4 <a href="@@generic-midi-learn"><dfn>MIDI learning</dfn></a>
5 for more or less any control. This was a nice feature that quite a few other
6 DAWs are providing by now, but it didn't allow Ardour to work "out of the
7 box" with sensible defaults for existing commercial MIDI
8 controllers. In Ardour 3 and later versions, we have augmented the
9 MIDI learn feature with the ability to load a <dfn>MIDI binding map</dfn>
10 for a given controller, which can set up an arbitrary number of physical
11 controls with anything inside Ardour that can be controlled.
14 Currently (August 2016), we have presets for the following devices/modes:
20 <li>Behringer BCF2000</li>
21 <li>Behringer BCF2000 (Mackie Emulation mode; better to use
22 Ardour's actual Mackie Control Protocol support)</li>
23 <li>Behringer DDX3216</li>
24 <li>Korg nanoKONTROL (2 layouts)</li>
25 <li>Korg nanoKONTROL 2 (2 layouts)</li>
27 <li>M-Audio Axiom 25 (2 layouts)</li>
28 <li>M-Audio Axiom 61</li>
29 <li>M-Audio Oxygen 49</li>
30 <li>M-Audio Oxygen 61v3</li>
31 <li>M-Audio Oxygen 25</li>
32 <li>M-Audio Oxygen 8v2</li>
33 <li>Novation Impulse 49</li>
34 <li>Novation Impulse 61</li>
35 <li>Novation LaunchControl XL</li>
36 <li>Novation LaunchKey 25</li>
38 <li>Roland V Studio 20</li>
41 At this time, new binding maps need to be created with a text editor.
43 MIDI binding maps are accessible by double-clicking <kbd class="menu">Edit
44 > Preferences > Control Surfaces > Generic MIDI</kbd>. Ardour will
45 retain your selection after you choose one.
48 <h2>Creating new MIDI maps</h2>
49 <h3>The Basic Concept</h3>
51 Since the beginning of time (well, sometime early in the 2.X series),
52 Ardour has had the concept of identifying each track and bus with a
53 <dfn>remote control ID</dfn>. This ID uniquely identifies a track or bus
54 so that when messages arrive from elsewhere via MIDI or OSC , we can determine
55 which track or bus they are intended to control. See
56 <a href="@@controlling-track-ordering">
57 remote control IDs</a> for more information.
58 You just need to know that there is a "first track" and its remote control
61 <h3>Getting Started</h3>
63 MIDI bindings are stored in files with the suffix ".map" attached to their
64 name. The minimal content looks like this:
67 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
68 <ArdourMIDIBindings version="1.0.0" name="The name of this set of
70 </ArdourMIDIBindings>
73 So, to start, create a file with that as the initial contents.
76 The file should be located in the midi_maps sub directory located in
77 the <a href="@@files-and-directories-ardour-knows-about">Ardour configuration directory</a>
80 <h3>Finding out what your MIDI control surface sends</h3>
82 This is the most complex part of the job, but its still not very hard.
83 You need to connect the control surface to an application that will show
84 you the information that the device sends each time you modify a knob,
85 slider, button etc. There are a variety of such applications (notably
86 <code>gmidimon</code> and <code>kmidimon</code>, but you can actually use
87 Ardour for this if you want. Start Ardour in a terminal window, connect
88 MIDI ports up, and in the Preferences window, enable "Trace Input" on the
89 relevant MIDI port. A full trace of the MIDI data received will show up in
90 the terminal window. (Note: in Ardour3, you get a dedicated, custom dialog
91 for this kind of tracing.)
