MIDI Loupe

Midi Loupe De
Midi Loopback
Midi Loupe Music

What does MIDI Loupe do? MIDI Loupe allows you to monitor and log MIDI messages from one or multiple MIDI devices. It is mostly useful for debugging and testing your MIDI setup, if something goes wrong. Functions: Every registered MIDI Source is listed and has a separate color, so you can easy differentiate between the messages. Loupe 2 with its major new features is a separate instrument from Loupe 1 and it won’t be a free upgrade to Loupe 1 users. I am however introducing an amnesty period – if you bought Loupe anytime from September 2012 until now, you get Loupe 2 for free. Please be patient as I send out updates. The shield provides the standard MIDI port circuits, including 5-pin DIN connectors and an opto-isolated MIDI input. A magnifying glass or loupe.

Behringer X-Touch Mini – Judging by the hits this website received following my review of the Sony A9 it appears visitors are somewhat intrigued by my geeky camera equipment ramblings! With that in mind I thought I’d squeeze in a couple more shout outs to the kit I use before wedding season kicks into top gear and I retreat into my editing cave for several months!

I visited the Photography Show at the NEC in Birmingham yesterday and according to my Facebook and Twitter feeds it appears the Loupedeck proved a popular product amongst the attendees. Some people pulled the trigger on a purchase whilst others were a bit more hesitant.

The latest version of Loupe Utility can be downloaded for PCs running Windows XP/Vista/7/10, 32-bit. This free tool was originally designed by Panasonic Corporation. Our built-in antivirus checked this download and rated it as 100% safe. Loupe.exe is the common file name to indicate this program's installer. The program is included in Office Tools.

I have to admit, I am a nerd when it comes to camera tech and when I caught wind of the Loupdeck last year I was quite keen to give it a whirl. The one thing putting me off was the hefty price tag, which at the time was pushing £300. It was more than I was willing to pay, coupled with the fact there was a risk I’d use it once and then shove it in a drawer with numerous daft purchases such as the Osmo Mobile and Intuos Tablet!

The idea that I could control workflow on a dedicated console was something that still intrigued me, so I did some digging around on Google to see if there were any cheaper alternatives. One name that kept popping up was the Behringer X-Touch Mini. At just £60 it wouldn’t break the bank and if it turned out to be a pointless gadget then I could hand it to my two year old and tell him it was some sort of spaceship controller.

So the first question; what the heck is it?!

The X-Touch Mini is actually a MIDI controller. The term refers to a “Musical Instrument Digital Interface” which automatically leads you to believe this sort of kit is designed to work in a music orientated environment, and you’d be right. The controllers are designed to send electronic signals to equipment/computers to play or set music parameters. However, some clever boffins spotted an opportunity to aid photographers by writing software that allow MIDI controllers to alter the parameters within Lightroom. So essentially, instead of twisting a dial to pump up the bass, you can now twist it to pump up the green saturation (the latter doesn’t sound quite as cool though).

What can you actually do with it?

As you can see from the picture above, the X-Touch Mini has 8 rotating dials and 16 buttons, the dials can also be pressed downward providing you with another 8 buttons. Each of these dials/buttons can be assigned/mapped to an individual function within Lightroom using a plugin called MIDI2LR (link at the bottom of the page). That sounds a bit scary, techy and tricky, but it’s dead easy. Once the plugin is downloaded and installed onto your computer you simply open up Lightroom, press a button or twist a dial on the X-Touch Mini and the associated MIDI command is highlighted with a blue bar in the MIDI2LR app (pictured below on the left). You can then choose which Lightroom function you want that button to control from a drop down menu (pictured below on the right). You can use it to control anything, from the basics such as Exposure, Contract, Shadows, Highlights, etc through to X/Y Rotations, picking colour profiles, applying your pre-defined presets, etc. You can even create your own keyboard shortcuts and then assign them to your buttons.

You repeat the process for all the buttons and dials you wish to use. The great thing about the X-Touch Mini is the buttons are layered which effectively means the same button/dial can do two jobs (theoretically giving you 16 dials and 48 buttons).

But I can do all that with a mouse or keyboard?

You’re absolutely right, the X-Touch Mini is just another tool to compliment other computer peripherals. I’ve chatted to other photographers who gave it a whirl but just couldn’t get on with it and reverted back to their trusted mouse and keyboard. Similarly I have friends who use tablets to assist with their workflow; I tried a Wacom Intuos tablet a couple of years ago and whilst I found it useful for local adjustments it was a bit of a faff for everything else (hence it ended up in my drawer of doom!).

One key feature I like is being able to adjust multiple parameters simultaneously to really fine tune an image in realtime. For instance I can increase the warmth and drop the tint at the same time to see how the alterations interact with each other, the same applies to lightening shadows and dropping the blacks to find a sweet spot without the restrictions of doing one adjustment before the other when solely using a mouse.

