Unify is a very interesting software instrument (it can act as a host and as a plugin) developed by Shane Dunne in partnership with John “Skippy” Lehmkuhl (PluginGuru). One of the newer features (still labeled as “advanced and experimental”) makes it easier to configure a midi hardware controller’s knobs and buttons to remotely control the Unify Macro Knobs.
This configuration is achieved via Unify Midi Controller Files, which are quite easy to understand.
While this feature is still very new and evolving, it holds great promise for using Unify as live performance host or and for making the sound design workflow in Unify faster. So I set out to configure my Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk2 to have a custom mapping for Unify. With any luck, this process should work identically for the smaller and larger keyboard versions of the S series keyboards.
As is typical for controlling software with a midi controller, one typically needs to set up 2 configurations (mappings):
- Mapping midi messages to controls or actions in the software
- This mapping tells the software what actions to perform when midi messages are received
- Mapping midi messages to knobs, buttons, sliders, pads, keys or whatever controls the hardware controller may have
- This mapping tells the hardware what midi messages to send when moving the various hardware knobs or sliders, or pressing the various buttons, pads or keyboard keys.
In my case, I wanted the 8 knobs on the hardware keybard to control the 32 Unify Macro knobs and the 8 buttons to toggle midi on and off for the first 32 Unify instrument layers. This is possible, because the keyboard allows activating multiple different “pages”, each page sending different midi messages for sets of 8 knobs and buttons. All of this is made possible by putting the keyboard in Midi Controller mode.
Creating the midi mappings file for Unify
After finding the right folder via the Unify Midi Controller Files page in the Unify manual, I created a new text file in that folder. This text file tells Unify what to do when receiving various midi messages. Lines starting with a # are comments which are ignored by Unify and are there to make it a bit easier for me to remember what each section of the configuration file does.
#
# Unify MIDI Controller File for Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk2
#
KOMPLETE KONTROL - 1
# If a "convChannel" line is included, convert MIDI channel as indicated
# convChannel 12
# buttons page 1
# for Unify miditoggle: in Komplete Kontrol midi configuration, set the buttons to "Trigger" (not "Toggle")
cc 96 unify/miditoggle/1
cc 97 unify/miditoggle/2
cc 98 unify/miditoggle/3
cc 99 unify/miditoggle/4
cc 100 unify/miditoggle/5
cc 101 unify/miditoggle/6
cc 102 unify/miditoggle/7
cc 103 unify/miditoggle/8
# buttons page 2
# for Unify miditoggle: in Komplete Kontrol midi configuration, set the buttons to "Trigger" (not "Toggle")
cc 104 unify/miditoggle/9
cc 105 unify/miditoggle/10
cc 106 unify/miditoggle/11
cc 107 unify/miditoggle/12
cc 108 unify/miditoggle/13
cc 109 unify/miditoggle/14
cc 110 unify/miditoggle/15
cc 111 unify/miditoggle/16
# buttons page 3
# for Unify miditoggle: in Komplete Kontrol midi configuration, set the buttons to "Trigger" (not "Toggle")
cc 112 unify/miditoggle/17
cc 113 unify/miditoggle/18
cc 114 unify/miditoggle/19
cc 115 unify/miditoggle/20
cc 116 unify/miditoggle/21
cc 117 unify/miditoggle/22
cc 118 unify/miditoggle/23
cc 119 unify/miditoggle/24
# buttons page 4
# for Unify miditoggle: in Komplete Kontrol midi configuration, set the buttons to "Trigger" (not "Toggle")
cc 120 unify/miditoggle/25
cc 121 unify/miditoggle/26
cc 122 unify/miditoggle/27
cc 123 unify/miditoggle/28
cc 124 unify/miditoggle/29
cc 125 unify/miditoggle/30
cc 126 unify/miditoggle/31
cc 127 unify/miditoggle/32
# knobs page 1
cc 14 macro/1
cc 15 macro/2
cc 16 macro/3
cc 17 macro/4
cc 18 macro/5
cc 19 macro/6
cc 20 macro/7
cc 21 macro/8
# knobs page 2
cc 22 macro/9
cc 23 macro/10
cc 24 macro/11
cc 25 macro/12
cc 26 macro/13
cc 27 macro/14
cc 28 macro/15
cc 29 macro/16
# knobs page 3
cc 30 macro/17
cc 31 macro/18
cc 32 macro/19
cc 33 macro/20
cc 34 macro/21
cc 35 macro/22
cc 36 macro/23
cc 37 macro/24
# knobs page 4
cc 38 macro/25
cc 39 macro/26
cc 40 macro/27
cc 41 macro/28
cc 42 macro/29
cc 43 macro/30
cc 44 macro/31
cc 45 macro/32
# Lowest possible midi note number for midi panic (transpose keyboard to lowest possible octave and hit the lowest C)
no 0 midi/panicThat was the easy part – now for the more cumbersome part – making a configuration template for the keyboard.
Creating the midi mappings for Komplete Kontrol S61 Mk2
Unfortunately, making a 4 page template for Komplete Kontrol is either cumbersome or tricky. I tried both
Safe, but cumbersome method:
Here are the steps that worked for me:
- Open the Komplete Kontrol app in standalone mode
- Click on the little midi icon, and add a new template
- Add 2 more pages
For each of the 8 buttons on each of the 4 pages
- Enter the desired midi CC number in the drop down (the mouse wheel is your best friend here)
- page 1 buttons are CC 96 to 103
- page 2 buttons are CC 104 to 111
- page 3 buttons are CC 112 to 119
- page 4 buttons are CC 120 to 127
- Set the mode dropdown to “Trigger”
- Enter the desired display text for the button (I just used CC and whatever the CC message the buttons sends, e.g. “CC 96”), but you can set this text to anything that makes sense for you to be displayed on your Keyboard screen.
