Korg NanoKontrol2 as dedicated Traktor Sample Deck Controller!

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Korg NanoKontrol2 as dedicated Traktor Sample Deck Controller!
Posted on: 21.03.2011 by Kandra Fagler
Hey guys, I just bought the Korg nanoKontrol2 (the new and improved version nano series) and am pretty impressed with it

I just realised that the nanoKontrol2 is probably the PERFECT controller for Traktor S4/Traktor2's sample decks!

nanoKontrol2: 8 knobs, 8 pots, 3 buttons each (24 buttons total)

the first four faders controls the left sample deck volume levels
the next four controls the right sample deck volume
the first four pots control dedicated filters for each track of the sample deck
and so on...

the 3 buttons on each channel can be used to play, stop, and restart sample on each deck, so you can imagine that this means you have 8 dedicated full control of the sample decks! its like having 8 extra channels on traktor! (2 full channels + 8 sample deck tracks!)

just thought i'd share this with the people here - this is a nice, cheap controller with a lot of controls!

im in the middle of mapping it to my traktor S4 but i believe im gonna wait a bit till Traktor 2 comes out next week before i finish the TSI so i can do led feedback etc on the buttons
Cornelius Matlosz
17.11.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
i was curious myself so figured this was an excuse to try out my lpd8...

* i can't see a difference between "sample trigger" and "slot retrigger" tho sample trigger only has 'hold' as an option for a button while slot retrigger has toggle/hold/direct

* in loop mode mute/unmute is just the same as 'sample play' and in non-loop mode 'sample play' is just the same as 'slot start/stop'

* the 'play' icon illuminates when using 'slot start/stop' or 'sample play' but not the trigger or retrigger options

wow... now i am confused... i was in blissfull ignorance before

edit: there is also the 'group play' options so maybe the above confusion is only as i dont know what the group stuff does yet - tho i can guess ofc.
Anyone figure out the above? I'm trying to figure out which functions to map..knowing the benefits when making a mapping is ideal..
Kandra Fagler
02.07.2011
Originally Posted by BURST!
Has anyone made a mapping for the kontrol2 yet? I'm believeing of picking one up but I'm not sure if I'd have the know-how to map it myself.
i am going to do mapping but havent got the time yet been busy with my studies, as soon as i do i will post it here

shouldnt take too long, its a pretty simple mapping, just gotta figure out how to get led feedback etc
Chasidy Heckenbach
28.06.2011
Originally Posted by V-Hoff
Yeah, the scene button is not midi mapable by default
not tricky to convert the sysex into a note number or something tho. no clue if bomes can do that. shame really they didn't believe to send a midi note as well or instead of. not entirely sure why its a sysex message... only useful changing thing in there is the bank number, which could have been sent as a cc val or something...
Joy Rory
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
the scene select button on the nanokontrol mk1 sends sysex - so you'd need to change that into a note or cc via bomes or something. if you did that and also set all scenes to send out the same data then it should work. personally i'd skip that button and use something else tho. the other 6 transport buttons all send out cc's.
I'll take a look how far I'll get mapping it this way, I'll post my progress in this topic!
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
I believe I'll buy a Nanokontrol 1, the last 9th pot, fader and 2 buttons will be mapped as a loop recorder. I'll use the scenes button as a shift button, so the buttons next to the faders will have 2 functions (restart sample + (un)mute sample and play sample + loop sample). I'm planning on using the rest of the buttons (transport section) to move a loop from the loop recorder to a sample deck (is this possible?).
What do you guys believe ?
the scene select button on the nanokontrol mk1 sends sysex - so you'd need to change that into a note or cc via bomes or something. if you did that and also set all scenes to send out the same data then it should work. personally i'd skip that button and use something else tho. the other 6 transport buttons all send out cc's.
Irwin Ney
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by dstep
hook us up with the mapping once you get the led feedback mapped :")
Hey man, I have two korg nanokontrols from the first edition and there is no such thing as led feedback for those units...
I mean, it has leds on the buttons, and it's configurable between toggle or trigger, but there is no MIDI IN to recieve feedback from the software, so it doesn't work like launchpad or apc20/40 buttons.

Because of that or of something else, when you change scenes 1 to 2, 3, 4 and change back to 1 again you will loose the lights that were turned on.

I don't know if it changed now in the second version, but the first had this two major leaks. So anyone who is considering buying a unit should know if these features are now implemented on the second version or don't.

