Your first Patch: a MIDI note on every beat
Connect to the players, pick a deck, and send a MIDI note on every beat. This covers the basic Source → Device → Trigger → Output chain.
Every Patch has the same four parts:
- A Source listens to a network: the ProDJ Link players, TCNet, a timecode input.
- A Device picks one player from that source.
- A Trigger watches one value in that player's data and fires when it changes.
- An Output sends something to another program or device, here a MIDI note.
Data flows left to right along the wires. A wire that carries data glows. An idle wire is thin and gray.
1. Add the source#
Right-click an empty part of the Patch and choose Add Source → ProDJ Link. In the node's settings (the panel beside the Patch), set Interface to the network card your players are on. Default uses this Mac's ProDJ Link adapter (set in Utility → Network → ProDJ Link), so one Patch works on any machine.
Once the players are found, they appear under Discovered Devices in the node's settings.
2. Pick a deck#
Right-click the Source node and choose Add Processor → Device. The new node is wired to the source automatically. Set Device ID = 1 to follow player 1.
Click the Device node and look at the bottom of its settings. The Live Data monitor lists everything player 1 is reporting: title, BPM, beat, position, phrases, cues and more.
3. Fire on every beat#
In the Device node's Live Data, right-click beat.beatInBar and choose Add Trigger. A Trigger is added, wired and already watching that key.
Select the trigger and set:
- Event = On Change: it fires every time the beat number changes, so once per beat.
- Release Delay = 60 ms: how long the trigger stays active after each fire. For a MIDI note, this is the note length.
4. Send the note#
Right-click the trigger and choose Add Output → MIDI. In the MIDI node's Messages, click + Add Message and set:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Note (gated by trigger) |
| Note # | 60 |
| Value | 127 |
Note (gated by trigger) sends Note On when the trigger fires and Note Off when it releases.
5. Try it#
In your DAW or MIDI monitor, select the MIDI input ShowKontrol MIDI. Press play on player 1. You now get one note per beat.
Press ▶ on the trigger to fire it by hand while no deck is playing.
Where next#
- For a note length of exactly one beat, set the trigger's Release Delay to From Data Field =
beat.msToNextBeat. - To send a note on every new phrase instead, watch
phrase.current. For every downbeat, use Equals 1 onbeat.beatInBar. - To press a button on a CDJ instead of sending MIDI, see Fader start.