[ardour-manual] / include / using-the-presonus-faderport8.html

<p>
  Since version 5.8-290, Ardour supports for the
  <a href="https://www.presonus.com/products/FaderPort-8" rel="external">Presonus FaderPort&trade; 8</a>.
</p>

<p>
  The FaderPort&trade; 8 is a production control surface with 8 touch-sensitive, motorized faders,
  monochromatic digital scribble strips and more than 60 buttons with fixed labels.
</p>

<h2>Connecting the FaderPort 8</h2>
<p>
  The FaderPort 8 (FP8) comes with a USB socket on the back. Connect a
  suitable USB cable from there to a USB port on your computer.

  The FP8 will be automatically recognized by your operating
  system, and will appear in any of the lists of possible MIDI ports
  in both Ardour and other similar software.
</p>

<p class="warning">
  Ardour uses the FaderPort 8 in what PreSonus calls "Studio One" or "native"
  mode. To use the FaderPort8 with Ardour's FP8 Control Surface, make sure that
  the device is in "Studio One" mode. (If you would like to change the mode at
  any point, power on the unit while holding down the two leftmost Select
  buttons, see the FaderPort 8 manual for further details. Also note that at
  least firmware version 1.01 is required. NB. "factory default" resets the
  firmware, see the PreSonus FaderPort8 Owner's manual chapter 9.4.)
  <br/>
  While the FaderPort provides a Mackie Control Universal (MCU) mode, which
  works with Ardour's Mackie Control Surface, MCU does not support various
  elements available on the FP8 (e.g. colored buttons, and the custom mode
  scribble strips).
</p>

<p>
  To connect the FP8 to Ardour, open the Preferences dialog,
  select "Control Surfaces" and enable "PreSonus FaderPort 8".
  Then open the "Protocol Settings" dialog for the FP8. Which
  (among other things) allows to select the the MIDI ports
  corresponding to the FP8.
</p>
<p>
  Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize
  the FP8 and it will be ready to use. You only need do this
  once: Once these ports are connected and your session has been
  saved, the connections will be made automatically in this and other
  future sessions.
<p>
<figure class="center">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog"
       src="/images/fp8_settings.png"/>
</figure>

<h2>Using the FaderPort 8</h2>
<p>
  The FaderPort's controls can be divided into five groups:
</p>
<ul class="inside">
  <li>Transport buttons</li>
  <li>Session Navigation controls</li>
  <li>Fader modes</li>
  <li>Mix management</li>
  <li>Channel strip</li>
</ul>

<p class="well">
  In general the control mapping described in the FaderPort 8
  Owner's Manual for Studio One (chapter 2) applies to Ardour as well.
  There are however subtle differences where the DAWs differ.
</p>

<p class="note">
  Buttons generlaly act on release (not press), with exception
  of transport-control (since 6.0pre) and individual exceptions mentioned below.
</p>

