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Controllers => MiniLab MKII => Topic started by: Grum27 on July 26, 2022, 02:32:05 pm

Title: Using a minilab mk2 for non-Ableton DAW?
Post by: Grum27 on July 26, 2022, 02:32:05 pm
Hi all - complete noob to all things midi, and music production in general here (well almost - I’ve played with GarageBand a bit on my iPad, if that counts…)
So I’m waiting to get my hands on the minilab mk2 that I’ve been promised for Father’s Day, and in the meantime, found that I can’t download Ableton Live Lite without a key code, for which I have to wait for the minilab to arrive… so - I’ve downloaded Tracktion Waveform 11 Free, to see what I can do WITHOUT an actual midi controller connected.  Now I am wondering how much work will it be to get the minilab mk2 working with Waveform 11, rather than using Ableton Live Lite?
Just about every video I’ve seen on YouTube, and every article I’ve found through Google, has the minilab mk2 connected with Ableton Live (and not even the free Lite version that it comes bundled with), and while all the blurb tells me it is fully configurable to work with just about any DAW, I can’t find anything that specifically tells you HOW to do this.  I gather I need to build a new preset or template (even the terminology seems ambiguous to me), using the midi control centre application, and assign it to one of the preset memory slots, - but it seems to me that this is surely something that must have already been done for each of the mainstream DAWs, rather than something we each need to re-invent for ourselves.
So, can anyone tell me how to even start configuring my minilab mk2 (when I get my sweaty little hands on it) for using with Waveform 11, or if it has already been done (and point me at a resource that I can download), or point me at some information that helps take me through, both conceptually what I have to do, and step by step instructions for some examples?
TIA
Grum
Title: Re: Using a minilab mk2 for non-Ableton DAW?
Post by: MajorFubar on July 26, 2022, 03:42:50 pm
Welcome

I haven't ever heard of your DAW. It should at least detect your Minilab as a midi controller as soon as you plug it in, though you will probably have to look in its midi settings to select the Minilab for input.

I would imagine that some combination of a) using Midi Control Center to assign knobs on the Minilab to functions in your DAW, and b) and using your DAW's 'Midi Learn' facilities (assuming it has that feature), should get most of the knobs recognised.

(FWIW most of the knobs on the Minilab will self-map to smart controls within iPad GarageBand.)
Title: Re: Using a minilab mk2 for non-Ableton DAW?
Post by: Grum27 on July 26, 2022, 09:52:03 pm
Many thanks for the reply MajorFubar.  Perhaps you can clarify one thing that is puzzling me - and that is if the configuration required is ‘per DAW’, or ‘per instrument/effect’?  Nice to hear that it will work with good old GarageBand ;-)

Cheers
Grum