This is a hotcue strategy, including a 4-deck mapping for AKAI APC mini, to be able to create a special Techno set and energy flow. This ‘energy strategy’ can be applied for other genres too.

The APC Mini I choose because I was looking for a small dedicated controller for this purpose.

 

When thinking of this hotcue strategy and mapping I had the following goals:

-        To mix and create own compositions of unique parts of tracks

-        To have direct control over these parts and the hotcues

-        To be able to create a desired energy and flow by using what I call ‘energy tactics’

 

The eight hotcues are divided into three sound categories and seven energy tactics. 

                              

In the main picture I have put four hotcue divisions just for explanation.

Check the description with pictures in the download

 

1. Samples – Yellow – Hotcues 1 and 2

Can both be Intro, Outro or to play at any good moment: Distinctive audio pieces of a track which ideally do not contain kick drums.
Aim: “Tease” is to create atmosphere, to excite, surprise or confuse.

 

2. Breaks – Green – Hotcues 3 and 4

Can be Break (3) or Build-up (4): The Break, often before a drop. And the Build-up, often before the main drop.
Aim: “Break” is to give rest or draw attention. “Build” is to give rest and create tension.

 

3. Beats – Red – Hotcues 5-8

Can be Intro (5), the main parts of a track (6 and 7) or Outro (8):

Kick-drum(s), bassline, percussion. Hotcue 5 can be not much more than a kick-drum. Hotcue 6 is a step up and contains an extra bassline or percussion. Hotcue 7 is peak-time where all instruments play together. Hotcue 8 is a step down again, usually towards end of track.

Aim: “Kick” is to kick-start the vibe of the beat. “Move” is to make move. “Peak” is to climax. “Flow” is to let the music flow, cool down or to transition to another track or part.

 

Functions:

4 decks, 32 hotcues and functions for playing, mixing, FX and browsing.

I made this mapping to make full use of eight hotcues per track.

Supported hotcue types are Cue, Loop, None (to show empty hotcue slots).

It is up to you whether you make these hotcues of the type ‘Loop’ or ‘Cue’.

In Flux mode, hotcues stop playing after release. This way they become ‘press and hold’ type of sample/loop triggers.

 

PLAY                Play/pause deck. Led flashes green at BPM rate (beatphase).

SYNC               Sync deck to master. Led is yellow when synced.

LOAD               Set deck focus. Load track. Close browser. Led is yellow when unloaded.

LOOP               Activate/deactivate loop. Green led when loop activated.

UNLOAD          Unload deck.

 

FLUX                Activate/deactivate Flux mode. Led is red when activated.

BEAT/L.SIZE     Beatjump back/forth. [SHIFT] Increase/decrease loop size.

 

Hotcues 1-8    Store hotcue when pressed. Select and play stored hotcue.

Show stored hotcues according the colors yellow, green and red. Are blank for

empty hotcue slots.

When deck is not playing and a new hotcue is stored, the other empty hotcue

slots will also light up, but as soon as the deck is played, the empty hotcues will

properly show empty and flash irregularly. I could not find a better way to

show the empty hotcue slots, but as mentioned, the idea of this mapping is to

use 8 hotcues per track.

To avoid confusion because of a too busy appearance while performing, I

decided to use less leds in the area below the hotcues.

 

[SHIFT]+Hcue  Deletes hotcue. For each hotcue to be deleted, [DEL] must be pressed first.

FX1-2 button   Activate/deactivate FX 1 and 2 per deck for FX unit 1, 2, 3, 4 for deck

A, B, C, D. Led is green when activated.

FX1-2 fader     FX1 +/- FX unit 1/2/3/4.

 

Master clock functions:

I use Master mode to play on four Decks with a stable tempo reference.

Tap                  Tap master clock BPM. Leds flash green when pressed.

Bend +/-          Bend master clock tempo. Leds flash green when pressed.

BPM +/-           Increase/decrease master clock BPM. Leds are always green.

 

Browse functions:

Scroll up          Open browser and scroll up in playlist.

Scroll down     Open browser and scroll up down playlist.

Browser          Open/close browser.

[SHIFT]+Seek   Move forward and backward through track.

 

Notes:

1.     It was not my goal to completely replace my Kontrol X1’s (mk1) but with the current functions in this mapping you can come a long way. I can still use my Kontrol X1’s on the side for functions like Loop move, activating the FX units, FX Dry/Wet and FX3.

2.     You could also choose a hotcue strategy based on the common song structure, which is the fourth hotcue division shown in the main picture. Check the description with pictures in the download

I hope you enjoy it!

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Maarton