Setting up Touché/Lié in FL Studio

This article explains how to set up Touché or Touché SE to work within Image-Line FL Studio 20.

Scanning Lié inside FL Studio

FL Studio scans its plug-in database on every launch.

In macOS, Live will scan the default folder for VST and AU plug-ins, which contain Lié.

In Windows, if you haven't made any changes during installation, the Lié.dll (plug-in file in VST2 format) is placed inside C:\Program Files\Vstplugins. This is among the standard folders that FL Studio expects your VST2 plug-ins to be in. Open FL Studio's Plugin Manager to manage the directories that are scanned via Options -> Manage Plugins.

For more information on the subject, please refer to Image-Line's online manual.
 

Creating the missing CC link between Touché and Lié

Unfortunately, by default, FL Studio does not forward the MIDI CCs that come from Touché to our companion app Lié. Therefore, we have to manually map the MIDI CCs that Lié needs to function to the Touché (SE) hardware. These are MIDI CCs #16, 17, 18 and 19 for the four axes, plus 80 and 81 for the preset buttons.

Good news is that you only have to do it once - and that it is quite easy to do. Please follow the steps below: 

Enabling MIDI Input from Touché (SE)

1. First, we have to make sure that Touché (SE) is activated as a MIDI input device. Click on "Options" -> "MIDI settings" or just hit F10 to check.
   
2. Find the entry TOUCHE or TOUCHE_SE in the input section, select it and click on "Enable" below. A green power symbol will light up, just as it does for the MIDI keyboard you have probably already connected. You can now close the Settings. 

Note: Please do not activate MIDIIN2 (TOUCHE) as MIDI input, since this would interfere with the recognition system between Lié and the Touché hardware.

Loading Lié in a track and exposing its parameters

1. In the browser of FL Studio (most of the times on the left side of your screen), open the "Plugin database". Navigate to "Installed" -> "Generators" -> "VST". Find the plug-in "Lie" in the list.
   
2. Drag & drop "Lie" to the channel rack to load a new instrument containing the plug-in.
    
3. When Lié's interface is open, click on the tiny arrow in the upper left corner of the window. In the drop-down menu, click on "browse parameters".
   
4. The browser view of FL Studio will switch to "Current project" view and will show all possible parameters of Lié in a long list. Scroll down until you find these six entries:
   
   MIDI CC #16 (General purpose controller 1)
   MIDI CC #17 (General purpose controller 2)
   MIDI CC #18 (General purpose controller 3)
   MIDI CC #19 (General purpose controller 4)
   MIDI CC #80 (General purpose controller 5)
   MIDI CC #81 (General purpose controller 6)
   
   

Mapping the parameters of Lié to the MIDI CCs it expects from Touché (SE)

1. Before we proceed with mapping these parameters, please push the big encoder on Touché (SE), so that the unit's parameters are frozen. Its LEDs will pulsate to indicate that no data is being sent. This will prevent accidental mappings.
    
2. Click on the "multilink to controllers" button in the toolbar of FL Studio. The button will light up and the program is now remembering all the parameters you touch.
   
3. One after another, simply click on all of the six entries we found above (click on MIDI CC #16, 17, 18, 19, 80, 81) For each of the clicks, you will see a text line appearing temporarily over the "multilink to controllers" button, to show that the parameters are saved for later mapping.
   
4. When done, right-click on the "multilink to controllers" button and click on "Override generic links..." to terminate the procedure of remembering parameters.
   
5. It will bring up the "Generic link settings" and ask you which MIDI controller element you want to map to the parameters you clicked on before. This will happen in the exact order you click on the parameters. For each parameter, you will only have to change the field "Ctrl" and click on "Accept" to get to the next one.
   
   For MIDI CC #16, set Ctrl to 16 
   For MIDI CC #17, set Ctrl to 17  
   For MIDI CC #18, set Ctrl to 18  
   For MIDI CC #19, set Ctrl to 19
   For MIDI CC #80, set Ctrl to 80
   For MIDI CC #81, set Ctrl to 81
   
6. Press the big encoder on Touché a second time to defreeze your unit. Now apply gestures on its touch-plate. You will see that they are now received by Lié. Enjoy playing your Touché!

You can easily load up multiple instances of the plug-in. Touché will always control the one that is focused at that moment, just as it is the case with the keyboard you have connected. 

Global links vs. Project-level links

In the walkthrough above, we used the function "Override generic links..." at Step 4. This made sure the mapping will also work in any new FL studio project that you create. However, using such globals links has the disadvantage that the movements on Touché (SE) will only come through to Lié as long as Lié is 'focused'. Focusing is the act of clicking on the window/plugin with your mouse to bring it to the foreground of your project.

If you need Lié to react to your movements on Touché at any time, even when its window isn't focused, you will need to set up a link on project level instead. For this, follow the steps in the last section, but when at Step 4, choose "Link to controller..." instead of "Override generic links...". Please be aware that this procedure needs to be done for every project separately.

You will find more information on this topic in the online manual provided by Image-Line themselves: Automation Linking in FL Studio