# 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. # PROTOCOL DOCUMENTATION: The Mackie protocol is fairly ubiquitous, but since # 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 Mackie-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 (lacks the feedback messages, # though): # 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 D7 # Cycle C#7 G7 # Rew D7 G#7 # FFwd # the next three buttons below are used for the MC shift keys # NOTE: The MC 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 MC 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/plugin # 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: Plugin appears to be unsupported in Ardour. ^G#5 E3 # Track (Volume) ^A5 F#3 # Pan ^A#5 F3 # Send ^B5 G3 # Plugin (Device) # faders (MC 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 $M0 # reset all meters, see "meter feedback" below A#7 B6 B7 C7[2] # Rec, blinks when engaged #D7 C7 # Cycle G7 C#7 G#7 D7 # Feedback for the MC shift keys. We've disabled this by default since it # doesn't add much value and clobbers some of the blinkenlights below. #A#5 D#7 #B5 E7 #C6 F7 # Blinkenlights galore! The Mackie protocol provides us with both time and # meter data for which we provide some translations here which make various # LEDs light up in different colors. # Meter feedback: Each meter value is sent as a channel pressure message (on # the first MIDI channel) with the mixer channel index 0..7 in the hi- and the # meter value in the lo-nibble of the velocity value. On a real MCP device # like the X-Touch, the meters have 7 segments (4 green, 3 orange, and 1 red), # but the actual range of the meter values seems to be more like 0..13 (at # least that's what Ardour outputs, YMMV). Note that we only use the upper # 5x8 part of the grid here, in order not to clobber the three rows at the # bottom with the rec/solo/mute buttons, so we have to squash the meter values # into those 5 LEDs per strip in some way. The following setup with 3 green, # 1 yellow and 1 red LED seems to work reasonably well, but you might want to # adjust the colors and the mapping of the meter values to your liking. CP[16] C2{0,1} G#2{0:3,1} E3{0:6,1} C4{0:9,5} G#4{0:12,3} # NOTE: We only report the values as we receive them here, there's no # automatic decay of the meters like with real Mackie hardware. Thus we # explicitly reset all meters when transport stops below. (Ardour at least # does *not* do that automatically.) M0[1] $CP{0} $CP{16} $CP{32} $CP{48} $CP{64} $CP{80} $CP{96} $CP{112} # This decodes the least significant digit in the time display (CC69) to count # off time on the 4 bottommost scene launch buttons. Note that the digits are # encoded in ASCII here, therefore the copious amount of zeros in the value # lists below to skip over all the non-digit characters at the beginning of # the ASCII table. CC69[] F7{0:49,1,0} E7{0:50,1,0} Eb7{0:51,1,0} D7{0:52,1,0} # 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