Novation Impulse User Manual Download

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Summary of Contents for Impulse

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Page 2: ...en all possible steps to ensure that the information given here is both correct and complete In no event can Novation accept any liability or responsibility for any loss or damage to the owner of the equipment any third party or any equipment which may result from use of this manual or the equipment which it describes The information provided in this document may be modified at any time without pr...

Page 3: ...acturer or sold with the apparatus When a cart is used use caution when moving the cart apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip over 10 Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of time 11 Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way such as power supply cord or plug is damaged liq...

Page 4: ...e installation instructions within this manual may cause magnetic interference with appliances such as radios and televisions and void your FCC authorization to use this product in the USA 3 Note This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harm...

Page 5: ...mal operation of this product may be affected by a strong electrostatic discharge ESD In the event of this happening simply reset the unit by removing and then replugging the USB cable Normal operation should return COPYRIGHT AND LEGAL NOTICES Novation and Automap are registered trade marks of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited Impulse is a trade mark of Focusrite Audio Engineering Limited VST is...

Page 6: ...PULSE SETUP EXAMPLES 15 Interfacing to a computer 15 Automap mode 15 Manual mapping mode 15 Interfacing to MIDI hardware 16 Using external hardware and a computer together 16 MENU OVERVIEW 17 LCD features and Menu Navigation 17 EXPLORING IMPULSE 18 Loading and Saving a Template 18 Help Mode 19 Configuring Impulse Controls 19 Preview 20 Setup Mode 20 Keyboard Settings 22 MIDI Channel 23 Zones 23 Pr...

Page 7: ...omap 4 control 30 The Plugin Mixer and MIDI buttons 31 Automap Mode 32 The Automap Mapping Editor 32 Track Up Down 34 Bank Up Down 34 Learn Mode 34 DAW Guide 35 Ableton Live and Clip launch mode Mac or Windows 35 Troubleshooting 37 Basic Troubleshooting Examples 37 FACTORY TEMPLATES 38 ASSIGNABLE CONTROLS PARAMETERS AND RANGES 39 MIDI Implementation Table 43 ...

Page 8: ...in the separate Automap 4 User Guide It can be downloaded from our website www novationmusic com support For additional information up to date support articles and a form to contact our Technical Support Team please visit the Novation Answerbase at www novationmusic com answerbase Key Features Available with 25 49 or 61 note semi weighted piano style keyboard 8 rotary encoders 9 faders 49 61 note ...

Page 9: ...being discussed that should simplify setting up Impulse to do what you want It s not mandatory that you follow them but generally they should make life easier What s In The Box The Impulse has been carefully packed in the factory and the packaging was designed to withstand rough handling Should the unit appear to have been damaged in transit do not discard any of the packing material and notify yo...

Page 10: ...ugh the USB specification agreed by the IT industry states that a USB port should be able to supply 0 5 A at 5 V some computers particularly laptops are unable to supply this current Unreliable operation may result in such a case When powering Impulse from a laptop s USB port it is recommended that the laptop is powered from AC mains rather than its internal battery Glossary Certain terms are used...

Page 11: ...ance and lets you repeatedly trigger specific sounds from the drum pads with velocity sensitivity Template A Template defines how your Impulse will operate When you load a template all Impulse s own settings and parameters will be set to whatever the template dictates If you subsequently change settings you can resave the amended set of data to the template and your amendments will be restored nex...

Page 12: ...signable controls are free their function will vary according to which plug in DAW mixer or additional piece of MIDI hardware is being controlled Their assignment to a particular parameter of the Thing being controlled will either be made automatically by Automap or manually by you Non assignable controls are fixed their function will generally always be the same regardless of what sort of setup y...

Page 13: ...han which select the different menus used when modifying templates A fifth button Setup permits global settings and a sixth Shift enables secondary functions for some of the other buttons 9 Octave Octave buttons shift the notes played from the keyboard up or down in octave steps Pressing the two buttons together lets you transpose the keyboard in semitone increments The number of octaves over whic...

Page 14: ...l spring loaded to return to centre detent position 17 Keyboard Impulse is available in 25 49 or 61 note versions The keys are semi weighted and output channel aftertouch 18 Transport controls these provide remote control facilities for DAW transports Rear view connections 1 2 3 4 1 USB port USB Type B connector compatible with USB 1 1 2 0 or 3 0 Connect the Impulse to a USB port on your computer ...

Page 15: ...ous plug in parameters in an intelligent manner You have the option of editing these assignments if you would prefer the control mapping to differ in some respects from the default As well as controlling parameters on your plug ins Impulse also provides you with a hardware mixer control surface in the form of per channel faders and mute or solo buttons applicable to Impulse 49 and 61 only By defau...

