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  1. I'm new to using external controllers with a DAW.

  2. I have Propellerhead Reason and I'm using a stage piano to play the instruments (connected to the MIDI input of my Scarlett 2i4).

  3. Now I'm thinking of buying a Novation 25 SL MK2 to control Reason, or something similar. Will I be able to easily play an instrument with the stage piano and control its parameters using the SL MK2 at the same time? How will I do that, do I need to use the MIDI Thru connection on the SL MK2? In fact, will the SL MK2 be connected to the PC using the Scalett 2i4 or only through USB?

Thanks - any advice is welcome.

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The Novation 25 SL MK2 can be connected straight to your computer via the USB cable. This will supply the power and provide control data transfer. Keep your stage piano as it is.

The SL MK2 comes with 'Automap 4' software which automatically assign the parameters from whatever plugin/software you are using to the various knobs, sliders and buttons of the SL MK2. If it doesn't map the way you want(not ALL plugins will be successfully auto-mapped), you can use the 'Learn' function to quickly assign a control to the parameter you want. Automap is designed to work with a lot of music software out now automatically, including Reason.

You will have to check the Reason documentation on setting up multiple control surfaces. It should be straight forward though, like; select your control surfaces in 'Preferences', then assign them to separate busses(A&B). You should then be able to select which Reason devices you want to control with which MIDI control surface.

By the way, another connection option is to connect the SL MK2 to the PC via USB, as before, then use the SL MK2 as a MIDI interface for the stage piano, instead of using the Scarlett 2i4. I think the results will be the same though.

Novation 25 SL MKII info

Good Luck, hope this helps.

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  • I actually bought the Novation 25 SL MK2 and can confirm it works. I've left my stage piano connected to the MIDI interface and left it configured as the Master Keyboard in Reason, then added the 25 SL MK2 entries according to the instructions in the Automap setup. [off-topic] That being said, I'm not 100% happy with the 25 SL MK2 itself: the drum pads are hard to use (only respond well right in the middle of them and even then require too much force) and the touchpad gives a very jerky response even when applying a lot of pressure). – herman Jun 23 '15 at 15:47
  • I 'm glad you got it set up anyway. The drum pads are velocity sensitive. I'm not sure but maybe if you change velocity settings, you may get a better response. – Marc W Jun 23 '15 at 20:14

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