Logic Pro 9 Control Surfaces for Logic...

mk3

mk3

Logician
Hello, all...
Any recommendations on control surfaces for Logic? I would like to have full control of mix, transport, and also ideally be able to control plugins (effects and virtual instruments).

Also, some general questions on control surfaces:
- Do they all involve a software driver or layer between themselves and Logic?
- Is the automation which they write in Logic standard MIDI CC automation, so a project would still play the same even if moved to a studio without the control surface driver?

I'm curious about the more affordable options in particular, such as:

Novation ZeRO SL MkII:
http://www.novationmusic.com/us/products/midi_controllers/zero_sl_mk_ii

PreSonus Faderport:
http://www.presonus.com/products/Detail.aspx?ProductId=2

Behringer B-Controller:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BCF2000.aspx

Any others which you might care to recommend...

Hopefully this is considered on-topic, as the question is really about which ones integrate well with Logic.

Cheers,
mk3
 
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I finally made the Transport buttons on the SL MKII work.

But the stop button always sends the song pointer back to the beginning. And if you fast forward, you must either hit stop, which sends the pointer back to the beginning ("stop" always does that), or hit "Play", and play from there.

Anyone know how to modify the transport controls? Without turning all that completely off, and using "Learn" and Key Commands?

It would be nice to have the song pointer simply stop, in place, without returning to the beginning, and to be able to fast navigate and stop at the point where the stop button was pushed.

The SL MKII tries my patience, in spades.
 
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It looks like Frontier Design is coming out with a 64 bit driver for the Alphatrack "soon". I hope so as I've been patiently waiting to be able to use that thing agian.:brkwl:
 
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Markdvc said:
mk3 said:
A question about the bi-directional communication between Logic and Control Surfaces:
Do any of these control surfaces fully integrate with Logic's dynamic mixer?
That is, as Logic's mixer layout changes, does the control surface automatically reflect the change, controlling whichever channel strips are visible on the screen? Or does one rather have to manually reassign the controller to the channel strips each time?
Click to expand...

In the case of the Mackie and Euphonix units, yes. It is possible to step through the mixer singly or in banks. In my case, I have one each MCU and XT, as well as a C4. I have the MCU and XT assigned as one mixer layer. Using the bank buttons correspondingly moves through 16 mixer channels at a time. Pressing single moves up or down by one channel.

In the case of Euphonix, it is possible to leave the units in default in which case they will follow the mixer as I described for the Mackie units, or, individual controller channels can be assigned in EuCon to particular Logic Mixer Channel Strips. I often work with my Euphonix system (2 MC Mixes, 1 MC Control) with the 2 MC mixes assigned to the first 16 channel strips in a project. The 4 MC control channels could be assigned to Auxes or outputs. The 16 Mackie channels remain "floating".

kind regards

Mark
Click to expand...

And about Analog Mixer Consoles as Allen&Heath ZED Series, a bi-directional communication between Logic and the Analog Mixer works?
 
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mk3 said:
Any recommendations on control surfaces for Logic?
-----snip------
Hopefully this is considered on-topic
Click to expand...

A question about control surfaces for Logic in a thread called "Control Surfaces for Logic" couldn't be more on-topic if you tried.

I don't own a control surface, so have only casually used a bunch of them. The Mackie Control is the most obvious to me. This could be because it was originally co-designed by Emagic, the company who made Logic before Apple bought them in 2002. It used to be called Logic Control.

The other ones baffle me. But with any control surface, one has to get used to NOT using the mouse for everything to get the most for your money in that control surface. I've watched people fly with their Euphonix controller, but I'm faster with a mouse.
 
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I really like the Korg Nano Kontrol $$$.

It was time well spent to come up with a custom configuration (using Logic's Learn function) rather than using the preset Logic template that's available.

My eye is on the Mackie for the future.

Thanks for the historical insight into the connection (no pun intended;)) to emagic.
 
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An additional option for control surface: an iPhone or iPad!
Haven't tried this yet myself, and the technology is still in the growing stages apparently, but here is one option:
http://www.saitarasoftware.com/Site/Home.html

It seems to be essentially a Mackie Control emulation. Of course, one loses the truly tactile benefit of real knobs and faders. Also I would be concerned about latency, but perhaps it's not a problem.

Has anyone tried something like this with Logic?
 
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mk3 said:
An additional option for control surface: an iPhone or iPad!
Haven't tried this yet myself, and the technology is still in the growing stages apparently, but here is one option:
http://www.saitarasoftware.com/Site/Home.html

It seems to be essentially a Mackie Control emulation. Of course, one loses the truly tactile benefit of real knobs and faders. Also I would be concerned about latency, but perhaps it's not a problem.

Has anyone tried something like this with Logic?
Click to expand...
The better app is Touch OSC for the ipad/iphone as it allows you to control a lot of parameters. Any plug in shows up along with all it's controls. Amazing really. This is using the built in "logic pad" that comes with it. But, you can also make your own customized control surfaces too. Very deep.

Incidently, Alphatrack is now working with Logic in 64 bit.
 
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Could someone who uses the axiom pro with logic please explain how the 8 faders on the axiom map to logic? do they control the first 8 channels in logic? do they control whatever is currently on the screen in logic? can you step through banks of faders on the axiom?

and does the 9th fader always control the master track?

thanks.
 
