-<p>
- <img alt="the Ableton Push 2 surface" src="/images/push2-main.jpg">
-</p>
+<figure>
+ <img src="/images/push2-main.jpg" alt="The Ableton Push 2 surface">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Ableton Push 2 surface
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<p>
Since version 5.4, Ardour has had extensive support for the Ableton
Push2. This is an expensive but beautifully engineered control
- surface primarily targetting the workflow found in Ableton's Live
+ surface primarily targeting the workflow found in Ableton's Live
software and other similar tools such as Bitwig. As of version 5.4,
Ardour does not offer the same kind of workflow, so we have designed
our support for the Push 2 around mixing and editing and musical
<p>
Plug the USB cable from the Push 2 into a USB2 or USB3 port on your
computer. For brighter backlighting, also plug in the power supply
- (this is not necessary for use).
+ (this is not necessary for use).
</p>
<p>
The Push 2 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>
+<div class="note">
+ <p>
+ Linux does not provide normal users access to arbitrary USB
+ devices by default (this is a security measure). To give yourself
+ access to the Push2, you need to create a file in
+ the <code>/etc/udev/rules.d</code> folder (directory). The name of
+ the should be something like "50-Ableton-Push2.rules" (the only
+ critical parts are that it ends in ".rules" and is unique). The
+ file should contain the following single line:
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ <verb>
+ SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="2982", ATTR{idProduct}=="1967", MODE="0666", GROUP="audio"
+ </verb>
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ Note that you will need to be member of the group named in the
+ "GROUP" property ("audio" in the example above).
+ </p>
+</div>
+
<p>
To connect the Push 2 to Ardour, open the Preferences dialog, and
then click on "Control Surfaces". Click on the "Enable" button
in the line that says "Ableton Push 2" in order to activate Ardour's
- Push 2 support.
+ Push 2 support.
</p>
<p>
Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize
aftertouch or polyphonic pressure messages. You can alter this
setting via the Push 2 GUI, accessed by double-clicking on the "Push
2" entry in the control surfaces list.
-<p>
-<img alt="the Push 2 configuration dialog"
- src="/images/push2-gui.png">
</p>
+<figure>
+ <img src="/images/push2-gui.png" alt="The Push 2 configuration dialog">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Push 2 configuration dialog
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<h2>Basic Concepts</h2>
<p>
With the Push 2 support in Ardour 5.4, you can do the following
things:
- <dl>
- <dt>Perform using the 8 x 8 pad "grid"</dt>
- <dd>The Push 2 has really lovely pressure-sensitive pads that can
- also generate either aftertouch or note (polyphonic) pressure.</dd>
- <dt>Global Mixing</dt>
- <dd>See many tracks at once, and control numerous parameters for each.</dd>
- <dt>Track/Bus Mixing</dt>
- <dd>View a single track/bus, with even more parameters for the track.</dd>
- <dt>Choose the mode/scale, root note and more for the pads</dt>
- <dd>37 scales are available. Like Live, Ardour offers both
- "in-key" and "chromatic" pad layouts.</dd>
- </dl>
+ <table class="dl">
+ <tr><th>Perform using the 8 x 8 pad "grid"</th>
+ <td>The Push 2 has really lovely pressure-sensitive pads that can
+ also generate either aftertouch or note (polyphonic) pressure.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Global Mixing</th>
+ <td>See many tracks at once, and control numerous parameters for each.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Track/Bus Mixing</th>
+ <td>View a single track/bus, with even more parameters for the track.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Choose the mode/scale, root note and more for the pads</th>
+ <td>37 scales are available. Like Live, Ardour offers both
+ "in-key" and "chromatic" pad layouts.</td></tr>
+ </table>
- ... plus a variety of tasks related to transport control, selection,
+ … plus a variety of tasks related to transport control, selection,
import, click track control and more.
</p>
controls on the Push 2 will <em>not</em> not be delivered to the
"Push 2 Pads" port. This makes no difference in practice, because
the other controls do not send messages that are useful for musical
- performance.
+ performance.
</p>
<h2>Global Mix</h2>
them, the video display and the 8 buttons below that are combined to
provide a global view of the session mix.
</p>
-<p>
- <img alt="global mix mode on Push2 screen"
- src="/images/push2-globalmix.png">
-</p>
+
+<figure>
+ <img src="/images/push2-globalmix.png" alt="Global mix mode on Push2 screen">
+ <figcaption>
+ Global mix mode on Push2 screen
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<p>
The upper buttons are labelled by text in the video display just
below them. Pressing one of the buttons changes the function of the
</p>
<p>
As of Ardour 5.4, the possible parameters are:
- <dl>
- <dt>Volumes</dt>
- <dd>The display shows a knob and text displaying
+ <table class="dl">
+ <tr><th>Volumes</th>
+ <td>The display shows a knob and text displaying
the current gain setting for the track, and a meter that
corresponds precisely to the meter shown in the Ardour GUI for
that track. Changing the meter type (e.g. from Peak to K12) in the
GUI will also change it in the Push 2 display. The physical knob
will alter track/bus gain.
