3 Since version 5.8-290, Ardour supports for the
4 <a href="https://www.presonus.com/products/FaderPort-8" rel="external">Presonus
5 FaderPort™ 8</a>.
9 The FaderPort™ 8 is a production control surface with 8 touch-sensitive,
10 motorized faders, monochromatic digital scribble strips and more than 60 buttons
14 <h2>Connecting the FaderPort 8</h2>
16 The FaderPort 8 (FP8) comes with a USB socket on the back. Connect a
17 suitable USB cable from there to a USB port on your computer.
19 The FP8 will be automatically recognized by your operating
20 system, and will appear in any of the lists of possible MIDI ports
21 in both Ardour and other similar software.
25 Ardour uses the FaderPort 8 in what PreSonus calls "Studio One" or "native"
26 mode. To use the FaderPort8 with Ardour's FP8 Control Surface, make sure that
27 the device is in "Studio One" mode. (If you would like to change the mode at
28 any point, power on the unit while holding down the two leftmost Select
29 buttons, see the FaderPort 8 manual for further details. Also note that at
30 least firmware version 1.01 is required. NB. "factory default" resets the
31 firmware, see the PreSonus FaderPort8 Owner's manual chapter 9.4.)
33 While the FaderPort provides a Mackie Control Universal (MCU) mode, which
34 works with Ardour's Mackie Control Surface, MCU does not support various
35 elements available on the FP8 (e.g. colored buttons, and the custom mode
40 To connect the FP8 to Ardour, open the Preferences dialog,
41 select "Control Surfaces" and enable "PreSonus FaderPort 8".
42 Then open the "Protocol Settings" dialog for the FP8. Which
43 (among other things) allows to select the the MIDI ports
44 corresponding to the FP8.
47 Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize
48 the FP8 and it will be ready to use. You only need do this
49 once: Once these ports are connected and your session has been
50 saved, the connections will be made automatically in this and other
54 <figure class="center">
55 <img alt="FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog" src="/images/fp8_settings.png">
57 FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog
61 <h2>Using the FaderPort 8</h2>
63 The FaderPort's controls can be divided into five groups:
67 <li>Transport buttons</li>
68 <li>Session Navigation controls</li>
70 <li>Mix management</li>
71 <li>Channel strip</li>
75 In general the control mapping described in the FaderPort 8
76 Owner's Manual for Studio One (chapter 2) applies to Ardour as well.
77 There are however subtle differences where the DAWs differ.
81 Buttons generlaly act on release (not press), with exception
82 of transport-control (since 6.0pre) and individual exceptions mentioned below.
85 <h3>Transport Buttons</h3>
88 <img alt="FaderPort8 Transport Buttons" src="/images/fp8_transport.png">
90 FaderPort8 Transport Buttons
95 <li><kbd class="def">Stop</kbd>: Stops the transport. Press twice to return to
97 <li><kbd class="def">Loop</kbd>: Toggles loop playback. A loop-range needs to
98 be defined in the session for looping to be engaged.</li>
99 <li><kbd class="def">Play/Pause</kbd>: Roll/Stop the transport (note that
100 Ardour has no "pause" mode: Pause is equivalent to stop). During vari-speed
101 playback, pressing "play" resets to 100% forward speed.</li>
102 <li><kbd class="def">Rewind</kbd>: Rewind, roll backwards. Successive presses
103 or holding the button incrementally changes the speed.</li>
104 <li><kbd class="def">Fast Forward</kbd>: Roll forward. Successive presses or
105 holding the button accumulate speed.
106 Pressing (<kbd>Rewind</kbd> and <kbd>Fast Forward</kbd>) simultaneously
107 stops playback and returns the playhead to zero.</li>
108 <li><kbd class="def">Record</kbd>: Toggles the global record enable
112 <h3 class="clear">Session Navigation</h3>
114 Session Navigation allows quick navigation and provides access to
115 session-wide controls. Each of the eight buttons alters the function
116 of the push-button encoder and the <kbd>Prev</kbd>, <kbd>Next</kbd> buttons.
