48 Comments

ilo

I hope someone hacks that new Automap software to work with my BCR’s 32 knobs and 28 buttons.

January 20, 2008 @ 11:13 am

J. Schnable

>> What will it cost? $100.

Hey Liz - I too saw this (well, online, not in person), and was intrigued. Is that price a guess or the word from Novation?

Also, hopefully those 8 trigger buttons have lit/unlit states, unlike the lighting for the Korg PadKontrol, which could have been better implemented.

January 20, 2008 @ 1:18 pm

mrcury

Isn’t it “Nocturn”? It looks very interesting since mapping a lot of knobs requires a bit of planning. This seems to bypass Live’s mapping though, keeping this controller as an improvisational tool rather than a control surface like the BCR-2000 or the UC-33. I wonder if there’s a way to “save” the instant mappings for later use, or if the whole thing depends on the specific program controlling it… Still, it’s a nice treat for that price.

January 20, 2008 @ 2:07 pm

matt

so um, link? or are we just expected to google it?

January 20, 2008 @ 2:11 pm

Peter Kirn

Apologies; in our NAMM haze we accidentally posted a draft to the site briefly. (And obviously this generates enthusiasm, because it was up for a short time in the middle of the weekend!) Fixed.

January 22, 2008 @ 11:44 am

john dalton

What’s the intelligent part? When i read that in your post i got excited and thought it let you modulate plug-in parameters based on incoming audio or something like that. But after i went to their description it just seems like a knob box.

January 22, 2008 @ 3:58 pm

Bill Van Loo

The lit/unlit button states is the big question in my mind, too. 8 buttons with controllable lit/unlit states for $100 is a steal - think monome, PadKontrol, etc.

This could be a fantastic little controller! Looking forward to seeing the video…

January 22, 2008 @ 4:01 pm

phylum sinter

Very nice looking piece of kit, if a bit plastic-y. I do like how well spaced the knobs are, there’s certainly plenty of controllers out there that don’t take the less clockmaker-like into account when designing their surfaces.

How do the knobs feel, do they have any resistance or just turn loosely?

January 22, 2008 @ 4:04 pm

Joe Bicker

How useable is it with Max MSP? If it’s just MIDI data, can you take it from ctlin?

January 22, 2008 @ 6:02 pm

Thomas Cermak

Does it have suctions cups? It would fit nicely on my x-station if it had suction cups, otherwise I’d see it flying off of the slippery surface of the x-station in seconds - especially in a live setting.

January 22, 2008 @ 6:33 pm

Liz McLean Knight

All of the knobs have that satisfying bit of resistance to make it feel rewarding, and the crossfader does as well. If you dig the whole loose crossfader deal you’re out of luck, as it’s built-in and doesn’t allow replacement, unlike other DJ mixers. Still, for what I do I thought it was pretty great.

January 22, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

Liz McLean Knight

And no… no suction cups.

However, the people that make the sheilds for my iPod and KRZR also make this little sticky pad thing for your dashboard in your car (shieldzone.com). I bet you could score something like that and stick it underneath… or a similar hack. Didn’t flip the controller over as it didn’t exactly cross my mind.

January 22, 2008 @ 6:50 pm

Dr muzungu

i asked novation’s very nice sales lady, and was told retail will be around 129 bucks, which is still a steal, given the functionality

at first i was confused about how it could even with Plug-Ins not having Midi learn,
but they are using the Vst automation parameters instead, so it works with all Plug Ins and the controller assignment are also saved with the project.

January 22, 2008 @ 6:55 pm

Downpressor

I’m always in favor of good knob boxes. I used to have a BCR-2000. Kicked it to the curb as soon as I realized what a grand piece of eurocrap it was. Never did get it working right or reliably.

January 22, 2008 @ 7:14 pm

Liz McLean Knight

@ Dr muzungu: I thought that the Novation has a MIDI learn override. As I haven’t played with it directly I can’t confirm it….