<h3>Transport Buttons</h3>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Transport Buttons"
       src="/images/fp8_transport.png"/>
</figure>
<ol class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Stop</kbd>: Stops the transport. Press twice to return to
    session start.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Loop</kbd>: Toggles loop playback. A loop-range needs to
    be defined in the session for looping to be engaged.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Play/Pause</kbd>: Roll/Stop the transport (note that
    Ardour has no "pause" mode: Pause is equivalent to stop). During vari-speed
    playback, pressing "play" resets to 100% forward speed.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Rewind</kbd>: Rewind, roll backwards. Successive presses
    or holding the button incrementally changes the speed.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Fast Forward</kbd>: Roll forward. Successive presses or
    holding the button accumulate speed.
    Pressing (<kbd>Rewind</kbd> and <kbd>Fast Forward</kbd>) simultaneously
    stops playback and returns the playhead to zero.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Record</kbd>: Toggles the global record enable
    setting.</li>
</ol>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Session Navigation</h3>
<p>
  Session Navigation allows quick navigation and provides access to
  session-wide controls. Each of the eight buttons alters the function
  of the push-button encoder and the <kbd>Prev</kbd>, <kbd>Next</kbd> buttons.
  With exception of <kbd>Click</kbd> the seven modes are exclusive (radio buttons).
</p>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons"
       src="/images/fp8_navigation.png"/>
</figure>
<ol class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Channel</kbd>: The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
    buttons select the previous/next mixer-strip. If no strip is selected,
    <kbd>Next</kbd> selects the first, <kbd>Prev</kbd> the last mixer-strip in
    the session. Pressing the encoder knob moves the most recently selected
    mixer-strip into view on the FP8. The encoder scrolls the editor-canvas
    up/down.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Master</kbd>: The encoder controls the master-bus level.
    If a session includes a monitor-section, the encoder controls monitor-out by
    default. Hold the button to control the master-bus level. Press the
    encoder knob to reset the gain to 0dB. The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
    navigation buttons bank the visible strips on the FP8 by one track
    left/right.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Zoom</kbd>: The encoder controls horizontal zoom of the
    editor. Press the encoder to <em>zoom to fit</em> the session.
    <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd> navigation buttons zoom selected track(s)
    vertically (or all tracks if none are selected).</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Click</kbd>: Toggle the metronome on/off. While holding
    the <kbd>Click</kbd> button, the encoder modifies the volume of the
    metronome click (press the encoder while holding <kbd>Click</kbd> to reset
    the metronome level to 0dBFS).</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Scroll</kbd>: The encoder scrolls the timeline (hold
    <kbd>Shift</kbd> for finer steps). Pressing the encoder <em>zooms to
      fit</em> the session. The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd> navigation
    buttons bank the visible strips on the FP8 by one track left/right.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Section</kbd>: The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
    navigation buttons nudge the selected region by the time configured in the
    nudge-clock. If no region is selected the playhead position is nudged. The
    encoder always nudges the playhead position.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Bank</kbd>: Encoder and navigation buttons scroll through
    mixer-strips in banks of eight. Pressing the encoder moves the most recently
    selected mixer-strip into view on the FP8.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Marker</kbd>: The encoder scrolls the timeline (hold
    <kbd>Shift</kbd> for finer steps). The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
    navigation buttons jump to prev/next markers. Press the encoder to drop a
    new marker.</li>
</ol>
<p>
  When combined with <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the eight buttons will access custom
  functions, which can be configured in the Preference Dialog. The buttons will
  light up if an action has been assigned to a button.
</p>
<p>
  The following tables shows a condensed overview of the session-navigation modes:
</p>
<table>
  <tr><th></th><th><kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd></th><th>Encoder knob</th><th>Encoder Press</th></tr>
  <tr><th>Channel</th><td>Select prev/next mixer-strip</td><td>Scroll Editor up/down</td><td>Bank to show selected strip on FP8</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Master</th><td>Bank visible strips on FP8 by 1</td><td>Adjust master/monitor level</td><td>Reset master/monitor to 0dB</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Zoom</th><td>Vertical zoom (editor track-height)</td><td>Horizontal timeline zoom (time)</td><td>Horizontal zoom to session</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Scroll</th><td>Bank visible strips on FP8 by 1</td><td>Scroll the timeline (move playhead)</td><td>Horizontal zoom to session</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Section</th><td>Nudge the selected region</td><td>Nudge the playhead</td><td> - </td></tr>
  <tr><th>Bank</th><td>Bank visible strips on FP8 by 8</td><td>Bank visible strips on FP8 by 1</td><td>Bank to show selected strip on FP8</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Marker</th><td>Move to prev/next marker</td><td>Scroll the timeline (move playhead)</td><td>Drop a new marker</td></tr>
  <tr><th>Press and hold <kbd>Click</kbd></th><td> (mode dependent) </td><td>Adjust metronome Level </td><td>Reset metronome level to 0dBFS</td></tr>
</table>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Shift Button</h3>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="the FaderPort8 Shift Button"
       src="/images/fp8_shift_large.png"/>
</figure>
<p>
  The two <kbd>Shift</kbd> buttons are identical, they're copied to provide
  convenient access to the modifiers. Pressing and holding the <kbd>Shift</kbd>
  button updates the lights (and colors on RGB buttons) to indicate the modified
  control.
  <br/>
  Pressing and holding the <kbd>Shift</kbd> button for one second without
  pressing any other button enters shift-lock mode. Press <kbd>Shift</kbd> again
  to reset.