117 With exception of <kbd>Click</kbd> the seven modes are exclusive (radio buttons).
120 <figure class="left">
121 <img alt="FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons" src="/images/fp8_navigation.png">
123 FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons
128 <li><kbd class="def">Channel</kbd>: The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
129 buttons select the previous/next mixer-strip. If no strip is selected,
130 <kbd>Next</kbd> selects the first, <kbd>Prev</kbd> the last mixer-strip in
131 the session. Pressing the encoder knob moves the most recently selected
132 mixer-strip into view on the FP8. The encoder scrolls the editor-canvas
134 <li><kbd class="def">Master</kbd>: The encoder controls the master-bus level.
135 If a session includes a monitor-section, the encoder controls monitor-out by
136 default. Hold the button to control the master-bus level. Press the
137 encoder knob to reset the gain to 0dB. The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
138 navigation buttons bank the visible strips on the FP8 by one track
140 <li><kbd class="def">Zoom</kbd>: The encoder controls horizontal zoom of the
141 editor. Press the encoder to <em>zoom to fit</em> the session.
142 <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd> navigation buttons zoom selected track(s)
143 vertically (or all tracks if none are selected).</li>
144 <li><kbd class="def">Click</kbd>: Toggle the metronome on/off. While holding
145 the <kbd>Click</kbd> button, the encoder modifies the volume of the
146 metronome click (press the encoder while holding <kbd>Click</kbd> to reset
147 the metronome level to 0dBFS).</li>
148 <li><kbd class="def">Scroll</kbd>: The encoder scrolls the timeline (hold
149 <kbd>Shift</kbd> for finer steps). Pressing the encoder <em>zooms to
150 fit</em> the session. The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd> navigation
151 buttons bank the visible strips on the FP8 by one track left/right.</li>
152 <li><kbd class="def">Section</kbd>: The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
153 navigation buttons nudge the selected region by the time configured in the
154 nudge-clock. If no region is selected the playhead position is nudged. The
155 encoder always nudges the playhead position.</li>
156 <li><kbd class="def">Bank</kbd>: Encoder and navigation buttons scroll through
157 mixer-strips in banks of eight. Pressing the encoder moves the most recently
158 selected mixer-strip into view on the FP8.</li>
159 <li><kbd class="def">Marker</kbd>: The encoder scrolls the timeline (hold
160 <kbd>Shift</kbd> for finer steps). The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
161 navigation buttons jump to prev/next markers. Press the encoder to drop a
165 When combined with <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the eight buttons will access custom
166 functions, which can be configured in the Preference Dialog. The buttons will
167 light up if an action has been assigned to a button.
170 The following tables shows a condensed overview of the session-navigation modes:
173 <tr><th></th><th><kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd></th><th>Encoder knob</th><th>Encoder Press</th></tr>
174 <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>
175 <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>
176 <tr><th>Zoom</th><td>Vertical zoom (editor track-height)</td><td>Horizontal timeline zoom (time)</td><td>Horizontal zoom to session</td></tr>
177 <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>
178 <tr><th>Section</th><td>Nudge the selected region</td><td>Nudge the playhead</td><td> - </td></tr>
179 <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>
180 <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>
181 <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>
184 <h3 class="clear">Shift Button</h3>
185 <figure class="left">
186 <img alt="The FaderPort8 Shift Button" src="/images/fp8_shift_large.png">
188 The FaderPort8 Shift Button
192 The two <kbd>Shift</kbd> buttons are identical, they're copied to provide
193 convenient access to the modifiers. Pressing and holding the <kbd>Shift</kbd>
194 button updates the lights (and colors on RGB buttons) to indicate the modified
197 Pressing and holding the <kbd>Shift</kbd> button for one second without
198 pressing any other button enters shift-lock mode. Press <kbd>Shift</kbd> again
201 The <kbd>Shift</kbd> button engages directly on press. Activating an action
202 while the button is held will void the shift-lock mode.
205 <h3 class="clear">Fader Modes</h3>
207 The eight faders on the FP8 can be assigned to various automatable
208 controls present in the current session. The four fader-mode buttons
209 change the behavior of the mixer-strip and scribble strip displays.
210 (Note: with the 1.01 firmware these buttons always act on press.)
