3 Since version 5.8-290, Ardour supports for the
4 <a href="https://www.presonus.com/products/FaderPort-8" rel="external">Presonus FaderPort™ 8</a>.
8 The FaderPort™ 8 is a production control surface with 8 touch-sensitive, motorized faders,
9 monochromatic digital scribble strips and more than 60 buttons with fixed labels.
12 <h2>Connecting the FaderPort 8</h2>
14 The FaderPort 8 (FP8) comes with a USB socket on the back. Connect a
15 suitable USB cable from there to a USB port on your computer.
17 The FP8 will be automatically recognized by your operating
18 system, and will appear in any of the lists of possible MIDI ports
19 in both Ardour and other similar software.
23 Ardour uses the FaderPort 8 in what PreSonus calls "Studio One" or "native"
24 mode. To use the FaderPort8 with Ardour's FP8 Control Surface, make sure that
25 the device is in "Studio One" mode. (If you would like to change the mode at
26 any point, power on the unit while holding down the two leftmost Select
27 buttons, see the FaderPort 8 manual for further details. Also note that at
28 least firmware version 1.01 is required. NB. "factory default" resets the
29 firmware, see the PreSonus FaderPort8 Owner's manual chapter 9.4.)
31 While the FaderPort provides a Mackie Control Universal (MCU) mode, which
32 works with Ardour's Mackie Control Surface, MCU does not support various
33 elements available on the FP8 (e.g. colored buttons, and the custom mode
38 To connect the FP8 to Ardour, open the Preferences dialog,
39 select "Control Surfaces" and enable "PreSonus FaderPort 8".
40 Then open the "Protocol Settings" dialog for the FP8. Which
41 (among other things) allows to select the the MIDI ports
42 corresponding to the FP8.
45 Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize
46 the FP8 and it will be ready to use. You only need do this
47 once: Once these ports are connected and your session has been
48 saved, the connections will be made automatically in this and other
51 <figure class="center">
52 <img alt="FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog" src="/images/fp8_settings.png">
54 FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog
58 <h2>Using the FaderPort 8</h2>
60 The FaderPort's controls can be divided into five groups:
63 <li>Transport buttons</li>
64 <li>Session Navigation controls</li>
66 <li>Mix management</li>
67 <li>Channel strip</li>
71 In general the control mapping described in the FaderPort 8
72 Owner's Manual for Studio One (chapter 2) applies to Ardour as well.
73 There are however subtle differences where the DAWs differ.
77 Buttons generlaly act on release (not press), with exception
78 of transport-control (since 6.0pre) and individual exceptions mentioned below.
81 <h3>Transport Buttons</h3>
83 <img alt="FaderPort8 Transport Buttons" src="/images/fp8_transport.png">
85 FaderPort8 Transport Buttons
89 <li><kbd class="def">Stop</kbd>: Stops the transport. Press twice to return to
91 <li><kbd class="def">Loop</kbd>: Toggles loop playback. A loop-range needs to
92 be defined in the session for looping to be engaged.</li>
93 <li><kbd class="def">Play/Pause</kbd>: Roll/Stop the transport (note that
94 Ardour has no "pause" mode: Pause is equivalent to stop). During vari-speed
95 playback, pressing "play" resets to 100% forward speed.</li>
96 <li><kbd class="def">Rewind</kbd>: Rewind, roll backwards. Successive presses
97 or holding the button incrementally changes the speed.</li>
98 <li><kbd class="def">Fast Forward</kbd>: Roll forward. Successive presses or
99 holding the button accumulate speed.
100 Pressing (<kbd>Rewind</kbd> and <kbd>Fast Forward</kbd>) simultaneously
101 stops playback and returns the playhead to zero.</li>
102 <li><kbd class="def">Record</kbd>: Toggles the global record enable
105 <div class="clearer"></div>
107 <h3>Session Navigation</h3>
109 Session Navigation allows quick navigation and provides access to
110 session-wide controls. Each of the eight buttons alters the function
111 of the push-button encoder and the <kbd>Prev</kbd>, <kbd>Next</kbd> buttons.
