Novation Remote SL MkII support is here

[moss]

Hei moss,
Thank you for this great script. Must have been a lot of work !

It is cheeky of me to ask, I know but...

Have you thought about whether there might be a way to get the SL MkII to launch clips — not only scenes ?

It isn't obvious which buttons to use, I guess, and maybe it's not practical.

I suppose you did think about it and decided the controller just isn't made to do that...oder?

I was even not sure to add scenes. It's just the wrong device for task.

[Apostrophe]

Yes. Of course I understand.

Thanks again.

[moss]

Since Bitwig 1.2 is out of the door here is the official release of the compatible version:

Get it from here: http://www.mossgrabers.de/Software/Bitwig/Bitwig.html

Compatible with Bitwig 1.2.

* Support for new browser
* Fixed track navigation for effect tracks.
* Added preferences option to hide crossfader option from track (gives you 1 additional Send).
* Specific scripts for MkI and MkII.
* Support for Tap Tempo button on MkI (thanks to adamlwatson).

[moss]

Hi Bitwigglers!

I implemented a controller script which allows to use the Novation Remote SL MkII controller series with Bitwig.
It uses the new API features of 1.2 so make sure you have the latest version installed!

Get the latest stable release from: http://www.mossgrabers.de/Software/Bitwig/Bitwig.html
For installation and documentation see the GitHub Wiki: https://github.com/git-moss/SLMkII4Bitwig/wiki

The version in GitHub might always be in an alpha or beta state, you have been warned!
https://github.com/git-moss/SLMkII4Bitwig

Enjoy!

[maschinelf]

Hi moss!
thank you very much for the great script. Just installed it a few days ago and got it working mostly.
The only thing which just does not work is switching the row on my Zero SLMK2.
I press the preview-button and then the first two buttons above to switch the row, but nothing happens.

Could this be my ZeroSl or am I doing something wrong here? I also looked to the novation page to verify that I'm pressing the right buttons.

Has anyone else a Zero SLMK2 and the same problem or is it working?
Any advice is much appreciated. Would love tu use this script to the fullest as it's great. But I need to be able to switch to the other knob-modes.

Btw. switching page and bandk works as expected, just not the row-switch.

Thank you all!

Preview button functions appear broken for me too. Tried with the stable release and the latest version on github, according to the instructions on the wiki, but doesn't appear to work.

The display does switch to display the appropriate parameter if touching, for example, a fader on the right side while one of the left side parameter pages is currently being displayed. But if switching back to a left side display (e.g. by touching one of the knobs or pots), it will go back to displaying the last selected row i.e. if the 2nd button row was selected prior to touching a fader, then this will still show when switching back to the left side by choosing the top row knob. The only way the display on the left side switches is by actually changing a value, which is a problem especially for the two button rows.

Another thing is the top knob row cannot toggle between device, fixed and common parameters. Has anyone using a Zero got it working as expected? Would be curious to know if this is the way it is, or if I can do something to fix it.

[maschinelf]

I noticed a few more things, which may help explain the problem. I also have a 49 SL and that works fine, so it seems to be a problem with the script.

Firstly, the preview button has no discernible effect except when it is pressed, and one of the left row buttons or faders is toggled. In this situation, it performs the function that should be done by pressing preview + page left/right (P2 functions on the keyboard version). Preview + page left/right does not work, but the above combination has the intended result, so atleast the left side controls work fine.

Secondly, you don't need to keep the preview button pressed to display either the left or right side values when toggled. But as I mentioned earlier, the right side will show the last selected row regardless of which one is chosen next. And again, pressing preview + any of the buttons or knobs does nothing for the right side controls.

It appears to be something to do with how the preview button is defined (or not) in the script. I know absolutely nothing about programming so I'm likely babbling nonsense, but I checked out some pages which seemed like they may hold some relevant info and found one page which seemingly defines all the knobs and faders, row selection buttons etc. I didn't see anything for "preview" there, so maybe it needs to be defined explicitly or something. Otoh, it works in combination with the left side faders and buttons, so it does function in some form and is recognised by the script. Since I have both versions, I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

[maschinelf]

I have both the Zero and 49 for now, but I need to sell some gear. I'd be happy to help to get problems with the Zero sorted out, so if anyone wants to write some code and have me test it on both I'd be happy to do so. Can only wait a few days though, if there is no response then the Zero is going up for sale.

Ofcourse, it's possible that others have already got it working, and there's no problem with the script.

[moss]

I have both the Zero and 49 for now, but I need to sell some gear. I'd be happy to help to get problems with the Zero sorted out, so if anyone wants to write some code and have me test it on both I'd be happy to do so. Can only wait a few days though, if there is no response then the Zero is going up for sale.

Ofcourse, it's possible that others have already got it working, and there's no problem with the script.

