manual/include/using-the-softube-console1.html

<p>
   Ardour has a good support for the Softube Console1 controller.
</p>

<h2>Connecting the Console1</h2>
<p>
  Console1 comes with a single USB Socket on the back. Connect a
  suitable USB cable from there to a USB port on your computer.
</p>
<p class="well">
  Ardour uses the Console1 as a generic MIDI controller. You
  do not need to do anything to enable this&mdash;The Console1
  sends and receives ordinary MIDI controller messages to/from 
  the host, and the host understands the intended meaning of these 
  messages. We note this detail to avoid speculation about whether 
  Ardour supports the native mode, which sends MIDI Sysex 
  Messages&mdash;it does not.
</p>
<p>
  The Console1 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>
<p>
  To connect the Console1 to Ardour, open the Preferences dialog, and
  then click on "Control Surfaces". Click on the "Enable" button
  in the line that says "Console1" in order to activate Ardour's
  Console1 support. Then double click on the line that says
  "Console1". A new dialog will open, containing two dropdown selectors 
  that will allow you to identify the MIDI ports where your Console1 
  is connected.
</p>

<figure>
  <img src="/images/c1_settings.png" alt="The Console 1 configuration dialog">
  <figcaption>
    The Console1 configuration dialog
  </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  Once you select the input and output port, Ardour will initialize
  the Console1 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.
</p>
<h2>Harrison Mixbus &amp; Mixbus 32c</h2>
<p class="well">
  A lot of functionality is developed to be used with Harrison Mixbus 
  and Harrison Mixbus32c, therefore the  assignment of the controls might 
  sometimes  feels a little arbitrary. However, in the future it might 
  be possible, to controll plugins with this surface.<br/>
  <strong>Controls only used by Harrison Mixbus (32c) are marked with
  [Mixbus]</strong><br/>
  <strong>Controls inside a Mixbus only section wich are working in 
  Ardour as well marked with [Ardour]</strong><br/>
</p>

<h2>Using the Console1</h2>
<p class="well">
  The <kbd class="button">Fine Adjust / Shift</kbd> button unfortunately 
  does not work in the generic MIDI mode. 
  Therefore the <kbd class="button">Preset / Save Preset</kbd> button is used as a shift 
  button.
  In the following this will be simply referred to as the <em>Shift</em> button 
</p>

<h3>The controls</h3>
<h4>General</h4>
<table class="dl">
  <tr> 
    <th><kbd class="button">On</kbd></th>
    <td>Is lit when a mixer strip is in solo mode and 
    can disables all solo modes.<em>Rude Solo</em></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Mode</kbd></th>
    <td>Zooms to selection</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Page Up</kbd> / <kbd class="button">Page Down</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches 20 mixer strips up or down. Only lit if there is another page/bank<td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">1</kbd>...<kbd class="button">20</kbd></th>
    <td>Select the nth mixer strip of the current bank.<em>The Master channel is always the last mixer strip</em></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Track Group</kbd>/<kbd class="button">Track Copy</kbd></th>
    <td>Unused</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Order</kbd></th>
    <td>[Mixbus]Switches between the compressor modes: Leveler/Compressor/Limiter &mdash; see Compressor section</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">External Sidechain</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches between Edit, Cue and Mixer Screen</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Input</kbd></th>
    <td>Trim</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="fader">Input Meter</kbd></th>
    <td>Unused</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">High Cut</kbd></th>
    <td>[Mixbus]High Cut</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Low Cut</kbd></th>
    <td>[Mixbus]Low Cut</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Filter to Compressor</kbd></th>
    <td>[Mixbus]Filters on/off</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Phase</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches the phase of all channels. If only one of more channels is switched in the GUI, the LED blinks</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Preset</kbd></th>
    <td>The Global 'Shift' button</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Pan</kbd></th>
    <td>Pan</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Solo</kbd></th>
    <td>Solo button for the mixer strip</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Mute</kbd></th>
    <td>Mute button for the mixer strip, blinks, when the mixer strip is muted due to another mixer strips Solo-Mode</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="fader">Volume Meter</kbd></th>
    <td>Shows the mixer strip volume</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Volume</kbd></th>
    <td>Sets the mixer strip volume</td>
  </tr>
</table>

