Map a stick to a CC

The stick-to-CC mapping turns a thumb into a fader. Each axis (X or Y) sends a continuous 0–127 stream to a MIDI continuous controller, which is exactly what synth filters, mod wheels, and effect mixes want. One controller, four axes, four faders — and you didn't pay $400 for a Faderfox.

This is also where most beginners hit their first "why is the synth doing nothing?" moment. The fix is almost always one of three things: deadzone not set, wrong CC number, or the DAW listening on the wrong channel. We'll walk all three.

What you need

Controller connected, deadzone calibrated. If you skipped deadzone setup, the resting position will spam tiny CC values forever — don't skip it. Also have a synth or effect ready with a MIDI Learn function (Ableton's Live, FL Studio's Right-click → Link to Controller, etc).

Open the editor and pick the axis

Switch to the Mapping tab and click the stick you want — left or right. Each stick has two independent axes: x (left/right) and y (up/down). They map separately, so one stick can drive two CCs.

Pick a CC number

Set Type to CC and enter a number from 0 to 127. The CCs you'll actually use most of the time:

CC #	Standard target	Why you'd use it
1	Mod wheel	Universal vibrato/wobble. Every synth respects this.
7	Channel volume	Absolute fader. Save it for mixing, not performing.
10	Pan	Stereo placement. Hard-left = 0, centre = 64.
11	Expression	Relative volume. Better than CC 7 for live play.
71	Resonance	The "peak" of a synth filter — paired with cutoff.
74	Filter cutoff	Brightness. The CC you'll touch most.
91	Reverb send	GM-defined wet/dry. Most plugins honour it.
93	Chorus send	Modulation send. Pairs with 91 for ambient sweeps.

{
  "sticks": {
    "left": {
      "x": { "type": "cc", "cc": 74, "channel": 1, "range": [0, 127] },
      "y": { "type": "cc", "cc": 71, "channel": 1, "range": [0, 127], "invert": true }
    }
  }
}

Set the range and curve

Default range is the full 0–127. Narrow it if you want, say, filter cutoff to stay between 30 and 100 (no harsh extremes). The curve dropdown picks linear, exponential, or logarithmic — exponential feels best for filter cutoff because human ears are logarithmic.

{
  "sticks": {
    "right": {
      "x": { "type": "cc", "cc": 74, "channel": 1, "range": [30, 100], "curve": "exponential" },
      "y": { "type": "cc", "cc": 71, "channel": 1, "range": [0, 64], "curve": "linear", "invert": true }
    }
  }
}

Performance examples

Real patches worth copying:

• Synthwave lead — right stick: X = CC 74 (cutoff, exponential, range 20–110), Y = CC 1 (mod wheel for vibrato). Push up-right for screaming bright vibrato, pull down-left for soft pad.
• Dub mixer — left stick: X = CC 91 (reverb send), Y = CC 11 (expression). Slam up-right for echo drop-out, drop down-left for the gritty dry hit.
• FM pluck character — both sticks: Left X = CC 16 (FM operator ratio), Left Y = CC 17 (FM amount). Right X = CC 74 cutoff, Right Y = CC 71 resonance. Four hands of timbral control on two thumbs.
• Mixer — eight tracks: Each stick axis bound to a different channel's CC 7. Hold L1 to bank-shift to tracks 5–8. Map L1 to type: "modifier".
• Generative one-stick: Right X = CC 74, Right Y = CC 71, AND right stick edges quantised to drum notes — see stick corners.

Save and test

Save the mapping and waggle the stick. The bottom MIDI monitor should stream CC 74 values from 0 to 127. If you see the values but the synth doesn't move, check the synth's MIDI Learn assigned to the same CC.

What's next

Triggers are pressure-sensitive too — see map a trigger to a CC. To use the stick edge as four discrete buttons, hit stick edge quantization. To zoom out on what CC actually means, read MIDI messages.