DJ TECH TOOLS Novation Twitch

[fullenglishpint]

To be quite honest I'll be surprised if i get a reply, but there's always a chance. I imagine some of that information is being intentionally witheld atm anyway. If I do I'll be sure to post it here.

Got a reply just now, so for anyone who's interested here it is:

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your email.

Glad you are interested in Twitch!

To address your issues:

1. I'm going to be mostly using it with Traktor Pro 2 (though I'll certainly be giving ITCH 2.0 a try), and I'll be making my own custom mapping. Is the volume section in the top right hand corner hard wired to the volumes or is that midi mappable as well?

The 'Master' section controls (Headphone, Mix, Booth and Master) are all hardwired and are the only rotaries which do not send midi on the unit.

2. Do the 4 performance modes change the notes/CCs output by the trigger pads? Just so I know whether I'll have to use modifiers in Traktor to make them work for different functions. Just to clarify, if in what's labeled as hotcue mode a pad outputs C#1 (for argument's sake), does it output the same note in slicer mode or something else, like C#2?

Yes this is correct, each section - Hot Cues, Slicer, Auto Loop and Loop Roll send out subtly different CC messages. You should not have to make any modifiers.

3. Are the different LED colours editable with midi or do they depend only on which performance mode is selected?

I'm sure these can possibly be affected via velocity change info, however this is currently not supported (or tested here so I wouldn't want to give you a definitive answer).

4. Do the LED notes match the corresponding button notes? A major problem faced by people starting out with a custom mapping is being able to find out which note corresponds to which LED, since of course midi learn cannot be used for outputs. A map of the notes is invaluable.

I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean here, are you referring to the colours of the pads whilst in different modes?

5. Will it ship with a blank overlay for people to label their own mappings?

Currently it maps with the Traktor overlay only, however I will submit this as a feature request as I can see how it would be helpful.

6. Would you be able to send me an image of the Traktor overlay that's supplied with the unit?

Indeed - attached a very rough image for now - there will be official images released shortly. I've also attached further information on the Traktor template functions as it will help.

7. Do the LEDs in the touchstrips work with Traktor?

Yes these work in a different way to Itch, however there is LED feedback. In Traktor your finger contact position is backlit, whereas in Itch, the LEDs pulse from left to right.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Best Regards,

Tim Harbour

Novation Technical Support.

I've attached the zip full of images, the overlay picture he sent isn't as good as the one deco pulled off the vid so there's no point posting that.

[deco]

i think we could expect there wont' be two overlays included - unlike the Kontrol X1, the Twitch is not perfectly symetrical if you mirror one half to the other. so the reverse side of the Traktor overlay wouldn't line up with the controller if you just flipped it over.

if you watch the youtube vid of the Twitch with Traktor Pro 2 you can see the touch strips work with traktor to pitch bend and to scrub the beginning of a track. if you pause early in the video and zoom in or view the video in full screen, you can see quite easily what the Traktor overlay looks like. it looks ok, but not perfect - but you can't please all the people all the time right?

[fullenglishpint]

i think we could expect there wont' be two overlays included - unlike the Kontrol X1, the Twitch is not perfectly symetrical if you mirror one half to the other. so the reverse side of the Traktor overlay wouldn't line up with the controller if you just flipped it over.

if you watch the youtube vid of the Twitch with Traktor Pro 2 you can see the touch strips work with traktor to pitch bend and to scrub the beginning of a track. if you pause early in the video and zoom in or view the video in full screen, you can see quite easily what the Traktor overlay looks like. it looks ok, but not perfect - but you can't please all the people all the time right?

Hehe thanks, thing is every time I find myself pondering all this I'm at work, and I can't watch the youtube vid! Thanks for the pics. I know the strips themselves work, but I was wondering about the LEDs. Someone will probably come up with something! And yeh, symetricality was the first thing I checked when that question popped into my head. A little disappointing, but I'd rather have better functionality than an overlay!

[deco]

i think i'd just alter the overlay a little. but like you i'd certainly give itch a go and see how it is - i really like the slicer mode it's mapped for with itch. i think that would be alot of fun. probably acheived in Tpro as well with beatslicer and/or beatmasher with some fancy mapping.

also, i find in live performance i don't use a ton of fx, so the somewhat simplified fx itch seems to have would be sufficient.
like others have posted, this thing could be a real beauty with 8 arcade buttons on each side!

[fullenglishpint]

In terms of FX, I haven't used the FX section on my VCI in forever. Fader FX yes, but not the buttons and knobs.

I'm thinking that if I give it enough time, one of the banks of the trigger pads could have some mean instaFX in there a la midi fighter instant gratification. The possibilities are so wide that I've printed off some blanked out photos of the layout so I can brainstorm mapping ideas lol.

[deco]

There's a blog post coming that'll talk about the Twitch and some of the back story on it's development. Maybe they'll announce whether or not they'll carry it then.

yeah we still haven't seen this post with some back story. djtt must be busy and i guess cause the twitch isn't set to release until July, maybe there are some very minor tweaks being performed. idk.

[deco]

i've never mapped any fader fx to my controllers before. and don't have a mf so havne't tried the instant grat maps either. but djing is far from a f/t gig for me so when i get time to play, it's not spent on trying new mappings or creating modifiers
i've done the same thing with the mapping! lol - it's important to have a good look at how you'd want things mapped and if it'll be a natural workflow. and for me - how can i minimize the amount i have to hit shift for secondary functions!

[Bunford]

i think we could expect there wont' be two overlays included

All the videos I've seen seem to imply it comes with the Itch overlay as standard and has the Traktor overlay in the box.

[lethal_pizzle]

For anyone partaking in a Traktor midi mapping... if you implement my 'Traktor sequencer' proof of concept with loop back midi then you should be able to emulate the Serato Itch 'slicer' mode by manipulating the Beatmasher FX for 'rolls' or loops + beatjumps for 'loops'.

[lethal_pizzle]

You heard it here first. Hopefully