Beatmaker 3 + Presonus Atom Controller.. Doesnt work?
TL;DR
The Atom midi controller doesnt seem to record properly, video attached.
The Atom midi controller feels like the best portable midi pad option available right now IMHO. However it doesnt seem to work with Beatmaker 3.
I can map everything fine and its very responsive and I can play drums and samples on it perfectly. But when it comes to actually recording anything, something goes wrong. It often won't record notes I play (even though they clearly were triggered in the software) and a lot of the time when it does happen to record some of the notes, you won't be able to hear them until you stop the pattern and then press play again.
This issue does not exist when I play on the ipad screen pads directly, nor does it happen when I plug in my Akai MPD218 pad controller. The MPD218 almost was exactly what I wanted but unfortunately has issues with double triggering notes. The Atom has amazing pads, has a ton of controls and is even more compact than the 218! I'd really love to use it but for some reason I cant get it working and cant find ANY info on people using it with Beatmaker 3.
Here is a video I made of the issue I am talking about.
Comments
Here is a better demonstration video I made to show the problem.
Hello,
It seems to not always registering note off events.
Is it possibly a configuration or a mode on the device itself ?
All the best,
Vincent.
Unfortunately it is not a controller mode etc. It actually works great until BM3 is in recording mode, then it starts acting weird. I have used the Atom controller with many other ipad apps and Beatmaker is the only one that gets confused when using it.
I think your email said you werent familiar with this controller? The Presonus Atom is the best portable MIDI drum pad controller I've used. Its super compact, has great response, no double trigger like the MPD series has. I've owned almost every model of maschine, both pushes, and still have two MPDs at the moment... Im not an expert necessarily but have had years of familiarity with this stuff. Definitely check that one out.
I also found another user on the Beatmaker dischord chanel that said they own an Atom and have the exact same issue; it works great until you try to record.
Let me know if you can test this out. This controller would be perfect for Beatmaker so I was disappointed that the app acts weird when you begin recording.
That was me. I'll give it another try again soon and see if I still get the same issue. I was using the wej when I had this issue and thought it was bluetooth related. Will try with the camera kit and report back.
@elgrayso @vincent . I had some time to try and still have the same issue. I think this might be an issue with the controller itself as I don’t have this issue with other controllers. I did uncover that with the mpk225 connected I get more crashes than without it connected. I’m not sure why.
Tried this setup in NS2 just to see if it’s the controller. I can record properly without issues with the controller in slate. If I use obsidian with instruments I get stuck notes. Oh well
I've just ordered one to try.
Thank you @hansjbs for trying and @elgrayso for reporting.
Keep it tidy,
Vincent B.
Great!!!! Appreciate it. It's a really good controller for BM3.
Thank you for looking into this vincent! The two would make a perfect combo.
I will try and test my Atom on my other iOS DAWs this week and report back.
@vincent @hansjbs
I tested the Atom on iMPC, since its the closest app I have to Beatmaker. It actually worked perfectly as expected; I mapped the pads in a similar fashion to the process in Beatmaker and it played and recorded without issue. I havent had any issues with the Atom other than when combined with the BM3. The iMPC app also has a MIDI log/monitor mode and I did not see anything unusual coming from the Atom, just regular MIDI on/off notes.
I made another video of the Atom, but with iMPC, that you can view here:
Thanks for the video. I forgot to mention that did also try it with iMPC pro with no issues. Since I have an mpc element which doesn’t require any mapping. I use that when I fire up iMPC Pro instead so i kinda forgot I did that experiment.
Hopefully they can get BM3 working with Atom as well as iMPC works with it, because I prefer working in Beatmaker
People, do you know if with the next update ( which will be by the end of August ) this matter will be solved? I would like to get the Atom but I would prefer to be able to use it with BM3...
Hello everyone,
Just figured it out and it's been fixed.
Something about channel pressure events ...
You'll have it for the next update.
All the best,
Vincent B.
Great news @vincent !
Nice work @vincent
Looking forward to more news about the update... but when it's ready (no pressure)
@vincent Awesome! Thanks so much for listening and fixing that
Does the Atom work in terms of power? Or do you need to use a powered hub with it?
I use it either with a power hub or with just the latest camera connection kit with the power plugged in.
@vincent Thanks for the update on this. When do you anticipate rolling out the update?
Best Regards
Hey folks can anyone confirm that this is fixed and working in the new update?
Thanks!
@TrickyGnosis Somebody had a recent photo on Instagram showing it working with the update. What was the issue? Nevermind. Seems to be fixed. Here was the post:
Yes it's fixed.
Great thanks!
can you setup the pad pressure to change note repeat velocity with the atom? I've been trying to figure out how to set this up with my qunexus and can't work it out.
@vincent , realllly cool of you to actually order the unit to work out the bug for us to have this as a controller for BM3! Thankyou so much! When Atom was released the very first thing I thought of was ohhhhh that would be perfect for BM3.
