DJ using BCR2000, need additional controller for clip firing

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:19 pm

Do any DJs on here use another controller in addition to their BCR? If so which one? I'm looking at the Faderfoxes, PadKontrol, and MPD32 ATM...

amoeba · Post by **amoeba** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:46 pm

i use one of my BCRs for clip/scene firing. usually, i have one of the top (push/turn) encoders assigned this way - rotation scrolls thru scenes, push launches highlighted scene.

for just clip launching, you could use two encoders - one for track selection, the other for scene selection, then one of them pushed to launch the clip at the intersection of both highlights.

may not be ideal and could take a while to get used to, but i like this because nothing is tied to a particular clip - much more flexible and is in fact stored as part of my template.

YMMV

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:39 pm

Great idea man - the only problem with that for me is that I want to be able to launch another clip while keeping the clip view open on the one currently playing so I can time my drops exactly. Seems like that's impossible to do with just a BCR though...

amoeba · Post by **amoeba** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:56 pm

understood and agreed. well, if you find the perfect controller for this, let me know! (monome looks the best to me so far).

me, i'm waiting for multitouchscreen laptops

or lemurs to become < $200

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:07 pm

lunarhostility wrote:Great idea man - the only problem with that for me is that I want to be able to launch another clip while keeping the clip view open on the one currently playing so I can time my drops exactly. Seems like that's impossible to do with just a BCR though...

the conundrum of having every clip linked to a button is that

- you need a LOT of buttons
- being able to look at a LOT of buttons and picking the right one (take a monome 256 and think of picking out a button 11 rows up, 9 columns over)
- keeping all that organized and flexible for changes to your set

use launch quantize and you can launch on time.

use a different preset on the BCR, that thing changes presets DAMN fast, hold down a preset up/down button and twiddle any knob. some of my templates span 4 presets.

in the spirit of keeping it simple, use another controller (another BCR? they're cheap) or find another way to realize what you want to do. I like the scroll up/down for scenes and the track launch buttons, I just keep those kinds of sets down to 8 tracks.

as for what's good, that's up to you, we can't tell how you work, how you play.

there's also the computer keyboard, with caps lock you can double the number of letters you can use.

oblique strategies · Post by **oblique strategies** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:07 pm

I used to map my computer keyboard to the buttons in Live for both DJing & performing; did this more for other things than firing clips though.

Now I have a Faderfox LX1 (older, black model), & it is infinitely superior. It is one of the best MIDI controllers I have ever used. Great size, build quality, & functionality. It feels right. Makes me want more Faderfox products!

You may want lights that indicate the status of your buttons/clips though. The new Faderfox LX2 has LEDs for each button.

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:25 pm

Yeah man I've definitely been looking at those Faderfoxes. As a user can you tell me what makes the LX2 superior to the LC2 for DJing? I like the faders (and crossfader) but keep running into a lot of people like yourself who sing the praises of the LX1/2.

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:33 pm

use launch quantize and you can launch on time.

I think I misspoke - I moreso meant not launching on the right beat but keeping track of where in the previous song I am. I often will use warp markers to indicate the best places to drop a new track in a previous song so I'd like to be able to keep my eye on the waveform.

use a different preset on the BCR, that thing changes presets DAMN fast, hold down a preset up/down button and twiddle any knob. some of my templates span 4 presets.

Definitely a good suggestion - I'm also considering using the different encoder groups to set one up solely for this purpose along the lines of the system suggested above.

in the spirit of keeping it simple, use another controller (another BCR? they're cheap) or find another way to realize what you want to do. I like the scroll up/down for scenes and the track launch buttons, I just keep those kinds of sets down to 8 tracks.

I keep my sets down to two track A/B mixing actually - probably should have mentioned that earlier. I actually just saw the posts about the Korg nanoPad and am thinking that one of those would serve my purposes just fine.

as for what's good, that's up to you, we can't tell how you work, how you play.

I DJ electro and mostly use Super Luper within full songs to play with individual sections rather than chopping up my songs into lots of clips.

there's also the computer keyboard, with caps lock you can double the number of letters you can use.[/quote]

Never thought about that! Great suggestion

amoeba · Post by **amoeba** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:41 pm

as minimal as you setup is, i'm sure you can figure something very nice out with just the BCR. yes, take advantage of the encoder groups for sure!

one thing that really keeps me loving the BCRs is the endless encoders and the visual feedback. the endless aspect keeps those nasty jumps from happening.

of course you can null things or use takeover to avoid jumps, but that just adds too much cognitive overhead for me. i can keep my lappy low and out of the way, and know exactly what's going on just by keeping my eyes and fingers on the BCR. really fun to see automation spinning the LEDs around.

anyway, more buttons may not be the answer for you. just using encoder groups, you just got X 4 buttons already.

oblique strategies · Post by **oblique strategies** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:50 pm

lunarhostility wrote:Yeah man I've definitely been looking at those Faderfoxes. As a user can you tell me what makes the LX2 superior to the LC2 for DJing? I like the faders (and crossfader) but keep running into a lot of people like yourself who sing the praises of the LX1/2.

It all comes down to what you want to do/need to control. In my opinion, having a basic faders/knobs/encoders/buttons device is pretty essential for an intuitive & ergonomic work flow, whether you're DJing or performing. Personally, I'd place faders & knobs a higher priority than buttons. But once you have your faders & knobs, buttons become mighty nice!

In performance I don't use my LX1 for triggering clips, but for more traditional mixer functions like solo & mute; & for track & clip view select. If I was doing more beat-oriented music triggering loops, scenes, etc. then I might use it for those purposes too. But I haven't done that in a while, preferring to do improvisational sound blendage.

For DJing I actually use a Feena FMDJ9303 MIDI DJ controller, which has enough buttons for me (& faders, knobs, & two joysticks!).

But since I now have the Faderfox, I might add it to my DJ rig since its buttons are placed in a more orderly fashion.

oblique strategies · Post by **oblique strategies** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:52 pm

amoeba wrote: of course you can null things or use takeover to avoid jumps, but that just adds too much cognitive overhead for me.

Brilliant!!!

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:01 am

Quick question: I'm trying to map an encoder to scroll scenes now and don't know how to map it so it goes both up and down (the two functions are listed as separate maps.) How did you map yours?

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:01 am

And that Feena looks sweet man - too bad it's discontinued.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:02 am

there's another button next to those. open the help box in the lower left of Live to read what each does.

lunarhostility · Post by **lunarhostility** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:03 am

Word sorry for the dumb question - I'd closed my info since I'm preparing a promo mix ATM. Thanks to everybody who responded to this thread!