I’ve got the Vestax Spin 2, which btw I believe is a very great all-in-one controller/audio card for Mac and iPad.
I confirm, in case any of you guys had a doubt, that this unit is recognized by my Mac as a Core Audio device like any other sound card and also as a MIDI controller. Hence my project to start a Vestax Spin 2 MIDI mapping for Traktor.
Which means that you can use it with other software than Djay which comes bundled with it. However, I couldn’t make it work on a Windows PC so far.
I already have started mapping the main functions of it and for a first draft which you’ll find attached to this thread.
For this first release which I’ll call V0, I tried to get the closest possible to the standard labels on the Spin 2. But so far, I’ve been struggling with the jog wheels which I have hard time to map correctly.
If anyone can help me to map the jog wheel part it would be really appreciated as my experience in MIDI mapping is quite limited to basic mapping for now (though not inexistent).
Once we have this first mapping working well, we may go further and add modifiers and functionnality such as Jog FX or 4-Decks controll. For now I just want things to be as simple and stable as possible for a regular usage of the unit along with Trakor Pro V2.6.x.
Thank you very much for your contribution. I will take a look at your mapping, I’m specially interested in the jog-wheels part. If you have the jog wheels functional on yours I will use the same technique to go ahead with mine and post a first fully functionnal mapping for Traktor.
The idea of using the scratch buttons as shift isn’t bad, though there is already a shift button just under the playlist navigation buttons. I’m planning to use the scratch buttons in order to activate a modifier putting the the decks either in an FX mode or in Deck C & D mode in order to have a four decks layout.
The idea would be this :
If you just push scratch, A goes C and B goes D.
If you push Shift + Scratch, the respective deck goes in a special FX mode.
So scratch wouldn’t be the main shift buttons but actually special modifiers for the decks.
I hope to have the time to work on it this week and get back to you soon with a first usable mapping.
Here’s an update of my initial mapping with the following improvements:
Added scratch support, based on Hiroaki’s contribution. But I notice the “Scratch” parameter is no longer available in Traktor Pro 2.6 mapping maker. I don’t know if it’s a bug or if this was deprecated in favor of “Jog Turn” which I couldn’t manage to make work properly anyway.
Mapped almost all the controls of the Spin 2’s main layout including: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and LOOP buttons for each deck as well as the SEEK Track function on each deck’s touch pad.
Next steps:
map the “Cue 1”, “Cue 2” and “Cue 3” buttons of each deck (would appreciate if anyone can help on this)
map the “Half” and “Double” controls of each deck’s loop section
start mapping LED feedback
start mapping other layers, including a C/D Deck layout + an FX dedicated layout.
As you notice, though it’s not my first MIDI mapping, I’m learning mapping techniques while I’m doing this. So if you find anything not working properly, your help is very welcome.
Notice I commented all the controls for better understanding of those who would like to contribute. I prefixed with “DEBUG*” the comments of controls for which I will need your help to finish their mapping.
I also notice the “Scratch” parameter is no longer available in Traktor Pro 2.6 mapping maker.
Perhaps the reason I could have selected “Scratch” parameter is that I have developed the mapping file by editing other tsi file which is for old Traktor version.
We can replace “Scratch” with “Jog Turn”.
chriskeating2004
You can import the mapping file in the control manager of preference in Traktor.
I used Jog Turn first but it looks like its behavior is quite different so I’ll stick with “scratch” for now.
I’m facing 3 other issues going forward with the main layout mapping :
I can’t make instant loop buttons (1/8, 1/4 and 1/2) buttons to toggle mode (in my current mapping, you need to press them a second time to stop looping)
I don’t see how to setup Loop Half and Loop Double Controls
Map the “Move To Begining Of Track” buttons as well as the “Move Forward/Move Backwards” ones.
If you have any tips on these, that would be welcome.
Notice I’m using XM on my Mac to edit my mappings and I strongly recommend this app.
Edit: I fixed the hotcues as well as the tempo +- buttons close to the pitch slider mapping, will be among soon to be posted V0R2 improvements.