213 <figure class="left">
214 <img alt="FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons" src="/images/fp8_fadermode.png">
216 FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons
221 <li><kbd class="def">Track</kbd>: In Track-mode, the motorized faders display
222 and control a mixer-strip's signal level. The Pan/Param encoder modifies the
223 azimuth of the panner (hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to control the width, if the
224 track's panner supports it). <kbd>Mute</kbd> and <kbd>Solo</kbd> affect the
225 respective mixer-strip.</li>
226 <li><kbd class="def">Edit Plugins</kbd>: When Edit Plug-ins mode is active, the
227 motorized faders will control the parameter settings of a given
229 Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button to view all available
230 plugin-inserts on a strip. If no plugins are available, <kbd>Edit
231 Plugins</kbd> will not engage and the FP8 automatically switches back to
233 <strong>Select Plugin Mode</strong>:
234 Use the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons under the scribble strip to pick a plugin
236 The <kbd>Select</kbd> button color indicates the bypass/enable state of
237 the plugin (red: bypassed, green: enabled). Use <kbd>Shift</kbd> +
238 <kbd>Select</kbd> to toggle the bypass state.<br/>
239 Selecting a plugin enters <strong>Parameter Edit Mode</strong>: The faders
240 and the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons will respectively control the parameters
241 and toggle controls of the selected plugin (once a plugin has been selected,
242 it stays in edit mode regardless of track selection). If there are more than
243 eight parameters, the Pan/Param encoder allows to scroll through available
244 control-parameters (hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to bank by 8).<br/>
245 If the plugin has any presets, pressing the Pan/Param encoder switches to
246 the <strong>plugin-preset display</strong>: Plugin preset names are
247 displayed on the scribble-displays, the <kbd>Select</kbd> button below each
248 loads the preset. The "Pan/Param" encoder can be used to scroll through
249 presets if there are more than seven (right-most, 8th, slot is reserved to
250 unload/clear a loaded preset, hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to bank by 7). The
251 <kbd>Select</kbd> button color is used to indicate the currently loaded
252 preset (if any) and blinks if a parameter has been modified since loading
253 the preset. Loading a preset or pressing the Pan/Param encoder again
254 switches back to the Plugin Parameter Edit Mode.<br/>
255 In Parameter Edit Mode, the "Open" (<kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Macro</kbd>)
256 allows to toggle the Plugin GUI visibility.<br/>
257 Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button again to return to the Select
260 <li><kbd class="def">Sends</kbd>: In Sends mode, each of the faders is mapped
261 to the send-level of aux-sends of the selected track. If there are more than
262 eight sends on a given track, the Pan/Param encoder can scroll through them.
263 Send-mode follow the selection. If there are no sends on a given track, the
264 FP8 automatically switches back to Track-mode.</li>
265 <li><kbd class="def">Pan</kbd>: When Pan mode is active, the motorized faders
266 will display and control the panner's azimuth. The Pan/Param controls the
267 pan-width of the selected mixer-strip.</li>
271 <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Track</kbd> toggles timecode display on/off (middle
272 row of the scribble-strip). The timecode format can be configured in the
273 Control Surface Preference Dialog (Timecode, musical-time: bar/beat/tick).
277 <h3 class="clear">Channel Strip</h3>
279 <figure class="left">
280 <img alt="The FaderPort8 Channel Strip" src="/images/fp8_strip.png">
282 The FaderPort8 Channel Strip
287 <li><strong>Touch-Sensitive Fader</strong>: The fader can be used to control
288 volume levels, aux send levels, panning, or plugin parameters, depending on
289 the fader-mode (see above).</li>
290 <li><strong>Pan/Param</strong>: The encoder controls panning in Track and Pan
291 mode. In Plugin and Send fader-modes, the encoder banks parameters. See
292 Fader modes above for details. When "Link" is engaged, the encoder can
293 control any automatable parameter (see Miscellaneous below).</li>
294 <li><kbd class="def">Mute</kbd>: Toggle the mute-control of the corresponding
295 mixer-strip. Mute engages on press, and disengages on release. Press and
296 hold the button for at least 0.5sec for momentary.</li>
297 <li><kbd class="def">Solo</kbd>: Toggle the solo or listen (AFL,PFL) control
298 of the corresponding mixer-strip. Solo engages on press, and disengages on
299 release. Press and hold the button for at least 500ms for momentary.</li>
300 <li><kbd class="def">Select</kbd>: In Track and Sends and Pan mode the Select
301 button select/de-select a given mixer-strip.