I also have a range of develop presets, copy/paste and straightening options assigned to the buttons, so I can quickly apply various styles to shots with a single click without taking my eyes off the image.

Despite being designed with music in mind, the X-Touch Mini so perfectly compliments Lightroom that an American company Pusher Labs market it as a system in it’s own right (calling it the MiniMal) with custom sticker templates fixed to the controller and running it’s Pfixer software.

The ultimate goal of tools like the X-Touch Mini and Loupedeck is to aid, improve and speed up the editing process. It certainly took a few weddings to find my perfect combination of MIDI maps to get to a point where it was a benefit; now I’ve got that sweet spot I actually feel awkward editing without it as my fingers are always looking for the relevant dial/button to apply a tweak to an image!

I have used the Loupedeck but only for a few minutes, I did like it but I’m glad I saved myself £240 last year and opted for the X-Touch Mini for it’s construction, look and feel, associated software, configurability and ease of use.

It’s definitely a marmite moment, you’re either going to love it or hate it. It’s certainly sped up my editing time which is certainly a good thing…and the sooner I can finish an edit the sooner my two year gets to play with it and pretend he’s flying spaceships!

The Behringer X-Touch Mini can be found at Amazon by clicking here. The MIDI2LR is available as as free download from here.

Every producer knows that creating memorable melody loops can be difficult. Especially creating trap melody loops where the melody can set the stage for the entire song.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a new producer who needs help creating a starting point to launch your creative process or an experienced producer who wants to chop up some quality melody loops without worrying about the copyright issues that can come with sampling music.
All producers could use a stockpile of melody loops to pick from for a wide variety of uses.
So we’ve put together a list of 5 of our favorite collections of free trap melody loops that every producer should have on their hard drive.

Python MIDI Collection

Cymatics hired a Grammy nominated pianist to come in the studio and record hours of hip hop melody loops for this one. Making this a very special MIDI loop pack.
We had him jam out for hours to different tempos and styles of beats and captured all of the MIDI to give you a wide variety of midi files and midi chords to play with.
51 free MIDI loops are included in the Python MIDI Collection.

Oracle MIDI Collection

Another 10/10 collection of trap melody loops that can easily fit into any style of hip hop. Like Oracle this collection includes stems for the melody loops so you can customize the way they play.
There isn’t a single melody loop in this pack that misses the qualities for a placement ready beat.
100 free MIDI loops are included in this free collection!

Odyssey EDM Sample Pack

You can stop searching and start creating with the 45 midi files included in this sample library of over 300 royalty free sounds.
That’s more than what most other packs that charge $40+ give you. Even if you don’t produce EDM, the midi files and midi chords are still a valuable resource for generating chord progressions and unique melodies in any genre.
The Odyssey EDM pack incudes 45 free midi files.

Cobra Hip Hop Sample Pack

Cobra is an all encompassing hip hop sample pack that was created to include every element you need to make placement ready trap beats.
Not only does this pack include MIDI melody loops, but it also has midi chords and even MIDI trap hi hat loops.

24 Midi Loops

14 hi hat midi patterns

50+ trap drum loops

100+ drum one shots

29 Melody Loops

24 guitar and flute melodic loops

Eternity Vintage Collection

One of Cymatics largest free sample packs, containing over 400 samples dripping in lofi and vintage analog vibes.
Inspired by the techniques from classic hip hop albums like Illmatic, The Infamous, and Enter the Wu-Tang.

22 MIDI files

9 hihat MIDI files

62 drum loops

102 drum one shots

30 guitar loops

If the free packs above have left you wanting something a little more, these paid packs are some of the best value you can find.
The MIDI files in these collections have all been created by our production team of experienced and grammy nominated songwriters and producers. So we can guarantee you will be happy when you throw your favorite synth preset on them.

Deluxe MIDI Collection

Midi Loupe De

If you want nothing but MIDI for days. This is the pack for you.
While most of the other packs listed here have other goodies along with the midi files, the Deluxe MIDI collection was made to be a huge library of nothing but MIDI.
All the files are put in folders by mood like happy, sad, dark, nostalgic, and triumphant so that you can easily find what you need to fit the mood you’re in without having to scroll through MIDI files for hours.
This premium MIDI Collection includes 292 MIDI Files & 40 Hi Hat MIDI Files!

Deluxe Lofi Collection

If you need some help creating dreamy and nostalgic vibes look no further. Lofi is one of the hottest genres at the moment and this pack has everything you need to start making chill hip hop beats.
The Lofi Deluxe Collection includes 91 MIDI Files.

Topaz Midi Collection

Midi Loopback

Another very affordable kit at only $7, this midi collection will help you start creating memorable melodies and chord progressions in no time.
This midi kit includes 80 MIDI Files.