---
layout: default
title: Using the Ableton Push 2
menu_title: Ableton Push 2
---                        

<p>
  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.
</p>

<h2>Connecting the Push 2</h2>
<p>
  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). 
</p>
<p>
  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.
</p>
<p>
  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. <!-- Then double click on the line that says
  "Ableton Push 2". A new dialog will open, containing (among other things)
  two dropdown selectors that will allow you to identify the MIDI
  ports where your Push 2 is connected.-->
</p>
<!--
<p>
<img alt="the Faderport configuration dialog"
     src="/images/push2_dialog.png">
</p>
-->
<p>
  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.
</p>

<h2>Basic Concepts</h2>
<p>
  With the Push 2 support in Ardour 5.4, you can do the following
  things:
  <dl>
    <dt>Perform using the 8 x 8 pad "grid"</dt>
    <dd>The Push 2 has really lovely pressure-sensitive pads that can
    also generate either aftertouch or note (polyphonic) pressure.</dd>
    <dt>Global Mixing</dt>
    <dd>See many tracks at once, and control numerous parameters for each.</dd>
    <dt>Track/Bus Mixing</dt>
    <dd>View a single track/bus, with even more parameters for the track.</dd>
    <dt>Choose the mode/scale, root note and more for the pads</dt>
    <dd>37 scales are available. Like Live, Ardour offers both
    "in-key" and "chromatic" pad layouts.</dd>
  </dl>
</p>

<h2>Musical Performance</h2>
<p>
  Messages sent from the 8x8 pad grid and the "pitch bend bar" are
  routed to a special MIDI port within Ardour called "Ableton 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.
</p>
<p>
  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.
</p>
<p>
  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 <em>not</em> not be delivered to the
  "Ableton Pads" port. This makes no difference in practice, because
  the other controls do not send messages that are useful for musical
  performance. 
</p>

<h2>Global Mix</h2>
<p>
  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.

  <!-- SCREENSHOT HERE -->

</p>
<p>
  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:
  <dl>
    <dt>Volumes</dt>
    <dd>The display shows a knob and text displaying
      the current gain setting for the track, and a meter that
      corresponds precisely to the meter shown in the Ardour GUI for
      that track. Changing the meter type (e.g. from Peak to K12) in the
      GUI will also change it in the Push 2 display. The physical knob
      will alter track/bus gain.
    </dd>
    <dt>Pans</dt>
    <dd>The display shows a knob indicating the pan direction/azimuth
    for the corresponding track/bus. Turning the physical knob will
    pan the track left and right. If the track/bus has no panner
    (i.e. it has only a single output), no knob is shown and the
    physical knob will do nothing. </dd>
    <dt>Pan Widths</dt>
    <dd><p>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. 
      </p>
      <p>
	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.
      </p>
    </dd>
    <dt>A Sends</dt>
    <dd>The display shows a knob indicating the gain level for the
      first send in that track. If the track has no send, no knob will
      be shown, and the physical knob for that track will do nothing.
    </dd>
    <dt>B Sends, C Sends, D Sends</dt>
    <dd>Like "A Sends", but for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th sends of a
      track/bus respectively.
    </dd>
  </dl>
</p>

<h2>Track Mix</h2>


<h2>Specific Button/Knob Functions</h2>

<p>
  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:
  <ul>
    <li>Metronome (button and adjacent knob)</li>
    <li>Undo/Redo</li>
    <li>Duplicate</li>
    <li>Delete</li>
    <li>Double Loop</li>
    <li>Quantize</li>
    <li>Duplicate</li>
    <li>Rec-Enable</li>
    <li>Play</li>
    <li>Add Track</li>
    <li>Browse</li>
    <li>Master</li>
    <li>Cursor arrows</li>
    <li>Repeat</li>
    <li>Scale</li>
    <li>Layout</li>
    <li>Octave buttons</li>
    <li>Page buttons</li>
    <li>Master knob</li>
  </ul>
</p>