Who can confirm that?
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
Is trigger the same as cue'ing? Than what the heck is retrigger?
i was curious myself so figured this was an excuse to try out my lpd8...

* i can't see a difference between "sample trigger" and "slot retrigger" tho sample trigger only has 'hold' as an option for a button while slot retrigger has toggle/hold/direct

* in loop mode mute/unmute is just the same as 'sample play' and in non-loop mode 'sample play' is just the same as 'slot start/stop'

* the 'play' icon illuminates when using 'slot start/stop' or 'sample play' but not the trigger or retrigger options

wow... now i am confused... i was in blissfull ignorance before

edit: there is also the 'group play' options so maybe the above confusion is only as i dont know what the group stuff does yet - tho i can guess ofc.
Joy Rory
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
ah... ok thought u were referring to a button on the nanokontrol - guess u mean the "retrigger" in traktor

for sample decks you do have a bunch of stuff you can map to buttons like play/trigger/retrigger never mind the filter and mute/unmute etc plus stuff that are best for rotaries. so yep the more buttons the better. whether retrigger is useful for you depends on the kinds of samples you use and how you play then i guess - i havent messed around with the sample decks too much myself but will me mapping all of the above to my launchpad.
Is trigger the same as cue'ing? Than what the heck is retrigger?
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
restart the sample
ah... ok thought u were referring to a button on the nanokontrol - guess u mean the "retrigger" in traktor

for sample decks you do have a bunch of stuff you can map to buttons like play/trigger/retrigger never mind the filter and mute/unmute etc plus stuff that are best for rotaries. so yep the more buttons the better. whether retrigger is useful for you depends on the kinds of samples you use and how you play then i guess - i havent messed around with the sample decks too much myself but will me mapping all of the above to my launchpad.
Joy Rory
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
personally i prefer the extra fader and rotary of the mk1 but you have an extra button for each channel on the mk2 plus it seems much better made - tho i havent had one in my hands personally.

i use my mk1 with reason and ableton and do find the 9th channel very useful.

swings and roundabouts i guess... don't know what u mean by 'restart'
restart the sample
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
Isn't a Korg nanokontrol 1 better? So you can use the 9th pot to set the dry/wet of the loop recorder, and use the buttons as undo and size. Or is that restart function really so handy?
personally i prefer the extra fader and rotary of the mk1 but you have an extra button for each channel on the mk2 plus it seems much better made - tho i havent had one in my hands personally.

i use my mk1 with reason and ableton and do find the 9th channel very useful.

swings and roundabouts i guess... don't know what u mean by 'restart'
Chasidy Heckenbach
01.06.2011
Originally Posted by extraclassic
I was prepared to go up to
Cornelius Matlosz
21.11.2011		By mapping my Apc40 I have discovered the difference and both functions will be applicable in my new mapping, which I will be uploading here by the end of the year with a youtube vid and diagrams of the layout. It allows most buttons to have 1-1 functionality, so it'll be something to look into if you have an Apc40 already, and want a comprehensive easy mapping scheme. However, you either will have to remap a few buttons to a new controller or buy a Numark Mixtrack (Mixtrack Pro not required) to have functionality over everything.

Thanks for the help everyone!


I still could not get the "stop all clips" button (channel 1 A5 I believe) to light up. Dunno why. But I went around it and I will be posting a vid as well as a picture layout description of my mapping by the end of the year. Look forward to it if you have an Apc40 already, as all you'll need is to get a Numark Mixtrack (I don't have pro, so you shouldn't need one either) which can be bought pretty cheap now days.

Thanks for all the help guys! I feel like it solidified my knowledge, and also gave future readers a more centralized comprehensive answer, so they won't be looking in different threads for different problems.
Cornelius Matlosz
17.11.2011		Nvm, by mapping I found out the difference.

There are two differences between playing clips.
If the arrow button is orange that means the clip is actually being technically played, as if the play/pause button was pressed on the track deck. If the arrow is unlit that means it is not playing, but being triggered. Triggering a clip is like telling it to play once, but if the loop setting is on then playing once is actually playing forever!

These differences give different states to the different functions in these two circumstances. I can't say explicitly what cases do what because it depends if the interaction mode is set to hold, direct, etc.

So it does actually serve a purpose, but it is on a case-by-case scenario, not the function itself.
Cornelius Matlosz
17.11.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
i was curious myself so figured this was an excuse to try out my lpd8...

