Novation Nocturn review: The biggest selling point of the Novation controller Nocturn is its automatic feature for mapping the controllers, but when the dust have settled after its initial impact – does this really make our lives easier?
 

A short history of knobs.

With the analogue synthesizer came a wealth of knobs and buttons. Then came the Yamaha DX that spawned a whole new breed of synthesizers. The new synthesizers were sleek, clinical and without any immediate control over the sound - a rebound effect was bound to happen. A few years later a new generation synthesizers started to appear. Digital reproductions of analogue synthesis provided best from both worlds. Direct control, authentic sound to an affordable price.
The whole circle started again when Steinberg came up with the VST standard and the software plugins. As the hardware started to slowly move into the computer we were again left with lousy control over the sound.

Today most people agree that the mouse is far from optimal to control what’s going on inside the computer. Fortunately there is a vast selection of hardware units designed to do just this: to connect our itching fingers with the geniality of the latest batch of audio software.

Nocturn from British manufacturer Novation is the latest generation of controllers and is more or less distilled from the much larger (and much more expensive) Remote SL controllers. Technically, the Nocturn is a controller with eight knobs, eight buttons, one cross fader and one all-purpose knob called Speed Dial. The knobs are of the endless type and its positions are marked up by a ring of light around the knobs, and together with the backlit transparent buttons, the Nocturn looks really neat. Apart from looking cool, it's also well designed. Underneath there are two large rubber feet that ensures you can put the Nocturn (almost) anywhere without it sliding around.

What makes the Nocturn stand out from other controllers are essentially two things.
The Nocturn is cheap. There are few controllers that cost under 100 Euro and just by looking at its specifications, the Nocturn indeed looks like a terrific bargain.
The Nocturn has a function called Automap. Let’s dig into the latter.

Automatic mapping of controllers
Just as the name suggests, Automap automatically maps out the parameters of a software synthesizer or effect onto the controller. If you’ve ever used a controller before you probably know how to operate one. Before you can use a software synthesizer with a controller, you have first to manually assign each and every knob and slider to match the parameters of the synthesizer. If you want to control a different software synthesizer from your controller – no problemo Mr. Champ! But then you have to start over again, assigning each and every knob and slider. None of these things are difficult in any way, but it takes time and it’s usually boring work.

Automap sets out to make all that a bit easier. Instead of manually programming the controller, Automap takes care of the mapping job for you. It not only automatically assigns the parameters of the software synthesizer or effect you are working with, but also remembers the parameters for every single software plug you’ve worked with.

It’s all very clever, really. A normal controller is only sending information to the computer. It’s like the controller is shouting out… Hey! Now I am turning Knob 5 to position 100! But it doesn’t really care if somebody is listening on the other end or not. They are speaking in one direction only.
The reason why Automap can do what it does, is because it speaks in both directions and it does so by taking control over the plugin you are using.

Automap takes over your plugins
When you install the Nocturn, two things happen. Firstly, you get the chance to choose which plugins that will be enhanced with Automap. These plugins will be duplicated and contained inside a special wrapper. If you want to use Nocturn with a plug, you must use the Automap-fied version. A plugin with Automap enabled have an added border underneath the plugin, where you can access the most important features of Automap (see the picture on the right).
The second thing that gets installed is a control application, from which you can fine tune your settings. This application has also to be installed and running, otherwise the Nocturn won’t function.
This application is clear and at first easy to understand. The knobs of the Nocturn is represented graphically and under each button or knob there is a text saying what it controls.
Although Nocturn comes with a bunch of pre-programmed maps for common synthesizers and effects, creating your own is really no big deal. You get instant access to all the parameters, and mapping the buttons and knobs is done in a few clicks. You can even control the behaviour of the hardware controllers – such as if the buttons such act like toggles or triggers, or how fast the knobs should work.

So far into the Nocturn and Automap, it’s nothing but top class.

Complex things have a tendency to... go wrong
Where most people go wrong with Automap hardware such as the Nocturn is that they think it’s a midi controller on steroids. On steroids, yes. But midi controller – no. When you realize this, you have cut out the possible amount of problems by at least 50%.
In practice this means that when recording any variations – such as tweaking of cutoff and resonance – you don’t record it as you normally would, like overdubbing your existing midi track, or recording the tweaking on a separate track.
Automap is hardwired with the actual parameters directly in the software, and this means you’ll have to record your tweaks where you usually record your automation, such as volume and pan changes.
As I said, when you realize that the Nocturn doesn’t deal with midi data but rather automation data, you’ve cleaned out the possible amount of things that can go wrong by at least half. But what about the other half? Is there anything else that can go wrong?
Yes, there are quite a few things that can turn into annoyances. For example, the fact that the Nocturn uses parameter automation rather than midi, makes the work with Nocturn slightly inconsistent. With a traditional controller, if you know how to record a midi part in your sequencer – you know how to record your tweaking. With an Automap-enabled controller, you have to know how to record automation data. And this is usually different for each recording software.
Working with one sequencer is of course not a big thing. You learn how to work with it. During my test of the Nocturn I used Cubase 5 on the PC as a host, but when I tried to get it to work in Ableton Live 8, I spent more than one hour without any success.

