MIDI Learn
ScratchCraft has its own MIDI Learn, separate from your DAW’s MIDI mapping. Use it for jog wheels, touch sensors and anything that needs a range, an encoding or a particular button behaviour. It works the same in a plugin host and in the standalone app.
Learning a control
Section titled “Learning a control”- Click MIDI Learn in the header (the MIDI socket icon). The window dims and every learnable control is outlined; controls that already have a mapping show their MIDI source in a small badge.
- Click the control you want to map. It lights up as the armed target.
- Move the hardware for about half a second, or press and release a button.
The status line confirms what was mapped and how, for example a CC on channel 1 mapped as a knob. Learn a new control the same way, or press Esc (or click MIDI Learn again) to leave Learn mode.
Learning replaces any older mapping for the same control, and any older mapping that used the same MIDI source, so one knob never drives two things by accident.
What Learn detects
Section titled “What Learn detects”Learn listens to the stream of messages the control sends and works out what kind of control it is. It stops after a handful of messages, a press and release, or about 0.6 seconds after the first message.
| What it sees | Mapped as |
|---|---|
| A CC, learned on anything but a deck’s jog | Knob or fader (absolute). For an endless encoder, switch the mapping to relative in the mapping editor. |
| A CC learned on a deck’s Jog that sends small steps (values around 1/127, 1/65 or 64) | Jog wheel (relative), with its encoding detected |
| Note on and off, or CC 127 then 0 | Button |
| CC n together with CC n+32 | 14-bit control |
| Pitch wheel | Absolute |
A learned button gets a behaviour that suits its target: a toggle for on/off switches, a trigger for choice controls (each press steps to the next choice), for Capture and for session slot recalls, and momentary elsewhere. You can change any of these afterwards in the mapping editor.
Learned knobs and faders follow the control at once (Jump takeover). If you’d rather a knob wait until it reaches the current value, switch it to Pick-up in the mapping editor.
The right-click menu
Section titled “The right-click menu”Right-click any learnable control, in or out of Learn mode, to see its mapping. The menu’s header shows the MIDI source (or “not mapped”), followed by:
- MIDI Learn: arm this control, then move the hardware.
- Edit Mapping…: open the mapping editor for this control.
- Clear MIDI Mapping: remove the mapping.
Some controls have more than one target. A platter, for example, shows a submenu for each: Jog wheel / encoder, Scratch fader / knob and Platter touch.
Pads and note conflicts
Section titled “Pads and note conflicts”Pads are played with MIDI notes rather than mappings. To change a pad’s note, right-click the pad and choose Learn Note, or click the note pill in the pad inspector, then play a note. See Pads and banks.
If you learn a note as a mapping and a pad already plays that note, the status line warns you and names the pad. To keep them apart, either change the pad’s note, or set the rack’s MIDI selector (above the pads) to one channel so the controller’s other channels stay free for mappings.
Deck targets
Section titled “Deck targets”Right-click a platter on the Mix tab, or a deck’s waveform, to reach the deck’s MIDI targets:
| Target | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Jog | A jog wheel or endless encoder (relative). A knob or fader learned here becomes an absolute scratch around the cue point. |
| Scratch | A fader, knob or the pitch wheel as an absolute position around the cue point. |
| Touch | A touch-sensitive jog’s touch note, or a button: the hand is on the record while it’s held. |
| Capture | A button that arms capture on the deck. |
When you learn a deck’s Jog, touch the wheel and then turn it. Learn waits longer here (about 2.5 seconds) for the turning to begin; the touch note becomes the deck’s Touch mapping and the turning becomes the jog. See Jog wheels.
The waveform’s menu also lists the cue marker as a regular control, so a knob can drop the needle anywhere in the sample.
Session slots and rack banks
Section titled “Session slots and rack banks”- Session slots: in the Sessions window, right-click a slot’s Recall button, or choose MIDI Learn Recall… from the slot’s right-click menu. Each press of the mapped button or pad recalls that slot. See Session states.
- Rack banks: the 1-16 and 17-32 bank buttons in the rack are learnable too. Each press shows that bank of pads.
Mode switch and other commands
Section titled “Mode switch and other commands”Each position of the header’s mode switch (Shape, Rack, Mix, Effects) can be learned on its own, so a controller button can jump straight to a tab. Right-click the position you want. The header’s Stop all button, and the Shape editor’s length and deck boxes, are learnable as commands in the same way.
Defaults
Section titled “Defaults”A fresh project starts with a few mappings already in place: CC 1 on the crossfader, the pitch wheel scratching Deck B, and CC 16 / CC 17 as jog wheels. See Default mappings.