With a computer

Goal: Use the CrossPad with a computer or phone: as a MIDI controller and sound card over USB, over Bluetooth, in time with your DAW, with other MIDI gear on the MIDI jacks, with Ableton Live, and with FL Studio or REAPER through DAW Control.

You need: a USB-C cable and a computer. For Bluetooth MIDI: a computer, phone or tablet with Bluetooth. For DAW Control: FL Studio or REAPER on your computer.

The two USB ports

The CrossPad has two USB-C ports (see CrossPad at a glance):

The main USB port, on the top edge, carries USB MIDI, USB audio, the SD card as a drive, and DAW Control.
The second USB port, the other USB-C port, is a MIDI port of its own that carries your pad hits straight from the pads. See The second USB port.

What your computer shows:

Connection	Name on your computer
Main USB port, USB audio mode (the default)	Crosspad Audio (its MIDI port may show as Crosspad MIDI)
Main USB port, serial mode	Crosspad
Second USB port	CrossPad MIDI+Serial
Bluetooth MIDI	CrossPad

Not sure which port is which? Plug one in and look at the name your computer shows.

Choose a USB mode

The main USB port works in one of two modes. Both carry USB MIDI.

Mode	What your computer gets	When to use it
MIDI + Audio (the default)	USB audio mode: MIDI plus a sound card, Crosspad Audio.	Playing and recording with a DAW.
MIDI + Serial	Serial mode: MIDI plus the connection that updates from your browser use. No sound card.	Updating from your browser.

Open Settings (pad 16, labelled Setup on the MODE map) → USB. At Mode, choose MIDI + Audio or MIDI + Serial.

You should see: a short message, USB Audio on — device re-enumerating or USB Serial+MIDI on — device re-enumerating (your computer sees the CrossPad unplug and plug in again). The Active row shows the mode in use. Serial console / OTA reads available in serial mode (browser updates can reach the CrossPad) and unavailable in USB audio mode.

The CrossPad remembers the mode and starts in it next time.

“USB serial mode?”

A program on your computer, such as the browser companion (Updates), can ask the CrossPad to switch to serial mode. The CrossPad then asks first:

You should see: USB serial mode?, “A computer asks for USB serial mode (files, updates, console). Allow only computers you trust.”, with Allow and Deny.

Allow switches to serial mode. Deny, or no answer within 30 seconds, keeps the mode you have. To skip the question, switch off Ask before USB serial in Settings → USB. Leave it on if you plug your CrossPad into computers you do not know.

USB audio

In MIDI + Audio mode the CrossPad is a stereo sound card. Your computer can play through it and record from it.

Make sure the mode is MIDI + Audio (see above).
On the computer, choose Crosspad Audio as the input and output in your DAW or in the sound settings.

You should see: the device in the computer’s list of sound devices.
On the CrossPad, open Settings → USB → Recording Source and choose what the computer records: Microphones, Line in, Speaker bus, Headphone bus (the two output buses, named as on the screen), Mix (mics + line) or Sampler. The default is Microphones.

You should see: your choice on the Recording Source row.
Record in your DAW and play the pads, or sing into the mics.

You should see: the level move on the DAW’s input meter.

If the recording is too quiet, raise DAW Output dB in Settings → USB (0 to 36 dB).

What the computer plays comes into the CrossPad’s Mixer (pad 11) as the USB in row on the IN tab. Its MONITOR sets which output pair you hear it on. The Recorder can record it too: choose the USB input (see Your sounds).

USB MIDI

USB MIDI works in both modes, on the main USB port.

Your pad hits go out as MIDI notes with velocity. In DAW Control they also carry pressure. (The second USB port always sends pressure.)
Settings → MIDI → Keypad Routing chooses where pad notes go: Send to USB and Send to BLE. Keep Send CC off unless your setup needs CC instead of notes. See Settings.
The encoder also sends MIDI on channel 1: control change 1 as you turn it, control change 64 when you press it.

Bluetooth MIDI

The CrossPad can be a Bluetooth MIDI device for a computer, phone or tablet. Bluetooth MIDI is off by default.

Open Settings → BLE MIDI. Switch on Enabled. Leave Role on Server (advertise).

You should see: Enabled on. To see the connection state, press the power button briefly and open BLE MIDI again: State reads advertising.
On your computer or phone, connect to CrossPad:
- On a Mac: Audio MIDI Setup → Window → Show MIDI Studio, then the Bluetooth button, and Connect next to CrossPad.
- On an iPhone or iPad: in your music app’s Bluetooth MIDI settings.
- On Windows: Bluetooth MIDI depends on the app you use; check its documentation.
You should see: the Bluetooth icon among the status icons (hold MODE to see them) turns from dim to solid. Open BLE MIDI again: State reads connected and Peer shows the other device’s address.
Play the pads.

You should see: the notes arrive in your app. Notes your app sends back play the CrossPad’s pads.

Pad pressure goes out over Bluetooth too. Send transpose shifts the notes the CrossPad sends over Bluetooth, in octaves, for apps that expect drums on other notes. The value Default sends the same notes as USB MIDI. Disconnect ends the connection.

Follow your computer’s tempo

The CrossPad follows the MIDI clock your DAW sends to the main USB port.

In your DAW, switch on sending MIDI clock to the CrossPad’s MIDI port on the main USB port (Crosspad Audio or Crosspad MIDI). In most DAWs this is in the MIDI settings, often called “Send MIDI clock” or “Sync”.
Press play in the DAW.

You should see: the CrossPad takes the DAW’s tempo and locks it: touching BPM shows Tempo follows the host’s MIDI clock, and in the Sequencer’s SCENE window the tempo turns blue. The metronome starts and stops with the DAW.
Stop the DAW’s clock.

You should see: about 1 second after the last clock message, the tempo is free again. The CrossPad keeps the last tempo and runs its own clock from there.

Good to know:

Your DAW stays the clock source: the CrossPad follows its tempo.
The CrossPad passes the clock on to a Bluetooth MIDI device.

MIDI IN and MIDI OUT jacks

The CrossPad has two 3.5 mm MIDI jacks (TRS), MIDI IN and MIDI OUT. For gear with the large 5-pin MIDI socket, use a 3.5 mm-to-5-pin MIDI adapter.

MIDI IN

What you send into MIDI IN, from a keyboard or another instrument, is passed on to your computer through the second USB port.

To play the CrossPad from a keyboard on the MIDI IN jack, turn on Settings → MIDI → STM32 Routing → MIDI -> Thru. With it on:

notes 36 to 51, on any MIDI channel, play pads 1 to 16, shifted by Note Offset (in Settings → MIDI → STM Pads (MIDI));
while the MODE map is open, those notes open apps, as a pad hit would.

You should see: a key in that range on your keyboard plays the pad, and the pad lights.

MIDI OUT

MIDI OUT sends MIDI to other gear. Connect it to the MIDI IN of a synth, a drum machine or a sound module to play it from the CrossPad.

Ableton Live

The CrossPad works with Ableton Live through its USB connections:

Play Live’s instruments from the pads. In Live’s MIDI settings, switch on the CrossPad’s MIDI port on the main USB port (Crosspad Audio or Crosspad MIDI) as an input. Your pad hits arrive as notes with velocity. See USB MIDI.
Record and play audio through the CrossPad. In Live’s audio settings, choose Crosspad Audio as the audio input and output. See USB audio.
Keep in time with Live. Let Live send MIDI clock to the same port: the CrossPad follows Live’s tempo. See Follow your computer’s tempo.
Take an arrangement to Live. Arrange exports it as a Live Set for Ableton Live 12. See Make a track.

Ableton Live support in DAW Control is coming.

DAW Control: play FL Studio or REAPER from the pads

DAW (pad 12) turns the CrossPad into a controller for your DAW: the pads play the selected instrument, the DAW lights the pads in its colours, and the screen shows what the DAW says. A small script in the DAW talks to the CrossPad.

DAW Control works with FL Studio and REAPER.

Get the script

There is one script for each DAW: device_CrossPad.py for FL Studio and CrossPad.lua for REAPER.

To get it, ask the CrossPad team in the CrossPad Discord (#support).

Set it up

Connect only the main USB port while you use DAW Control. Connect the CrossPad before you start the DAW.

FL Studio
REAPER

In your Documents folder, open Image-Line → FL Studio → Settings → Hardware. Make a folder CrossPad there and put device_CrossPad.py in it. (The full path is Documents/Image-Line/FL Studio/Settings/Hardware/CrossPad/device_CrossPad.py.)
Start FL Studio with the CrossPad plugged in. Close FL’s welcome window.

