2015-12-01 14:19:54 -05:00
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---
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layout: default
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title: Using the Presonus Faderport
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menu_title: Presonus Faderport
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---
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2015-12-01 14:23:06 -05:00
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<img align="left" alt="A picture of a Presonus Faderport device" src="/images/faderport-ssmall.png">
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2015-12-01 14:19:54 -05:00
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<p>
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Since version 4.5, Ardour has had full support for the Presonus
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Faderport. This is a compact control surface featuring a single
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motorized fader, a single knob (encoder) and 24 buttons with fixed
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labels.
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</p>
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<h2>Connecting the Faderport</h2>
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<p>
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The Faderport comes with a single USB socket on the back. Connect a
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suitable USB cable from there to a USB port on your computer. As of
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the end of 2015, you should avoid USB3 ports - these cause erratic
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behaviour with the device. This issue might get fixed by Presonus in
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the future.
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</p>
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2015-12-01 14:37:59 -05:00
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<p>
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Ardour uses the Faderport in what Presonus calls "native" mode. You
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do not need to do anything to enable this - Ardour will set the
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device to be in the correct mode. In native mode, the Faderport
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sends and receives ordinary MIDI messages to/from the host, and the
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host understands the intended meaning of these messages. We note
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this detail to avoid speculation about whether Ardour supports the
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device via the HUI protocol - it does not.
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2015-12-01 14:19:54 -05:00
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<p>
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The Faderport will be automatically recognized by your operating
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system, and will appear in any of the lists of possible MIDI ports
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in both Ardour and other similar software.
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</p>
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2015-12-01 14:37:59 -05:00
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<p>
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To connect the Faderport to Ardour, open the Preferences dialog, and
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then click on "Control Surfaces". Click on the "Enable" button
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in the line that says "Faderport" in order to activate Ardour's
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Faderport support. Then double click on the line that says
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"Faderport". A new dialog will open, containing (among other things)
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two dropdown selectors that will allow you to identify the MIDI
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ports where your Faderport is connected.
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</p>
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<img alt="the Faderport configuration dialog" src="foo">
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<p>
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Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize
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the Faderport and it will be ready to use. You only need do this
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once: once these ports are connected and your session has been
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saved, the connections will be made automatically in this and other
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future sessions.
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<p>
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You do not need to use the power supply that comes with the
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Faderport but without it, the fader will not be motorized. This
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makes the overall experience of using the Faderport much less
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satisfactory, since the fader will not move when Ardour tells it
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to, leading to very out-of-sync conditions between the physical
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fader position and the "fader position" inside the program.
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</p>
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2015-12-01 14:19:54 -05:00
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<h2>Using the Faderport</h2>
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<p>
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The Faderport's controls can be divided into three groups:
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<ol>
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<li>Global controls such as the transport buttons</li>
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<li>Controls which change the settings for particular track or
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bus</li>
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<li>Controls which alter which track or bus is modified by the
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per-track/bus controls.</li>
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</ol>
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</p>
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2015-12-01 14:37:59 -05:00
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<p>
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Because the Faderport has only a single set of per-track controls,
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by default those controls operate on the first selected track or
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bus. If there is no selected track or bus, the controls will do
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nothing.
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</p>
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2015-12-01 14:19:54 -05:00
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<h3>Transport Buttons</h3>
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<p>
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The transport buttons all work as you would expect.
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<dl>
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<dt>Rewind</dt>
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<dd>Starts the transport moving backwards. Successive presses
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speed up the "rewind" behaviour.
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<br>
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If pressed while also holding the Stop button, the playhead will
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return to the zero position on the timeline.
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</dd>
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<dt>Fast Forward</dt>
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<dd>Starts the transport moving faster than normal. Successive presses
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speed up the "fast forward" behaviour.
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</dd>
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<dt>Stop</dt>
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<dd>
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Stops the transport. Also used in combination with the Rewind
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button to "return to zero".
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</dd>
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<dt>Play</dt>
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<dd>
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Starts the transport. If pressed while the transport is
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already rolling at normal speed, causes the playhead to jump to
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the start of the last "roll" and continue rolling ("Poor man's
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looping").
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</dd>
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<dt>Record Enable</dt>
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<dd>Toggles the global record enable setting
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</dd>
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</dl>
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</p>
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<h3>Other Global Controls</h3>
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<p>
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<dl>
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<dt>Mix</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Proj</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Trns</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Undo/Redo</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Punch</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>User</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Loop</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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2015-12-01 14:19:54 -05:00
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</dl>
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</p>
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2015-12-01 14:37:59 -05:00
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<h3>Per-track Controls</h3>
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<p>
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<dl>
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<dt>Mute</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Solo</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Rec</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Fader</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Knob/Dial/Encoder</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Read</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Write</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Touch</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>Off</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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</dl>
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</p>
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<h3>Track Selection Controls</h3>
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<p>
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<dl>
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<dt>Left (arrow)</dt>
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<dd>
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</dd>
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<dt>Right (arrow)</dt>
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<dd>
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</dd>
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<dt>Output</dt>
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<dd>
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</dd>
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<dt>Bank</dt>
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<dd>
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The "Bank" button is currently not used by Ardour
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</dd>
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</dl>
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</p>
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