<h4>Shape-Section [Mixbus]</h4>
<table class="dl">
  <tr> 
    <th><kbd class="button">Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches the Gate section on or off</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="fader">Shape Meter</kbd></th>
    <td>Shows the Gain reduction of the gate<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Gate</kbd></th>
    <td>Threshold for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Gate Release</kbd></th>
    <td>Release time for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">Gate Release</kbd></th>
    <td>Hysteresis for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Sustain</kbd></th>
    <td>Attack time for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">Sustain</kbd></th>
    <td>Hold time for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Punch</kbd></th>
    <td>Depth for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">Sustain</kbd></th>
    <td>Filter frequency for the gate</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Hard Gate</kbd></th>
    <td>Sidechain filter on / off</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="button">Hard Gate</kbd></th>
    <td>Sidechain filter listen</td>
  </tr>
  
</table>

<h4>Equalizer Section [Mixbus]</h4>
<p class="well">
 All encoders in the EQ section are working as sends if the shift button is activated.
 See the bus send section.
</p>
<table class="dl">
  <tr> 
    <th><kbd class="button">Equalizer</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches the Equalizer section on or off</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Low Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>The Gain (reduction or boost) of the semiparametric bass eq<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(Low) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>The frequency of the semiparametric bass eq<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr> 
    <th><kbd class="button">(Low) Cut / Bell / Shelf</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches between Cut/Boost or Shelf (this uses only two of the three states</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Low Mid Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>The Gain (reduction or boost) of the semiparametric low mid eq</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(Low Mid) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>The frequency of the semiparametric low mid eq</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(Low Mid) Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>[Ardour]The eleventh send of a mixer strip / Send to the eleventh mixbus</td>
  </tr>  

  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">High Mid Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>The Gain (reduction or boost) of the semiparametric high mid eq</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(High Mid) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>The frequency of the semiparametric high mid eq</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(High Mid) Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>[Ardour]The twelfth send of a mixer strip / Send to the twelfth mixbus
    (see section Mixbusses) </td>
  </tr>  

  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">High Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>The Gain (reduction or boost) of the semiparametric treble eq</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(High) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>The frequency of the semiparametric treble eq<td>
  </tr>  
  
</table>

<h4>Compressor Section [Mixbus]</h4>
<table class="dl">
  <tr> 
    <th><kbd class="button">Compressor</kbd></th>
    <td>Switches the Compressor on or off</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="fader">Compressor Meter</kbd></th>
    <td>Shows the gain reduction of the leveler/compressor/limiter<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="button">Order</kbd></th>
    <td><em>Above this section</em> Switches between the compressor modes: Leveler/Compressor/Limiter</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Ratio</kbd></th>
    <td>Ratio of the compressor<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Parallel Dry/Wet</kbd></th>
    <td>Makeup gain of the compressor</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Attack</kbd></th>
    <td>Attack time of the compressor<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr> 
    <th><kbd class="button">Release</kbd></th>
    <td>Release time of the compressor</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Threshold</kbd></th>
    <td>Threshold of the compressor</td>
  </tr>  
</table>

<h4>Sends</h4>
<div class="well">
All Encoders in the equalizer-section are working as sends when 'shift' is selected.<br/>
Additionally the Low-Mid and High-Mid shape encoders are sends to the mixbusses 
eleven and twelfe. The Idea behind this is to have some common effects on this two 
mixbusses which are accessible without 'shift'. Currently, this is focused on Mixbus. <br/>
The functionality will be extended to fit better with Ardour in a second development phase.
However, if a mixer strip in Ardour has sends to busses, these are accessible with the send encoders
as well. These are numbered from top to bottom. The topmost send can be changed by 
the send 1 encoder <kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(Low) Frequency</kbd>,
the next send below by the send 2 encoder 
<kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(Low Mid) Frequency</kbd> and so on.
</div>
<table class="dl">
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(Low) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 1<td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(Low Mid) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 2</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(High Mid) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 3</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(High) Frequency</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 4</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">Low Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 5</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">Low Mid Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 6</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">High Mid Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 7</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">High Gain</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 8</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(Low Mid) Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 9</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="knob">(High Mid) Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 10</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(Low Mid) Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 11</td>
  </tr>  
  <tr>
    <th><kbd class="knob">(High Mid) Shape</kbd></th>
    <td>Send 12</td>
  </tr>  

</table>