January 22, 2008 @ 7:27 pm

bill

that’s a pretty awesome controller. I missed that, but I wish I would have hit the novation booth up. I guess I’ll try it out come march or whenever they decide to release it.

January 23, 2008 @ 12:24 am

velocipede

I’m very psyched about Automap 2, which will work with both the Nocturne and the SL series. The interface looks very friendly. I talked to one of the guys working at the booth, who was not from Novation, after watching him jam on a Remote SL Zero with Live for a few minutes. I asked him how it compared to Automap 1 and he replied that he had no idea because it was his first time to ever use an SL that day! At any rate, the minimalist, yet resizable onscreen interface looks great.

January 23, 2008 @ 12:34 am

Peter Kirn

Intelligence: basically, the intelligence is the Automap feature, which works with VST plug-ins, as others have said.

Assigning parameters: um, well, Automap won’t work with Max/MSP unless you’re building a plug-in with Max and running in another host. But you should be able to send MIDI with this, as with the ReMOTE SL. And Automap *can* now also assign mouse moves, so you could use that with any software you like.

I’m guessing US$100 street or thereabouts; that’d match up with a $129 list. Availability is April.

I’ll be editing all those videos tomorrow! Thanks for your patience!

January 23, 2008 @ 1:06 am

sven

I’m confused, are there just the 8 knobs and buttons or are there multiple banks of knobs and buttons?

January 23, 2008 @ 1:55 am

tylerhill

I like to make friends, I do not know and may not leave your friends? I have here a software may be helpful to you.
——
http://www.vcao.net/

January 23, 2008 @ 3:38 am

Nick Hoggard

Is it USB-powered or does it have a power adaptor?

This is probably a make-or-break feature for me, for portability reasons.

January 23, 2008 @ 5:41 am

matt

The Nocturn does also have MIDI built in to the server aswell just incase Automap can’t cater for the item needing to be controlled. There is also a cool pickup mode (just like regular Automation) and also the MIDI is bi-directional so you get feedback using regular MIDI also! Its also only USB powered. The Automap Universal 2 is a massive upgrade to Automap. Also with Protools learn, its pretty much the ONLY thing that can learn Plug-in controls on protools.

January 23, 2008 @ 8:12 am

janosch

this is what i have been looking for without even knowing.
switching your plugins and having everything important assigned in a second… wonderful!

January 23, 2008 @ 9:34 am

Peter Kirn

@Nick: definitely USB-powered.

@sven: not totally clear on how you switch banks, but this being Novation kit, you definitely have the ability to switch banks/instruments.

January 23, 2008 @ 4:23 pm

Muzyka » Blog Archive » Best $100 Spent at NAMM: Novation’s Nocturn Controller is Liz’s Pick

[...] Liz McLean Knight for Create Digital Music, 2008. | Permalink | 24 [...]

January 24, 2008 @ 3:47 am

somosanto

Are the knobs “detented”?

Someone asked about the feel of them. What stopped me from buying the remote zeo, ere the “click-wheel like” rotary encoders.

Somewhere between the bcr-2000 and this, lies nirvana.

January 24, 2008 @ 3:47 am

Andy

Looks like the Nocturn could be a nice little controller for Mainstage.

January 24, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

Julien

What’s the difference between a “touch sensitive” knob and a knob ?

January 25, 2008 @ 8:22 am

Dave

The knobs aren’t detented except the Speed Dial, which needs to be for browsing presets (click it in to do that).

The touch-sense allows you to learn a parameter to a knob without having to move it, and a few other tricks :)

January 25, 2008 @ 10:34 am

59min

Hi, look into this video demo:
http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=9752

Hope its that good integrated with DAW and Reason also. Looks like a winner (for the prie!!). Hope the knobs run smooth though. My top knobs on Zero SL have “steps”. I dont like that.

