Which midi controller are you using to play notes in to your Hapax?

Hi, I want to add a midi controller so I can play parts in to my Hapax. Something with at least a couple of octaves of notes at a time, Velocity and ideally aftertouch and something that would work well for melodic parts as well as drums.

I’m also interested in workflow. I would like to be able to easily switch between which instrument/track is being controlled, either by changing midi channel on the controller or by switching the selected track on the Hapax. I don’t mind keys or pads or a mixture of both.
Ideally I’d like to play a part using the controller, then press record on the Hapax to save that to a pattern, then change to control a different instrument.

What are people using for this and would you recommend it?
Keystep? Launchpad X? Linnstrument? Keith McMillen K-Board-C?

i use an old keystep… it gets the job done.

And are you using Keystep into the Hapax, then out to individual instruments? How do you change what you’re controlling? Does that mean changing the midi channel on the Keystep but also needing to change track on the Hapax at the same time?

I’m using a Keystep 37. Velocity and aftertouch work well enough for me. 37 mini keys is a compromise but it fits in very well in my setup on the desk. Track selection happens on the Hapax. Since I am using nearly all out ports on Hapax, changing channels on the Keystep wouldn’t suffice anyway.
I also have a Waldorf Blofeld keyboard (with Local Off) that I use when I want a better key bed with better aftertouch. That way I can also send notes to other synths routed through Hapax. No MPE controller currently (used to have a Roli) and I’m going to sit this one out at least until Hapax’ MPE implementation is finalised.

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Does that mean you also need to change midi channel on the keystep each time? Or set all tracks to use the same midi in channel and they only receive when they’re active?

No changes on the Keystep. I’ve set the KS37 to send on channel 16 to Hapax port B (no particular reason for that, just happens to be free in my setup). I’ve set active track on Hapax to the same. See here under Midi input: Hapax Manual | Squarp instruments

I used to have all tracks set to “All Active”, but I’ve been slowly changing most of them to their own input port+channel so I can also record their knobs/cc. And all receive notes from KS37 when active. This works thanks to Hapax’ active track setting above. I’ve created instrument definition files for all my synths so I don’t have to remember ports and channels.

I love the Keith McMillen QuNexus as companion. There I have velocity and aftertouch control and even MPE.

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