93 <h3>Types of Bindings</h3>
95 There are two basic kinds of bindings you can make between a MIDI message
96 and something inside Ardour. The first is a binding to a specific parameter
97 of a track or bus. The second is a binding to a function that will change
98 Ardour's state in some way.
100 <h4>Binding to Track/Bus controls</h4>
102 A track/bus binding has one of two basic structures
105 <Binding <em>msg specification</em> uri="<em>… control address …</em>"/>
106 <Binding <em>msg specification</em> function="<em>… function name …</em>"/>
109 <h4>Message specifications</h4>
111 You can create a binding for either 3 types of channel messages, or for a
112 system exclusive ("sysex") message. A channel message specification looks
116 <Binding channel="1" ctl="13" …
119 This defines a binding for a MIDI Continuous Controller message involving
120 controller 13, arriving on channel 1. There are 16 MIDI channels, numbered
121 1 to 16. Where the example above says <code>ctl</code>, you can alternatively
122 use <code>note</code> (to create binding for a Note On message) or
123 <code>pgm</code> (to create a binding for a Program Change message).
126 Continous Controlers (CCs) have coninued to evolve for different controlers.
127 The use of Encoders, RPN, NRPN, and controller buttons that give a 0 value
128 when released instead of toggling are now supported. These all have their
129 own type. The whole list of CC types are:
133 <li>ctl - sets as CC to the value sent (works the same as
134 <code>note</code> with the <code>momentary</code>parameter set)</li>
135 <li>ctl-toggle - for CC controls that send a 127 for button press
136 and 0 for button release. The release is ignored and the value is
137 toggled with each press. (works the same as <code>note</code>)</li>
138 <li>ctl-dial - passes the CC value to the controlled object</li>
139 <li>rpn - The CC value may be a 14 bit value</li>
140 <li>nrpn - The CC number and the value may both be 14 bit values</li>
141 <li>rpn-delta - The value is expected to be a signed 14bit value
142 that is added to the current value. For use with encoders</li>
143 <li>nrpn-delta - The value is expected to be a signed 14bit value
144 that is added to the current value. For use with encoders</li>
145 <li>enc-r, enc-l, enc-2 and enc-b - See below</li>
149 As of Ardour 4.2, <code>enc-r</code>, <code>enc-l</code>, <code>enc-2</code> and
150 <code>enc-b</code> may be used for surfaces that have encoders that send
151 offsets rather than values. These accept Continuous Controller messages
152 but treat them as offsets. These are good for banked controls as they are
153 always at the right spot to start adjusting. (
154 <a href="@@generic-midi-and-encoders">
155 Learn more about working with encoders
160 <li><code><Binding channel="1" enc-r="13" …</code></li>
161 <li><code><Binding channel="1" enc-l="13" …</code></li>
162 <li><code><Binding channel="1" enc-2="13" …</code></li>
163 <li><code><Binding channel="1" enc-b="13" …</code></li>
165 The <code>enc-*</code> value is the CC number used by the encoder.
166 Encoders only work with CC messages.
169 Ardour 5.12 has a bug with the encoder detection where the first
170 encoder message resets the control to 0. Setting "Enable Feedback"
171 on allows encoders to work as expected.
174 You can also bind sysex messages:
177 <Binding sysex="f0 0 0 e 9 0 5b f7" ….
178 <Binding sysex="f0 7f 0 6 7 f7" ….
181 The string after the <code>sysex=</code> part is the sequence of MIDI bytes,
182 as hexadecimal values, that make up the sysex message.
185 Finally, you can bind a totally arbitrary MIDI message:</p>
187 <Binding msg="f0 0 0 e 9 0 5b f7" ….
188 <Binding msg="80 60 40" ….
191 The string after the <code>msg=</code> part is the sequence of MIDI bytes, as
192 hexadecimal values, that make up the message you want to bind. Using this is
193 slightly less efficient than the other variants shown above, but is useful for
194 some oddly designed control devices.
198 As of Ardour 4.6 it is possible to use multi-event MIDI strings such as
199 two event CC messages, RPN or NRPN.
203 The <code>sysex=</code> and <code>msg=</code> bindings will only work with
204 <code>function=</code> or <code>action=</code> control addresses. They
205 will <em>not</em> work with the <code>uri=</code> control addresses.
206 Controls used with <code>uri=</code> require a <em>Value</em> which is
207 only available in a known place with channel mode MIDI events.
