Korg nanoKONTROL2

The Korg nanoKONTROL2 is a very affordable small Midi controller. At a price point similar to the Raspberry Pi, this makes it a good fit if you are looking to add console controls to Box Of Stops.

It has a large number of buttons that can be assigned to any stop, coupler or combination in Box Of Stops, and enough sliders to act as volume controls for all the banks and the master volume. The compact format is also well suited to positioning close to your hands while you're playing.

Box Of Stops comes with built-in support for the nanoKONTROL2. This means:

• It can turn on the lights on the device, to show which stops, couplers or combinations are playing
• Understand the layout of the buttons, sliders and knobs

Plugging in

When the nanoKONTROL2 is first plugged in, Box Of Stops will:

• Exchange a Sysex Device Inquiry message, to detect the nano
• Play a short animated light show as a welcome - video here
• Show the active controls in the current Registration, by lighting the buttons

Assigning buttons

Because there are typically more stops, couplers and combinations in a Registration than there are buttons on the nanoKONTROL2, Box Of Stops doesn't try to auto-arrange these in the same way it does for the Akai APC Mini.

To assign a button on the nanoKONTROL2, just press that button while adding a trigger to any stop, coupler or combination. Once you OK the screen, that button will start to illuminate when the control is playing.

Note that not all buttons on the nanoKONTROL2 have lights behind them. The picture above shows all the available lights illuminated in Red.

Assigning volume controls

Any of the 16 sliders and knobs on the nanoKONTROL2 can be assigned as volume controls for the banks and master volume.

To assign a slider or knob, the system is actually the same as assigning a volume pedal:

• First edit a bank or edit the registration
• Click the icon
• Now move the slider or knob you want to assign
• Once you OK the screen, the control will be ready to use

Layout

Box Of Stops is aware of the layout of the nanoKONTROL2. This means it is able to show meaningful names for the controls, e.g. "Rewind" instead of "Control Change #43".

Timeout

After 10 minutes of inactivity, Box Of Stops will automatically timeout the lights on the nanoKONTROL2.

It will wake up again when activity is next detected. This could be anything, e.g. a button on the nanoKONTROL2, or a note being pressed on a keyboard.

If you wish to change the 10 minute default, please look for the midi.timeout.minutes value in Application properties.

Other controllers

For a larger Midi controller with more buttons and sliders, please see the details about the Akai APC Mini. Again this can be powered directly from the Pi.

At a much simpler level, there is also the option of using the Status Board from The Pi Hut. This plugs directly into the Gpio connector on the Raspberry Pi.