Regards

January 29, 2008 @ 4:10 am

Plyci

Ive just ordered one

January 29, 2008 @ 7:06 am

somosanto

59min - was looking for that term > got “detented” off the top of my head.
dave- thanks a bunch

January 29, 2008 @ 10:08 am

upbeat27

it looks like these are actually selling for $149. i knew it was too good to be true…

January 30, 2008 @ 2:47 am

Mike

@ Thomas: I know I’m late on this, but having just read the official press release. I can confirm it does have suction cups.

January 30, 2008 @ 10:41 am

D.Eastwood

Can this interface with Max/MSP using midi messages? The crossfader would be extremely useful for video mixing. would it work??

January 30, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

Bill Van Loo

Any update on getting that video online? Still pretty curious about this little beast…

bvl

January 30, 2008 @ 11:07 pm

Plyci

Im not intrested into how this thing controlls plugins, Im going to be using it to controll ableton live via my own mapping. Also to let the Max/msp users know yes you can use this as a controller. If your using Max or PD (lIm a PD user) you can assign anything to anything. a midi message is a midi message. Just ont bother with the Automap software and map it yourself.

January 31, 2008 @ 3:03 pm

Plyci

just found this

http://pianoandsynth.com/2008/02/04/sonic-state-video-reviews-novation-nocturn-control

February 5, 2008 @ 1:50 pm

Acix

Hey Liz,

I wonder if you can adjust any of the rubber buttons, too? I need to be able to make them assignable in Traktor.

Otherwise, it’s kind of ridiculous. I can have the page button on the Function keys on my computer keyboard. And the price of $149 is a lot for this controller if those rubber buttons aren’t programmable. I prefer to spend another $50 and target a Vestax VCI dj controller for $200 on eBay.

I think retail should be no more than $99.

March 2, 2008 @ 4:29 pm

MonksDream

@Julien

A touch sensitive knob knows when it’s being touched. I have them on my AplhaTrack. When you touch the knob the display changes to tell you more about the parameter that knob will act upon. For instance, I can lightly touch the fader slider to see the level of my track in db in the the display. It’s like the thing’s alive!

March 7, 2008 @ 2:10 am

azmills

8 of the buttons are assignable in multiple pages. the others are;

System Buttons: ‘Learn’, ‘View’, ‘Page+’ and ‘Page-’
&
Group Buttons: User, FX, Inst, Mixer

I’m not sure how many pages but it may be as many as you need /want.

See novations website for a userguide and more info.

March 28, 2008 @ 3:56 am

azmills

I just ordered a Nocturn from samash.com

$99.99

It’s not in stock yet and I probably won’t get it until May but at that price I couldn’t wait!

April 1, 2008 @ 8:55 pm

azmills

I’m thinking that now it will be late May or even June until it arrives. Novation told me that no saleable units had shipped to the US yet. May was an estimate by them.

No worries though, I’m still happy to be getting one. If it’s not here until July I’ll be a little upset.

April 1, 2008 @ 9:02 pm

Acix

Whatchoo talkin ’bout Willis?! I just looked at samash.com and they’re listed at $149. All the stores are probably trying to do pre-orders for $149, but why do they have to get greedy on such a nice product? I would be happy to get one for $99. Do you have a link to that offer?

Thanks!

April 2, 2008 @ 3:10 am

Acix

Ah, you’re making an April Fool outta me? I got it!

April 2, 2008 @ 3:14 am

Wes

Awesome stuff!

im gonna nip and get myself one of these tomorrow!!

i saw someone mention this and a monome…..it sounds like a great combination, and as for live plugin work it looks like just the ticket for me!
and usb powered- even better!

April 8, 2008 @ 4:21 pm

circuitslave

Sam Ash was selling them for $99, but they raised the price to the same as others }:(

April 8, 2008 @ 6:59 pm

Acix

Maybe we can get together and do a big purchase from Sam Ash and get a quantity discount. Anyone interested?

April 11, 2008 @ 11:19 pm

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