start to flesh out the SSL Nucleus documentation
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layout: default
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title: SSL Nucleus
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---
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---
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<p>
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The Nucleus, from Solid State Logic, is a 16 fader Mackie Control
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device that includes many buttons, separate meters, two LCD displays
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and other features. The device is not cheap (around US$5000 at the
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time of writing), and has some <a href="#design">design features</a>
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(or lack thereof) which some Ardour developers find
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questionable. Nevertheless, it is a very flexible device, and makes
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a nice 16 fader surface without the need to somehow attach an
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extender to your main surface.
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</p>
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<h2>Pre-configuring the Nucleus</h2>
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<p>
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Your Nucleus comes complete with a number of "profiles" for a few
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well-known DAWs. At the time of writing it does not include one for
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Ardour (or related products such as Harrison Mixbus). This is
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unfortunate because although Ardour could easily be used with any of
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the existing profiles, one thing they all have in common is a
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remarkably large of buttons not assigned to Mackie Control
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functions. This means that using one of them will "waste" the
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buttons, a resource that the Nucleus is not particularly rich in
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(compared with some other Mackie Control devices).
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</p>
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Mmmmmh.
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<h2>Connecting the Nucleus</h2>
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<p>
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Unlike most Mackie Control devices, the Nucleus uses an ethernet
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connection to send and receive the MIDI messages that make up the
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Mackie Control protocol. Specifically, it uses a technology called
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"ipMIDI" which essentially "broadcasts" MIDI messages on a local
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area network, so that any connected devices (computers, control
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surfaces, tablets etc.) can participate.
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</p>
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<p>
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All other DAWs so far that support the Nucleus have chosen to do so
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by using a 3rd party MIDI driver called "ipMIDI", which creates a
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number of "virtual" MIDI ports on your computer. You, the user,
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tells the DAW which ports to connect to, and ipMIDI takes care of
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the rest.
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</p>
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<p>
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Ardour has builtin ipMIDI support, with no need of any 3rd party
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packages, and no need to identify the "ports" to connect to in order
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to communicate with the Nucleus. This makes setting it up a bit
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easier than most other systems.
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</p>
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<p>
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Unless ... you already installed the ipMIDI driver in order to use
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some other DAW with your Nucleus. If ipMIDI is configured to create
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any "ports", it is not possible for Ardour's own ipMIDI support to
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function. We decided to offer both methods of communicating with
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your Nucleus. If you regularly use other DAWs, and appreciate having
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ipMIDI permanently set up to communication with the Nucleus - that's
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OK, you can tell Ardour to use the ipMIDI driver you already
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have. But if you're not using other DAWs with the Nucleus (and thus
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have not installed the ipMIDI driver), then you can ignore the
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ipMIDI driver entirely, and let Ardour connect directly with no
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configuration.
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</p>
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<h3>Connecting via Ardour's own ipMIDI support</h3>
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<p class="alert alert-info">
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This is usable only on computers with no 3rd party ipMIDI
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driver software installed and configured. If you have the OS X or
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Windows ipMIDI driver from nerds.de, it <strong>MUST</strong> be
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configured to offer <strong>ZERO</strong> ports before using this
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method.
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</p>
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<p>
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Open <code>Preferences > Control Surfaces</code>. Ensure that the
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Mackie protocol is enabled, then double-click on it to open the
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Mackie Control setup dialog.
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</p>
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<p>
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Ensure that the device selected is "SSL Nucleus". The dialog should
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show a single numerical selector control below it, defining the
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ipMIDI port number to use (it should almost always be left at the
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default value of 21928).
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</p>
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<p>
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Communication is automatically established with the Nucleus and you
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need do nothing more.
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</p>
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<p>
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If this does not work, then make sure your network cables are
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properly connected, and that you are <strong>not</strong> running
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other ipMIDI software on the computer.
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</p>
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<h2><a name="design">Nucleus Design Discussion</a></h2>
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<p>
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You might be reading this part of the manual seeking some guidance
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on whether the Nucleus would make a suitable control surface for
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your workflows. We don't want to try to answer that question
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definitively, since the real answer depends on the very specific
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details of your workflow and situation, but we would like to point
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out a number of design features of the Nucleus that might change
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your opinion.
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</p>
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<h3>Cons</h3>
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<dl>
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<dt>No Master Faster</dt>
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<dd></dd>
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<dt>No dedicated rec-enable buttons</dt>
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<dd>You have to press the "Rec" button and convert the per-strip
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"Select" buttons into rec-enables</dd>
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<dt>No dedicated automation buttons</dt>
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<dd>You have to press the "Auto" button and convert the first 4
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vpots into 4 automation-related buttons, losing your current view
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of the session.</dd>
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<dt>No buttons with Mackie-defined "Marker" functionality</dt>
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<dd>Mackie's design intentions for the interoperation of the
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Marker, rewind and ffwd buttons requires profile editing in order
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to function properly.
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</dd>
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<dt>No "Dyn" button</dt>
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<dd>This is hard to assign in an edited profile. To be fair, other
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Mackie Control devices also lack this button.
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</dd>
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</dl>
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<h3>Pros</h3>
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<dl>
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<dt>Single cable connectivity</dt>
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<dd>No need for multiple MIDI cables to get 16 faders</dd>
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<dt>Broadcast connectivity</dt>
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<dd>Connecting to multiple computers does not require recabling</dd>
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<dt>15 faders from a single box</dt>
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<dd>No need to figure out how to keep extenders together</dd>
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<dt>Meters separated from displays</dt>
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<dd>Contrast with the Mackie Control Universal Pro, where meters
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interfere with the display
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</dd>
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<dt>DAW profiles</dt>
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<dd>Easy to flip profiles for use by different DAWs.</dd>
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</dl>
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<h3>Ambiguous</h3>
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<dl>
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<dt>Ability to make buttons generate USB keyboard events</dt>
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<dd>The extent to which this is useful reflects the target DAWs
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inability to manage all of its functionality via Mackie Control
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</dd>
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<dt>Sophisticated "profile" editing</dt>
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<dd>It is nice to be able to reassign the functionality of most
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buttons, but this is only necessary because of the relatively few
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global buttons on the surface.
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</dd>
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</dl>
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