User Guide www.nektartech.com www.nektartech.
Index Introduction 4 Box Content Impact LX Features Minimum System Requirements Getting Started 5 Connection and Power Nektar DAW integration Register for Updates Installing and Setting Up Studio One Artist 6 Installation Studio One Pro Studio One and Impact LX49 Working Together 7 All Working Fine? Transport? Studio One Mixer Control 8 Open/close the Studio One Mixer Window Channel Volume & Pan Mute & Solo Bank Over (1-8), (9-16) etc Master Volume Studio One Instrument Control 9-10 First-time S
Index Pads 17 Pad Maps Pad Learn Programming MIDI Messages to Pads Pad Velocity Curves Pad Maps Default Settings 18 Setup Menu 19 Assigning Controls to MIDI Messages 20-22 Control Assign MIDI Channel Assign Assignment Types Data 1 and Data 2 Values Drawbar (on/off) Save Presets and Pad Maps Load a Preset Global Functions and Options 23-25 Global MIDI Channel Keyboard Velocity Curves Pads Velocity Curves Panic Program Bank LSB Bank MSB Memory Dump USB Port Setup User Presets 1-5 Default Settings 2
Introduction Thank you for buying our Impact LX controller keyboard from Nektar Technology. The Impact LX controllers are available in 25, 49 and 61 note versions and come with setup software for many of the most popular DAWs. This means that for supported DAWs, the setup work has largely been done and you can focus on expanding your creative horizon with your new controller.
Getting Started Connection and Power The Impact LX49 is USB Class compliant. This means there is no driver to install to get the keyboard set up with your computer. Impact LX49 uses the built-in USB MIDI driver which is already part of your operating system on Windows and OS X.
Installing and Setting Up Studio One Artist The included PreSonus Studio One Artist for OSX and Windows is a powerful and complete DAW that allows you to get started straight away with your Impact LX 49/61 even if you don’t have any other music software. Installation The Studio One Artist 2.6 installer can be located on the included DVD and the product key on the white DVD sleeve.
Studio One Artist and Impact LX49 Working Together Presonus Studio One Artist comes with it’s own documentation which cover all its functionality and powerful features. It’s a good idea to read and reference the documentation regularly to get the most out of your Studio One Artist product. But before you dive in to the Studio One Artist documentation, lets go through a few basics here first and in particular cover how Studio One Artist and Impact LX 49 work together.
Studio One Mixer Control To control the Studio One mixer, press the [Mixer] button to select the mixer preset. The display’s left dot is illuminated while the preset is selected and the Studio One mixer is being controlled. Open/Close the Studio One Mixer Window If the Studio One mixer is not in view you can press [Shift]+[Mixer] to bring it in to view. Press the same button combination again to close the mixer window.
Studio One Instrument Control Press the [Inst] button to select the Instrument preset. The display’s center dot is illuminated while the preset is selected. To control an instrument you must however be on an instrument track. To create one, first click on “Instruments” in the Studio One browser home window. The click on Mojito and drag it in to the Studio One arrangement window. An instrument track has now been created and the monophonic synth Mojito is visible on your computer display.
Viewing Assigned Controls The Studio One Focus window will show you what’s assigned to each of instrument presets controls. If you have space on your computer screen this can be a good window to keep in view. There are a few ways to open the Focus window. The below image shows 2 different ways: 1) After moving an Impact LX49 control you will see the control in the window to the left of the tool box.
Studio One Impact Drum Instrument The Studio One Impact (no relation, really) Drum instrument can be played from the Impact LX49 keyboard or 8 pads. Operating the drum instrument works the same way as any other instrument and using the Pad maps 1+2 you are able to play drum sounds straight away. However you will notice that that the first pad on Studio One Impact is assigned to the MIDI note B0. Pad map 1 starts at C1 so neither Pad map 1 or 2 will by default allow you to play this pad.
Keyboard, Octave and Transpose The Impact LX49 features as 49 note (61 note on LX61) keyboard. Each key is velocity sensitive so you can play expressively with the instrument. There are 5 different velocity curves for the keyboard so you can chose a less or more dynamic curve to suit your playing style. In addition, there are 3 fixed velocity settings. We recommend you spend a little time playing with the default velocity curve and then determine if you need more or less sensitivity.
