Avid is updating their M-Audio Axiom line of USB controller keyboards. New in this version is DirectLink, which provides automatic mappings for software like Ableton Live, Logic, Cubase, and of course Avid’s own Pro Tools, similar to what’s in the Axiom’s big-brother Axiom Pro. The controller itself has also been improved, with lower-profile faders on the 49/61 model, smooth rotary encoders (not knobs!), an angled-up top panel so you can see what you’re doing more easily, and other tweaks.

Perhaps the most significant feature is improved keyboard, with an updated semi-weighted action and adjusted playing angle.

The updated Axiom enters a market that has been maturing recently – a market M-Audio themselves helped popularize in the first place with the Oxygen line.

Novation has continued to update their Automap functionality and added a more inexpensive option in the form of the Nocturn controller keyboards. The Novations are nice, although I’ve heard a fair bit of frustration with the add-on Automap software that sits between you and the software you’re controlling; while it adds functionality, it also adds complexity, and I find it interesting that its rivals are going a different direction.

I just got in a review unit for Cakewalk’s A-PRO series. (See Cakewalk’s current keyboard lineup.) Like the Avid units, it also adds automatic mappings without requiring extra software, supporting a number of hosts for Windows and Mac. Also notable, Roland has added their higher-quality semi-weighted action, so that instead of feeling like a cheap plastic controller keyboard, you get the solid “clunk” in the action that previously was reserved for standalone synth products – without paying much of a premium for the privilege. I’ll be interested to feel how the new Axiom action stands up, as the Axiom Pro keyboard also feels pretty good.

One especially nice feature the Axiom has that many of its rivals don’t: it’s class-compliant. That means you can plug and play without drivers on Mac and Windows, and it’ll work on Linux, too. (I’ve been running Linux for reliable, low-latency performance with the Pianoteq piano, for instance, using M-Audio keyboards.)

I expect the Axiom will be competitive on price and likability, certainly. I asked some follow-up questions with Avid spokesperson John Krogh last week, including an explanation of what the heck the difference is between Axiom’s DirectLink and Axiom Pro’s HyperControl – each methods for zero-config control of your favorite host and instrument software.

CDM: Okay, I’ll bite. DirectLink? HyperControl? What’s the difference?

John at Avid: It’s fair to think of DirectLink as a subset of what HyperControl is. There are some similarities: With both technologies, the keyboard faders, knobs and transport buttons get mapped to mixer channels, pan, and transport controls within compatible DAWs. That’s sort of “basic” mixer mapping.

The new Axioms with DirectLink also feature an Instrument Mode that, when engaged, will instantly map the faders and knobs to meaningful parameters on software instruments within compatible DAWs. This mapping relies on Axiom Instrument Maps, which are essentially preference files for the built-in software instruments included with Logic, Live, and the rest of the DirectLink-compatible DAWs. The thing with the Axiom Instrument Maps is that they’re set up to provide consistent, intuitive access to the most commonly used plug-in parameters. For example, filter cutoff will always be located on the same knob, regardless of the instrument selected, so the experience is more like working with a hardware synth where there are dedicated physical controls for the parameters you’d want to tweak in real time. In general, parameters such as filter cutoff and resonance get mapped to the knobs, and ADSR controls get mapped to the faders (e.g., amp envelope ADSR will map to faders 1-4, filter envelope ADSR will map to faders 5-8).

Currently, there are Axiom Instrument Maps for the built-in software instruments in 3P DirectLink DAWs. More mapping “profiles” will be added over time for third-party software instruments. For software instruments without Axiom Instrument Maps, DirectLink will automatically map the encoders to the first 8 parameters that are published to the host software, and users can use MIDI learn to re-assign how these are set up.

Note that this kind of predefined mapping is only available to software instruments, not plug-ins. That’s one of the big differences. With the Axiom Pro and HyperControl, you’re able to access every software instrument and plug-in effect parameter – not just a fixed number of controls for software instruments (which is limited to the number of faders and knobs on the Axiom keyboard). On the Axiom Pro you can page through every parameter, so there’s no limit to the number of parameters you can access.

HyperControl on the Axiom Pro also provides a lot more feedback on the LCD, and adds QWERTY key command support (ability to assign QWERTY keystrokes to pads and buttons).

there was also a description (referring to HyperTransport) as being an “open” protocol, but my understanding was that the SDK was available only to specific partners. Will there be a published spec on using DirectLink? (It’s all built on MIDI, anyway, so it would be possible for, say, an independent music host developer to voluntarily add support.)

There isn’t a public SDK, but we’re “open” in the sense that we don’t limit DirectLink to specific third parties. We’re willing to work with any third-party DAW developer if they’re interested in adding DirectLink and/or HyperControl support. We just happen to have existing developer relationships with Apple, Ableton, Propellerhead and Steinberg, and we work with each 3P developer on their integration of DirectLink/HyperControl.

CDM: Is the keybed comparable to any other M-Audio keyboards, or is it new?

John: It’s a new keybed that offers a weightier feel compared to the original Axiom (it’s not the Tru Touch keyboard found in the Axiom Pro).

So, there you have it. The “Pro” still has more sophisticated control options, a more serious action, and of course Speed Racer-white styling, but the standard Axiom looks competitive now, too.

