APC40 & Max for Live tutorial
New Max for Live video tutorial covering how to do custom mapping & remapping of the the APC40. This tutorial gives you basics for opening the possibilites of using an APC40 and Max for Live. Get creative and make some new patches or devices for Max for Live or create a completely custom APC40 mapping.
Zander
Akai APC20
Big news from the Akai camp for winter NAMM in the form of the APC20, the APC40’s little brother. The APC20 is a stripped down version of the APC40, losing all the knobs, buttons, transport controls and crossfader. This obviously reduces the size by about a third but also reduces the price with a retail of $299 and an expected street price of $199, a lot cheaper than the APC40.
The APC20 has kept much of the flexabilty of the APC40 with most of the functions performed by the knobs being intergrated into the APC20 in the form of selectable user modes. Transport controls as well as device control have been kept but you have to switch between them using the shift button. The faders then act as a multi function controller aswell as normal mixer faders. There is also a new note mode where the button matrix doubles as a note trigger mode for playing instruments or triggering devices etc.
For most APC40 owners this is a bit of a waste of time for Akai as you lose the knobs which is one of the best things about the APC40 over the Novation launchpad. The APC20 could just end up as a launchpad with faders but is not quite as flexable and more expensive. The APC20 can be used in conjunction with an APC40 to create an extended button grid.
Excerpt of Novation Launchpad programmers reference
Along with the first shipment of launchpads going out, Novation released the programmers reference, a document that shows exactly how the Launchpad works with midi.
12 pages of a programmers dream as the PDF really explains the detailed inner workings of the Launchpad. Not only that but they have gone out of their way to put it in easy to understand terms. The release of this document is sure to set developers a light with ideas of creating open source apps and software. You can download the PDF from their site. Some interesting notes are that the Launchpad uses a slightly slower USB connection to transfer data.
I must admit I get the feeling Novation are learning from Akai’s mistakes as Akai didn’t release any midi documentation or give away any hints as to how the APC40 handles midi. Akai didn’t even release a driver, you don’t need one but the APC40 and windows users are having a few niggling problems that a dedicated driver would fix, the launchpad has it’s own driver 
Akai holding back has not stopped open source apps such as the monomulatorbeing released but it does slow development down. So this is a call for Akai to release the midi information. That said they will only tell you to wait for Max for live to come out and then buy it to completely manipulate the APC40. These are luxuries not everyone can afford.
With this release I’m expecting to see some open source apps and software popping up very soon. Probably some max/msp patches too. Seems like Novation are trying to align themselves with the open source community and maybe trying to make the launchpad a poor mans monome. For now it’s too early to tell but the future is looking bright for the launchpad and the button matrix controller as a whole.
Zander
Livid block
This week Livid announced they were releasing a new open source midi controller called Block. The block has 64 back lit LED buttons in an 8 by 8 grid, an extra 7 buttons for other functions, 8 knobs and two faders. All of the buttons, knobs and faders are freely assignable and not locked to anything but more about that later.
The block is plug and play compliant, meaning no drivers and is USB powered so no dragging round extra power leads or losing power at a gig. The USB port is at the back of the unit too so there’s nothing to stop you putting other units next to it. The block has bi directional midi, which basically means it can receive and send midi data. So when you change something in the software you see the controller react and visa versa.
The block is released on the 1st of November but can be pre ordered now and will cost $399.
Livid block back
The Livid block is made from beautifully crafted and stained lightweight wood with an anodized aluminium faceplate. The units are made and assembled in the USA, Texas to be exact, so there not mass produced like other companies.
The block is 10.25″ by 10.25″ and is 1.5″ high making it portable and compact. It weighs in at 1.36 kg which is very light for a controller. These properties make this a good contender for live use, especially as it looks great too.
Livid block front
All of the block’s buttons, knobs and faders are fully assignable and not stuck to say just Ableton Live. Block will work with anything that will except midi learn, i.e. max/msp, synths, plugins and DAW’s.
Behind all this flexibilty is the software called blockEditor. Blockeditor will alow the user to create their own grid matrix’s and means the block is completely custimisable unlike the APC40 at the moment (roll on MaxLive).
BlockEditor is open source which means it can be modified and developed outside of the conpanys original intentions. This is likely to see the block be used for all sorts of carzy things which is definetly exciting.
Could this be a more affordable option over a monome? After all it does have knobs and a slider which is a plus over a monome and is completely custumisable. That said you could also go for the Novation Launchpad, although it’s missing some knobs. I can’t help but feeling this new matrix controller war is having a great effect on the monome by bringing it into the spot light and cementing it’s rep as the daady of matrix controllers. Hope so.