  The <kbd>Shift</kbd> button engages directly on press. Activating an action
  while the button is held will void the shift-lock mode.
</p>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Fader Modes</h3>
<p>
  The eight faders on the FP8 can be assigned to various automatable
  controls present in the current session. The four fader-mode buttons
  change the behavior of the mixer-strip and scribble strip displays.
  (Note: with the 1.01 firmware these buttons always act on press.)
</p>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons"
       src="/images/fp8_fadermode.png"/>
</figure>
<ol class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Track</kbd>: In Track-mode, the motorized faders display
    and control a mixer-strip's signal level. The Pan/Param encoder modifies the
    azimuth of the panner (hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to control the width, if the
    track's panner supports it). <kbd>Mute</kbd> and <kbd>Solo</kbd> affect the
    respective mixer-strip.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Edit Plugins</kbd>: When Edit Plug-ins mode is active, the
    motorized faders will control the parameter settings of a given
    plugin-insert.<br/>
    Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button to view all available
    plugin-inserts on a strip. If no plugins are available, <kbd>Edit
    Plugins</kbd> will not engage and the FP8 automatically switches back to
    Track-mode.<br/>
    <strong>Select Plugin Mode</strong>:
    Use the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons under the scribble strip to pick a plugin
    to edit.<br/>
    The <kbd>Select</kbd> button color indicates the bypass/enable state of
    the plugin (red: bypassed, green: enabled). Use <kbd>Shift</kbd> +
    <kbd>Select</kbd> to toggle the bypass state.<br/>
    Selecting a plugin enters <strong>Parameter Edit Mode</strong>: The faders
    and the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons will respectively control the parameters
    and toggle controls of the selected plugin (once a plugin has been selected,
    it stays in edit mode regardless of track selection). If there are more than
    eight parameters, the Pan/Param encoder allows to scroll through available
    control-parameters (hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to bank by 8).<br/>
    If the plugin has any presets, pressing the Pan/Param encoder switches to
    the <strong>plugin-preset display</strong>: Plugin preset names are
    displayed on the scribble-displays, the <kbd>Select</kbd> button below each
    loads the preset.  The "Pan/Param" encoder can be used to scroll through
    presets if there are more than seven (right-most, 8th, slot is reserved to
    unload/clear a loaded preset, hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to bank by 7). The
    <kbd>Select</kbd> button color is used to indicate the currently loaded
    preset (if any) and blinks if a parameter has been modified since loading
    the preset.  Loading a preset or pressing the Pan/Param encoder again
    switches back to the Plugin Parameter Edit Mode.<br/>
    In Parameter Edit Mode, the "Open" (<kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Macro</kbd>)
    allows to toggle the Plugin GUI visibility.<br/>
    Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button again to return to the Select
    Plugin Mode.
  </li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Sends</kbd>: In Sends mode, each of the faders is mapped
    to the send-level of aux-sends of the selected track. If there are more than
    eight sends on a given track, the Pan/Param encoder can scroll through them.
    Send-mode follow the selection. If there are no sends on a given track, the
    FP8 automatically switches back to Track-mode.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Pan</kbd>: When Pan mode is active, the motorized faders
    will display and control the panner's azimuth. The Pan/Param controls the
    pan-width of the selected mixer-strip.</li>
</ol>
<p>
  <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Track</kbd> toggles timecode display on/off (middle
  row of the scribble-strip). The timecode format can be configured in the
  Control Surface Preference Dialog (Timecode, musical-time: bar/beat/tick).
</p>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Channel Strip</h3>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="The FaderPort8 Channel Strip"
       src="/images/fp8_strip.png"/>
</figure>
<ul class="inside">
  <li><strong>Touch-Sensitive Fader</strong>: The fader can be used to control
    volume levels, aux send levels, panning, or plugin parameters, depending on
    the fader-mode (see above).</li>
  <li><strong>Pan/Param</strong>: The encoder controls panning in Track and Pan
    mode. In Plugin and Send fader-modes, the encoder banks parameters. See
    Fader modes above for details. When "Link" is engaged, the encoder can
    control any automatable parameter (see Miscellaneous below).</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Mute</kbd>: Toggle the mute-control of the corresponding
    mixer-strip. Mute engages on press, and disengages on release. Press and