The non-zero devices send midi CC 80-87 for row selection and 88-91 for page changes. From my understanding the Zero should send the same when a button is touched / used in combination with the preview button.
Could you please check this? (e.g. use MidiOX: http://www.midiox.com/). Also please note what the value is when you press / release / touch the button.

[maschinelf]

Yep will do, thanks.

[maschinelf]

Since I'm on mac, I tried with midi monitor.

Here is what I found:

preview + touching fader - 85
preview + right side first row buttons - 86
preview + right side second row buttons - 87
page right - 88
page left - 89

Preview button by itself doesn't display any message. Also, no message is displayed while touching/pressing any of the left side knobs or buttons in combination with preview.

Also, the message displayed while pressing preview + the page buttons is interesting. When pressing preview + page right, the following message is displayed:

Controller 90 1
Reverb Send Level 0

And preview + page left shows the inverse:

Reverb Send Level 1
Controller 90 0

As for what happens while touching any of the knobs or faders, no message is displayed though it works as expected. When changing values, it shows either the rate of acceleration or the absolute value depending on which type of controller, and 1 to 0 for the buttons, except the 2nd row buttons which shows values of 127 to 0. The drum pads also show note on/off messages as expected. The transport shows the message Sound Control 10 with value of 0 or 1 depending on whether its on or off.

[maschinelf]

It seems like the following video may also provide some clues as to what is going on.

https://youtu.be/01rUTwhkWx8

Seems like in Live, the Ableton template row select buttons are used for launching, stopping scenes etc. The way it's done in the video is by manually mapping the drum pads in Live for the Zero to the same assignments as those that exist for the row select buttons in the other SL's. I also saw the other video about using the slmkii's with Live, and the preview + right side functions roughly correspond with what happens in bitwig in a way that makes sense. So the problem seems to be that there are no mapped controls in the Ableton template for the Zero that are identical to the row selection button mappings on the keyboard SL's.

[moss]

Since I'm on mac, I tried with midi monitor.

Here is what I found:

preview + touching fader - 85
preview + right side first row buttons - 86
preview + right side second row buttons - 87
page right - 88
page left - 89

...

Thanks for the analysis!

Everything you wrote is as expected, the only problem is that the left side is not sending anything in combination with the preview button.
Just to be clear: When you keep Preview pressed none of the left side knobs, pads or buttons send anything?
Is the LED lit of the row when you do preview+button (left and right)?

I also looked into the manual but could not find anything which indicates that this combination could be turned on/off :-/
Only thing you could try is changing the "Touch Select - Touch Sel" option.

[maschinelf]

Thanks for the reply moss!

Yea nothing is transmitted when pressing preview + left side controls. I will check again about the LEDs. Yea I already tried changing the touch select option. Also note my next reply, I have a gut feeling that's what it is.

[maschinelf]

Sorry for so many posts, but I just did some more testing with both SL's and thought it would be useful to report what I found.

I am almost certain the problem is as described in the post with the link to the Ableton video. This is because I found an exact 1-to-1 relation in what the various preview button functions (preview + left/right, preview + toggle right side control) and the P2/right row select buttons do in bitwig, and how that exactly correlates with their respective functions for Ableton Live. I don't know if that makes any sense, but basically, since the script is built on the Live template, the usual functioning of the preview button doesn't seem to apply, and it's defined differently within the template.

I also noticed a few more interesting things. If you touch a fader and the screen displays the appropriate volume info and then you switch back to the left side by touching a control, then the screen still shows the last selected row as for the Zero. This is not a problem in this case because of the row selection buttons, but it behaves the same way. What I found interesting though is that if you switch the display to the fader side by pressing a row select button or preview + fader/button, then switching back to the left side on the screen only happens if you keep alternating the row you touch i.e. If you touch the first know row the first time, the display will only show the right side controls if you touch the second knob row the next time. This is true for both SL's. It's a moot point though, with the row select buttons.

It seems that on the Zero, the only way to fix the row selection issue would be to use the drum pads for this purpose. I don't know if it's possible to do that within the script, but I guess it might be possible if the drum pads are assigned to output the relevant midi CC messages instead of note commands. Personally I don't really see this is as a problem cause well, they truly suck anyway

[moss]

Sorry for so many posts, but I just did some more testing with both SL's and thought it would be useful to report what I found.

No worries, thanks for your indepth analysis!

It seems that on the Zero, the only way to fix the row selection issue would be to use the drum pads for this purpose. I don't know if it's possible to do that within the script, but I guess it might be possible if the drum pads are assigned to output the relevant midi CC messages instead of note commands. Personally I don't really see this is as a problem cause well, they truly suck anyway

The implementation of the MKIIs is really a nightmare mainly caused by the removal of the 2nd display. On the zero its even worse making it horrible to use just to save on 8 cheapo buttons :-/
And you are right, the "drum pads" are a joke. I still do not understand how you can build something like this in a product...

I will have a go at your proposed solution tonight. Cheers.