Here lies the big weakness of Automap. Although I do understand the complexity of working on such a low level as Automap does, this isn’t something you can ask a user to actually care about. On Ableton forum you can read about lots of other people who can’t get Automap working with Live 8, while it worked good with Live 7. With Automap you put yourself in a position where you are dependent on your recording software.
I don’t think anyone should accept behaviour from a controller that isn’t working consistently. Hard words. But it’s difficult to feel comfortable with a controller that suddenly will stop working just because my favourite recording software has been updated.

Naturally this doesn’t happen when you use a decent old-fashioned midi controller. You activate the midi learn function in the plugin, turn the knob to grab the parameter, and off you go. It will work in Ableton Live 7, 8, 9, 10 or any upcoming version that can handle incoming midi.

But can’t the Nocturn be used as a classic midi controller as well? Yes, it can. But you have to set it up with some care to make it work properly. Firstly, you need to have your Automap software running to be able to use your Nocturn at all. Secondly – if you already created a template for your plugin, this one is what first loads up when you start the plugin. You have to manually activate the controller mode.

When I bought the Nocturn, it was shipped with the version 2 software and after a couple of weeks of usage, it was not uncommon that the Automap failed to wake up, with the result that none of my knob movements got recorded. This problem cleared out after I installed version 3, so I suspect that had more to do with Windows than it has with the functionality of the Nocturn. I haven’t checked it on my Mac, but it smells like a typical Windows problem. But still… this is also an indicator of a too tight integration with the recording software.

If you are loyal – pay extra!
Quite recently Novation surprised everybody by updating Automap to version 3. The new version improves the functionality and flexibility of Automap in many areas, and most of the new features are deliciously tasty: capability to use more than one Automap-compatible hardware controller at the same time, better ability to control your recording software, in the Automap software you can move around controller mappings, plus a mode that automatically launches the Automap software as soon as the any of the controls are used (and disappears when it’s not being used).
The only thing is that if you want these functions, you have to pay 25 Euros for it. There is a free version available, but without all the really nice features. This move came to surprise for many Automap users and instantly resulted in a general outcry.

As Novation position themselves with controllers that are in the slightly more exclusive range, it’s not hard to understand that some users feel themselves cheated. But although I understand the point, I do not agree on this. Being cheated on what? Has Novation promised these features as a free updrade? For what I know, they haven’t. I don’t think it’s fair to blame them for charging money. But I do think that it’s stupid and 25 Euros is way too much. I doubt that this whole controversy would have surfaced if the price was set to nine Euros.
No matter their motives, since the launch of Automap 3, the image of Novation has caught a shade of greediness. My personal belief is that these 25 Euros have hurt the reputation of Novation more than what they have gained in hard cash.

Tim Kern at CDM made the clever observation that if you buy more than one Novation controller, you actually have to pay extra to make them run together. This illustrates the problem quite well. I cannot imagine how adding 25% of the cost of an Nocturn to be able to use it with your other Novation controller, won’t affect the choice of the user in a negative way. You can read more about it over at CDM.

Conclusion
Every time I hear the words ‘automatic’ and ‘intelligent’ combined with the word ‘technology’ I always fall for it. Although I should know better. Water taps with motion sensors are an excellent example of something gone wrong. Or intelligent external harddrives that shut down when you least want them to.
In many ways the Novation Nocturn is a great product. Although the construction itself oozes plastic, it’s nothing you mind. It’s plastic, but plastic in a good way. The knobs and buttons function very well and the possibility to quickly load up an overview over what the controllers actually are doing is great.

The selling point of the Novation controllers is of course the Automap feature – but it has not made me tweak my synthesizers more than before. Just a few weeks after my initial purchase of the Nocturn, I gradually stopped using it. And during the last six months, it hasn’t got used at all. When I started writing on this review, I made a second attempt to build some connection between me and the Nocturn. The attempt failed miserably. My one major issue with the Nocturn (and ultimately Automap) is that it is too tightly dependent with the recording software.

As a paying user of the hardware I couldn’t care less if the problem originates with Ableton, Steinberg or The Big Banana Company. The problem ends up in Novations lap. A product that suddenly can be rendered useless is something that doesn’t have room in my studio. Especially not when you are having an alterative controller that does the job without problems – then it’s very difficult to motivate yourself to spend time problem-solving.
Sorry Novation... you’ve made damn fine products through the years, and the Nocturn is a great hardware controller, but this Automap feature is still not reliable enough.

Uninstall and jack out.

UPDATE: It seems that Novation is working on a solution for Ableton Live 8. The support kindly mailed me a beta of the upcoming 3.1 software.

Novation Nocturn
Web: www.novationmusic.com
Price: 99 Euro.
Good: Good build quality. Cheap! The automatic mapping feature is highly usable when programming synthesizers. Clever functions.
Bad: When recording into your host, Automap can be more cumbersome than a normal midi controller.

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