    hold the button for at least 0.5sec for momentary.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Solo</kbd>: Toggle the solo or listen (AFL,PFL) control
    of the corresponding mixer-strip. Solo engages on press, and disengages on
    release. Press and hold the button for at least 500ms for momentary.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Select</kbd>: In Track and Sends and Pan mode the Select
    button select/de-select a given mixer-strip.
    <br/>
    Since selection is not limited to a single mixer-strip, the button acts in
    tri-state. A mixer-strip light indicates selection:
    <ul class="inside">
      <li><strong>Any Selected Track</strong>: The select button is lit with the
        track's color.</li>
      <li><strong>Any Not Selected Track</strong>: The select button is off
        (dimly showing the track's color).</li>
      <li><strong>Most Recently Selected Track</strong>: Only one track at a
        time. The select button blinks with the track's color.</li>
    </ul>
    Operations such as <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> or <kbd>Sends</kbd> use the
    most-recently-selected (focused) track. To modify the selection, the
    button's action depends on the current selection:
    <ol class="inside">
      <li><strong><kbd>Select</kbd></strong>: The track is exclusively selected
        and also becomes the most-recently selected.</li>
      <li><strong><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Select</kbd> any selected
          track</strong>: Deselect the track.</li>
      <li><strong><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Select</kbd> any unselected
          track</strong>: Adds the given track to the selection and make it
          most-recently selected).</li>
    </ol>
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  In Track-mode, pressing the <kbd>Select</kbd> button of the most recently
  selected track (blinking <kbd>Select</kbd> button) will reset the fader-gain
  to unity (0dB). (since Ardour 5.11-207, Mixbus 4.2-66)
</p>
<p>
  While holding the <kbd>ARM</kbd> button the <kbd>Select</kbd> button lights
  change to red and the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons controls the record-arm of
  the given track. Mixer-strips that cannot be record-armed have a dim white
  light.
</p>
<p>
  <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>ARM</kbd> record-arms all tracks in the session.
</p>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Mix Management</h3>
<p>
  These buttons allows to select which mixer-strips are spilled on the FP8
  channel-strips.
</p>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons"
       src="/images/fp8_mixmanage.png"/>
</figure>
<ol class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Audio</kbd>: View Audio Tracks only.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">VI</kbd>: Show tracks with virtual instrument
    plugins.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Bus</kbd>: Display only Busses.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">VCA</kbd>: Show VCAs.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">All</kbd>: Display all Tracks, Busses (incl master-bus)
    and VCAs.</li>
</ol>
<p>
  In combination with the <kbd>Shift</kbd> modifier ten total
  filters are available:
</p>
<ul class="inside">
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Audio</kbd> <strong>Inputs</strong>:
    shows all record-armed tracks (Audio and MIDI).</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">VI</kbd> <strong>MIDI</strong>: View
    all MIDI tracks.</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Bus</kbd> <strong>Outputs</strong>:
    Show the Master and Monitor Bus.</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">VCA</kbd> <strong>FX</strong>: Shows
    Aux-Busess.</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">All</kbd> <strong>User</strong>:
    Display all currently selected mixer-strips only.</li>
</ul>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Automation Controls</h3>
<p>
  The Automation Controls provide access to the currently selected mixer-strips.
  The automation enable lights indicates the mode of the most recently selected
  mixer-strip (blinking selection button). The action affects all selected
  mixer-strips. The automation controls are currently only available in
  <kbd>Track</kbd> and <kbd>Pan</kbd> fader modes where they affect the fader
  and pan automation modes respectively.
</p>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Automation Buttons"
       src="/images/fp8_automation.png"/>
</figure>
<ol class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Latch</kbd>: Currently not available in Ardour.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Trim</kbd>: Currently not available in Ardour.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Off</kbd>: Select "Manual" automation mode.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Read</kbd>: Select "Play" automation mode.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Write</kbd>: Select "Write" automation mode (note at the
    end of a write pass, Ardour automatically puts the track into "Touch"
