About

Nocturn is a utility app that provides standard MIDI input/output for the Novation Nocturn controller. The Nocturn used a custom USB driver, and without translation software like this, it cannot be used as a regular MIDI controller.

When you launch Nocturn, it will create an I/O pair of virtual MIDI ports named (you guessed it) "Nocturn". Use these ports to connect the controller to software, as if you were directly connecting to a hardware controller.

The MIDI CC and note messages used by Nocturn are listed on the faceplate of the app. Note that the encoder CC messages it sends use a relative encoder mode (a value of 1 for clockwise motion, and a value of 127 for counter-clockwise motion).

The Nocturn was a great little product, featuring 8 smooth encoders, 1 stepped encoder, 1 crossfader, and 16 buttons.

Surprisingly, all the encoders and the crossfader had touch sensing, meaning, the moment you placed a finger on a control, it sent out a "touch" message before you even moved the control. This opens up new possibilities for use in control systems, including enabling automation "write" mode in a DAW, or displaying information for a knob before actually turning it.

This app was assembled in Cycling '74's Max application, and at its core it uses the 11nocturn Max external to communicate with the Nocturn. You can read the GPL-3.0 licensing terms here.