Traktor MIDI Mapping: Advanced modifiers (i.e. DJTT Supercombos)

"HEY EAN GOLDEN, CAN YOU LIKE, GIVE UP YOUR LIFE AND DO EVERYTHING FOR ME" - Average DJTT user.

Prerequisites:

1. You can do everything in my modifier basics tutorial
2. You have patience for fiddly things.

INTRODUCTION - "Wait, so Ean Golden isn't going to do it for me?"

If you go on DJ Tech Tools, (which if you don't, you should) then you'll no doubt have seen the Midi Fighter, a pretty nifty controller idea. (Pros: Fast buttons! Cons: Only 16 of them :[)  And the recent mapping which gave the user "Super combos" ala Street Fighter.  Well, the reason I was inspired to make this blog was for this very post, to explain to people how to make their own super combo layouts.  Even though DJTT did a post explaining how they did it, I personally found it to make it sound way harder than it actually was, and if you didn't understand anything I posted in my last tutorial, there was no way you were going to manage it.  So in the words of Yoda, "Enough fucking yapping, lets get mapping some super combos".

Would he actually need to touch the platter?

I'm writing this guide to essentially be a supplement or a more thorough guide to the one on DJTT.  After this tutorial, you will (should) be a mapping master and have no trouble mapping out your own crazy ideas.

So, first of all, you're going to need three unused button your controller.  In fact, for this lesson, I want you to delete your mapping.

"WHAT!?" I hear you cry.  Well, no pain no gain private!  Or just export your settings first before you delete your entire mapping so you can import them after we're done. (I'm serious, I do want you to delete everything).  

IN THE BEGINNING - "Lady Gaga wasn't Lady..."

So now we're starting, you should have something like this

This page is SOOO fresh!

So, you've got your fresh page, your blank canvas, your virgin robot (er..), go ahead and add a play/pause button because, you're not going to get far without it.  Next, choose your 5 buttons to use for this set up.

"Wait, DJTT only used 4 buttons". Well DJTT didn't mention the little blips in their setup.  The first blip is that,  you want the effects set up correct, however if you set it so Traktor changes it to the correct effect at the same time it should turn on, it doesn't turn on.  Because Traktor is gay, I suppose, I don't know.  It's a glitch I haven't worked through myself, but I am working to find a way through it now, and I will add it in a future update.  So, the 5th button is a "set up button", and does exactly what it says on the tin, lays out your effects ready for use.  So, first of all, lets make that.

Add in... > Global > FX Panel Mode

Map: Set up button

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Direct

Assignment: FX Unit 1

Set to Value: Chained

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 1 Select

Map: Set up button

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Direct

Assignment: FX Unit 1

Set to Value: Beatmasher 2

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 2 Select

Map: Set up button

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Direct

Assignment: FX Unit 1

Set to Value: Transpose Stretch

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 2 Amount

Map: Set up button

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Direct

Assignment: FX Unit 1

Set to Value: 0.3

You should end up with something like this:

If only she stayed this beautiful for longer...

Go on, give it a push and check your FX panel.  OMG right?  Didn't know you could change Traktors preferences via MIDI?  Well now you do.  This is were Traktors midi mapping shines above other programs, it lets you map nearly every single function it has.  

FEEDING TIME - "Please sir, can I have some more?"

Right, you've got the plate, time for the food right?

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 1 On

Map: Beatmasher 1

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Hold

Assignment: FX Unit 1

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 1 Amount

Map: Beatmasher 1

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Direct

Assignment: FX Unit 1

Set to Value: 0.500

You may have faced an issue with set to value, you have to double click it and type it in, because dragging is annoying and innacurate.  Also these numbers are uneven, because I skip one of the beatmasher settings, which is 3/16.  It's fine if you're a fan of off beat melodies and are competent at tracking irregular time signatures but for the majority, you'll want to keep it on beat.  Another note, I like to organise my controls by button, I advise you do the same, so click "mapped to" at the top and it will list your controls in increasing order.

Right, lets make it easy, duplicate those commands three times each, and map them to your four beatmasher buttons, with the next 3 amounts being .7 .9 and 1.0.  All done?  You should have this now:

What has become of you my love!?

So you now have your basic beatmasher set up (If you never had one of these before, CONGRATS!  Where have you been?)  Time to get your modifier on!  No not that one.  Why would you even have one of those?  Wouldn't it like, rub?  Gross, man.  NO.

For this, we'll use modifier number 2, it doesn't matter what you use, I could care less, but for this we're using 2.

Add in... > Modifier > Modifier #2

Map: Beatmasher 1

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Inc

Now, duplicate this and learn it to Beatmasher buttons 2 3 and 4 as well.  DO NOT press them and start increasing the modifiers, otherwise you have to create another button to reset the modifier, and it's just effort.  Anywhos once thats down, prepare for World of Warcraft moment, otherwise known as the GRINNNDDDD.

THE GRIND - "It's not like you have to kill 65,340,285 boars..." 

