Difference between revisions of "Akai APC Mini"

Revision as of 18:09, 6 April 2017

Under Construction

Support for the Akai APC Mini is planned with the next version of Box Of Stops. The rest of this page is in preparation for that release...

The Akai APC Mini is well suited for use as a Midi controller for Box Of Stops. The large grid of 64 buttons can respond in Green, Yellow and Red, to separate out the different banks in Box Of Stops. And the nine sliders at the bottom can be assigned to bank and Master volumes.

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

• It can turn on the lights on the device, to show where stops, couplers or combinations are
• Start the lights flashing to show which controls are playing
• Automatically arrange the Registration across the APC Mini, to match the layout shown in a web browser

Plugging in

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

• Exchange a Sysex Device Inquiry message, to detect the APC
• Play a short animation as a welcome - video here
• Arrange the current Registration across the buttons and sliders of the APC

It is now ready to use, with no further configuration.

Auto arrange

Whenever a Registration is selected or changed in Box Of Stops, this is automatically shown on the APC in an arrangement very similar to that seen from a browser:

• Each bank is assigned a column of buttons on the main 8x8 grid
  • Banks alternate in sequence between Green, Yellow and Red
  • If there are more than 8 stops in a bank, they wrap to the next column
  • A gap is left between each bank, unless there are simply too many banks or stops
• Then combinations are shown down the round buttons on the right hand side. These buttons on the APC can only show Green
• Then couplers are shown across the round buttons under the main grid. These buttons on the APC can only show Red
• The sliders at the bottom are assigned to the bank volume for the bank on the same column above in the 8x8 grid
• The last slider on the right is the Master volume

Using

To play any stop, coupler or combination in Box Of Stops, just press the corresponding button on the APC. That button will respond by starting to flash. Press the button again to cancel that control.

Note all controls are linked up. E.g. if you press a button in the browser, or a Gpio button, the equivalent button on the APC will change state too. It makes no difference which controls you use.

Please pay no attention to the labels around the buttons on the APC - the controls have been arranged as described above.

A common approach to using Box Of Stops is to use the APC Mini as the primary control when playing the organ, but to keep a tablet device, or a smartphone, near by. This can then be used to confirm the order of the stops, or to tweak the configuration for a particular piece.

Steering the auto-arrange

If you want to move things around on the APC, the procedure is exactly the same as learning any other trigger:

• First use Configuration mode to add a trigger to any Stop, Coupler or Combination
• Press the button you want to assign on the APC
• Once you OK the screen, you will see the selected button light up, to show the new control, and any related controls, in its new position

When you move a control in a Bank, or in the list of couplers or combinations, this automatically takes any further controls in that list with it. This is called Anchoring, and enables you to move a whole bank at a go, or split a bank in the middle, without having to move all the controls.

If you want to undo an Anchor, open the properties window for that control, and delete the Trigger that you added earlier. That control, and any after it will move back to where the Auto arrange had put them before.