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hi,
which would folks recommend as a midi controller - behringer bcR2000 or bcF2000; i like faders, but do the faders on the bcF2000 'jump' like they do on my uc-33e; or do they respond to 'pick up' mode? the uc-33e seems to not respond.

thanks,

tdog
 
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Could someone who uses the axiom pro with logic please explain how the 8 faders on the axiom map to logic? do they control the first 8 channels in logic? do they control whatever is currently on the screen in logic? can you step through banks of faders on the axiom?

and does the 9th fader always control the master track?
Click to expand...

If you haven't done so, you need to install the hypercontrol driver, found on M-Audio's web site. It comes with a two page manual that should answer your questions. If not, post back.

And yes, the 9th fader always controls master volume.
 
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any new recommendations?

The guy at the online music shop would only recommend Euphonix and suggested I move away Logic which is not happening.

Any new mixer control surfaces people recommend or am I stuck with the Command C approach with the faders on my MPK 49?

Thanks
 
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I used Novation Automap for a couple of years, but lately I started having freezes and crashes (Lion 10.7.4). As soon as I disabled Automap everything went back to normal. So now I use the Novation keyboard (SLMKI) just as a MIDI controller minus Automap. What I mean is every pot and fader sends MIDI controller data and I have Logic translating that into Mixer, Transport etc...
I have to say that my iPad is quickly becoming my favorite controller.
I use V-Control and Lemur for IOS and I LOVE THEM!

Federico, logicplugins.com.
 
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I use the Mackie C4 mainly to tweak synth patches. 32 encoding knobs are great for such work, (fun in fact) and very intuitive. Encoder knobs are by far preferable to regular (stop) knobs. The encoders are the equivalent of motorized faders. The C4 is sturdy and reputably reliable. I never crashed it. In short, this would be the only controller I would trust in live performance. I would be tempted to eventually go for an MCU, when I have the money and the space. One draw back: customizing the controls is not trivial, compared to other controllers.

Avid MC Control is more versatile and is very handy to do studio work, and regardless of other comments, I remain convinced that an experimented MC Control user would easily outperform any mouse-keyboard experimented user. The integration with Logic is comparable to (Mackie) HUI units, ifnot better. The addition of an MC Mix unit is recommended to provide 8 more faders; I find myself often short with only 4 on the MC Control. A gripe about this unit is the jugwheel, which is poorly crafted (considering the price) and is not suited for intense work...

Korg nANO serie is definitely the best bargain (hardware-wise). You could need to customize the controllers (static) faders / (stop) knobs in order to suit all your needs. It comes with preprogrammed setups to readily work with Logic. With its 4 scenes buttons one unit allow you to control up to 32 tracks (8 at a time)... Minus points: version 2 of the nANO Kontrol is equipped with only 8 (faders/channels) compared to 9 with the previous version. The 9th one was convenient for the master.

If you already own an iPad, I warmly recommend the V-Control Pro app, which is very well designed and user-friendly. You can control most of the Logic's parameters and the plugins in its main mode.
Great features:
The window mode, which replicates on the iPad's screen what appears on your Mac screen, allows direct touch control on everything you see. A dream-come-true! No more need to learn/decipher which controller knob actuates which Logic parameter. It's WYSIWYG at its best! You touch and control the actual plugin onscreen knob-/handle/fader parameter.
That window view is also zoomable: increasing the size of the plugin window (to the iPad screen size) eases the visibility and the control of those plugins that don't resize on the Mac screen (unless changing the screen resolution or zooming the whole screen). I find that very convenient with plugins like the AAS or NI ones. As I am getting older, my eye-sight 20/20 is long gone! (Don't trust my avatar picture!).
Additionnally, that window mode allows access and control over the other Mac softwares from the iPad.
One extra feature if you are a performer or a recording engineer (wannabe or qualified): you can remotely control Logic (and the Mac) to adjust sound at the venue (in various spots).
All this for even less $ than a nANO Kontrol!
In short: a must if you happen to be a a lucky iPad owner!

The Novation SLMk-II is a fairly good (but a pricy) choice, if you are looking for a "jack-of-all-trade" kind of MIDI controller. It is generously equipped with 8 encoder and 8 stop knobs, 8 pads, 8 (static) faders, 1 X/Y pad, 1 mod/pitch joystick, 32 push buttons. All touch sensitive. Additionnal page buttons multiplying these controllers assignments types possibilities. Automap is working well, although certain non Logic plugins are not supported, requiring that you do the programming yourself. The default Automap controller assignment is in some case done without considering its usefulness, requiring the user to switch pages often to tweak certain parameters, defeating the main purpose of a controlller. You could correct that issue by reprogramming your own... The SLMk-II could also be used in regular mode. It is easily programmeable and very versatile thanks to its numerous features. The quality of the built of the device is not made for the roady but suits very well in front of your Mac screen. The sotware / hardware updates of the device requires the un-installation of all the controllers and reinstallation of the SLMk-II one first, otherwise things will stop working well with all the controllers. The Novation support is meager, although courteous; don't expect more than one email reply per week, at best...
 
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