Page 16: ... might want to employ in live performance for example to avoid the need for an on stage computer Using external hardware and a computer together Control information USB Power Feedback LCD Screen MIDI MIDI You may wish to use your music software and one or more hardware devices such as your favourite sound modules etc as well as Impulse In this situation you can make use of both the USB and DIN por...

Page 17: ...y the parameter value or setting Some settings e g Aftertouch in the Keyboard menu have only two values On and Off Others have a full analogue range of values usually from 0 to 127 The effect of changing a parameter is immediate and is remembered when you exit the page or menu Computer Connected icon The Computer Connected icon confirms that Impulse is communicating correctly with the computer and...

Page 18: ... Saving a Template From the default screen i e with no button LEDs lit in the Template Edit section rotate the Data knob 14 or press the buttons 7 until the number of the required template is displayed 1 to 20 The template is active as soon as its number is displayed Note To select a template if MIDI parameter values are currently displayed use the buttons Alternatively you can press any of the Ke...

Page 19: ...ntrol Edit mode with the display as shown and the Controls button LED lit Press Controls a second time to exit the mode Operating any assignable control e g faders 1 9 buttons 1 9 encoders 1 8 or the drum pads makes the display show parameter for that control The selected control number is displayed for example Fd3 Fader 3 or Bt5 Button 5 MIDI parameters can be selected by pressing the and buttons...

Page 20: ...lly take care of the transport assignment for all the DAWs supported and this setting will not be applicable However if not using Automap this setting lets you select whether DAW transport control commands will be transmitted as MIDI Machine Control MMC data MC or as Continuous Controller data CC When set to MMC each transport button will send the appropriate standard MIDI command If your DAW resp...

Page 21: ...is setting determines whether an external device connected to the DIN MIDI Out socket will receive its MIDI commands locally from Impulse Loc or from your computer Usb This is a useful feature when you are using both music software and additional external devices such as synths The default setting is local Loc Page 6 SysEx Data Dump DumpSYX With this option selected pressing Enter 14 will let you ...

Page 22: ...default is All i e both USB and the DIN MIDI ports Page 2 Keyboard Velocity Curve VelCurve This selects one of four velocity tables 1 to 4 Velocity curve 2 is the default and should be acceptable for most playing styles Using the same amount of force setting VelCurve to 1 will output lower note velocities when compared to the higher settings of 3 or 4 When set to Off all notes played from the keyb...

Page 23: ...for all its notes Using Zones it can be split into 2 3 or even 4 separate or overlapping regions Each Zone can have its own MIDI channel port and keyboard range This feature can be of tremendous benefit when playing live Press the Zones button to enable and configure keyboard zones the LED in the button lights to confirm the mode Page 1 Zones Enable KbdZones Use the data entry knob to select On or...

Page 24: ...rts As well as selecting a different MIDI channel for each Zone you can also set the MIDI Port each Zone uses The options are Template tPL the port will be that set in the current template USB Usb the USB port will be used MIDI Mid the DIN sockets will be used All ALL both USB and DIN ports will be used Off Off the Zone is disabled Pages 7 to 21 Zones 2 to 4 The remaining pages in the Zones menu r...

Page 25: ...chord the Arpeggiator identifies its notes and plays them individually in sequence this is termed an arpeggio pattern or arp sequence thus if you play a C major triad the selected notes will be C E and G The Impulse Arpeggiator is enabled by pressing the Arp button 15 its LED will light to confirm and the eight drum pads will turn green Holding a note down will repeat the note in the sequence and ...

Page 26: ...gh this may be further amended by the Swing parameter see below The lower the parameter value the shorter the duration of the note played At a setting of 100 each note in the sequence is immediately followed by the next without a gap At the default value of 50 the note duration is exactly half the beat interval as set by the tempo rate and each note is followed by a rest of equal length Values ove...

Page 27: ...lues greater than 1 have the effect of doubling tripling etc the length of the sequence The additional notes added duplicate the complete original sequence but octave shifted Thus a four note sequence played with Arp Octave set to 1 will consist of eight notes when Arp Octave is set to 2 You can set Arp Octave to 1 2 3 or 4 Page 6 Arp Length ArpLngth This sets the length of the sequence and has a ...

Page 28: ... 20 Certain arp parameters set in the Arpeggiator Settings menu see page 26 have an effect on the rhythmic pattern of the roll Boot Menu The boot menu will not be required in normal operation but is there to let you update Impulse s firmware check firmware version numbers and also to reset all the settings to the original factory values Boot menu is entered by holding down the and Shift buttons si...

Page 29: ...te www novationmusic com support This contains much more detailed information about Automap 4 than is possible to include in this User Guide Please refer to it as necessary Note that Automap 4 is a generic product designed to interface with numerous other Novation products as well as Impulse Installing Automap 4 on your computer You will find the Automap 4 installer on the DVD supplied with your I...