112 With exception of <kbd>Click</kbd> the seven modes are exclusive (radio buttons).
114 <figure class="left">
115 <img alt="FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons" src="/images/fp8_navigation.png">
117 FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons
121 <li><kbd class="def">Channel</kbd>: The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
122 buttons select the previous/next mixer-strip. If no strip is selected,
123 <kbd>Next</kbd> selects the first, <kbd>Prev</kbd> the last mixer-strip in
124 the session. Pressing the encoder knob moves the most recently selected
125 mixer-strip into view on the FP8. The encoder scrolls the editor-canvas
127 <li><kbd class="def">Master</kbd>: The encoder controls the master-bus level.
128 If a session includes a monitor-section, the encoder controls monitor-out by
129 default. Hold the button to control the master-bus level. Press the
130 encoder knob to reset the gain to 0dB. The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
131 navigation buttons bank the visible strips on the FP8 by one track
133 <li><kbd class="def">Zoom</kbd>: The encoder controls horizontal zoom of the
134 editor. Press the encoder to <em>zoom to fit</em> the session.
135 <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd> navigation buttons zoom selected track(s)
136 vertically (or all tracks if none are selected).</li>
137 <li><kbd class="def">Click</kbd>: Toggle the metronome on/off. While holding
138 the <kbd>Click</kbd> button, the encoder modifies the volume of the
139 metronome click (press the encoder while holding <kbd>Click</kbd> to reset
140 the metronome level to 0dBFS).</li>
141 <li><kbd class="def">Scroll</kbd>: The encoder scrolls the timeline (hold
142 <kbd>Shift</kbd> for finer steps). Pressing the encoder <em>zooms to
143 fit</em> the session. The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd> navigation
144 buttons bank the visible strips on the FP8 by one track left/right.</li>
145 <li><kbd class="def">Section</kbd>: The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
146 navigation buttons nudge the selected region by the time configured in the
147 nudge-clock. If no region is selected the playhead position is nudged. The
148 encoder always nudges the playhead position.</li>
149 <li><kbd class="def">Bank</kbd>: Encoder and navigation buttons scroll through
150 mixer-strips in banks of eight. Pressing the encoder moves the most recently
151 selected mixer-strip into view on the FP8.</li>
152 <li><kbd class="def">Marker</kbd>: The encoder scrolls the timeline (hold
153 <kbd>Shift</kbd> for finer steps). The <kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd>
154 navigation buttons jump to prev/next markers. Press the encoder to drop a
158 When combined with <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the eight buttons will access custom
159 functions, which can be configured in the Preference Dialog. The buttons will
160 light up if an action has been assigned to a button.
163 The following tables shows a condensed overview of the session-navigation modes:
166 <tr><th></th><th><kbd>Prev</kbd> / <kbd>Next</kbd></th><th>Encoder knob</th><th>Encoder Press</th></tr>
167 <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>
168 <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>
169 <tr><th>Zoom</th><td>Vertical zoom (editor track-height)</td><td>Horizontal timeline zoom (time)</td><td>Horizontal zoom to session</td></tr>
170 <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>
171 <tr><th>Section</th><td>Nudge the selected region</td><td>Nudge the playhead</td><td> - </td></tr>
172 <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>
173 <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>
174 <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>
176 <div class="clearer"></div>
178 <h3>Shift Button</h3>
179 <figure class="left">
180 <img alt="The FaderPort8 Shift Button" src="/images/fp8_shift_large.png">
182 The FaderPort8 Shift Button
186 The two <kbd>Shift</kbd> buttons are identical, they're copied to provide
187 convenient access to the modifiers. Pressing and holding the <kbd>Shift</kbd>
188 button updates the lights (and colors on RGB buttons) to indicate the modified
191 Pressing and holding the <kbd>Shift</kbd> button for one second without
192 pressing any other button enters shift-lock mode. Press <kbd>Shift</kbd> again
195 The <kbd>Shift</kbd> button engages directly on press. Activating an action
196 while the button is held will void the shift-lock mode.
198 <div class="clearer"></div>
202 The eight faders on the FP8 can be assigned to various automatable
203 controls present in the current session. The four fader-mode buttons
204 change the behavior of the mixer-strip and scribble strip displays.
205 (Note: with the 1.01 firmware these buttons always act on press.)
