![]() To get the correct CCs we either need to look up the corresponding hex command or temporarily assign the CC to another control on our controller through and use Capture MIDI again. We can then route the output to CC messages. If we switch that for the ‘pp’ wildcard Midi Translator will pick up all aftertouch messages. The last two digits refer specifically to a single value for the aftertouch. Select it from the list of messages that come up (it won’t be the last one or the first but one of the middle ones). In Midi Translator (after setting up your MIDI ins and outs in the settings, often done automatically), select Capture MIDI and activate your poly pressure control. Bome’s Midi Translator is my preferred tool for this job, as it allows simple reassignment of each note’s poly pressure to a CC whereas MidiPipe requires a new pipe with a key mapper to be set up for each note (as the message reassignment page doesn’t distinguish what key a poly pressure message belongs to, just that it is a generic poly pressure message). Using one of these pieces of software, we can grab the aftertouch messages as they’re sent from the controller and turn them into CC messages before they get to the software. If you’re not so lucky, then you’ll have to call on the help of our old friends Bome’s Midi Translator, MidiPipe (OSX) or MidiOX (Win). Some controllers treat the pressure sensitivity of pads and keys as any other function and allow assignment just as freely NI’s Maschine and M-Audio’s Trigger Finger pads can be set to send CC messages, so you can solve the problem simply. The first place to look is in your software’s controller editor. This isn’t the end of the world though, because it’s the physical capability we care about and there’s always a way around the limitations of the software. None of the big softwares recognise it – Ableton Live only sees it for the purposes of note data recording, not its global mapping system. Unfortunately, the aftertouch message isn’t very well supported in DJ software. Nomenclature aside, the bottom line is that controls with some form of aftertouch are capable of measuring varying pressure on them the ability to use a pad press to perform one function and then modulate something else whilst it is held down is something that we can use to great creative effect. Poly pressure is the ‘true’ aftertouch, but manufacturers have sometimes called channel pressure functionality aftertouch in a truth stretching effort to make their controllers sound more capable than they are. Channel pressure affects every note on a single MIDI channel and is therefore good for replicating the behaviour of a piano foot pedal, for instance. There is, however, an additional pressure message in the MIDI standard: channel pressure. Polyphonic (poly) pressure is a message that is sent alongside each MIDI note, and between the note on and note off data a message is sent out every time pressure is varied on the key/pad/other-note-generating-instrument. You’ll see different sources use different terminology but to the best of my understanding the most ‘correct’ is that aftertouch is synonymous with ‘polyphonic pressure’. It can sometimes be difficult to tell whether a controller has the goods or not though one of the biggest stumbling blocks when it comes to aftertouch is the confusing way in which more than one function stakes claim to the name. Our Soft Step review, posted earlier this week, shows how cool a controller that has aftertouch capable controls can be. Aftertouch is an increasingly common addition to MIDI controllers’ feature sets, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood – and thus ignored – features on the controllers that support it.
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