303 Since selection is not limited to a single mixer-strip, the button acts in
304 tri-state. A mixer-strip light indicates selection:
306 <li><strong>Any Selected Track</strong>: The select button is lit with the
308 <li><strong>Any Not Selected Track</strong>: The select button is off
309 (dimly showing the track's color).</li>
310 <li><strong>Most Recently Selected Track</strong>: Only one track at a
311 time. The select button blinks with the track's color.</li>
313 Operations such as <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> or <kbd>Sends</kbd> use the
314 most-recently-selected (focused) track. To modify the selection, the
315 button's action depends on the current selection:
317 <li><strong><kbd>Select</kbd></strong>: The track is exclusively selected
318 and also becomes the most-recently selected.</li>
319 <li><strong><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Select</kbd> any selected
320 track</strong>: Deselect the track.</li>
321 <li><strong><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Select</kbd> any unselected
322 track</strong>: Adds the given track to the selection and make it
323 most-recently selected).</li>
328 In Track-mode, pressing the <kbd>Select</kbd> button of the most recently
329 selected track (blinking <kbd>Select</kbd> button) will reset the fader-gain
330 to unity (0dB). (since Ardour 5.11-207, Mixbus 4.2-66)
333 While holding the <kbd>ARM</kbd> button the <kbd>Select</kbd> button lights
334 change to red and the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons controls the record-arm of
335 the given track. Mixer-strips that cannot be record-armed have a dim white
339 <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>ARM</kbd> record-arms all tracks in the session.
342 <h3 class="clear">Mix Management</h3>
344 These buttons allows to select which mixer-strips are spilled on the FP8
348 <figure class="left">
349 <img alt="FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons" src="/images/fp8_mixmanage.png">
351 FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons
356 <li><kbd class="def">Audio</kbd>: View Audio Tracks only.</li>
357 <li><kbd class="def">VI</kbd>: Show tracks with virtual instrument
359 <li><kbd class="def">Bus</kbd>: Display only Busses.</li>
360 <li><kbd class="def">VCA</kbd>: Show VCAs.</li>
361 <li><kbd class="def">All</kbd>: Display all Tracks, Busses (incl master-bus)
365 In combination with the <kbd>Shift</kbd> modifier ten total
366 filters are available:
369 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Audio</kbd> <strong>Inputs</strong>:
370 shows all record-armed tracks (Audio and MIDI).</li>
371 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">VI</kbd> <strong>MIDI</strong>: View
372 all MIDI tracks.</li>
373 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Bus</kbd> <strong>Outputs</strong>:
374 Show the Master and Monitor Bus.</li>
375 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">VCA</kbd> <strong>FX</strong>: Shows
377 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">All</kbd> <strong>User</strong>:
378 Display all currently selected mixer-strips only.</li>
382 <h3 class="clear">Automation Controls</h3>
384 The Automation Controls provide access to the currently selected mixer-strips.
385 The automation enable lights indicates the mode of the most recently selected
386 mixer-strip (blinking selection button). The action affects all selected
387 mixer-strips. The automation controls are currently only available in
388 <kbd>Track</kbd> and <kbd>Pan</kbd> fader modes where they affect the fader
389 and pan automation modes respectively.
392 <figure class="left">
393 <img alt="FaderPort8 Automation Buttons" src="/images/fp8_automation.png">
395 FaderPort8 Automation Buttons
400 <li><kbd class="def">Latch</kbd>: Currently not available in Ardour.</li>
401 <li><kbd class="def">Trim</kbd>: Currently not available in Ardour.</li>
402 <li><kbd class="def">Off</kbd>: Select "Manual" automation mode.</li>
403 <li><kbd class="def">Read</kbd>: Select "Play" automation mode.</li>
404 <li><kbd class="def">Write</kbd>: Select "Write" automation mode (note at the
405 end of a write pass, Ardour automatically puts the track into "Touch"
407 <li><kbd class="def">Touch</kbd> Select "Touch" automation mode.</li>
411 The Automation Controls also double as session state controls
412 when combined with <kbd>Shift</kbd>.