207 <figure class="left">
208 <img alt="FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons" src="/images/fp8_fadermode.png">
210 FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons
214 <li><kbd class="def">Track</kbd>: In Track-mode, the motorized faders display
215 and control a mixer-strip's signal level. The Pan/Param encoder modifies the
216 azimuth of the panner (hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to control the width, if the
217 track's panner supports it). <kbd>Mute</kbd> and <kbd>Solo</kbd> affect the
218 respective mixer-strip.</li>
219 <li><kbd class="def">Edit Plugins</kbd>: When Edit Plug-ins mode is active, the
220 motorized faders will control the parameter settings of a given
222 Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button to view all available
223 plugin-inserts on a strip. If no plugins are available, <kbd>Edit
224 Plugins</kbd> will not engage and the FP8 automatically switches back to
226 <strong>Select Plugin Mode</strong>:
227 Use the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons under the scribble strip to pick a plugin
229 The <kbd>Select</kbd> button color indicates the bypass/enable state of
230 the plugin (red: bypassed, green: enabled). Use <kbd>Shift</kbd> +
231 <kbd>Select</kbd> to toggle the bypass state.<br/>
232 Selecting a plugin enters <strong>Parameter Edit Mode</strong>: The faders
233 and the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons will respectively control the parameters
234 and toggle controls of the selected plugin (once a plugin has been selected,
235 it stays in edit mode regardless of track selection). If there are more than
236 eight parameters, the Pan/Param encoder allows to scroll through available
237 control-parameters (hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to bank by 8).<br/>
238 If the plugin has any presets, pressing the Pan/Param encoder switches to
239 the <strong>plugin-preset display</strong>: Plugin preset names are
240 displayed on the scribble-displays, the <kbd>Select</kbd> button below each
241 loads the preset. The "Pan/Param" encoder can be used to scroll through
242 presets if there are more than seven (right-most, 8th, slot is reserved to
243 unload/clear a loaded preset, hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> to bank by 7). The
244 <kbd>Select</kbd> button color is used to indicate the currently loaded
245 preset (if any) and blinks if a parameter has been modified since loading
246 the preset. Loading a preset or pressing the Pan/Param encoder again
247 switches back to the Plugin Parameter Edit Mode.<br/>
248 In Parameter Edit Mode, the "Open" (<kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Macro</kbd>)
249 allows to toggle the Plugin GUI visibility.<br/>
250 Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button again to return to the Select
253 <li><kbd class="def">Sends</kbd>: In Sends mode, each of the faders is mapped
254 to the send-level of aux-sends of the selected track. If there are more than
255 eight sends on a given track, the Pan/Param encoder can scroll through them.
256 Send-mode follow the selection. If there are no sends on a given track, the
257 FP8 automatically switches back to Track-mode.</li>
258 <li><kbd class="def">Pan</kbd>: When Pan mode is active, the motorized faders
259 will display and control the panner's azimuth. The Pan/Param controls the
260 pan-width of the selected mixer-strip.</li>
263 <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Track</kbd> toggles timecode display on/off (middle
264 row of the scribble-strip). The timecode format can be configured in the
265 Control Surface Preference Dialog (Timecode, musical-time: bar/beat/tick).
267 <div class="clearer"></div>
269 <h3>Channel Strip</h3>
270 <figure class="left">
271 <img alt="The FaderPort8 Channel Strip" src="/images/fp8_strip.png">
273 The FaderPort8 Channel Strip
277 <li><strong>Touch-Sensitive Fader</strong>: The fader can be used to control
278 volume levels, aux send levels, panning, or plugin parameters, depending on
279 the fader-mode (see above).</li>
280 <li><strong>Pan/Param</strong>: The encoder controls panning in Track and Pan
281 mode. In Plugin and Send fader-modes, the encoder banks parameters. See
282 Fader modes above for details. When "Link" is engaged, the encoder can
283 control any automatable parameter (see Miscellaneous below).</li>
284 <li><kbd class="def">Mute</kbd>: Toggle the mute-control of the corresponding
285 mixer-strip. Mute engages on press, and disengages on release. Press and
286 hold the button for at least 0.5sec for momentary.</li>
287 <li><kbd class="def">Solo</kbd>: Toggle the solo or listen (AFL,PFL) control
288 of the corresponding mixer-strip. Solo engages on press, and disengages on
289 release. Press and hold the button for at least 500ms for momentary.</li>
290 <li><kbd class="def">Select</kbd>: In Track and Sends and Pan mode the Select
291 button select/de-select a given mixer-strip.
