Behringer CMD DC-1 Overview with Andrew Luck
We've been covering the Behringer CMD line of modular MIDI controllers for some time now. Mostly we have shown how they integrate with the included Deckadance 2 DJ software, but the beauty of these controllers is that they can be mapped to nearly every performance software on the market. One of the more popular performance softwares of the last few years has been Ableton Live. Ableton allows for tight organization and control of clips within it's session view, which has powerful applications on a stage in a performance capacity. We asked Behringer product specialist Andrew Luck to walk us through how the CMD controllers can work and integrate with Ableton Live. For this video, Andrew focuses specifically on the Behringer CMD DC-1. The DC-1 has an endless rotary encoder and 8 backlit buttons at the top for navigating your clips in the session view. Below that are 8 endless rotary encoders which can be assigned to any function within Ableton Live. Below that is where the DC-1 houses the majority of it's real estate and performance control with 16 back lit pads. The pads won't make you thrown your Native Instruments Maschine or Akai MPC Renaissance out with the rubbish, but they do have a nice response and tactile feel that lend themselves nicely to performance based clip launching and beat mashing on the fly. When paired with the other CMD controllers, the CMD DC-1 is a great tool when performing with Ableton. In the video above, Andrew shows a brief bit about how the CMD DC-1 works so well with Ableton. Andrew shows how you can launch clips as well as how to browse and select those clips within Ableton's session view. I am sure you guys will have lots of questions so be sure to hit us up in the comments section of the video or at the bottom of this blog. To pick up the Behringer CMD DC-1 or the other Behringer CMD modular MIDI controllers, be sure to visit us over at UniqueSquared.com. SLAM!! Transcript:
Three out of the five modular MIDI controllers in the Behringer CMD series all support Ableton and the remote MIDI scripts right out of the box. They all have support for the dynamic clip triggering in the session view which is Ableton's flagship feature. This gives you the ability to browse through virtually infinite number of samples for triggering and mapping to your buttons on the fly. The Behringer DC-1 brings a pad based MIDI style control for sampling and programming. The DC-1 has bigger buttons than the LC-1 and features a unique browsing section with a large endless detented encoder and eight large style pad buttons. Below are eight assignable endless encoder dials, and eight numbered buttons below. You'll find sixteen large pad style buttons for sampling and beat mashing, and these provide a large surface for jamming and triggering clips and also the visual indication of the multi colored LED for browsing your sessions.
On the DC-1, the endless rotary encoder allows you to browse up and down or left and right through your browser in Ableton and gives you that dynamic session view control. You'll see the color of the clips change as we browse through the session and we can trigger those clips simply by pushing the buttons. In this instance of Ableton, we have clips set up in legato mode and as you trigger them. they'll retain their position in time from the original sequence. To pick up one of these CMD controllers for yourself, head over to UniqueSquared.com. This is Andrew Luck, product specialist for Behringer. You're watching UniqueSquared.com.