Implemented Hotcues with SHIFT-Cue 1/2/3 to delete
Fixed Tempo +/- buttons on top of each pitch slider
Fixed FX ON button mapping
LED Feedback now working on PLAY, SET, SYNC, MONITOR, FX ON buttons
Improved comments convention for better readability.
Known bugs (your contribution is welcome):[/I]
SET button should be setting a floating Cue (it currently sets hotcue because I didn’t find the right control inside Traktor).
Cue button tends to “double-play” from last Cue when pressed intensely (I couldn’t determine where this comes from yet).
HALF/DOUBLE LOOP Buttons don’t work
Hot Loops are toggle buttons (should be “Hold” but it’s doesn’t seem to be available for the control I use)
To be implemented next:
Fixes for the known bugs
FX Presets mode for the Hot loops section
Sampler mode for the Hotcues section.
This is the first quite usable version of the mapping, so have fun with it, and don’t hesitate to report bugs or contribute to the improvement of this mapping.
Hi Hiroaki, it’s not the behavior I’m expecting, what I would like is to SET the current floating cue on the Deck. I don’t want the playback to be altered when I push SET. Maybe I should call this “drop a cue” ?
Implemented Floating Cue SET on “SET Button” using Loop IN (I discovered that Loop IN was merged with Cue Set since Traktor Pro)
Implemented “Go back to begin of track” with SHIFT-PLAY,
Implemented “Move 8 beats backward/forward” with SHIFT SET/CUE
Implemented “Tempo Sync” with SHIFT SYNC
Implemented basic FX presets with SHIFT-1/8, 1/4 and 1/2. Deck A is using FX Unit 1 and Deck B is using FX unit B. It’s still experimental, you may choose your FX in the Controller Mapping preferences of Traktor (see parameter value of FX Selector controls).
FIXED : SET button should be setting a floating Cue (it currently sets hotcue because I didn’t find the right control inside Traktor).
FIXED : a bug with Deck A Set Button which triggered a Loop on Deck B
FIXED : Some controls not controlling the right Deck and some mappings for Deck A or B forgotten.
Known bugs (your contribution is welcome):
Cue button tends to “double-play” from last Cue when pressed intensely (I couldn’t determine where this comes from yet).
HALF/DOUBLE LOOP Buttons don’t work
Hot Loops are toggle buttons (should be “Hold” but it’s doesn’t seem to be available for the control I use)
FX Presets don’t work quite well for now, some of them aren’t set well and their standard parameter values and don’t produce any effect.
To be implemented next:
Fixes for the known bugs
Improve FX Presets mode for the Hot loops section
Sampler mode for the Hotcues section.
This is the first version with full mapping, including alternative controls with SHIFT (only Sample Mode remains to have a full mapping replicating original functionality under djay). Enjoy it and keep sending your feedback/help !
For feature requests beyond the basic layout, please be patient as I’d like to have a fully functional and stable mapping before starting to play with FX Modes or 4-Decks.
I confirm, couldn’t choose Hold mode for this. So for now you have to push the button again to release the loop. BTW I think I should rather call it “Instant Loop” or “Loop Preset”.
I also have another problem with CUP’s behavior. I would prefer to have the floating Cue playing as soon as I push the button and not only once I release it.
This looks like being closer to what I wanted to implement. I’m guessing you duplicated each function in order to send the same message twice and cancel the loop when the buttons are released. Am I right ?
However, I found one thing that doesn’t work as expected, if you push more than one of these three 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 buttons simultaneously, the loop remains active even after you release all the buttons.
Yes, you are right.
I add that I used some tricks.
I will note the detail later, because I am in my travel (and I need to use dictionary to write in English) .
Thank you for sharing this! I’ll test it and let you know my thoughts. The spirit of mine is to map the Spin 2 to match its standard layout as much as possible, then add layers for creativity.
I might ask you advise on how to accomplish what I’m trying to map with mine.
