Re: [Qtractor-devel] Project AKAI APC 40 for Qtractor

[Rui N. C. <rn...@rn...>]

On 1/7/22 15:01, Florent TETART wrote:
> Hello here,
> 
> First, let me present myself, my name is Florent TETART, I'm french (so 
> be indulgent for my english !!)  and I am one of the creator of  the 
> free software for libraries PMB (https://www.sigb.net). I am a software 
> developer since about 20 years, especially in the web technologies (php, 
> javascript), but always interested in exploring new subjects during my 
> leisure time !
> 
> My boy friend composed 20 years ago a rock-opera and during the Covid 
> confinement he decided to review his work and produce a new version. I 
> knew the very basic concepts  of MIDI, DAW and audio processing  so to 
> help him I decided to install his personal home digital studio under 
> GNU/Linux and I discovered Qtractor (after trying Rosegarden and a few 
> others) witch is a great software, clear and efficient (thank you :-) ).
> 
> I started to look for midi control surfaces and after hours of 
> researches on the web to understand how it work and the different 
> possibilities, I found a second hand APC 40 from AKAI designed for 
> Ableton with the project of developing a midi to midi or keyboard 
> shortcut router in python to use it extensively with Qtractor and Qjackctl.
> 
> I started the job a few days ago, and the basics should work without any 
> troubles :
> 
> -managing the mixer console
> 
> -using knobs to adjust the pannig
> 
> -Handling play / stop / record
> 
> -using pad touches for driving fastforward, rewind, metronome 
> start/stop, moving selection through tracks by sending specific midi 
> signals defined via the help/shortcut window
> 
> I would like to go further and I need your advises  and explanations of 
> what is possible or not.
> 
> -I didn't found how I could move the start and end of a loop or puch (is 
> there shortcuts for that ?)
> 
> -I'd like to use the tempo knob to change the tempo in Qtractor but I 
> didn't found any shortcut (keyboard or midi)
> 
> -The controller have 8 knobs that I would like to :
> 
>      *associate to the control of plugins on the current selected track 
> (ex : reverb or delay level)
> 
>      *using them when the shit touch of the APC 40 is on to move the 
> playhead, start / end of loop / punch or horizontal/vertical scrolls and 
> zoom in/out of the work zone (may be possible with keyboard shortcuts 
> for scrolling or zoom ?) ...
> 
>      *using them with other touches to control automation level on tracks
> 
> -And the cherry on the cake : I'd like to use the pad grid of the APC 40 
> to light on pads in function of the current clips visible on the screen 
> (why not !) and select directly one clip when pressing the corresponding 
> pad...
> 
> Is there any way of doing that ? Could we use dbus messages for 
> controlling Qtractor or getting app datas (list of tracks, list of clips 
> of a track, list of plugins in a track, position of the play head, ...), 
> or is there an hidden API :-) ?
> 
> I am also listening to your ideas for using this controller in the best 
> useful manner as I'm not a great practitioner of the software as I don't 
> compose myself !
> 
> Of course, I will publish this work as a free software.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Florent
> 

hi Florent,

welcome to the party!
i'd recommend you to move the discussion to https://www.rncbc.org, 
forum/9, just because this mailist haven't seen much traffic anyhow;)

cheers
-- 
rncbc aka. Rui Nuno Capela
rn...@rn...