- </dd>
- <dt>Pans</dt>
- <dd>The display shows a knob indicating the pan direction/azimuth
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Pans</th>
+ <td>The display shows a knob indicating the pan direction/azimuth
for the corresponding track/bus. Turning the physical knob will
pan the track left and right. If the track/bus has no panner
(i.e. it has only a single output), no knob is shown and the
- physical knob will do nothing. </dd>
- <dt>Pan Widths</dt>
- <
dd><p>For tracks with 2 outputs, the display will show a knob
+ physical knob will do nothing. </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Pan Widths</th>
+ <
td><p>For tracks with 2 outputs, the display will show a knob
indicating the pan width setting for the corresponding
track/bus. The physical knob can be turned to adjust the
- width.
+ width.
</p>
<p>
Unlike many DAWs, Ardour's stereo panners have "width"
please be aware than many DAWs use a "panner" that actually
implement "balance" and not "panning", hence the difference.
</p>
- </dd>
- <dt>A Sends</dt>
- <dd>The display shows a knob indicating the gain level for the
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>A Sends</th>
+ <td>The display shows a knob indicating the gain level for the
first send in that track. If the track has no send, no knob will
be shown, and the physical knob for that track will do nothing.
- </dd>
- <dt>B Sends, C Sends, D Sends</dt>
- <dd>Like "A Sends", but for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th sends of a
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>B Sends, C Sends, D Sends</th>
+ <td>Like "A Sends", but for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th sends of a
track/bus respectively.
- </dd>
- </dl>
+ </td></tr>
+ </table>
</p>
<p>
To change which tracks are shown while in global mix mode, use the
selected track/bus will be displayed on the Push 2. Above the
display, the first 4 knobs control track volume (gain), pan
directiom/azimuth, pan width, and where appropriate, track input
- trim.
+ trim.
</p>
<p>
Below the display, 7 buttons provide immediate control of mute,
solo, rec-enable, monitoring (input or disk or automatic), solo
isolate and solo safe state. When a a track is muted due to other
track(s) soloing, the mute button will flash (to differentiate from
- its state when it is explicitly muted).
+ its state when it is explicitly muted).
</p>
<p>
The video display also shows meters for the track, which as in
Press the Scale button to enter Scale mode. The display will look
like this:
</p>
-<p>
- <img alt="track mix mode on Push2 screen"
- src="/images/push2-scale.png">
-</p>
+
+<figure>
+ <img src="/images/push2-scale.png" alt="Track mix mode on Push2 screen">
+ <figcaption>
+ Track mix mode on Push2 screen
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<p>
In the center, 37 scales are presented. Scroll through them by
either using the cursor/arrow keys to the lower right of the
the buttons and knobs around the edges of the Push 2 will carry out
various functions related to their (illuminated) label. As of Ardour
5.4, this includes:
- <dl>
- <dt>Metronome (button and adjacent knob)</dt>
- <dd>
+ <table class="dl">
+ <tr><th>Metronome (button and adjacent knob)</th>
+ <td>
Enables/disables the click (metronome). The knob directly above
it will control the volume (gain) of the click.
- </dd>
- <dt>Undo/Redo</dt>
- <dd>
- Undo or redo the previous editing operation.
- </dd>
- <dt>Delete</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Undo/Redo</th>
+ <td>
+ Undo or redo the previous editing operation.
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Delete</th>
+ <td>
Deletes the currently selected region, or range, or
note. Equivalent to using Ctrl/Cmd-x on the keyboard.
- </dd>
- <dt>Quantize</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Quantize</th>
+ <td>
If a MIDI region is selected in Ardour, this will open the
quantize dialog.
- </dd>
- <dt>Duplicate</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Duplicate</th>
+ <td>
Duplicates the current region or range selection.
- </dd>
- <dt>Rec-Enable</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Rec-Enable</th>
+ <td>
Enables and disables Ardour's global record enable state.
- </dd>
- <dt>Play</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Play</th>
+ <td>
Starts and stops the transport. Press Shift-Play to return to
the session start.
- </dd>
- <dt>Add Track</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Add Track</th>
+ <td>
Opens Ardour's Add Track/Bus dialog.
- </dd>
- <dt>Browse</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Browse</th>
+ <td>
Open's Ardour's import dialog to select and audition existing
audio and MIDI files.
- </dd>
- <dt>Master</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Master</th>
+ <td>
Pressing this button jumps directly to Track Mix mode, with the
master out bus displayed.
- </dd>
- <dt>Cursor arrows</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Cursor arrows</th>
+ <td>
These are used by some modes to navigate within the display (e.g
Scale mode). In other modes, the up/down cursor arrows will
scroll the GUI display up and down, while the left/right cursor
arrows will generally scroll within the Push 2 display itself.
- </dd>
- <dt>Repeat</dt>
- <dd>
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Repeat</th>
+ <td>
Enables/disables loop playback. This will follow Ardour's "loop
is mode" preference, just like the loop button in the Ardour
- GUI.
- </dd>
- <dt>Octave buttons</dt>
- <dd>
+ GUI.
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Octave buttons</th>
+ <td>
These shift the root note of the current pad scale up or down by
- 1 octave.
- </dd>
- <dt>Page buttons</dt>
- <dd>
+ 1 octave.
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Page buttons</th>
+ <td>
These scroll Ardour's editor display left and right along the
- timeline.
- </dd>
- <dt>Master (top right) knob</dt>
- <dd>
+ timeline.
+ </td></tr>
+ <tr><th>Master (top right) knob</th>
+ <td>
This knob controls the gain/volume of Ardour's main output. If
- the session has a monitor saec
- </dd>
- </dl>
+ the session has a monitor section.
+ </td></tr>
+ </table>
</p>
-
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff