<p>
Since version 5.8-290, Ardour supports for the
- <a href="https://www.presonus.com/products/FaderPort-8" rel="external">Presonus FaderPort™ 8</a>.
+ <a href="https://www.presonus.com/products/FaderPort-8" rel="external">Presonus
+ FaderPort™ 8</a>.
</p>
<p>
- The FaderPort™ 8 is a production control surface with 8 touch-sensitive, motorized faders,
- monochromatic digital scribble strips and more than 60 buttons with fixed labels.
+ The FaderPort™ 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>
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"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog" src="/images/fp8_settings.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Control Surface Settings Dialog
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Using the FaderPort 8</h2>
<p>
The FaderPort's controls can be divided into five groups:
</p>
-<ul class="inside">
+
+<ul>
<li>Transport buttons</li>
<li>Session Navigation controls</li>
<li>Fader modes</li>
</p>
<p class="note">
- All buttons act on release (not press), exceptions are mentioned below.
+ Buttons generally 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"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Transport Buttons" src="/images/fp8_transport.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Transport Buttons
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ol class="inside">
+
+<ol>
<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
<li><kbd class="def">Record</kbd>: Toggles the global record enable
setting.</li>
</ol>
-<div class="clearer"></div>
-<h3>Session Navigation</h3>
+<h3 class="clear">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"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons" src="/images/fp8_navigation.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Navigation Buttons
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ol class="inside">
+
+<ol>
<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
<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>
+<h3 class="clear">Shift Button</h3>
<figure class="left">
- <img alt="the FaderPort8 Shift Button"
- src="/images/fp8_shift_large.png"/>
+ <img alt="The FaderPort8 Shift Button" src="/images/fp8_shift_large.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ The FaderPort8 Shift Button
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
The two <kbd>Shift</kbd> buttons are identical, they're copied to provide
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>
+<h3 class="clear">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"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons" src="/images/fp8_fadermode.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Fader Mode Buttons
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ol class="inside">
+
+<ol>
<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. 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. Use the <kbd>Select</kbd>
- buttons under the scribble strip to pick a plugin to edit. The faders and
- <kbd>Select</kbd> buttons will respectively control the parameters and toggles
- of the selected plugin. Press the <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> button again to return
- to the insert select view. (Once a plugin has been selected, it stays in edit
- mode regardless of selection). If there are more than eight, the Pan/Param
- encoder allows to scroll through available control-parameters.</li>
+ 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.
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).
+ 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>
+
+<h3 class="clear">Channel Strip</h3>
+
<figure class="left">
- <img alt="The FaderPort8 Channel Strip"
- src="/images/fp8_strip.png"/>
+ <img alt="The FaderPort8 Channel Strip" src="/images/fp8_strip.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ The FaderPort8 Channel Strip
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ul class="inside">
+
+<ul>
<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.</li>
+ 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>
<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">
+ <ul>
<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 is blinks width the track's color.</li>
+ 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">
+ <ol>
<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
</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
<p>
<kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>ARM</kbd> record-arms all tracks in the session.
</p>
-<div class="clearer"></div>
-<h3>Mix Management</h3>
+<h3 class="clear">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"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons" src="/images/fp8_mixmanage.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Mix Management Buttons
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ol class="inside">
+
+<ol>
<li><kbd class="def">Audio</kbd>: View Audio Tracks only.</li>
<li><kbd class="def">VI</kbd>: Show tracks with virtual instrument
plugins.</li>
In combination with the <kbd>Shift</kbd> modifier ten total
filters are available:
</p>
-<ul class="inside">
+<ul>
<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
<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>
+
+<h3 class="clear">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
<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"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Automation Buttons" src="/images/fp8_automation.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Automation Buttons
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ol class="inside">
+
+<ol>
<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>
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">
+<ol>
<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
With <kbd>Shift</kbd>, the bottom row allows to bind three custom user
actions.
</p>
-<div class="clearer"></div>
-<h3>Miscellaneous</h3>
+<h3 class="clear">Miscellaneous</h3>
+
<figure class="left">
- <img alt="FaderPort8 Misc Buttons"
- src="/images/fp8_misc.png"/>
+ <img alt="FaderPort8 Misc Buttons" src="/images/fp8_misc.png">
+ <figcaption>
+ FaderPort8 Misc Buttons
+ </figcaption>
</figure>
-<ul class="inside">
+
+<ul>
<li><kbd class="def">Solo Clear</kbd>: Reset all solo controls in the
- session.</li>
+ 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.</li>
- <li><kbd class="def">Bypass</kbd>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on all
- selected mixer-strips.</li>
+ 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>
+ <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>: currently the same as "Bypass".</li>
+ All</strong>: A/B bypass toggle any plugins on all selected mixer-strips.</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+ <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>
+ <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>
+ <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 > Lock)
+ to prevent accidental changes.</li>
</ul>
<p>
- The labels of the following buttons have no direct corresponding action in
- Ardour and are currently mapped to convenient functions:
+Link and Link-Lock mode will automatically disengage when entering
+<kbd>Sends</kbd> or <kbd>Edit Plugins</kbd> mode.
</p>
-<ul class="inside">
- <li><kbd class="def">Macro</kbd>: Show the Editor Window.</li>
- <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Macro</kbd> <strong>Open</strong>:
- Show the Import Audio Dialog.</li>
- <li><kbd class="def">Link</kbd>: Switch to the Mixer Window.</li>
- <li><kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd class="def">Link</kbd> <strong>Lock</strong>:
- Lock the GUI (alike Session > Lock) to prevent accidental changes.</li>
+
+<h3 class="clear">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>
-<div class="clearer"></div>
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff