When making music, you want to stay in your creative flow. Even so, it’s important to compare how your track is shaping up against a reference track to make sure you’re on the right path.
Our plugin REFERENCE 3 helps you get the most value out of reference tracks. It does this by providing essential tools and insights.
In this blog, I’m going to show you how to assign the ‘Original / Reference’ button switch to your midi keyboard so you can switch to your reference track without needing to open REFERENCE 3.
For this explanation, I’ll be focusing on Logic Pro on Mac. We’ll update this tutorial with more DAW and OS combinations in the future. All configurations are different and we can’t guarantee that this workflow will work on your system.
Step 1: Load REFERENCE 3 On The Master Channel Of Your Project.
Step 2: Toggle The Original / Reference Button
Step 3: Go to Logic Pro -> Control Surfaces -> Learn Assignment For ‘Original / Reference' (Keyboard shortcut for this is ⌘L)
Step 4: Hit The Control On Your Midi Control Surface That You Want To Assign This To.
Step 5: Change The Value Mode To ‘Rotate’ And Turn Off Learn Mode.
And there you have it, you should be able to switch between your song and your reference track without having to open the REFERENCE 3 user interface.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why assign reference track switching to a MIDI controller?
It lets you toggle between your song and your reference track without opening the plugin interface, so you stay in your creative flow while still checking your mix against a reference regularly.
How do I map a plugin button to my MIDI keyboard in Logic?
In Logic Pro, go to Control Surfaces and choose Learn Assignment for the control you want to map, using the shortcut Command-L. Then move the knob or key on your MIDI surface that you want to assign it to.
What value mode should the assigned control use?
Set the value mode to Rotate and turn off Learn mode once assigned. This lets the control toggle the original and reference states cleanly each time you use it.
Does this MIDI mapping work in every DAW?
The walkthrough focuses on Logic Pro on Mac. Every system configuration is different, so the exact steps and reliability may vary in other DAWs and operating systems.
