Traktor Wants and Needs

Design Concepts
1

I am about to make a midi controller for a friend to use with Tracktor. She uses a lot of the effects and loop functions, and I would imagine that when she gets T3 she will use all 4 decks.

My question is:

Can I get some advice on Tracktor Functions and what is considered essential, and what type of function it is?

Example:

AB Crossfader - linear pot

A volume - linear pot

B volume - linear pot

A:

Cue - button

play - button

set - button

Track forward - button

track back - button

fast forward - button

rewinde - button

Loop - button

  (what other functions need to be associated with loop)?)

Pitch up - button

pitch down - button

Track seek/scratch pad - encoder

How does transport functions work (one set for all.. so how do you ‘switch decks’)

2

I don’t see how anyone but she will be able to answer that question, you know?

3

Yeh… She’s the only one who could say that. If you’re going to take someone else’s advice on what’s good for her, you might as wwell take behringer’s or mackie’s or something and just buy one…

Why doesn’t she build it herself anyway?

Like… do we smell bad in this forum or something? Serious, where are all the girls!!!

4

I am pushing my girlfriend to start making the midibox with words… you know, electronic is like puzzle… you don`t have to understand everithing, just follow instructions :slight_smile: Maybe we will see her and other girlie boxes here someday. :wink: Hope so.

5

;D I think in slang terms. “girlie box” might mean something different than you mean it to :wink: hehehehehehe

6

Yes, I have been talking with her about what features she is looking for and what she can do without.. We are consulting back and forth and refining things..

I was just looking for another perspective. I am not a DJ, so I need to be educated on my advice to her :slight_smile: Much of it IS obvious… I guess I need to look more into what can and cannot be controlled by midi with the software.

Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough:

I am to understand that, for instance, transport controls do not necessarily need to be duplicated. So, how (in a midi controller on Tractor) does one switch the controls to another deck. Is that simply a cycle button, or a button for each deck? How is it indicated which is active? An LED for each deck?

In other words:

Are there some not so obvious things? I have not used the software, and have only watched her use it. We plan on getting together and taking a lot of notes. Of particular interest are things like:

1: multi purpose buttons. Is that possible? For instance - What function does/can the cue button take on dependent on the state of that deck? Also the previously mentioned transport controls.. how does that cycle through the decks?

2: Choosing pots vs encoders. Obviously, any time an knob type control needs to be ‘resetable’ or needs an undetermined number of revolutions, then it should be an encoder. (EQ makes sense as a pot, track seek makes sense as an encoder.. Im not THAT clueless :wink:

An example might be a pitch bender. Now, certainly the choice between simple pitch up/down buttons or a wheel/fader is her choice.. but can it take both? Bump buttons AND pot. Would it make sense that an encoder would be an option?

Certainly it will be set up the way she will use it best, but It helps to know what CAN and what CANT be done… or what would be ‘overkill.’  What I am asking is what have you found to make sense to you? What have you tried that didnt work out right, and why?

Right from the start, this project is NOT to be a clone of anything on the shelf. We both really like the radically different styling that I have seen with Midibox builders..  I simply want to do all the ‘thinking’ before building.. so as to avoid putting something on there that just wont work right. Likewise, I ABSOLUTELY dont want to forget to put something in that should be there.

Im not a DJ  ;)

7

afterall.. this IS the design concepts thread.. so.. how would YOU do it, and why?

8

Yes, I have been talking with her about what features she is looking for and what she can do without.. We are consulting back and forth and refining things..

I was just looking for another perspective. I am not a DJ, so I need to be educated on my advice to her :slight_smile:

Yeh there’s your problem. At this stage of design, she should be giving YOU advice :slight_smile: The whole idea of a custom controller is to make it your own personal design, and if it’s for her, then she needs to tell you what she needs… Only after you know exactly how she would like it to work, should you worry about what’s possible and what’s not.

Much of it IS obvious… I guess I need to look more into what can and cannot be controlled by midi with the software.

That’s one limitation that should be considered before considering the limitations of the midibox.

I think what you need to do is first get a copy of the midi implementation of traktor, then sit down with your friend, use traktor and match up required/desired functions of the controller with that midi implementation, and think about which control surface elements she desires to control that midi transmission, and then you want to start thinking about the midibox side of things :slight_smile:

9

transport controls do not necessarily need to be duplicated - true, but please do her a favour and make at least

two transports, while on stage you do need at least two transports. I will be tweaking mb64 app to support my

idea of switching one trasnport set among n players(i.e. left transport set can be switched between players A &

C and right between B & D).

Switcing of active deck can be achieved via pushbuttons[each for one deck, on cycle], selection via pot is not

implemented yet. You can make midibox show you the last pressed button but the problem is that thiese leds won’t

b updated if you change focus in traktor. [T3 still does not support sending MIDI messages, only clock and OSC

but I think I’ve read somewhere that they plan to implement it]

1: multi purpose buttons. Problem is that MB only can intuit @ what state is current deck

2: Choosing pots vs encoders. If you plan to, like kontrol two decks with one set of pots (ie one line of eq

Knobs) it is better to use encoders as even if traktor would be abel to send you the status of eq on change of

active deck, you’d still need a motor-pots. Use encoders, they are relative. [is anyone saying nondetended pots

and diff value??]

encoder for pitch bend is almost a must, your choice is what will you attach to it, a wheel or dial or something

worse, heehe. U can add pitch bend buttons to that [only T3 i think] bkz Traktor can bind multiple inputs to one

virtual control/button/whatev.

My advice is to build one small, “joystick” with 2-4 100k lin/log pots, 2-4 buttons, download mjoy.exe joystick

to MIDI konverter and test all of the controls in traktor that you are unsure of the way they can be controlled.