ATOV Faderpunk Can Now Run Mutable Instruments’ Grids
5,0 / 5,0 | 
ATOV’s Faderpunk has to be the coolest MIDI controller, and it just got even cooler with a new firmware that lets you run Mutable Instruments’ Grids inside.
ATOV Faderpunk
Superbooth is a wild time for all concerned. The manufacturers are busy getting all their new products out into the limelight, while the punters are having fun reading the news or playing with the gear if they happen to be lucky enough to be in Berlin. And then there’s us, the journalists, frantically checking email and refreshing social media for announcements of new products. That’s how I learned about this big firmware update for ATOV’s Faderpunk, and also how somehow Gearnews has never actually covered it. What?
Before I get to the meat of this news, then, let me get you caught up on the brilliance of this thing. Faderpunk is, at first blush, a MIDI/CV controller. It’s got 16 channels, each with a 60mm high-end fader by ALPS (DJs know), plus a mechanical RGB backlit button and a CV jack configurable as an input or output. You also get three auxiliary input/output CV jacks, MIDI in and out, and USB power and MIDI. Nice, but so far, so what?
This is what: the controller also hosts apps that can drastically change the functionality of the device. A quick look at the apps list reveals an AD Envelope, Random Triggers, a Sequencer, a Slew Limiter, and many more.
ATOV Faderpunk Does Mutable Grids
And that brings us to the firmware update. Version 1.9, which is available now, adds three new apps to the stable. They are Random+, with random CC/CV with assignable CV input, Clock Divider+, which is a clock divider with assignable CV input, and FP-Grids.
FP-Grids is a community-submitted version of Mutable Instruments’ open-source Grids topographic drum sequencer. Grids had essentially the interface of a Euclidean sequencer, but drum loops and computations for a brain, with common drum patterns used in electronic music that you can change via CV or manual control. This got ported to Faderpunk and works with its controls. You can see it in action in Starsky Carr’s video (below). Looks like there’s also a drum and bass alternative mode, too. Nice.
The update also includes sharper MIDI 14-bit CC and NRPN support, better clock swing, a new information page, and other improvements, but it’s the addition of Grids that makes it really cool.
Pricing and Availability
Faderpunk is currently available through ATOV for €650. They’re at Superbooth this weekend, showing it off. Hopefully, we’ll get some more demo videos of the FP-Grids mode.
Owners can download the firmware from the ATOV website.
More Information
- ATOV Faderpunk product page
- More about controllers
- Buy controllers at Thomann*
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