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- Since version 5.4, Ardour has had full support for the Ableton - Push2. This is an expensive but beautifully engineered control - surface primarily targetting the workflow found in Ableton's Live - software and other similar tools such as Bitwig. As of 5.4, Ardour - does not offer the same kind of workflow, so we have repurposed the - Push 2 to be used for mixing and editing and musical performance, - without the clip/scene oriented approach in Live. This may change in - future versions of Ardour. -
- -- 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). -
-ft - - 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. -
-- 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. -
-- Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize - the Push 2 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. -
- -- The only configuration option at this time is whether the pads send - 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. -
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- With the Push 2 support in Ardour 5.4, you can do the following - things: -
- Messages sent from the 8x8 pad grid and the "pitch bend bar" are - routed to a special MIDI port within Ardour called "Push 2 Pads" - (no extra latency is incurred from this routing). Although you can - manually connect this port to whatever you wish, the normal - behaviour of Ardour's Push 2 support is to connect the pads to the - most recently selected MIDI track. -
-- This means that to play a soft-synth/instrument plugin in a given - MIDI track with the Push 2, you just need to select that track. -
-- If multiple MIDI tracks are selected at once, the first selected - track will be used. Note that messages originating from all other - controls on the Push 2 will not 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. -
- -- This is the default mode that Ardour will start the Push 2 in. In - this mode, the 8 knobs at the top of the device, the 8 buttons below - them, the video display and the 8 buttons below that are combined to - provide a global view of the session mix. -
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- The upper buttons are labelled by text in the video display just - below them. Pressing one of the buttons changes the function of the - knobs, and the parameters that will shown for each track/bus in the - display. -
-- As of Ardour 5.4, the possible parameters are: -
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. -
-- Unlike many DAWs, Ardour's stereo panners have "width" - parameter that defaults to 100%. You cannot change the pan - direction/azimuth of a track with 100% width, but must first - reduce the width in order to pan it. Similarly, a track panned - anywhere other than dead center has limits on the maximum - width setting. If these concepts are not familiar to you, - please be aware than many DAWs use a "panner" that actually - implement "balance" and not "panning", hence the difference. -
-- To change which tracks are shown while in global mix mode, use the - left and right arrow/cursor keys just below and to the right of the - display. Tracks and busses that are hidden in Ardour's GUI will also - be hidden from display on the Push 2. -
-- To select a track/bus directly from the Push 2, press the - corresponding button below the display. The track name will be - highlighted, and the selection will change in Ardour's GUI as well - (and also any other control surfaces). -
- -- The Solo and Mute buttons to the left of the video display can be - used to solo and mute tracks while in Global Mix mode. The operation - will be applied to the first currently selected - track(s). -
-- There are two indications that one or more tracks are soloed: -
- To cancel solo, either: -
Track Mix mode allows you to focus on a single track in more detail - than is possible in Global Mix mode. To enter (or leave) Track Mix - mode, press the "Mix" button. -
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-- In Track Mix mode, various aspects of the state of the first - 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. -
-- 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). -
-- The video display also shows meters for the track, which as in - Global Mix mode, precisely match the meter type shown in Ardour's - GUI. There are also two time displays showing the current playhead - position in both musical (beats|bars|ticks) format, and as - hours:minutes:seconds. -
-- To change which track is visible in Track Mix mode, use the - left/right arrow/cursor keys just below and to the right of the - video display. -
- -- Press the Scale button to enter Scale mode. The display will look - like this: -
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- In the center, 37 scales are presented. Scroll through them by - either using the cursor/arrow keys to the lower right of the - display, or the knobs above the display. The scale will change - dynamically as you scroll. You can also scroll in whole pages using - the upper right and upper left buttons above the display (they will - display "<" and ">" if scrolling is possible). -
-- To change the root note of the scale, press the corresponding button - above or below the video display.The button will be lit to indicate - your selection (and the text will be highlighted). -
-- By default, Ardour configures the Push 2 pads to use "in-key" mode, - where all pads correspond to notes "in" the chosen scale. Notes - corresponding to the root note, or the equivalent note in higher - octaves, are highlighted with the color of the current target MIDI - track. -
-- In - "chromatic" mode, the pads correspond to a continuous sequence of - notes starting with your selected root note. Pads corresponding to - notes in the scale are illuminated; those corresponding to the root - note are lit with the color the current target MIDI track. Other - pads are left dark, but you can still play them. -
-- To switch between them, press button on the lower left of the video - display; the text above it will display the current mode (though it - is usually visually self-evident from the pad lighting pattern). -
-- To leave Scale mode, press the "Scale" button again. You may also - use the upper left button above the display, though if you have - scrolled left, it may require more than one press. -
- -- In addition to the layouts described above, many (but not all) of - 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: -