What’s your controller keyboard of choice? How has your experience been with what you’ve owned? What’s important to you when making a decision – that is, what do you want to know? (We’ve gotten a number of requests from readers wondering what to get, but that can depend on what variables matter most to you personally.) Let us know in comments.

Avid at Axiom

Having full control of a complete mix and session from your MIDI keyboard – without having to move your hands to the mouse or shift your focus to your computer screen – can be an addictive, if elusive feeling. Here’s a look at one way to accomplish that objective using the new Axiom Pro keyboards from M-Audio and CDM reader favorite Ableton Live, thanks to a first-look video provided to CDM first.

We’ve seen efforts to make this happen before, notably including the Korg Kontrol keyboard series working together with Propellerhead Reason and Novation’s Automap with software like Ableton Live. M-Audio’s Axiom Pro line has a new twist on the idea with what Avid calls “HyperControl.” Several details make HyperControl unique. For one, it doesn’t require any intervening software or drivers; the keyboard is USB class-compliant and plug-and-play, and you don’t have an additional software layer as with Automap. Also, the Axiom Pro is natively capable of sending keyboard commands, and even has a numeric keypad on the front panel of the unit. But most importantly, the Axiom Pro has its own workflow for different editing and performance functions. My suspicion is whether you love or hate HyperControl will probably hinge on how you adapt this feature.

Avid has been kind enough to give CDM an exclusive scoop on an extensive video they produced walking you through the process of setting up HyperControl with Ableton Live, step by step. Now, normally many of the videos from hardware makers make me cringe. John here has done a really terrific job, however. It’s really a tutorial and not a sales pitch, and while I’m a fan of writing and reading, this would be really confusing without the video.

Much of the working method focuses here on controlling the whole session rather than performance parameters. If that doesn’t appeal to you, skip to about seven minutes in for a discussion of “Device Mode,” which is when you finally map those eight encoders to the eight macro parameters for Device Racks so you can tweak your live synth sound. What’s nice here, though, is that you could couple that technique with the tips on recording clips, so you can play, record those clips, play back lips, and tweak all at once, one-man-band/one-woman-band style.

Have a look at the video, and let me know what else you might like to know. What isn’t covered? What other ways might you want to use a keyboard-and-software rig like this?

And don’t worry, while this week is becoming Controller Week (like shark week for MIDI nuts?), it doesn’t have to be The Ableton Live 24 Hour News Network. HyperControl also supports other software, including Avid’s own Pro Tools. Apple just released support in Logic Studio 9 and MainStage which I’m researching now. And while HyperControl is a slick moniker, I’m also researching more conventional control methods, which can even support Linux thanks to the fact that the hardware (unlike Novation’s) is class-compliant. So let us know your priorities in comments, and I’ll see if we can make them happen.

Axiom Family at M-Audio (now Avid

I Want My CDM TV

We’ll be putting more videos onto CDM TV very soon, and now you can subscribe to videos easily via iTunes, Miro, and RSS. Transcoding is fixed, too, so you can load up this video on your iPhone / iPod touch and balance it on the end of the Axiom Pro while you practice these techniques, if you like!

Subscribe to CDM TV with iTunes
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Subscribe to CDM TV with Miro

Still a little thinner than we’d like, but expect this channel to heat up for the …um, fall season.

In a Hollywood overrun with remakes, a new Tron has quite a daunting challenge. The original film may be a cult hit for its 80s arcade cool, but it also was a seminal moment in the evolution of computer animation, at the nexus of obsessive-compulsive optical effects that came before and digital effects that came after. (Google Perlin Noise, if you must.) But where the bits of the effects look uneven or dated alongside the brilliant, it’s nearly impossible to top the genius of Wendy Carlos’ score. Her deft blend of choirs, orchestras, organs, and rich electronics wasn’t just forward looking: it’s fresh today, an alternative to some of the signature sameness in today’s games and films.

Perhaps Tron Legacy will do what other belated sequels have not: express love for the original. With Daft Punk helming the score and a reverent, inspired crew ready to make Tron live again, the trailer last week was the real sleeper hit of Comic-Con.

If that’s not enough layers of fandom, though, head to GearSlutz for a lesson in film scoring and a recreation of the trailer in Reason, custom Reaktor patches, and Ableton Live. This is not much of an infomercial for Live: because Ableton’s arrange view doesn’t quite understand frames, scoring with Live is a bit of a beast. (Live 9, anyone?) But it’s a great example of love for the movie and its original score. And hey, everyone need a source of joy, even a film.

Ableton Live for Sound Design :Tron Legacy [GearSlutz forum]

Stripped the original audio and redid all of the sound from scratch using Reason/NI Reaktor/Ableton Live 8. An M-Audio Axiom 49 was used to perform the Lightcycle Engine Oscillations

Wendy Carlos, if you’re out there, we get it. You revolutionized film scoring and electronic orchestration, and we’re all in your debt. It’s not so much that you switched on Bach or switched on Moog or even switched on Kubrick and guys in glowing skin-tight outfits. You switched on sound, and nothing has been quite the same since.

Now, we just have to hope 2010 can show us a good time, too.