210 <h4>Control address</h4>
212 A <dfn>control address</dfn> defines what the binding will actually control.
213 There are quite a few different things that can be specified here:
216 Enable Feeback applies to these "Control Addresses" only.
219 <tr><th>/route/gain</th>
220 <td>the gain control ("fader") for the track/bus</td></tr>
221 <tr><th>/route/trim</th>
222 <td>the trim control for the track/bus (new in 4.1)</td></tr>
223 <tr><th>/route/solo</th>
224 <td>a toggleable control for solo (and listen) of the track/bus</td></tr>
225 <tr><th>/route/mute</th>
226 <td>a toggleable control to mute/unmute the track/bus</td></tr>
227 <tr><th>/route/recenable</th>
228 <td>a toggleable control to record-enable the track</td></tr>
229 <tr><th>/route/panwidth</th>
230 <td>interpreted by the track/bus panner, should control image "width"</td></tr>
231 <tr><th>/route/pandirection</th>
232 <td>interpreted by the track/bus panner, should control image "direction"</td></tr>
233 <tr><th>/route/plugin/parameter</th>
234 <td>the Mth parameter of the Nth plugin of a track/bus
236 <tr><th>/route/send/gain</th>
237 <td>the gain control ("fader") of the Nth send of a track/bus</td></tr>
239 <p>Each of the specifications needs an address, which takes various forms too. For track-level controls (solo/gain/mute/recenable), the address is one the following:</p>
241 <tr><th>a number, e.g. "1"
243 <td>identifies a track or bus by its remote control ID
245 <tr><th>B, followed by a number
247 <td>identifies a track or bus by its remote control ID within the current bank (see below for more on banks)
249 <tr><th>S, followed by a number
251 <td>identifies a selected track in order they have been selected, S1 should be the same track as the Editor Mixer
253 <tr><th>one or more words
255 <td>identifies a track or bus by its name
259 For send/insert/plugin controls, the address consists of a track/bus
260 address (as just described) followed by a number identifying the plugin/send
261 (starting from 1). For plugin parameters, there is an additional third
262 component: a number identifying the plugin parameter number (starting from
266 One additional feature: for solo and mute bindings, you can also add
267 <code>momentary="yes"</code> after the control address. This is useful
268 primarily for NoteOn bindings—when Ardour gets the NoteOn it
269 will solo or mute the targetted track or bus, but then when a NoteOff
270 arrives, it will un-solo or un-mute it.
273 <h4>Bindings to Ardour "functions"</h4>
275 There is currently no feedback available for functions.
278 Rather than binding to a specific track/bus control, it may be useful to
279 have a MIDI controller able to alter some part of Ardour's state. A
280 binding definition that does this looks like this:
283 <Binding channel="1" note="13" function="transport-roll"/>
286 In this case, a NoteOn message for note number 13 (on channel 1) will
287 start the transport rolling. The following function names are available:
291 <code>transport-stop</code>
293 <td>stop the transport
296 <code>transport-roll</code>
298 <td>start the transport "rolling"
301 <code>transport-zero</code>
303 <td>move the playhead to the zero position
306 <code>transport-start</code>
308 <td>move the playhead to the start marker
311 <code>transport-end</code>
313 <td>move the playhead to the end marker
316 <code>loop-toggle</code>
318 <td>turn on loop playback
321 <code>rec-enable</code>
323 <td>enable the global record button
326 <code>rec-disable</code>
328 <td>disable the global record button
331 <code>next-bank</code>
333 <td>Move track/bus mapping to the next bank (see Banks below)
336 <code>prev-bank</code>
338 <td>Move track/bus mapping to the previous bank (see Banks below)
342 <h4>Binding to Ardour "actions"</h4>
344 It is not possible to have feedback available for actions because
345 these represent keyboard shortcuts which are input only.
348 You can also bind a sysex or arbitrary message to any of the items
349 that occur in Ardour's main menu (and its submenus). The <a
350 href="@@list-of-menu-actions">
351 list of actions</a> shows all available values of <em>action-name</em>.
