Dream Controller

[joeyluck]

Isn't that a MIDI Fighter Twister?

[MuttReason]

Isn't that a MIDI Fighter Twister?

Yep looks like it. With an iPhone perched in front running some kind of MIDI mapping app.

I have a MIDI Fighter Twister and use it with Reason (and with Live) all the time. Good bit of kit. What I like most about it is dialling in RGB colours in the LEDs around the rotary controllers which makes it easy to use different colours for different controls. For example, I use red for filter controls (cutoff, res, filter env amount), orange for filter envelope ADSR, green for VCA envelope ADSR and blue for the main oscillator controls (waveform, pitch etc). I then MIDI learn map each rotary on the MFT to the respective plugin control. This means that whatever plugin synth I’m using, I always know which MFT control will do what. Makes the experience of using *any* synth I’ve MIDI mapped feel much more like hardware.

[Pepin]

I learned about this modular line of controllers recently:
https://intech.studio

I haven't bought anything yet, but they seem quite powerful with their scripting capability.
Potentially an alternative to the MIDI Fighter Twister.

[MuttReason]

I learned about this modular line of controllers recently:
https://intech.studio

I haven't bought anything yet, but they seem quite powerful with their scripting capability.
Potentially an alternative to the MIDI Fighter Twister.

Those look pretty cool. Nice concept with the different modular units too.

[retreed]

I saw Yealtex showcasing their configurator for custom MIDI controllers at Superbooth this year and bookmarked them: https://yaeltex.com

[joeyluck]

I learned about this modular line of controllers recently:
https://intech.studio

I haven't bought anything yet, but they seem quite powerful with their scripting capability.
Potentially an alternative to the MIDI Fighter Twister.

This looks very similar to Roli Blocks in terms of how they connect.

[crimsonwarlock]

I learned about this modular line of controllers recently:
https://intech.studio

I haven't bought anything yet, but they seem quite powerful with their scripting capability.
Potentially an alternative to the MIDI Fighter Twister.

Looks great, but that stuff is very expensive. I have a Novation LaunchControl XL, that I picked up years ago for around 130 euros. To get that number of controllers from Intech would come close to 800 dollars

[MuttReason]

Sound great - may you could post the remote/lua codec and combinator patch here, please?

It isn’t a LUA/Reason Remote setup. There’s a downloadable editor for the MFT that you use to set the MIDI CC number and LED RGB colour for each individual rotary. Each rotary is also a clickable switch to an alternate mode where you can set a different MIDI CC and colour. I don’t use this - I use the first layer of 16 x controls only - but the option is there. The MFT also has switches on the side of the device that are MIDI assignable.

Using the MFT editor it takes no more than 2-3 minutes to assign a MIDI CC to each rotary and set the colour for the LED ring lights around it. The configuration can then be saved in the editor and it’s also written to the device and stored there (ie once you’ve set up the config you want the MFT will stay in that config every time it’s booted up).

I then just use MIDI Learn to map each rotary to the plugin I’m using and save that MIDI mapping within the plug-in’s preset (how that works varies between different DAWs and different plugins).

I use the MFT with Reason DAW, with Ableton Live and also with various iPad app plugin synths that I sample into my MPC Live 2, so it’s pretty versatile. Key thing is I use the same rotary RGB colour convention throughout (red for filter controls, orange for filter ADSR etc) so whatever DAW or device I’m using, I know what tweaking a knob on the MFT will do to the sound without having to look at the laptop or iPad screen.

With Reason DAW I have templates set up with the MFT mapped and locked to a specific synth (eg The Legend Moog clone, which just comes alive with the MFT) or a specific Combinator. It’s also super fast to create a new mapping to any device using MIDI Learn. Just click on the on-screen knob, twiddle the associated rotary on the MFT and job done.

At a more trivial level… it’s also a very cool looking piece of kit. Sits there on the desktop glowing away. And it is pretty gig-proof and well-built, these things are a fairly common sight in DJ booths.