Automap and Logic

[danbroad]

Well, I went with the Remote 61 SL. First impressions of the hardware are actually pretty favourable - there is maybe a little too much plastic around, but the keybed seems nicer than the shop unit - very pleased with the keybed, in fact. Certainly the best of all the available MIDI controllers, in my opinion.. In the absence of perfection, I'd have no qualms in recommending this as the best controller around at the moment.

However, I'm disappointed at the implementation so far in Logic 8. Automap itself works well for third party AU's - no issues there, except for the strange mappings [but they're reconfigurable - Novation, did you actually get a synth player to configure the V-Station? Maybe we just have different ideas of what needs mapping priority!]. However, Novation really need to work on their ergonomics. Andy, if you read this, drop me a PM - I have some suggestions that might save you reading terrible posts like the ones on this forum earlier...

The first thing Novation need to do is understand not everyone is up to speed with the Logic Environment. I happened to use Logic 7, but even I haven't that much experience with it - mainly simple stuff. I find their instructions difficult to follow; I can only empathize with the hundreds of angry posts I've found on the web.

Given that Logic, perhaps more than any other sequencer, comes with some excellent synths - ES1 and ES2 in particular - it's not unreasonable that folks want to see decent control implementation of these. Now, we know it can be done - and the Novation site has a FAQ section on it. However, what's there is an almost throwaway paragraph about configuring a transformer unit via an instrument with a monitor function. And that's about it, which plainly isn't good enough for those who've never opened the environment before.

A sysex template for ES2 is provided, but it's not immediately apparent how to upload sysex to the Remote. Again, I'm a hardware synth guy, so I've been doing this for years, but not everyone has my experience. Again, if you're unfamiliar with sysex or MIDI [which is not unheard of, given the expansion of software synths and new users] then what you read is a fairly impenetrable mess. Novation is staffed by guys who, I'm guessing, have been using synths for years and use synth/Midi terms daily without even thinking about them. I do the same with medical terms, and sometimes we're all guilty of forgetting the 'layman' doesn't understand what we mean.

I teach junior new starters in my job, and the first rule is that nobody minds if you oversimplify things. What is required is a tutorial - from starting Logic, to finishing with mapped parameters to one of the internal synths in Logic - complete with screengrabs, and not missing out a single step. Even if the tutorial says 'click this' and 'do this' without you understanding why, for the moment. I think that would go a long way in appeasing the frustrations of Logic 8 users worldwide [and I've read some fairly derogatory stuff on the web searching for answers, most of it unjustified but understandable.]

So, out of the box, there's a fair degree of work to do to make Automap the all-singing wonder that it plainly can be. I'm sticking at it, because I see that once configured, it's a real advance in controller technology.

[danbroad]

Hmmm, after a few more hours attempting to get this set up, I'm about to box it up and demand a refund. I've rung the shop and warned them....

So, a great controller, but setting up Automap with IK's Sampletank is a pain. Sampletank controls become automapped as 'ch4user4' and such like. Virtually incomprehensible. I can get it to work using a standalone MIDI mode, but I can do that with any controller. Has anyone found a decent Sampletank template they could let me try? I'd go back to EXS24, but.. well that isn't easy either.

Oh, and in Omnisphere, you need to right click and 'enable host automation' for every control. Once you've done this, you can automap as normal. Just found this out, and it would have saved me an hour or so. Plus, thank goodness you can rename the labels, because they default to '1' or '17' or similar. Likewise, is there a decent Omnisphere template anywhere? I'd like to be able to name the pages themselves - 'layer A' and layer B' pages. Maybe you can, but I've only read the manual once..

Still haven't remembered enough about the Logic Environment to be able to monitor an instrument's labels and then assign a 'transform' module to it. I'm going to try this tonight. If there are no more posts from me, then you'll know it became all rather too much for me...

I'd still recommend the controller as its keyboard is actually fantastic - very expressive. However, if you're a Logic user, be warned there are troubled times ahead.. On the plus side, Audiorealism's ABL2 mapped just fine.. so, as long as I need just a 303..

[scrattyrat]

Hi it seems you are a bit of an expert with setting up Automap with Logic, I dont suppose you could expand on the instructions above a little bit for a novice?

I have spent about 2 days trying to get my SL MKII working with Logic 8 to no avail. I have read mulitple posts/articles from Novation answerbase etc, have tried setting up a monitor in the arrange window and assigning ports to it, setting up as Mackie HUI..

I have also read a lot of posts about automap template 39 (logic template) but the SLMKII does not have this template in the available templates and nowhere on the net can i find out how to load this or access it?

Any help setting this up would be muchly appreciated, im sure I cant be the only person struggling to setup a novation product with automap and logic.

Thanks!

[danbroad]

Ahh, scrattyrat, sorry for not seeing your post earlier. The KVRbot sent me a garbled message that I couldn't figure out completely. I replied on the other thread.

Two topics started by me on the same subject, now at the top of the Hardware forum! I'll be accused of spamming next.... or Novation will think I have it in for them! Neither is true; I admire Novation's work here, but I won't be joining the Automap fanclub just yet...