    mode.</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Touch</kbd> Select "Touch" automation mode.</li>
</ol>
<div class="clearer"></div>
<p>
  The Automation Controls also double as session state controls
  when combined with <kbd>Shift</kbd>.
</p>
<ol class="inside">
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Latch</kbd> <strong>Save</strong>:
    Save the session. The button lights up red if the session is modified.</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Trim</kbd> <strong>Redo</strong>: Redo
    a previously undone operation. The button lights up green if redo is
    possible.</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Off</kbd> <strong>Undo</strong>: Undo
    the most recent operation. The button lights up green if undo is
    possible.</li>
</ol>
<p>
  With <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the bottom row allows to bind three custom user
  actions.
</p>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Miscellaneous</h3>
<figure class="left">
  <img alt="FaderPort8 Misc Buttons"
       src="/images/fp8_misc.png"/>
</figure>
<ul class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Solo Clear</kbd>: Reset all solo controls in the
    session. If the FP8 was used to clear solo-state, pressing the button again
    will restore the previous state (unless solo state was modified manually
    since).</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Mute Clear</kbd>: Unmute all mixer-strips in the
    session. If the FP8 was used to clear mute-state, pressing the button again
    will restore the previous mute state (unless mute-state was changed manually
    since).</li>
  <li><kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd>: The behavior depends on the edit-mode:
    <ul class="inside">
      <li><strong>Track + Pan Mode</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on
        all selected mixer-strips.</li>
      <li><strong>Edit Plugin Parameter</strong>: Toggle bypass of of the plugin
        that is currently being edited. Bypass state is indicated by color: red
        for bypassed, green for enabled (not bypassed).</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd> <strong>Bypass
      All</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on all selected mixer-strips.</li>
</ul>
<ul class="inside">
  <li><kbd class="def">Macro</kbd>: Toggle Editor and Mixer Windows/Tabs.</li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Macro</kbd> <strong>Open</strong>: The
    behavior depends on the edit-mode:
    <ul class="inside">
      <li><strong>Edit Plugin Parameter</strong>: Toggle Plugin GUI visibility
        (if it has a GUI) of the plugin that is currently being edited.</li>
      <li><strong>all other modes</strong>: Show the Import Audio Dialog.</li>
    </ul>
  <li><kbd class="def">Link</kbd>: Activate Control-Link Mode (only available in
    Track and Pan modes).<br/>
    The Pan/Param encoder controls the element over which the mouse-cursor
    hovers in the GUI. One can access any parameter which can be automated.<br/>
    Pressing the Pan/Param encoder resets the control-parameter to the default
    value.<br/>
    The buttons color is used to indicate the link-state:
    <ul class="inside">
      <li><strong>orange</strong>: Link is enabled, but the mouse-cursor is not
        over an element which can be controlled.</li>
      <li><strong>yellow</strong>: Link is enabled, and the cursor is hovering
        over a controllable element.</li>
      <li><strong>green</strong>: Link is locked to a given element (see
        below).</li>
      <li><strong>turquoise</strong>: Link lock is possible (when pressing
        <kbd>Shift</kbd> while link-mode is enabled).</li>
      <li><strong>red</strong>: Link-lock is not possible (only when pressing
        <kbd>Shift</kbd> while link-mode is enabled without a valid element to
        control.</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Link</kbd> <strong>Lock</strong>:
    When in Link-mode (see above), this allows to lock the current control to
    the Pan/Param encoder. Link will no longer follow the GUI mouse-cursor.<br/>
    If Link-mode is not enabled, Lock, locks the GUI (alike Session &gt; Lock)
    to prevent accidental changes.</li>
</ul>
<p>
Link and Link-Lock mode will automatically disengage when entering
<kbd>Sends</kbd> or <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> mode.
</p>
<div class="clearer"></div>

<h3>Harrison Mixbus</h3>
<p>
The above also applies to Ardour-derivatives Harrison-Mixbus and Mixbus 32C with a few subtle differences:
</p>
<ul>
  <li>
    Mix Management <strong>Bus</strong> shows Mixbusses only, while <strong>FX</strong> spills Aux-busses.
  </li>
  <li>
    The Mixbus built-in EQ and Compressor are present on every track and bus and always available. They are displayed as special plugins on right-side in <strong>Select Plugin Mode<strong>.
    When editing those processors, the parameters follows track selection (for other plugins this is not possible since they may not be present).
  </li>
  <li>
    Fader mode <strong>Sends</strong> shows mixbus-assigns first (before any optional aux-sends). The master-bus-assign is available on the "S"olo button of the right-most strip. 
  </li>
</ul>