Korg nanoKONTROL2 Slim-Line USB-MIDI Control Surface

[J.HEXX]

I looked in the search function on the forum here, but didn't find any threads in relation to this device. I was looking into daw controllers, and i came across this inexpensive unit. I wanted to verify if this is compatable with Reaper. I see it uses MMC and CC codes. If it is, i may go and get one, for it's transport, knobs , faders and solo/mute and record buttons too.

i really like the Bcf 2000, and the Faderport, but i am also thinking about saving space,and wall socket space too but its a close call between this and the Bcf 2000.

edit: i think i found the answer. it does mackie hui protocol mode that is built in to the second generation of the nano kontrol, so i think it'll work

[J.HEXX]

i just got this controller today, and i can't get the faders to work in reaper, the transport doesnt work, and also the pan reads, but it is reading the pan movements backwards, and is oversensitive(left is right, and right is left, and a small movement of the knob overshoots the pan and is over sensitive). I really need some help setting this up properly.

[J.HEXX]

i finally used the action option to set the transport controls to the first 8 tracks in the mixer, and i have to say for what it is, i am surprised how solid this is for it's price, the faders and knobs have a great feel and have a small resistance to them both. Faders dont feel chintzy at all, neither the knobs.
Now the only thing i need to figure out, is how to program this, to where i can select tracks 1-8 and then select tracks 9-16, and be able to set the transport controls to switch between the two sets of 8 channels(and if i can select 3 sets of 8 channels to control up to 24 channels, that would be great! would anyone here know how to set it to where i can select channels in groups of 8 , so i can mix tracks 1-8 as a group, 9-16 as a group,etc?

[J.HEXX]

i finally have the thing set up for up to 24 tracks, via midi ccm. it took a bit of time, but all the functions to get, are acheived by going into the korg kontrol editor, and in the Control>Common option page, you can set the first 8 tracks in the Global Midi Channel option as midi channel one, the tracks 9-16 as midi channel 2, and tracks 17-24 as midi channel 3. Also for each midi channel, you need to re-assign the transport actions, and map them using the action window in Reaper, and manually selecting the same transport functions for the nanokontrol 2's seperate midi channels (which it has up to 16, so imagine you can set each channel with 8 tracks, up to 16 channels!)
the only drawback is that in order to select the seperate channels, you need to open up the korg kontrol editor and select the midi channel in he Common option and write it to the controller for each set of 8 faders. but its a small thing to pay for. also i notice this doesnt have a 9th fader, so that sucks. but the build is better than version 1 was, and it is def sturdier. this is the best 60.00 i spent ever on a small piece of gear!

[PTF]

Originally Posted by J.HEXX

i finally have the thing set up for up to 24 tracks, via midi ccm. it took a bit of time, but all the functions to get, are acheived by going into the korg kontrol editor, and in the Control>Common option page, you can set the first 8 tracks in the Global Midi Channel option as midi channel one, the tracks 9-16 as midi channel 2, and tracks 17-24 as midi channel 3. Also for each midi channel, you need to re-assign the transport actions, and map them using the action window in Reaper, and manually selecting the same transport functions for the nanokontrol 2's seperate midi channels (which it has up to 16, so imagine you can set each channel with 8 tracks, up to 16 channels!)
the only drawback is that in order to select the seperate channels, you need to open up the korg kontrol editor and select the midi channel in he Common option and write it to the controller for each set of 8 faders. but its a small thing to pay for. also i notice this doesnt have a 9th fader, so that sucks. but the build is better than version 1 was, and it is def sturdier. this is the best 60.00 i spent ever on a small piece of gear!

J.Hexx, it sounds like you've done exactly what I'm trying to do right now. I have the nanokontrol 2, and so far I have it set up to control tracks 1-8, but would like to control it in banks of 8 as you have. Any chance you could upload your .nktrl2 and .ReaperKeyMap files to the Reaper stash? Thanks.

[PTF]

After playing with the nanokontrol 2 for a bit, I've found another way to control all the mixer tracks using the default set up.