For each of the 8 knobs on each of the 4 pages
- Enter the desired midi CC number in the drop down (the mouse wheel is your best friend here)
- page 1 knobs are CC 14 to 21
- page 2 knobs are CC 22 to 29
- page 3 knobs are CC 30 to 37
- page 4 knobs are CC 38 to 45
- Enter the desired display text for the button (I just used CC and whatever the CC message the buttons sends, e.g. “CC 96”)
Dangerous, but potentially faster method:
WARNING: Only do this if your comfortable editing large JSON files.
ANOTHER WARNING: Native Instruments does NOT support the direct editing of the Komplete Kontrol templates file.
YET ANOTHER WARNING: If things mess up you may lose any other Komplete Kontrol settings you have previously customized.
The trick is that (unlike the templates for other Native Instruments controllers) all of the templates are stored in a single large JSON file, which oddly enough has a .dat extension. Editing that file can be faster for individuals experienced with JSON files.
So here are the steps I did for that method:
- Find where the Komplete Kontrol template data file is stored.
- Make a safety copy of the file Komplete Kontrol MK2 Settings.dat – so you can get your settings back if the following steps mess things up.
- side note: making a backup copy of this file is also a good idea before you do a lot of manual editing via the user interface
- These days I use Visual Studio Code for most of my config file and program script editing, but you may have other favorite tools.
- To edit that file
- Ensure the Komplete Kontrol App isn’t running
- It may be easiest to change the extension from .dat to .json for editing and then back to .dat before opening the Komplete Kontrol app again
- The trick is to add another section to the bottom of the “templates” section (it has numbered templates starting with “0”).
- Notes:
- I worked with Komplete Kontrol 2.5.0 (R208) on Windows 10. My template code may not work in earlier or later versions.
- My code starts with a , (comma) in the first line on purpose, so it can be pasted right after the last bracket } of the last template of the already existing templates in the Komplete Kontrol Mk2 Settings file
- I enumerated my template section as “99” just to make sure it doesn’t clash with existing templates – that worked for me and the Komplete Kontrol App automatically re-enumerated it to the first unused number when I first opened it after my editing. If that doesn’t work in your system, try giving it the first unused number.
,
"99": {
"Name": "Unify Template",
"keyzones": {
"0": {
"UpperKey": "0",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "11"
},
"1": {
"UpperKey": "11",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "1"
},
"2": {
"UpperKey": "23",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "7"
},
"3": {
"UpperKey": "35",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "9"
},
"4": {
"UpperKey": "95",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "11"
},
"5": {
"UpperKey": "107",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "14"
},
"6": {
"UpperKey": "119",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "2"
},
"7": {
"UpperKey": "127",
"Transpose": "0",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "false",
"Color": "10"
}
},
"pages": {
"0": {
"knobs": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 14",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "14",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 15",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "15",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 16",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "16",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 17",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "17",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 18",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "18",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 19",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "19",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 20",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "20",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 21",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "21",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
}
},
"buttons": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 96",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "96",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 97",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "97",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 98",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "98",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 99",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "99",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 100",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "100",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 101",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "101",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 102",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "102",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 103",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "103",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
}
}
},
"1": {
"knobs": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 22",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "22",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 23",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "23",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 24",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "24",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 25",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "25",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 26",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "26",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 27",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "27",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 28",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "28",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 29",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "29",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
}
},
"buttons": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 104",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "104",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 105",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "105",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 106",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "106",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 107",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "107",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 108",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "108",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 109",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "109",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 110",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "110",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 111",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "111",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
}
}
},
"2": {
"knobs": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 30",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "30",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 31",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "31",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 32",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "32",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 33",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "33",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 34",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "34",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 35",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "35",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 36",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "36",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 37",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "37",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
}
},
"buttons": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 112",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "112",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 113",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "113",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 114",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "114",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 115",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "115",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 116",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "116",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 117",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "117",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 118",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "118",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 119",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "119",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
}
}
},
"3": {
"knobs": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 38",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "38",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 39",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "39",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 40",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "40",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 41",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "41",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 42",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "42",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 43",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "43",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 44",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "44",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 45",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "45",
"Channel": "0",
"Min": "0",
"Max": "127",
"Inc": "1",
"Mode": "0"
}
},
"buttons": {
"0": {
"Name": "CC 120",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "120",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"1": {
"Name": "CC 121",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "121",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"2": {
"Name": "CC 122",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "122",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"3": {
"Name": "CC 123",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "123",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"4": {
"Name": "CC 124",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "124",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"5": {
"Name": "CC 125",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "125",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"6": {
"Name": "CC 126",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "126",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
},
"7": {
"Name": "CC 127",
"MIDIType": "3",
"MIDIId": "127",
"Channel": "0",
"Off": "0",
"On": "127",
"Inc": "0",
"Behavior": "1"
}
}
}
}
}- After editing the Komplete Kontrol MK2 Settings file, rename the extension back to .dat – and open the Komplete Kontrol App.
- The newly added template “Unify Template” now should be at the bottom of the previously existing templates, and one could rename it from there if so desired.
- WARNING: When there aren’t any templates except one default template, it’s probably because of a syntax error in the edited JSON file. In that case the Komplete Kontrol App replaces the faulty file with a new single template file – so it’s important to make sure one keeps a separate copy of one’s changed file.
- In the worst case, restore a previously saved copy of the Komplete Kontrol MK2 Settings.dat file (I had to do that several times while I was figuring things out).