# Mackie emulation for the AKAI APCmini # Copyright (c) 2018 Albert Graef # Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are # permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and # this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is, without any # warranty. JACK_NAME "midizap-APCmini" JACK_PORTS 2 # This turns the APCmini into a Mackie-compatible controller, so that it can # be used with Linux DAW programs like Ardour. The emulation is complicated by # the APCmini having no encoders, no motorized faders, and not nearly as many # dedicated buttons as a Mackie device. But it offers enough controls to be # usable as a basic DAW controller. I tested it with Ardour. # SETUP: In Ardour, enable the Mackie control surface, then connect Ardour's # "mackie control" ports to midizap's midi_out and midi_in2 ports, and the # APCmini to midizap's midi_in and midi_out2 ports. # "BLINKENLIGHTS" ADD-ON: Decoding MCU metering feedback is beyond midizap's # capabilities, but there's a Pd patch in APCmini-meter.pd which you can hook # up to Ardour's Mackie control output to show the channel meters in the # unused top 5x8 button grid. # PROTOCOL DOCUMENTATION: The Mackie protocol is fairly ubiquitous, but since # the manufacturers can't be bothered to properly *document* their stuff these # days, we have to rely on volunteers who do their work using some reverse # engineering. Here are the links that I found most useful: # http://www.budgetfeatures.com/XctlDOC/Xctl Protocol for X-Touch V1.0.pdf # (This chart really is a piece of art. It's actually about the Behringer # X-Touch, but since that device is MCU-compatible, there's a wealth of useful # information in there; just ignore the bits which pertain to Xctl.) # There's another fairly comprehensive one here: # http://www.jjlee.com/qlab/Mackie Control MIDI Map.pdf # Information about the APCmini can be found in the Akai forums here: # http://community.akaipro.com/akai_professional/topics/midi-information-for-apc-mini [MIDI] # The APCmini's dedicated shift key is used to provide alternative functions # to some of the buttons and the faders. ?D8 SHIFT RELEASE SHIFT # transport (assigned to the topmost 5 "scene launch" buttons on the right) A#6 A7 # Stop B6 A#7 # Play C7 B7 # Rec #C7 C#7 # Cycle C#7 G7 # Rew D7 G#7 # FFwd # the next three buttons below are used for the MCU shift keys # NOTE: The MCU actually has four shift keys, so one has to go. You may want # to rearrange these as needed. D#7 A#5 # Shift E7 B5 # Control F7 C6 # Option #F7 C#6 # Alt/Cmd # shifted "scene launch" buttons # We assign these to the function keys F1..F8 here, but of course you can # remap these as needed. ^A#6 F#4 ^B6 G4 ^C7 G#4 ^C#7 A4 ^D7 A#4 ^D#7 B4 ^E7 C5 ^F7 C#5 # bottom 3x8 grid: mute/solo/rec # NOTE: Incidentally, these happen to be identical to corresponding MCU input. # rec (bottom row of the grid) C0 C0 C#0 C#0 D0 D0 D#0 D#0 E0 E0 F0 F0 F#0 F#0 G0 G0 # solo (next row above) G#0 G#0 A0 A0 A#0 A#0 B0 B0 C1 C1 C#1 C#1 D1 D1 D#1 D#1 # mute (next row above) E1 E1 F1 F1 F#1 F#1 G1 G1 G#1 G#1 A1 A1 A#1 A#1 B1 B1 # track select (bottom row right above the faders) E5 C2 F5 C#2 F#5 D2 G5 D#2 G#5 E2 A5 F2 A#5 F#2 B5 G2 # shifted bottom row # We have these assigned to the bank/channel and track/pan/send/instr controls, # but you may want to remap some or all of these as needed. ^E5 A#3 # Bank Left ^F5 B3 # Bank Right ^F#5 C4 # Channel Left ^G5 C#4 # Channel Right # NOTE: Only Pan and Send appear to be supported in Ardour. ^G#5 E3 # Track (Volume) ^A5 F#3 # Pan ^A#5 F3 # Send ^B5 A3 # Instr (Device) # faders (MCU uses pitch bends here, use 129 as step size to get full range) CC48= PB[129]-1 CC49= PB[129]-2 CC50= PB[129]-3 CC51= PB[129]-4 CC52= PB[129]-5 CC53= PB[129]-6 CC54= PB[129]-7 CC55= PB[129]-8 # master fader ?CC56= PB[129]-9 # faders become encoders when shifted (CC16..CC23, incremental mode) ^CC48= CC16~ ^CC49= CC17~ ^CC50= CC18~ ^CC51= CC19~ ^CC52= CC20~ ^CC53= CC21~ ^CC54= CC22~ ^CC55= CC23~ # feedback section ######################################################## [MIDI2] # transport (will light up in green) A7 A#6 A#7 B6 B7 C7[2] # Rec, blinks when engaged #C#7 C7 # Cycle G7 C#7 G#7 D7 # MCU shift keys A#5 D#7 B5 E7 C6 F7 # meter feedback # The Mackie protocol packs all 8 channel meters into a single channel # pressure message which we need to transform into the corresponding # note messages for the LEDs. Note that we only use the upper 5x8 part # of the grid here, in order not to clobber the 3 rows at the bottom # with the rec/solo/mute buttons. This means that the meters, which # actually have 8 different values, have to be squashed into 5 LEDs per # channel. ?CP[16] C2[0,1] G#2[0,0,0,1] E3[0,0,0,0,0,5] C4[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5] G#4[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,3] # Here's an alternative decoding, which creates horizontal meters # covering the full range, with the first channel on top. Note, # however, that this ranges across the entire 8x8 grid and will thus # clobber the rec/solo/mute controls! #?CP[16][-8] G#4[0,1] A4[0,0,1] A#4[0,0,0,1] B4[0,0,0,0,1] C5[0,0,0,0,0,5] C#5[0,0,0,0,0,0,5] D5[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5] D#5[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,3] # no feedback for faders (faders aren't motorized) # NOTE: Feedback for rec/solo/mute/select also needs to be recognized in shift # mode, so that the (shifted) bank/channel left/right keys work as expected. # rec: color = red (vel. 3) ?C0 C0[3] ?C#0 C#0[3] ?D0 D0[3] ?D#0 D#0[3] ?E0 E0[3] ?F0 F0[3] ?F#0 F#0[3] ?G0 G0[3] # solo: color = green (vel. 1) ?G#0 G#0[1] ?A0 A0[1] ?A#0 A#0[1] ?B0 B0[1] ?C1 C1[1] ?C#1 C#1[1] ?D1 D1[1] ?D#1 D#1[1] # mute: color = yellow (vel. 5) ?E1 E1[5] ?F1 F1[5] ?F#1 F#1[5] ?G1 G1[5] ?G#1 G#1[5] ?A1 A1[5] ?A#1 A#1[5] ?B1 B1[5] # select (will light up in red) # NOTE: Ardour apparently doesn't update these when changing banks. ?C2 E5 ?C#2 F5 ?D2 F#5 ?D#2 G5 ?E2 G#5 ?F2 A5 ?F#2 A#5 ?G2 B5