Controlling M:S with MIDI controller

Hi guys! Has anyone had any luck controlling the M:S with a MIDI controller for live performance? I want to be able to adjust volume of each track on M:S with faders on an external MIDI controller but I’m a bit concerned of the fact that each time you change a pattern on the M:S the track volume resets to that of the pattern, correct? Is there a way to avoid that? Or any workaround? Thanks!

Yes.

No, not really.

That’s so sad, @tnussb!

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Yes i hate that about the Digitakt and M:S. But i adapted to that limitation and learned how to stay in one pattern. It’s a different way of playing live. Still waiting for Elektron to give us the option to change that behaviour. Probably in vain. :frowning:

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@Dr.K can you share some tips on how to stay on one pattern and still make it evolving for example?

For Techno sets it’s a bit easier than more harmonic stuff. I play fully live. The only thing i prepare is the sample set.
Most of the time i have 8 kicks in a row on the list, then 8 bass sounds and so on. That way i can quickly change from one sample to the next.

I’m using the Novation Launch Control XL to control different parameters like pitch. Sometimes i just punch in some steps and record tweaking the pitch knob. It’s a bit hit or miss but also lot of happy accidents happen that i wouldn’t have programmed. Came up with a lot of funky basslines that way.

Random LFO on the start point or filter helps for hihats and percussive stuff.
Of course it also helps to choose good samples in the first place. Sounds that can be used in different ways.

And knowing your samples is key to. So many times i loaded some new samples in and thought they would be great for a set. But durng the set i realised half of them don’t fit the style or just sound bad with the others. It takes some time.
And it’s always risky because you never exactly know what happens next. But that makes it interesting to listen to while i mix. I don’t enjoy playing a preplanned set too much.

A major fun part for me is playing with delay and reverb settings live. I have a dedicated knob for delay and reverb level of each channel and of course delay time, feedback, etc
Great for dub style mixing.

It has been a while that i played a live set alone. Usually we are 3 people on stage (or at home:) which makes each of our jobs way easier. But even with 3 people we sometimes catch 2-3 minutes were anything cool is happening. But surprising ourselves with the good stuff we come up with on the spot make up for it.

Btw i mostly play live with the Digitakt. I did it with the M:S but it only has 6 tracks, so more work to do. But especially for Techno sets less is more sometimes.

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@Dr.K, thank you very much for sharing tips! I read it but couldn’t reply until now. Sorry! Thanks for taking time to answer my question. I’m new to dawless so I guess it will be quite a long learning process but I’m accepting the challenge hehe! I’m more into progressive and deep house but I think they are not so far from the techno genre and share some common techniques. If you have a YouTube channel or something like that that you can share to see your jams it would be awesome! Thanks a lot mate, and have a great day!

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I didn’t recorded a set with the M:S yet. Only with the Digitakt. This one is a bit older and i learned some new tricks since then. There are some more mixes on my channel but this is more house oriented.