293 Since selection is not limited to a single mixer-strip, the button acts in
294 tri-state. A mixer-strip light indicates selection:
296 <li><strong>Any Selected Track</strong>: The select button is lit with the
298 <li><strong>Any Not Selected Track</strong>: The select button is off
299 (dimly showing the track's color).</li>
300 <li><strong>Most Recently Selected Track</strong>: Only one track at a
301 time. The select button blinks with the track's color.</li>
303 Operations such as <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> or <kbd>Sends</kbd> use the
304 most-recently-selected (focused) track. To modify the selection, the
305 button's action depends on the current selection:
307 <li><strong><kbd>Select</kbd></strong>: The track is exclusively selected
308 and also becomes the most-recently selected.</li>
309 <li><strong><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Select</kbd> any selected
310 track</strong>: Deselect the track.</li>
311 <li><strong><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>Select</kbd> any unselected
312 track</strong>: Adds the given track to the selection and make it
313 most-recently selected).</li>
318 In Track-mode, pressing the <kbd>Select</kbd> button of the most recently
319 selected track (blinking <kbd>Select</kbd> button) will reset the fader-gain
320 to unity (0dB). (since Ardour 5.11-207, Mixbus 4.2-66)
323 While holding the <kbd>ARM</kbd> button the <kbd>Select</kbd> button lights
324 change to red and the <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons controls the record-arm of
325 the given track. Mixer-strips that cannot be record-armed have a dim white
329 <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>ARM</kbd> record-arms all tracks in the session.
331 <div class="clearer"></div>
333 <h3>Mix Management</h3>
335 These buttons allows to select which mixer-strips are spilled on the FP8
338 <figure class="left">
339 <img alt="FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons" src="/images/fp8_mixmanage.png">
341 FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons
345 <li><kbd class="def">Audio</kbd>: View Audio Tracks only.</li>
346 <li><kbd class="def">VI</kbd>: Show tracks with virtual instrument
348 <li><kbd class="def">Bus</kbd>: Display only Busses.</li>
349 <li><kbd class="def">VCA</kbd>: Show VCAs.</li>
350 <li><kbd class="def">All</kbd>: Display all Tracks, Busses (incl master-bus)
354 In combination with the <kbd>Shift</kbd> modifier ten total
355 filters are available:
358 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Audio</kbd> <strong>Inputs</strong>:
359 shows all record-armed tracks (Audio and MIDI).</li>
360 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">VI</kbd> <strong>MIDI</strong>: View
361 all MIDI tracks.</li>
362 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Bus</kbd> <strong>Outputs</strong>:
363 Show the Master and Monitor Bus.</li>
364 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">VCA</kbd> <strong>FX</strong>: Shows
366 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">All</kbd> <strong>User</strong>:
367 Display all currently selected mixer-strips only.</li>
369 <div class="clearer"></div>
371 <h3>Automation Controls</h3>
373 The Automation Controls provide access to the currently selected mixer-strips.
374 The automation enable lights indicates the mode of the most recently selected
375 mixer-strip (blinking selection button). The action affects all selected
376 mixer-strips. The automation controls are currently only available in
377 <kbd>Track</kbd> and <kbd>Pan</kbd> fader modes where they affect the fader
378 and pan automation modes respectively.
380 <figure class="left">
381 <img alt="FaderPort8 Automation Buttons" src="/images/fp8_automation.png">
383 FaderPort8 Automation Buttons
387 <li><kbd class="def">Latch</kbd>: Currently not available in Ardour.</li>
388 <li><kbd class="def">Trim</kbd>: Currently not available in Ardour.</li>
389 <li><kbd class="def">Off</kbd>: Select "Manual" automation mode.</li>
390 <li><kbd class="def">Read</kbd>: Select "Play" automation mode.</li>
391 <li><kbd class="def">Write</kbd>: Select "Write" automation mode (note at the
392 end of a write pass, Ardour automatically puts the track into "Touch"
394 <li><kbd class="def">Touch</kbd> Select "Touch" automation mode.</li>
396 <div class="clearer"></div>
398 The Automation Controls also double as session state controls
399 when combined with <kbd>Shift</kbd>.