Wheels and Foot Switch Pitch bend and Modulation Wheels The two wheels below the Octave and Transpose buttons are typically used for Pitch bend and Modulation. The Pitch bend wheel is spring loaded and automatically reverts to it’s center position upon release. It’s ideal to bend notes when you are playing phrases that require this kind of articulation. The bend range is determined by the receiving instrument. The Modulation wheel can be freely positioned and is programmed to control modulation by default.
Controlling MIDI Software Impact LX49 has incredible flexibility when it comes to controlling a DAW or other MIDI software. There are typically 4 different ways to set up Impact LX49 many controls though it’s not uncommon to use a combination of different approaches. 1. Install the included Presonus Studio One Artist software and control it from Impact LX (page 6) 2. Install the Impact DAW integration files for use with an existing DAW (must be on our supported list) 3.
Controlling MIDI Software (cont) Global Controls Global controls are controls that are not stored in a preset and therefore Pitch bend/Modulation wheels plus the Foot Switch fall in this category. The 6 transport buttons in addition, are also global controls and assignments are stored over power cycling. As you change presets or adjust your preset controls, global controls remain unchanged. This makes sense since Transport and keyboard controls typically are set up to do one thing specifically. www.
Function Buttons The second row of buttons below the display contains 5 function and menu buttons. Each work a little different so here is an overview of what they do. Shift/Mute When you press and hold this button, the MIDI output from real-time controls is muted. This allows you to reposition faders and pots without sending MIDI data. In addition, pressing this button activates the secondary functions of buttons, screened below those buttons.
Pads The 8 pads are velocity sensitive and programmable with either note or MIDI switch messages. This means you can use them as regular MIDI buttons as well as to punch out your drum beats and percussive melody parts. In addition, the pads have 5 velocity curve options and 3 fixed value options you can choose between depending on what you are doing and your playing style. Pad Maps You can load and save up to 4 different pad setups in 4 memory locations called Pad maps.
Pads Maps Default Settings Map 1 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 Note C1 C#1 D1 D#1 E1 F1 F#1 G1 Note No. 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Data 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Data 2 127 127 127 127 127 127 127 127 Data 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Chan Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Global Note G#1 A1 A#1 B1 C2 C#2 D2 D#2 Note No.
Setup Menu The Setup menu gives access to additional functions such as control assign, load, save, selecting velocity curves and more. To enter the menu, press the [Setup] button. This will mute the MIDI output of the keyboard and instead the keyboard now is used to select menus. When the Setup menu is active, the display will show {S.E.t.} with the 3 dots blinking for as long as the menu is active.
Assigning Controls to MIDI messages Since the Mixer and Instrument presets are read-only, the first 4 functions C1-E1 applies only to Presets and cannot be selected if either Mixer or the Instrument [Inst.] preset is selected. To enter the Setup menu’s assign functions, please do the following: Press [Preset] Press [setup] The display now reads {S.E.t.} with the 3 display dots {…} blinking The Setup menu is now active and the keyboard no longer send MIDI notes when you press the keys.
Assignment Types (E1) Most of the controls in the default presets are assigned to MIDI CC messages. But there are several other options and the below chart shows you which are available for the two types of controls.
Drawbar On/Off (F1) The Drawbar function reverses the value output of the 9 faders from the default 0-127 to 127-0. This can also be achieved by reversing the min/max values of a control when you program Data 1 and Data 2. However if you don’t want to change the reversal permanently in your preset, this function is ideal and here is how to activate it: Press F1 to show the current drawbar status. The display will read either {On} or {OFF}. Off is default. Press F1 again to change the status.
Global Functions and Options Unlike the Control Assign functions, Global functions can be accessed regardless of what preset has been selected. And just to recap: Pressing the [Setup] button will activate the Setup menu and the display will show {S.E.t.} with the 3 dots blinking for as long as the menu is active. The following assumes the Setup menu is active.
Pads Velocity Curves (D2) There are 4 different pad velocity curves and 3 fixed velocity levels to choose between, depending on how sensitive and dynamic you want the Impact LX pads to play. Name Description Normal Focus on mid to high velocity levels Display abbreviation PC1 Soft The most dynamic curve with a focus on the low to mid velocity levels PC2 Hard Focus on the higher velocity levels.