415 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Latch</kbd> <strong>Save</strong>:
416 Save the session. The button lights up red if the session is modified.</li>
417 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Trim</kbd> <strong>Redo</strong>: Redo
418 a previously undone operation. The button lights up green if redo is
420 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Off</kbd> <strong>Undo</strong>: Undo
421 the most recent operation. The button lights up green if undo is
425 With <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the bottom row allows to bind three custom user
429 <h3 class="clear">Miscellaneous</h3>
431 <figure class="left">
432 <img alt="FaderPort8 Misc Buttons" src="/images/fp8_misc.png">
434 FaderPort8 Misc Buttons
439 <li><kbd class="def">Solo Clear</kbd>: Reset all solo controls in the
440 session. If the FP8 was used to clear solo-state, pressing the button again
441 will restore the previous state (unless solo state was modified manually
443 <li><kbd class="def">Mute Clear</kbd>: Unmute all mixer-strips in the
444 session. If the FP8 was used to clear mute-state, pressing the button again
445 will restore the previous mute state (unless mute-state was changed manually
447 <li><kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd>: The behavior depends on the edit-mode:
449 <li><strong>Track + Pan Mode</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on
450 all selected mixer-strips.</li>
451 <li><strong>Edit Plugin Parameter</strong>: Toggle bypass of of the plugin
452 that is currently being edited. Bypass state is indicated by color: red
453 for bypassed, green for enabled (not bypassed).</li>
456 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd> <strong>Bypass
457 All</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on all selected mixer-strips.</li>
460 <li><kbd class="def">Macro</kbd>: Toggle Editor and Mixer Windows/Tabs.</li>
461 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Macro</kbd> <strong>Open</strong>: The
462 behavior depends on the edit-mode:
464 <li><strong>Edit Plugin Parameter</strong>: Toggle Plugin GUI visibility
465 (if it has a GUI) of the plugin that is currently being edited.</li>
466 <li><strong>all other modes</strong>: Show the Import Audio Dialog.</li>
468 <li><kbd class="def">Link</kbd>: Activate Control-Link Mode (only available in
469 Track and Pan modes).<br/>
470 The Pan/Param encoder controls the element over which the mouse-cursor
471 hovers in the GUI. One can access any parameter which can be automated.<br/>
472 Pressing the Pan/Param encoder resets the control-parameter to the default
474 The buttons color is used to indicate the link-state:
476 <li><strong>orange</strong>: Link is enabled, but the mouse-cursor is not
477 over an element which can be controlled.</li>
478 <li><strong>yellow</strong>: Link is enabled, and the cursor is hovering
479 over a controllable element.</li>
480 <li><strong>green</strong>: Link is locked to a given element (see
482 <li><strong>turquoise</strong>: Link lock is possible (when pressing
483 <kbd>Shift</kbd> while link-mode is enabled).</li>
484 <li><strong>red</strong>: Link-lock is not possible (only when pressing
485 <kbd>Shift</kbd> while link-mode is enabled without a valid element to
489 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Link</kbd> <strong>Lock</strong>:
490 When in Link-mode (see above), this allows to lock the current control to
491 the Pan/Param encoder. Link will no longer follow the GUI mouse-cursor.<br/>
492 If Link-mode is not enabled, Lock, locks the GUI (alike Session > Lock)
493 to prevent accidental changes.</li>
496 Link and Link-Lock mode will automatically disengage when entering
497 <kbd>Sends</kbd> or <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> mode.
500 <h3 class="clear">Harrison Mixbus</h3>
502 The above also applies to Ardour-derivatives Harrison-Mixbus and Mixbus 32C with a few subtle differences:
506 Mix Management <strong>Bus</strong> shows Mixbusses only, while <strong>FX</strong> spills Aux-busses.
509 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>.
510 When editing those processors, the parameters follows track selection (for other plugins this is not possible since they may not be present).
513 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.