402 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Latch</kbd> <strong>Save</strong>:
403 Save the session. The button lights up red if the session is modified.</li>
404 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Trim</kbd> <strong>Redo</strong>: Redo
405 a previously undone operation. The button lights up green if redo is
407 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Off</kbd> <strong>Undo</strong>: Undo
408 the most recent operation. The button lights up green if undo is
412 With <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the bottom row allows to bind three custom user
415 <div class="clearer"></div>
417 <h3>Miscellaneous</h3>
418 <figure class="left">
419 <img alt="FaderPort8 Misc Buttons" src="/images/fp8_misc.png">
421 FaderPort8 Misc Buttons
425 <li><kbd class="def">Solo Clear</kbd>: Reset all solo controls in the
426 session. If the FP8 was used to clear solo-state, pressing the button again
427 will restore the previous state (unless solo state was modified manually
429 <li><kbd class="def">Mute Clear</kbd>: Unmute all mixer-strips in the
430 session. If the FP8 was used to clear mute-state, pressing the button again
431 will restore the previous mute state (unless mute-state was changed manually
433 <li><kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd>: The behavior depends on the edit-mode:
435 <li><strong>Track + Pan Mode</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on
436 all selected mixer-strips.</li>
437 <li><strong>Edit Plugin Parameter</strong>: Toggle bypass of of the plugin
438 that is currently being edited. Bypass state is indicated by color: red
439 for bypassed, green for enabled (not bypassed).</li>
442 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd> <strong>Bypass
443 All</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on all selected mixer-strips.</li>
446 <li><kbd class="def">Macro</kbd>: Toggle Editor and Mixer Windows/Tabs.</li>
447 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Macro</kbd> <strong>Open</strong>: The
448 behavior depends on the edit-mode:
450 <li><strong>Edit Plugin Parameter</strong>: Toggle Plugin GUI visibility
451 (if it has a GUI) of the plugin that is currently being edited.</li>
452 <li><strong>all other modes</strong>: Show the Import Audio Dialog.</li>
454 <li><kbd class="def">Link</kbd>: Activate Control-Link Mode (only available in
455 Track and Pan modes).<br/>
456 The Pan/Param encoder controls the element over which the mouse-cursor
457 hovers in the GUI. One can access any parameter which can be automated.<br/>
458 Pressing the Pan/Param encoder resets the control-parameter to the default
460 The buttons color is used to indicate the link-state:
462 <li><strong>orange</strong>: Link is enabled, but the mouse-cursor is not
463 over an element which can be controlled.</li>
464 <li><strong>yellow</strong>: Link is enabled, and the cursor is hovering
465 over a controllable element.</li>
466 <li><strong>green</strong>: Link is locked to a given element (see
468 <li><strong>turquoise</strong>: Link lock is possible (when pressing
469 <kbd>Shift</kbd> while link-mode is enabled).</li>
470 <li><strong>red</strong>: Link-lock is not possible (only when pressing
471 <kbd>Shift</kbd> while link-mode is enabled without a valid element to
475 <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Link</kbd> <strong>Lock</strong>:
476 When in Link-mode (see above), this allows to lock the current control to
477 the Pan/Param encoder. Link will no longer follow the GUI mouse-cursor.<br/>
478 If Link-mode is not enabled, Lock, locks the GUI (alike Session > Lock)
479 to prevent accidental changes.</li>
482 Link and Link-Lock mode will automatically disengage when entering
483 <kbd>Sends</kbd> or <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> mode.
485 <div class="clearer"></div>
487 <h3>Harrison Mixbus</h3>
489 The above also applies to Ardour-derivatives Harrison-Mixbus and Mixbus 32C with a few subtle differences:
493 Mix Management <strong>Bus</strong> shows Mixbusses only, while <strong>FX</strong> spills Aux-busses.
496 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>.
497 When editing those processors, the parameters follows track selection (for other plugins this is not possible since they may not be present).
500 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.