You should see: on Windows, FL usually finds the CrossPad by itself: in Options → MIDI Settings the CrossPad’s input is enabled, with controller type CrossPad.

On a Mac, or if it does not: in Options → MIDI Settings, select the CrossPad port as the input and the output, set the controller type to CrossPad, enable it, and give the input and the output the same port number.
On the CrossPad, open DAW (pad 12).

You should see: the top line changes from no host - install the DAW script to FL Studio | pads. The screen shows the selected channel, the pattern and the tempo, and the pads light in the channel’s colours.
Play the pads.

You should see: the pads play the channel selected in FL’s channel rack. Put FPC on that channel and the pads wear FPC’s pad colours. The encoder moves through the channel rack, and pressing it starts and stops playback.

FL looks for new scripts only when it starts. If you copied the script while FL was open, restart FL.

In REAPER, choose Options → Show REAPER resource path in explorer/finder. In that folder, make the folder Scripts/CrossPad and put CrossPad.lua in it.
In Options → Preferences → Audio → MIDI Devices (in newer versions: MIDI Inputs and MIDI Outputs), enable the CrossPad’s MIDI device for input and for output.

You should see: the CrossPad’s device listed as enabled under both inputs and outputs.
Choose Actions → Show action list, then New action → Load ReaScript, pick CrossPad.lua and run it.
On the CrossPad, open DAW (pad 12).

You should see: REAPER | pads. The screen shows the selected track’s name, the region or marker under the play cursor, and the tempo. The pads light in the track’s colour.
Play the pads.

You should see: the pads play the selected track. The script arms that track for the CrossPad’s input, and gives the previous track back as it was. The encoder selects tracks, and pressing it starts playback.

The script runs until you close REAPER. Run it again from the action list the next time you start REAPER.

The control layout

Knock twice on the CrossPad’s case. The pads stop playing notes and become buttons for the DAW. Knock twice again to go back.

You should see: the top line changes from | pads to | control (for example FL Studio | control), and the DAW lights the pads as buttons.

In FL Studio the top row is Play/Pause, Stop, Record and the pattern/song loop switch. The row below has Pattern −, Pattern +, the Metronome and Undo. The two lower rows mute channels 1 to 8 of the channel rack, each lit as loud as its mixer track plays. Press the right edge of the metronome pad to raise the tempo, the left edge to lower it.

In REAPER the control layout has play, stop, record, repeat, previous and next track, the metronome (hold it and roll your finger to change the tempo), undo, and mutes for tracks 1 to 8.

The bottom bar

The buttons at the bottom of the DAW Control screen choose what your computer records from the CrossPad: Mics, Line in, Spk bus, HP bus or Mix, five of the Recording Source choices in Settings → USB. USB audio is lit in MIDI + Audio mode; press it to switch modes.

If it does not connect

no host - install the DAW script: the DAW’s script is not answering. Check that the script is in place and running (step 1 and, in REAPER, step 3), that the DAW uses the CrossPad’s port for input and output, and that FL’s welcome window is closed.
The DAW was restarted: leave DAW Control open. It reconnects by itself when the script answers again.
PC companion not running on the screen does not affect DAW Control. You can ignore it.

The second USB port

The second USB port is a MIDI port of its own. Connect it alone or together with the main USB port. In Settings → MIDI, its options start with STM.

You should see: a MIDI device called CrossPad MIDI+Serial on your computer. If your computer lists two MIDI ports under this name, use the first. Notes you send to either one reach the pads.

What it carries:

Your pad hits, straight from the pads: pad 1 is note 36, pad 16 is note 51, with velocity and pressure (as set in Analog / Velocity). Change the channel and shift the notes in Settings → MIDI → STM Pads (MIDI) (STM MIDI Channel, Note Offset). The STM MIDI Channel number is one less than the MIDI channel: 0 is channel 1, 9 is channel 10 (drums).
What arrives at MIDI IN, passed on to the computer.
Notes from the computer: notes 36 to 51 (shifted by Note Offset), on any channel, play pads 1 to 16 as if you hit them. While the MODE map is open, they open apps.

What it does not carry: the notes the Sequencer plays back, MIDI clock, and DAW Control. For those, use the main USB port.

Make a track: loops, arrangements and the export to Ableton Live.
Updates: keep the CrossPad up to date from your browser or over WiFi.
Settings: every USB, MIDI and BLE MIDI setting.