Let's say you've set it up in the 'actions' menu to control tracks 1-8, transport etc, and you have 16 tracks in your project. All you need to do is mix tracks 1-8, then when your happy, select tracks 9-16 and move them so they occupy the space of tracks 1-8, and there you have it - track 9 should be automatically renamed as track 1, track 10 as 2 etc... You now have control of all your tracks without having to go into the Korg kontrol editor and be left scratching your head staring at all those CC numbers!

[nagi]

Originally Posted by PTF

After playing with the nanokontrol 2 for a bit, I've found another way to control all the mixer tracks using the default set up.

Let's say you've set it up in the 'actions' menu to control tracks 1-8, transport etc, and you have 16 tracks in your project. All you need to do is mix tracks 1-8, then when your happy, select tracks 9-16 and move them so they occupy the space of tracks 1-8, and there you have it - track 9 should be automatically renamed as track 1, track 10 as 2 etc... You now have control of all your tracks without having to go into the Korg kontrol editor and be left scratching your head staring at all those CC numbers!

So cool!

[J.HEXX]

Originally Posted by PTF

After playing with the nanokontrol 2 for a bit, I've found another way to control all the mixer tracks using the default set up.

Let's say you've set it up in the 'actions' menu to control tracks 1-8, transport etc, and you have 16 tracks in your project. All you need to do is mix tracks 1-8, then when your happy, select tracks 9-16 and move them so they occupy the space of tracks 1-8, and there you have it - track 9 should be automatically renamed as track 1, track 10 as 2 etc... You now have control of all your tracks without having to go into the Korg kontrol editor and be left scratching your head staring at all those CC numbers!

i never thought of doing it the way you did it, but it makes sense. to do it the way i did it is not hard. i can get the nanokontrol key maps out, but how do i get my reaper map out, is it using the Export option in reaper? if i could , show me the way and i will apply the reaper keymap into the stash along witht eh nanokontrol 2 keymaps in a zipped file, just to help out others. once i got the idea of how using the actions option to apply the keymaps, i realize if i wanted to i can max the controls out to midi channel 11 or 12, up to max of 96 tracks, but i kept it to 24 tracks, to keep it simple, and if i need to expand, i could add another 8 channels to max at 32 tracks,which would be more than enough for me

[G-Sun]

I just got mine.
Set it up to control transport, last touched track (vol, pan, solo, rec, mute) and assigned the rest to my Jabb3 Aria-player.

One question though: I can't get the lights to work (only internally and that's just a mess)
Do you know if it's possible, and how to?

[J.HEXX]

Originally Posted by G-Sun

One question though: I can't get the lights to work (only internally and that's just a mess)
Do you know if it's possible, and how to?

you set the lights to go on when you touch the buttons by going into your Korg Kontrol Editor program and select on the buttons you want to light up (solo ,mute, record,all transport controls etc) and set the Button Behaivior to TOGGLE instead of MOMENTARY. Then Go to the COMMUNICATION option and select WRITE SCENE DATA and save your config. Under my COMMON midi settings my lights are set to internal.

[G-Sun]

Originally Posted by J.HEXX

Under my COMMON midi settings my lights are set to internal.

Thanks! Can't have internal leds. Will only be a mess.
But, set it up as "Sonar-mode" in the Korg and Mackie Universal in Preferences > Control Surfaces and was able to get most buttons and leds to work. But that's only a setup for ch1-ch8. I like a little more custom-setup.
I'll ask Korg to make a editor-choice for CC and the Mackie Universal ctrl led messages.

[J.HEXX]

you are welcome G-Sun. It took me time to program the 24 faders/pans/transport and solo/mute/record buttons but it works like a charm. I used the action window option in Reaper and simply moved the control on the NanoKontrol 2 for Reaper to remember and tag the function of each control, and it would save it as that control function. when you switch between faders 1-8 to 9-16 and so on, this is done thru the Korg Kontrol Editor by switching the global midi channel. that is the small price to pay to switch over slots without having to move the tracks around, but for what it is worth it is a great small piece of kit.

[G-Sun]

Originally Posted by J.HEXX

when you switch between faders 1-8 to 9-16 and so on, this is done thru the Korg Kontrol Editor by switching the global midi channel.

Good idea