Bank LSB (F2) This function will send a Bank LSB MIDI message from the keyboard. Note, most software products don’t respond to Bank change messages but many MIDI hardware products do. Here is how you send out a Bank LSB message Press the F2 key on your keyboard to select Bank LSB. The display show the last sent Bank message or 000 by default Change the value in decrements/increments using the keys with the -/+ symbols screened above (C3/C#3).
User Preset 1 GM Instrument Faders Ctrl F1 F2 F3 Msg Type MIDI CC MIDI CC MIDI CC CC 73 75 72 Data 1 127 127 127 Data 2 0 0 0 Chan Global Global Global F4 F5 MIDI CC MIDI CC 91 92 127 127 0 0 Global Global F6 MIDI CC MIDI CC 93 94 127 127 0 0 Global Global MIDI CC MIDI CC 95 7 127 127 0 0 Global Global Msg Type MIDI CC (Toggle) MIDI CC (Toggle) MIDI CC (Toggle) CC 0 2 3 Data 1 127 127 127 Data 2 0 0 0 Chan Global Global Global Param Bank MSB Breath Control Change (Undefined) MID
User Preset 2 GM Mixer 1-8 Faders Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan Param F1 MIDI CC 7 127 0 1 CH1 Volume F2 MIDI CC 7 127 0 2 CH2 Volume F3 MIDI CC 7 127 0 3 CH3 Volume F4 MIDI CC 7 127 0 4 CH4 Volume F5 MIDI CC 7 127 0 5 CH5 Volume F6 MIDI CC 7 127 0 6 CH6 Volume F7 MIDI CC 7 127 0 7 CH7 Volume F8 MIDI CC 7 127 0 8 CH8 Volume F9 MIDI CC 7 127 0 G Selected CH Volume Msg Type MIDI CC (Toggle) MIDI CC (Toggle) MIDI CC (Toggle) MIDI CC (T
User Preset 3 GM 9-16 Faders Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan Param F1 MIDI CC 7 127 0 9 CH1 Volume F2 MIDI CC 7 127 0 10 CH2 Volume F3 MIDI CC 7 127 0 11 CH3 Volume F4 MIDI CC 7 127 0 12 CH4 Volume F5 MIDI CC 7 127 0 13 CH5 Volume F6 MIDI CC 7 127 0 14 CH6 Volume F7 MIDI CC 7 127 0 15 CH7 Volume F8 MIDI CC 7 127 0 16 CH8 Volume F9 MIDI CC 7 127 0 G Selected CH Volume Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan Param B1 MIDI CC (Toggle
User Preset 4 “Learn” Friendly 1 Faders Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan F1 MIDI CC 80 127 0 Global F2 MIDI CC 81 127 0 Global F3 MIDI CC 82 127 0 Global F4 MIDI CC 83 127 0 Global F5 MIDI CC 85 127 0 Global F6 MIDI CC 86 127 0 Global F7 MIDI CC 87 127 0 Global F8 MIDI CC 88 127 0 Global F9 MIDI CC 3 127 0 Global Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan B1 MIDI CC (Toggle) 66 127 0 Global B2 MIDI CC (Toggle) 67 127 0 Global B3 MID
User Preset 5 “Learn” Friendly 2 Faders Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan F1 MIDI CC 80 127 0 Global F2 MIDI CC 81 127 0 Global F3 MIDI CC 82 127 0 Global F4 MIDI CC 83 127 0 Global F5 MIDI CC 85 127 0 Global F6 MIDI CC 86 127 0 Global F7 MIDI CC 87 127 0 Global F8 MIDI CC 88 127 0 Global F9 MIDI CC 3 127 0 Global Ctrl Msg Type CC Data 1 Data 2 Chan B1 MIDI CC (Trig) 66 127 0 Global B2 MIDI CC (Trig) 67 127 0 Global B3 MIDI CC
Factory Restore If you need to restore factory settings for example if you by mistake managed to change the assignments needed for DAW integration files, here is how you do that. Make sure your Impact LX49 is switched off Press the [Octave up]+[Octave down] buttons and hold them Switch your Impact LX49 on www.nektartech.
www.nektartech.com Designed by Nektar Technology, Inc, California Made 32in China Nektar Impact LX49 & LX61 User Guide www.nektartech.