353 To create a binding between an arbitrary MIDI message (we'll use a
354 note-off on channel 1 of MIDI note 60 (hex) with release velocity
355 40 (hex)), the binding file would contain:
358 <Binding msg="80 60 40" action="Editor/temporal-zoom-in"/>
361 The general rule, when taken an item from the keybindings file and
362 using it in a MIDI binding is to simply strip the
363 <code><Action></code> prefix of the second field in the
364 keybinding definition.
367 <h3>Banks and Banking</h3>
369 Because many modern control surfaces offer per-track/bus controls
370 for far fewer tracks & busses than many users want to control,
371 Ardour offers the relatively common place concept of <dfn>banks</dfn>. Banks
372 allow you to control any number of tracks and/or busses easily,
373 regardless of how many faders/knobs etc. your control surface has.<br>
374 To use banking, the control addresses must be specified using the
375 <dfn>bank relative</dfn> format mentioned above ("B1" to identify
376 the first track of a bank of tracks, rather than "1" to identify
380 One very important extra piece of information is required to use
381 banking: an extra line near the start of the list of bindings
382 that specifies how many tracks/busses to use per bank. If the
383 device has 8 faders, then 8 would be a sensible value to use for
384 this. The line looks like this:</p>
386 <DeviceInfo bank-size="8"/>
389 In addition, you probably want to ensure that you bind something
390 on the control surface to the <code>next-bank</code> and
391 <code>prev-bank</code> functions, otherwise you and other users
392 will have to use the mouse and the GUI to change banks, which
393 rather defeats the purpose of the bindings.
395 <h3>The Selected Strip</h3>
397 Often times one wants to just deal with the strip currently
398 selected by the GUI (or the control surface). In the same way as with
399 banks above the selected strip can be designated with <em>S1</em>.
401 <h2>A Complete (though muddled) Example</h2>
403 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
404 <ArdourMIDIBindings version="1.0.0" name="pc1600x transport controls">
405 <DeviceInfo bank-size="16"/>
406 <Binding channel="1" ctl="1" uri="/route/gain B1"/>
407 <Binding channel="1" ctl="2" uri="/route/gain B2"/>
408 <Binding channel="1" ctl="3" uri="/route/send/gain B1 1"/>
409 <Binding channel="1" ctl="4" uri="/route/plugin/parameter B1 1 1"/>
410 <Binding channel="1" ctl="6" uri="/bus/gain master"/>
412 <Binding channel="1" note="1" uri="/route/solo B1"/>
413 <Binding channel="1" note="2" uri="/route/solo B2" momentary="yes"/>
415 <Binding channel="1" note="15" uri="/route/mute B1" momentary="yes"/>
416 <Binding channel="1" note="16" uri="/route/mute B2" momentary="yes"/>
418 <Binding channel="1" enc-r="11" uri="/route/pandirection B1"/>
419 <Binding channel="1" enc-r="12" uri="/route/pandirection B2"/>
421 <Binding sysex="f0 0 0 e 9 0 5b f7" function="transport-start"/>
422 <Binding sysex="f0 7f 0 6 7 f7" function="rec-disable"/>
423 <Binding sysex="f0 7f 0 6 6 f7" function="rec-enable"/>
424 <Binding sysex="f0 0 0 e 9 0 53 0 0 f7" function="loop-toggle"/>
426 <Binding channel="1" note="13" function="transport-roll"/>
427 <Binding channel="1" note="14" function="transport-stop"/>
428 <Binding channel="1" note="12" function="transport-start"/>
429 <Binding channel="1" note="11" function="transport-zero"/>
430 <Binding channel="1" note="10" function="transport-end"/>
431 </ArdourMIDIBindings>
434 Please note that channel, controller and note numbers are specified as
435 decimal numbers in the ranges 1-16, 0-127 and 0-127 respectively
436 (the channel range may change at some point).