Akai APC Key25 mk2 driver

It seems we introduced a bug in the mpk driver with recent changes in the zynseq API. We will solve it ASAP.

Regards

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I have just pushed a fix that may resolve this. Please update and test.

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Yes, now its working. I really like to be able to controll the surface with this controller. The other functions are great, too, but for me using this as a ui controller is fantastic. Thanks a lot.

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One thing that isnt clear to me in device mode: how can i change the behavior of function buttons (F1-F4) on the keyboard, if i have switched the buttons in my custom configuration to dummies? I only see the configuration options if i switch to, for example V5 wiring layout and v5 customization profile, but changing anything there does not have any influence on them.

Today I’m outside, let me give it a look tomorrow and I’ll answer you.

Sorry for the late response. I’ve been reading your message, and I think I don’t truly understand what you mean. The F1-F4 buttons sends CC messages, so what you may do is to use them in learning mode. This is what is explained in the Wiki (Zynthian UI User Guide - V5 - ZynthianWiki).

Nevertheless, the problem that you may have is not related to the Key25 driver, is it?

I thought i could use the F1 to F4 Buttons on the key25 to configure them the same way i configure the S1 to S4 Buttons on my Hardware V4. That gets configured in the webconf’s wiring layout tab. In the v5 user guide it says the same about configuration of the hardware buttons in webconf’s wiring layout tab.
Maybe i would need the hardware buttons for that?
Maybe the function of reconfigureing the buttons is not implemented in the driver for the key25, which is fine. Im totally happy how it works right now and really enjoy controlling the Zynthian on the actual keyboard.
Im sure i will find a way to use the implemented cc sending to use the buttons. At the moment i just dont know, what to do with them.

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All right, now I understand what you mean :grin: And I’m sorry to say that no, I’ve not implemented support for changing the layout/mapping of the device mode in this driver. In fact, I didn’t even think about that possibility :sweat_smile: But, is an interesting feature. If I have some spare time (and only after finishing the Launchpad’s driver…), I’ll give it a try. Of course, PRs are welcomed! :wink:

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It seems that record from MIDI (to a pattern) is not possible with the Akai APC Key 25 mk2. I thought Rec + pad would do this from MixPad mode, but instead it seems to record the audio of a sequence. Am I right @oscaracena ? Is there another way that I may have overlooked?

Mmm, you are right, it starts an audio recording instead of MIDI. Let me have a look…

UPDATE: Something has changed in the CUIA method TOGGLE_RECORD. Previously, if the pattern editor was open, it called toggle_record() on it. Now, it only chooses between global audio/MIDI (following the ALT mode). I need to find a way to call the toggle of the pattern editor (not coupled to the UI, if possible).

UPDATE 2: I can just call libseq.enableMidiRecord(), but I don’t like it (the pattern editor toggle does other things that we will loose, like a save pattern snapshot)…

UPDATE 3: I think is fixed now. I’ve uploaded a PR, just wait for it to be merged. :slight_smile:

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Thanks! Cannot wait to try it out. I am quite impressed with the rest of the interface.

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Hi there! @jofemodo, did you see the PR? Sorry for bumping… :sweat_smile::hugs:

Hi @oscaracena. I have already applied the patch to try it out.

I dig it, for the most part, thanks a lot! There are some glitches though:

  1. When the pattern editor is active (and recording), pressing Rec + Sequence Pad of the same track does not change the pattern editor to the new pattern. This is confusing,
  2. When clearing the pattern (while recording) with Track button + Pad, the pattern editor does not get cleared. Recording still looks to be on, but does not work. When pressing Rec again it plays a note (I wonder what’s exactly happening here). ← Ouch. It turned out I put my akai on top of my m-audio axiom 61, which was also turned on and connected. That explains that weirdness alright!

I also noticed some issues not related to this particular feature.

  1. In MixPad mode, Knob#1 only changes the volume/pan of the first chain, also after selecting another chain.
  2. In StepSeq mode, I did the silly thing of pressing volume + two steps to change the volume of two simultaneously. Did not work. But after that neither did pressing volume + a single step or notepad anymore.

Hi @oscaracena !

I just fixed the issue in the base code. I cancelled the PR because your original code is right and it should work now.

Please, update and confirm.

Regards,

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Hi @jofemodo ! I’ve updated and I can confirm that it now works as expected. Thank you very much! :slight_smile:

Hi @niels!

I’ve checked this and I can confirm that it now works (it changes the pattern editor correctly). I didn’t do anything, so maybe @jofemodo fixed it too! :slight_smile:

Yes, this is a bug, I can confirm it. I’ll submit an issue to keep track of it.

UPDATE: APC Key25 Driver: when clearing a pattern, the pattern editor does not clear · Issue #1155 · zynthian/zynthian-issue-tracking · GitHub

Yes, this is the intended behaviour. You can control every chain with its own knob (K1 is for chain1, K2 for chain2 and so on). I wanted to be able to control a chain without the need to select it first, so if you are playing with the keyboard, and need to fade/pan some other track, you may be able to.

I can not reproduce this problem. :sweat_smile: If I press volume + two steps, I see the fader of only one of the steps. I can change it and come back to StepSeq without problem. On the other hand, if you want to change the volume of two or more steps, they should be on the same row, and you can do it pressing volumen + the soft key for that row. Did you know that?

While testing, I’ve seen more new issues (for instance, the StepSeq playhead does not work). I’ll try to fix them ASAP.

Cheers.

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Hoi @oscaracena thanks a lot. The four issues are indeed solved now. I tried your patch for refreshing after clearing the pattern. And I saw that you made the docs on the volume knobs clearer. I don’t know about the double pad + volume, how I managed that, it just acts the way you described.

Awesome. I’ll keep you informed if I find any other issues – such as…

How to record to a pattern when a sequence has multiple patterns?

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I see what you mean: it shows the arranger, starts playing the first pattern on the first track, and starts recording global audio! A total mess! :sweat_smile:

Let me add an issue and have a look…

I have no idea how, but in one session, I managed to flip the Alt mode. That is, when Alt mode is in effect, the pads light up as in normal mode, and vice versa.
If I find out how I did this, I’ll post a reproduction, but I thought it good to let you know anyway.

Thanks for the info. I’m a bit busy these days, but as soon as I can, I’ll check that too.