livetrax/manual/xml/behringer_ddx3216.xml

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<section id="sn-behringer-ddx3216">
  <title>Behringer DDX3216</title>
  <para>
    The Behringer DDX3216 isn't actually a dedicated control surface, it is
    a digital mixer. However it does have the capability to control ardour
    using it's faders and the pan pots, through it's midi I/O. Unfortunately
    for some bizzare reason, the protocol for mute toggling changes on the
    Behringer and is not compatible with ardour. Most commonly you would
    setup ardour so the mixer and panning was reflected by the Behringer,
    however you can control other elements of ardour such as plugin
    controls/automation. This can potentially save a lot of time given you
    can control a lot more than just one level at a time, as opposed to one
    when using a mouse. The DDX3216 can also receive MTC (MIDI Time Code)
    from ardour and control ardours transport via MMC (Midi Machine
    Control), making it a very useful go between for any other external
    devices that can also receive MTC. On top of that, any other software
    synced to JACK will be controlled via the DDX3216 as well!
  </para>

  <para>
    The setup is quite simple as follows:
  </para>
  <orderedlist>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        On the DDX3216 select the MMC/MIDI button. Press the Previous/Next
        buttons to move to the RX/TX page. Make sure that you have both RX
        and TX selected for 'Control Change', and TX selected for 'Machine
        Control'. Under the menu 'RX/TX Only', make sure Fader and Pan is
        selected.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        To receive MTC do the following. Press the Previous button to get to
        the Setup page. Select MTC as your source. Make sure the receive
        channel is set to OMNI so it will listen on all channels, and the
        MMC device is set to 7F (all). Save a new Preset on the DDX3216,
        something like MMC/MTC.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        Connect your midi in and out cables to your sound card, and to the
        Behringer DDX3216. Start <application>qjackctl</application>, and
        then start ardour. In qjackctl go to the connections dialog, and
        select the <guilabel>midi</guilabel> tab. Select the Midi output on
        the left window and the ardour input on the right window, and press
        connect. Select the ardour output on the left window and the midi
        input on the right window, and press connect.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        I suggest making a template in ardour so you don't have to do these
        following steps each time. Load a new session with your desired
        amount of tracks (I used 16). Go to menu <menuchoice>
        <guimenu>Windows</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Options Editor</guisubmenu>
        </menuchoice> and select the <guilabel>MIDI</guilabel> tab. Select
        all the options and make sure the midi port you have connected to in
        qjackctl is 'online'.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        Open the mixer window
        (<keycombo><keycap>Alt</keycap><keycap>M</keycap></keycombo>) and
        then hold down <keycap>Ctrl</keycap> and click the middle button of
        your mouse, on the fader control for track 1. A dialog will appear
        over the fader asking you to <literal>operate MIDI control
        now</literal>. Move the fader on the Behringer that you want to
        control track 1 ardour fader - and whalla! I use fader 17 (fader 1
        in page 2) as it isn't used for analog inputs and saves confusion.
        Now do the same thing for the panning, ctrl and middle click on the
        pan control in ardour, and move the pan pot on the DDX3216. Repeat
        the Step for as many tracks as you have. Then save the template as
        'MIDI controlled' or something similar. Next time you create a
        session, select this template from the drop down list and you are
        ready to cruise.
      </para>

      <para>
        Remember you can assign the DDX3216 pan pots or even faders if you
        want, to the plugin controls, send levels, inserts etc etc.
      </para>
    </listitem>
    <listitem>
      <para>
        You can also operate the ardour transport and have ardour transmit
        MTC back to your DDX3216 (it is only capable of receiving timecode,
        not transmitting it). Go to the ardour menu
        <menuchoice><guimenu>Windows</guimenu><guisubmenu>Option
        Editor</guisubmenu></menuchoice> and the <guilabel>Sync</guilabel>
        Tab. Set <guimenuitem>Positional Sync</guimenuitem> to Sync with
        Jack. Select <guimenuitem>Send MTC</guimenuitem> and
        <guimenuitem>Jack time master</guimenuitem>. Set your SMPTE to the
        appropriate frame rate for your region (PAL - 25 frames, NTSC 30
        frames/drop frames). On the DDX3216 in the MMC/MIDI screen, select
        the <guilabel>Machine Control</guilabel> Tab and you can now press
        play and watch ardour begin playback, and the time code start
        rolling! Of course if you have hydrogen/rosegarden/muse/whatever
        also running, then they will begin with ardour as well.
      </para>
    </listitem>
  </orderedlist>
  <note>
    <para>
      With ardour set to sync with JACK you cannot rewind from the transport
      control, because JACK does not support global varispeed. If you are
      just working with ardour and nothing else, then you can change the
      Sync option to internal. You also will want to enable the -12dB gain
      reduction for ff/rew in the <guilabel>Misc</guilabel> tab for sanity
      reasons.
    </para>
  </note>
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