* i can't see a difference between "sample trigger" and "slot retrigger" tho sample trigger only has 'hold' as an option for a button while slot retrigger has toggle/hold/direct

* in loop mode mute/unmute is just the same as 'sample play' and in non-loop mode 'sample play' is just the same as 'slot start/stop'

* the 'play' icon illuminates when using 'slot start/stop' or 'sample play' but not the trigger or retrigger options

wow... now i am confused... i was in blissfull ignorance before

edit: there is also the 'group play' options so maybe the above confusion is only as i dont know what the group stuff does yet - tho i can guess ofc.
Anyone figure out the above? I'm trying to figure out which functions to map..knowing the benefits when making a mapping is ideal..
Kandra Fagler
02.07.2011
Originally Posted by BURST!
Has anyone made a mapping for the kontrol2 yet? I'm believeing of picking one up but I'm not sure if I'd have the know-how to map it myself.
i am going to do mapping but havent got the time yet been busy with my studies, as soon as i do i will post it here

shouldnt take too long, its a pretty simple mapping, just gotta figure out how to get led feedback etc
Joy Rory
02.07.2011		I've got a very good mapping for the Nanokontrol 1...
Natasha Garity
02.07.2011		Has anyone made a mapping for the kontrol2 yet? I'm believeing of picking one up but I'm not sure if I'd have the know-how to map it myself.
Chasidy Heckenbach
28.06.2011
Originally Posted by V-Hoff
Yeah, the scene button is not midi mapable by default
not tricky to convert the sysex into a note number or something tho. no clue if bomes can do that. shame really they didn't believe to send a midi note as well or instead of. not entirely sure why its a sysex message... only useful changing thing in there is the bank number, which could have been sent as a cc val or something...
Irwin Ney
28.06.2011		Yeah, the scene button is not midi mapable by default
Joy Rory
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
the scene select button on the nanokontrol mk1 sends sysex - so you'd need to change that into a note or cc via bomes or something. if you did that and also set all scenes to send out the same data then it should work. personally i'd skip that button and use something else tho. the other 6 transport buttons all send out cc's.
I'll take a look how far I'll get mapping it this way, I'll post my progress in this topic!
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
I believe I'll buy a Nanokontrol 1, the last 9th pot, fader and 2 buttons will be mapped as a loop recorder. I'll use the scenes button as a shift button, so the buttons next to the faders will have 2 functions (restart sample + (un)mute sample and play sample + loop sample). I'm planning on using the rest of the buttons (transport section) to move a loop from the loop recorder to a sample deck (is this possible?).
What do you guys believe ?
the scene select button on the nanokontrol mk1 sends sysex - so you'd need to change that into a note or cc via bomes or something. if you did that and also set all scenes to send out the same data then it should work. personally i'd skip that button and use something else tho. the other 6 transport buttons all send out cc's.
Joy Rory
27.06.2011		I believe I'll buy a Nanokontrol 1, the last 9th pot, fader and 2 buttons will be mapped as a loop recorder. I'll use the scenes button as a shift button, so the buttons next to the faders will have 2 functions (restart sample + (un)mute sample and play sample + loop sample). I'm planning on using the rest of the buttons (transport section) to move a loop from the loop recorder to a sample deck (is this possible?).
What do you guys believe ?
Irwin Ney
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by dstep
hook us up with the mapping once you get the led feedback mapped :")
Hey man, I have two korg nanokontrols from the first edition and there is no such thing as led feedback for those units...
I mean, it has leds on the buttons, and it's configurable between toggle or trigger, but there is no MIDI IN to recieve feedback from the software, so it doesn't work like launchpad or apc20/40 buttons.

Because of that or of something else, when you change scenes 1 to 2, 3, 4 and change back to 1 again you will loose the lights that were turned on.

I don't know if it changed now in the second version, but the first had this two major leaks. So anyone who is considering buying a unit should know if these features are now implemented on the second version or don't.

Who can confirm that?
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
Is trigger the same as cue'ing? Than what the heck is retrigger?
i was curious myself so figured this was an excuse to try out my lpd8...

* i can't see a difference between "sample trigger" and "slot retrigger" tho sample trigger only has 'hold' as an option for a button while slot retrigger has toggle/hold/direct

* in loop mode mute/unmute is just the same as 'sample play' and in non-loop mode 'sample play' is just the same as 'slot start/stop'

* the 'play' icon illuminates when using 'slot start/stop' or 'sample play' but not the trigger or retrigger options

wow... now i am confused... i was in blissfull ignorance before

edit: there is also the 'group play' options so maybe the above confusion is only as i dont know what the group stuff does yet - tho i can guess ofc.
Joy Rory
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
ah... ok thought u were referring to a button on the nanokontrol - guess u mean the "retrigger" in traktor

for sample decks you do have a bunch of stuff you can map to buttons like play/trigger/retrigger never mind the filter and mute/unmute etc plus stuff that are best for rotaries. so yep the more buttons the better. whether retrigger is useful for you depends on the kinds of samples you use and how you play then i guess - i havent messed around with the sample decks too much myself but will me mapping all of the above to my launchpad.
Is trigger the same as cue'ing? Than what the heck is retrigger?
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
restart the sample
ah... ok thought u were referring to a button on the nanokontrol - guess u mean the "retrigger" in traktor

for sample decks you do have a bunch of stuff you can map to buttons like play/trigger/retrigger never mind the filter and mute/unmute etc plus stuff that are best for rotaries. so yep the more buttons the better. whether retrigger is useful for you depends on the kinds of samples you use and how you play then i guess - i havent messed around with the sample decks too much myself but will me mapping all of the above to my launchpad.
Joy Rory
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
personally i prefer the extra fader and rotary of the mk1 but you have an extra button for each channel on the mk2 plus it seems much better made - tho i havent had one in my hands personally.

i use my mk1 with reason and ableton and do find the 9th channel very useful.

swings and roundabouts i guess... don't know what u mean by 'restart'
restart the sample
Chasidy Heckenbach
27.06.2011
Originally Posted by Poulet Blanc
Isn't a Korg nanokontrol 1 better? So you can use the 9th pot to set the dry/wet of the loop recorder, and use the buttons as undo and size. Or is that restart function really so handy?
personally i prefer the extra fader and rotary of the mk1 but you have an extra button for each channel on the mk2 plus it seems much better made - tho i havent had one in my hands personally.

i use my mk1 with reason and ableton and do find the 9th channel very useful.

swings and roundabouts i guess... don't know what u mean by 'restart'
Joy Rory
27.06.2011		Isn't a Korg nanokontrol 1 better? So you can use the 9th pot to set the dry/wet of the loop recorder, and use the buttons as undo and size. Or is that restart function really so handy?
Chasidy Heckenbach
01.06.2011
Originally Posted by extraclassic
I was prepared to go up to
Joan Kollmorgen
01.06.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
i saw that one myself and half thought about getting it i haven't started on my gamepad-hacked-arcade-controller yet tho and just bought an lpd8 and have a lot of coding to do for my midikatapult-meets-bomes homebrew midi mashing app too.

i never realised a dj website could bring out the geek in me so much
I was prepared to go up to
Chasidy Heckenbach
01.06.2011
Originally Posted by Nephew
I still prefer the series one, simply because it has an extra fader, and the transport section makes more sense.

But I also use it for my Traktor set up, the series 2 looks a lot more useful for Ableton.
i'm actually using my series1 with ableton and reason - the 9 faders and pots is nice and i find the buttons too small to be all that useful anyway. the new one does look better made but the current prices of the series1 ones are a steal...
Breana Singerman
01.06.2011		I still prefer the series one, simply because it has an extra fader, and the transport section makes more sense.

But I also use it for my Traktor set up, the series 2 looks a lot more useful for Ableton.
Chasidy Heckenbach
01.06.2011
Originally Posted by extraclassic
I bought one of the first editions on ebay a few evening s ago for
Joan Kollmorgen
01.06.2011		I bought one of the first editions on ebay a few evening s ago for
Dahlia Miklovic
01.06.2011
Originally Posted by Archies'bald
At
Chasidy Heckenbach
31.05.2011
Originally Posted by BradCee
series 1 was
Dorcas Bassignani
31.05.2011
Originally Posted by zestoi
that's the series1 by the looks of it, same as the one i have. not too sure i like there being one less fader on the series2 but the extra button seems handy for this mapping to sample decks.

on ebay/uk the series2 seems more like 50gbp which is a bit steep compared to only 30gbp for the series1.
series 1 was
Chasidy Heckenbach
31.05.2011
Originally Posted by MiL0
$39 here >> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ontroller.html
that's the series1 by the looks of it, same as the one i have. not too sure i like there being one less fader on the series2 but the extra button seems handy for this mapping to sample decks.

on ebay/uk the series2 seems more like 50gbp which is a bit steep compared to only 30gbp for the series1.

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