revised version in here to share if i get it done!

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@pipedreams:

Hey! glad it worked great for you. Every now and then i get some LED issues like that, but if i start touching the buttons they seem to snap back to normal. Not sure what’s going on, but still think launchpad has a couple issues “resetting” itself sometimes. Looking forward to what you come up with! thanks again for checking it out!

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Yep, I found a way to create a SHIFT button (like on a computer keyboard) so you’ll get twice more functions with the same knobs … pretty wild !

I will post my TSI as soon as it’s finished. With all those coloured LEDs it looks very nice.

BTW I still have no clue on how to “enable” the light-blinking function of the LaunchPad, but will try to find it …

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@trz303 :

Hey! awesome. Yea sounds like you added some modifiers, and for sure, with all the different combinations, you can get crazy wild. Nice job. BTW, i found out how to do the blinking LEDS :open_mouth:). I had to find a way, sometimes when i have all 4 decks loaded with trax, its hard for me to tell which ones are playing w/o constantly looking at the screen. So i found a way to make the LEDS blink to the beat of the music, works great and now i know which decks are playing just by looking at the launchpad :open_mouth:).

So here’s what you do:

  1. First find out which LED(s) you want to make blink
  2. Note down their midi note from the assignment table
  3. Add new midi out: “Add Out Drop down → Output → Beat Phase Monitor”
  4. Assign the midi note(s) you got from step 2. You actually have to add 1 new out for every LED you want to blink.

You can even play around with the MIN/MAX for Controller-Range to get some cool combinations. To blink on/off or one color to another, make sure you set your Controller-Range to 0.0000000 and 0.10000000.

Let me know if that works for you.

20

Wow, just tried it and it works great !

Thanks !!!