AKAI APC mini MK2

Installation & Configuration Linux
#1

Hi,

I don’t understand how to get my AKAI APC mini MK2 to work with Ardour. It should be usable as an input controller for MIDI tacks. Also the LEDs should work. But I don’t know how. Is there an understandable beginners manual?

Thanx for your support.

#2

Welcome!

Is the device enabled under the main menu bar Windows → Preferences → Show → Midi Port Config ? If the device is not visible, ALSA may need to be setup.

If not, check the ‘Music Data’ box

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Then the device must be selected on the Channel Strip for the MIDI track. Click the box left of the green MIDI icon.

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I have an MK2 and will check if the LED’s work under linux next time I use it. Otherwise, it works fine.

#3

Sorry but I can’t follow your click path. But I found the “MIDI Port Config” under Edit → Preferences. Also I can’t find the green MIDI icon.

Used version is the latest 8.2.0.

#4

Ah, ok… I found the “MIDI connection manager” under “Windows” in the menu bar. Now the APC mini works fine. But the faders do not work. Also the LEDs are still off.

Is it possible that all other buttons can also be used? I would also like to want to use the 17 keys below and to the right of the pads for what they are labeled with.

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What are the other options for? What does “Music Data”, “Control Data” and “Follow Selection” really do?

And what is the second MIDI input called “Notes” at the end?

#5

I think what you want to do is enable Control Data on the input and output of the “Contr” port. The “Notes” port on your APC is probably only MIDI notes, and the “Contr” is where the pads and faders output. Then you’ll want to go to Control Surfaces and enable “Generic MIDI.” Then click “Show Protocol Settings,” select the Contr port for the incoming and outgoing MIDI, select AKAI APC mini mk2 in MIDI Bindings, make sure you have feedback enabled, and you should be good to go. You might want to also check Follow Selection for the Notes, if you want Ardour to automatically route the keyboard to whatever MIDI track you have selected.

#6

Hi NotGabe!

Pardon me, I was on vacation.

I tried what you have written. But the feedback doesn’t work. Is there a ready to work configuration for the AKAI APC mini MK2 for Ardour? I had a test with “AKAI APC mini” but I have the MK2 and the test do not work for my MK2.

Thanx a lot for your support.

#7

Isn’t there already a mapping for the APC Mini mk 2 in Ardour? Are you using the latest version?

#8
  1. Edit > Preferences > Control Surfaces
  2. Enable ‘Generic MIDI’
  3. Click "Show Protocol Settings’ below (‘Generic MIDI’ should be selected in the list)
  4. For ‘Incoming MIDI On’ select your MPC’s output port
  5. For "MIDI Bindings’ select ‘AKAI MPC mini mk2’
  6. Close the settings dialog
  7. Close the Preferences dialog

Ardour should now read and interpret events from your MPC according to the existing map.

I should probably do a video on that for Ardour’s YT channel.

#9

Ah, ok.

But is it possible to program the APC mini pads so that I have certain MIDI sounds on certain keys? And can also use the lighting? The faders don’t work yet either.

If you make a video give me a hind please.

Thank you.

#10

Let’s clarify something first. When you say “MIDI sounds”, what do you really mean by that? Notes sent into a sampler or a virtual synth loaded into a MIDI track? Clips on the Cue page?

#11

So if I create a new MIDI track in Ardor and select the “Black Pearl Drumset” as the “Instrument”, I can click in “Draw Mode” for each instrument when it should be heard.

But I would like to use the AKAI APCmini MK2 to assign the pads to specific MIDI instruments on the Black Pearl drum set. So I could use the pads to play a drum, which would then be recorded in the Ardor. I now have the AKAI APCmini MK2 running, but the pads are mixed up with the Black Pearl instruments. The pads on which I have the instruments do not light up either. Here I would also have the pads light up in colors that I chose so that I can quickly see which pads have certain instruments on them.

And then there are the faders, which currently have no effect. The faders are of course intended to control the volume, for example.

I don’t know whether programming the AKAI APCmini MK2 with Linux might not be possible because there is no corresponding software for the AKAI APCmini MK2. As written, it should be possible to program the faders and buttons accordingly. (Color, in Ardour the assignment of the MIDI instruments, etc.)

#12

Sorry, I’m not that often on the forum and missed your reply.

My understanding is that Black Pearl is, in fact, an SF2 sample file, and in that case the mapping of samples and notes is right inside the file. So you basically need to remap notes that your APCmini sends to different notes. I can’t think of any way to do that except using “MIDI Keys Transpose” from x42 MIDI Filter Collection before the virtual instrument in the processing chain, and even that would probably have some limitations.

It’s possible that there is some native AKAI software to configure the unit the way you need, but I’ve never owned AKAI hardware, so I don’t know.

The good news is that if you succeed with the MIDI filter by @x42, you can create a track template and reuse it in your other sessions.

#13

I have version mk3 …

And yes there are editors available for both devices. On Windows and Mac, as always.

Got it up with wine somehow, but could not see the numbers, probably issues with
fonts. I’m stuck. If someone has any idea …

So now I need to reboot to Win, make changes there. reboot to Linux, not what I consider fun,

At least I understand now how to use the Midi Learn function of Ardour to get the Knobs
working