Page 30: ...of writing DAWs officially supported by Impulse and Automap 4 are Mac Live Pro Tools Cubase Logic Reason Windows Live Pro Tools Cubase Sonar Reason NOTE Check the Novation website for up to date compatibility information www novationmusic com support If your DAW is not listed but supports HUI you can still use Automap 4 to control its mixer functionality See the Automap 4 User Guide for more detai...

Page 31: ...a as defined in the current Impulse template This is the mode you will use if you are not using Automap 4 e g with no computer connected The fader button Impulse 25 only 10 This single button controls the action of Impulse 25 s single fader Mixer If the LED is lit the fader is ready for use with Automap 4 and the fader will now act as a level control for a track of the DAW mixer Track assignment i...

Page 32: ...e click System Tray Windows and make sure that the encoder section in the image of the Impulse has a red rectangle around it If not click on the encoder area This will display the first of several pages number will vary with plug in graphically representing the rotary encoders This window will tell you which parameter of the plug in has been assigned to each encoder by Automap 4 and its current va...

Page 33: ...of the two Octave buttons 9 it is possible to sequentially increment decrement track assignment to the physical fader thus allowing you to build up your mix one channel at a time See Track Up Down on page 34 As with the encoders there are additional pages of the Mapping Editor window These may be accessed in the same way as described above 3 Faders Impulse 49 and 61 Clicking the fader area of the ...

Page 34: ...ow and select an alternative function from the list in the Edit Assignment pane Note that the list includes both alternative fader functions and alternative button functions Track Up Down Track Up Down are shifted functions of the two Octave buttons 9 They allow you to step the fader s up or down one track or instrument within your DAW at a time In the case of Impulse 49 and 61 the currently activ...

Page 35: ...e This contains instructions on how to install it on your computer there is also some additional information in the Impulse Getting Started Guide There are some general points to note regarding the operation of Ableton Live Lite when using Impulse as a controller Ableton Live Lite differs from the other compatible DAWs in that it does not require Automap 4 to interface with Impulse Nevertheless we...

Page 36: ...dy to record Flashing colours indicate that Ableton Live Lite is awaiting the start of the next bar before acting on the last command Impulse is also compatible with Ableton s Max for Live All controllers faders buttons encoders pads will be fully supported as Max for Live controls i e using the Live API Wheels aftertouch and pedals however will not be supported as they do not interact with Live d...

Page 37: ... in use Alternatively for stand alone use power the Impulse from a suitable AC USB DC power adaptor Transmitting MIDI Program Change does not affect a connected MIDI device Some MIDI devices will not accept Program Change messages without receiving a Bank Select message CC32 and or CC0 Impulse cannot be selected as a MIDI device from within an application When opening an application that uses the ...

Page 38: ...Stge 8 Novation Stations Template A Station K Station X Station V Station KS Xio Bass Station Keyboard Bass Station Rack Super Bass Station Bass Station VST NovaStat 9 Novation Ultranova UltrNova 10 Novation Nova Nova II Supernova Supernova II SupaNova 11 Native Instruments Kontakt Kontakt 12 Native Instruments FM 8 requires mapping file on DVD FM 8 13 Native Instruments B4 Organ B4 Organ 14 Nativ...

Page 39: ...be used 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL Type nrP Non Registered Parameter Number MSB Most Significant Byte 0 to 127 Bank LSB Least Significant Byte 0 to 127 Max Maximum parameter value 0 to 127 Min Minimum parameter value 0 to 127 Channel MIDI Channel to be used 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to b...

Page 40: ...efined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL Type rPn Registered Parameter Number MSB Most Significant Byte 0 to 127 LSB Least Significant Byte 0 to 127 Btn Type sgl Value 0 to 127 Channel MIDI Channel to be used 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL Btn Type Mty Press 0 to 127 Release 0 to 127 Channel MIDI Channel ...

Page 41: ...Id ALL Btn Type Tgl On 0 to 127 Off 0 to 127 Channel MIDI Channel to be used 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL Btn Type StP To 0 to 127 From 0 to 127 StepSize 1to 64 Channel MIDI Channel to be used 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL Type Prg Bank MSB Most Significant Byte 0 to...

Page 42: ...d 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL Btn Type StP To 0 to 127 From 0 to 127 StepSize 1to 64 Channel MIDI Channel to be used 1 to 16 or tPL tPL is as defined within the template Ports MIDI port to be used tPL USb MId ALL ...

Page 43: ...Control Change 0 127 X Program Change True 0 127 X System Exclusive 0 0 Send recv firmware update Novation Send recv template data Novation System Song Position Pointer Common Song Sel Tune Request X X X X X X System Clock Real Time Commands 0 0 0 X Aux Reset All Controllers Messages Local ON OFF Active Sensing System Reset 0 X X X X X X X Can be passed thru via MIDI interface Notes Mode 1 OMNI ON...

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