Welcome to Wayne Anthony-Cole's Akai DPS12 Notator SL's mixer map.

This *.SON file contains a mixer map for the Akai DPS12 Hard disk
recorder.

To 'install' it into your own Autoload.son, go to menu File > Load
System & delete all except Notepad, Transform pages, RMG Definitions &
Universal Maps. Or to simply check it out before installing, just load
it as you would another *.SON file.

The reason I wrote it was because NSL has very limited "auto-updating".
What I mean by that is, just like NSL's 'True Program' & 'True Volume'
functions, they play the correct value from wherever you play your song
from. for example, if your last volume event was at bar 20 (& you had
more later on) & you then started your song from bar 35, NSL would 'look
back' at the last volume event & play at the correct value.

With that in mind I created this map because unfortunately NSL doesn't
apply this feature to controller events. The same of which is what the
DPS12 uses for it's automation, to be controlled via a sequencer.
Fortunately, NSL makes this possible with P-USER events. So it was a
simple case of using NSL's Transform functions to convert the DPS12's
controller events to these P-USER events & visa versa. [Well I say
simple, it took me over 20 hours in one weekend of figuring how to do it
as I'd never gone THAT deep into it before :-) ]. Define an RMG fader to
a  DPS12 controller, use the Universal maps to remap the RMG definitions
to one of the Transform pages as well as bug check each & everyone along
the way MANY times over. Though the result was well worth it :-)

To make this map I've used 4 Transform pages, 4 Universal maps & all 4
P-USER maps in the RMG section. I could have used the buttons in the RMG
section, but I wanted to see ALL the faders in action & it also enables
me to have complete control of events if I was to make on-the-fly
adjustments to the data. YES! you can control the automation from the
RMG as well as the DPS12 itself :-) You can also 'group' together the
RMG faders & create even more mix effects than you could do without it.
& the major benefit of being able to edit the data anyway you see fit !

At this point I must also say I have configured this map to my way of
working. Don't worry, it's not anything mega radical. It just means I
have left out a few controller omissions. They are the 'Input' channels
1,2,5 & 6. This includes all the channels' Track Level, Pan & Auxilaries
A & B.

My reasons are 1 & 2 are  exclusively used as recording inputs, & 5 & 6
are used for the internal FX. The last is due to Akai's routing for the
internal FX which I use in 'FX Return Mixed AB' mode. So that leaves
'Input' channels 3 & 4 free for my external mixers' stereo output. The
reasons for this is:

1) You combine ALL your studios' output under your DPS12s' master fader.

2) With the above you can automate your fades in & out. With the added
benefit of making smooth fader controls in the Hyper Edit screen. Or you
can get them ultra smooth using Process Data in the Functions menu !


3) Your mixes can then be digitally recorded directly to DAT, MiniDisk
or stand alone CDR.

I have used the Transform pages # 2 - 5 for Track Levels (2), Pan (3),
Aux A (4) & Aux B (5). Due to the limitations within the program, only 2
of the transform pages can be used at the same time. To activate them,
go to menu MIDI > Input handling. If you have Unitor 2 you will have all
3 Midi inputs available to you. Go the correct input which your DPS12 is
connected, & place the #'s of the Transform pages at the bottom. This is
your 'Realtime transform' mode. You'll see I have already placed the #'s
2 & 3 (track level &  there already for you. More of which you can find
out about in your manual.

The DPS12 has a 'send mix data' feature, for which is supposed to be
played from the beginning of your song. Keeping in mind you can (with
this configuration) only Transform 2 sets at a time. You can work around
this by recording one set (say 2 & 3 - track level & Pan) in one track,
then 4 & 5 (Aux A & B) in another. Go into the 'Edit' mode & delete ALL
Control events in both tracks.

This should leave only P-USER in the event editor. Then simply merge the
2, & there you have your wholly converted 'send mix data' track.

As a suggestion I would leave this track by itself from now on, & use
further tracks for automation. Another would be to place these mix
events in a pattern that would run in it's own chain in the arrange
screen. That way NSL would always have a 'clear' path to 'see' all the
events. In fact your Program changes, Volume events, Sysex dumps etc
would be a good idea too !!

I have set this map for the DPS12 to transmit on Midi Channel 16. What
this means is, I had to set the same thing for all the controller
messages in NSL i.e. 'Control16'. Once events have been recorded, NSL
will not allow you to playback these events on another channel, i.e. to
'override' these events on NSL's main page. If you wish to use another
channel, you have to go through EVERY SINGLE CONTROLLER EVENT in the 4
RMG & 4 Transform pages & change the value 16 to the channel you wish to
use.


If there are any questions or problems you'd like to ask, send an e-mail
to me at wayne@loveland.demon.co.uk, & I will do my best to help out.