"OBJECTION!" I scream in my best phoenix wright impression.  I wrote the next few paragraphs and hit a glitch.  I couldn't figure why it didn't work, and mine did, and I realised DJTT tell you something, and it appears not to be true, but it actually is, but they don't explain how.

FlashFlooder you sneaky little bastard!  At one point in the article he pops up with "And thus my prolems were solved with INVERT" and says he had to put it on the beatmasher buttons so it reset M2 to 0.  Now, first off reset is a bad word to have used, since reset is an interaction mode and one that isn't used.  Secondly, when I made my own mapping, I didn't use invert, and thought,

"Whachu' talking bout, foo'".  It turns out I DID use invert, I just fluked it by accident.  You see, when you change your interaction mode to Inc, Dec, or Reset, the option for Invert pops up, which means it will do the action when the button is OFF, essentially when it's released.  However when you select Direct or Hold the invert option disappears, and you're left with Set to Value.  Now this is fuck up on Traktors part, because that Invert button STILL APPLIES!  Try it and see if I'm wrong!  I'm not!  No sir!  The Invert option is still on when you turn the interaction mode to something else.  This is an epic fuck up on NI's part, and I hope they fix that in TP2.  Anyways, so here's what you have to do.

Add in... > Modifier > Modifier #2

Map: Beatmasher 1

Modifier Conditions: M2 = 1

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Reset, put Invert ON, then Direct

Set to Value: 0

Now, duplicate this 3 more times, each time increasing the Modifier Condition by 1, so the final one is M2 = 4.

Now do it all again for the other three buttons.  What a shitter eh?  You suddenly become best friends with the duplicate button though.  WOOHOO!  NEW FRIENDS!  And this one won't hover around your setup whilst you're trying to rock the party going "Mate play Champagne Supernova, everyone loves that" regardless of place or crowd.  Oh I do love you Duplicate button.

"... take my breath awaaaay...."

(Note: This is the point where I realised the Invert button was still active when hidden.  See how ahead of myself I got?)  Now, with that set out, mash your beatmasher keys with the controller window open.  You should notice M2 goes up with each button pressed, and if you let go of one, it resets to zero.   This is where (I believe) downfall number 2 is.  If you let go of one of the buttons, you have to let go of ALL the buttons and start again.  I suppose if you asked DJTT about this, they'd go "Well it IS a combo, haw haw haw" and slap you down with a controller modeled after Ean Golden's 'Golden Warrior', but I'm pretty sure it's because it's just as tricky to map this out as well, and they can't be fucked (And by rights why should they?).  So, MOVING ON!  (I'm not even going to bother posting a picture of the controller layout from this point on because it looks a Christmas pudding that's been Falcon Punch'd.  So instead, a picture of something else.

Captain Falcon + Jet Set Radio = My childhood in a single picture.

THE FINISHING MOVE - "FINISH HIM!"

Now, we're going to finish with the Transpose Stretch.  If you don't know what it does, it's essentially a pitch shifter, especially in chained mode.  Weirdly, it's normal pitch at halfway (okay thats not weird) but moving it to the left, or below 50, lowers it by up to 5 octaves, where as moving it to the right, or above 50, only raises it by up to 1 octave.  I have no idea why it's not 5 octaves either way, but I'm not the one who HID THE FUCKING INVERT BUTTON BECAUSE I'M A SHOWER OF BASTARDS am I, Native Instruments...

Briskly proceeding forward, you need to create the following.

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 2 On

Map: Beatmasher 1

Modifier Conditions: M2 = 3

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Hold

Add in... > FX Chained > Effect 2 On

Map: Beatmasher 1

Modifier Conditions: M2 = 4

Type of Controller: Button
Interaction mode: Toggle

Invert: Yes

Right, the first button tells Traktor to turn on the super combo effect when M2 = 3, otherwise known as when three buttons are pressed down already, AKA the last button is pressed.  The second tells it turn the effect off  when the button is released.  Yes you guessed it, you have to duplicate both of these for each button again.  Otherwise only one will activate it and only one will turn it off!

Done that?  Give it a go, mess around with your favourite song,  Does the super combo kick in?  Then I believe this image is for you.

Obviously it's more personal if you're Reptile.

So there you have it!  The wondrous super combo mapping method demystified!  See, if DJTT had just written out this in the first place, then we all would have been better off!

EXERCISES

1. Do it all over again, on your original mapping that you deleted earlier.  (Most of you jsut went "Oh fu...")
2. Map out super combos that have different effect values depending on which button you finish on (Like in street fighter, where heavy punch specials are slower but more powerful)

A CHALLENGER APPEARS!

This is a beast of a challenge, but you'll need to know it to reach the top.  I want you to make, using the same four beatmasher buttons, a different combo that happens if you press them in a certain order, and when you press the setup button, it sends you back to where you were when you started beatmashing (hardest part, few ways of doing it, which method is ideal to you, you choose :D)