EQ Magazine - November 2008 - (Page 59)

fashion. As a result, it’s always easy to find the most important parameters, like level or filter cutoff. PROBLEM 2: IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER So do you just get a controller, plug it in, and attain instant software/hardware nirvana? No. You have to learn hardware controllers, or you’ll get few benefits. If you haven’t been using a controller, you’ve probably developed certain physical moves that work for you. Once you start using a controller, those all go out the window, and you have to start from scratch. If you’re used to, say, hitting a spacebar to begin playback, it takes some mental acclimation to switch over to a dedicated transport control button. Which begs the question: So why use the transport control, anyway? Well, odds are the transport controls will have not just play but stop, record, rewind, etc. Once you become familiar with the layout, you’ll be able to bounce around from one transport function to another far more easily than you would with a QWERTY keyboard set up with keyboard shortcuts. Think of a hardware controller as a musical instrument. Like an instrument, you need to build up some “muscle memory” before you can use it efficiently. I believe that the best way to learn a controller is to go “cold turkey”: Forget you have a mouse and QWERTY keyboard, and use the controller as often as possible. Over time, using it will become second nature, and you’ll wonder how you got along without it. But realistically, that process could take days or even months; think of spending this time as an investment that will pay off later. DIFFERENT CONTROLLER TYPES There are not just many different controllers, but different controller product “families.” The following will help you sort out the options, and choose a controller that will aid your workflow rather than hinder it. Custom controllers. These are designed to fit specific programs like a glove; examples include Digidesign’s C|24 and Command|8 for Pro Tools, Cakewalk/Roland’s Sonar V-Studio, Steinberg’s Cubase-friendly CC121 and MR816 CSX, WK Audio’s ID controller for Nuendo, and the like. The legends are program-specific, the knobs and switches have (hopefully) been laid out ergonomically, and the integration between hardware and software is as tight as Tower of Power’s rhythm section. If a control surface was made for a certain piece of software, it’s likely that will be the optimum hardware/software combination. General-purpose DAW controllers. While designed to be as general-purpose as possible, these usually include templates for specific programs. They typically include hardware functions that are assumed to be “givens,” like tape transport-style navigation controls, channel level faders, channel pan pots, solo and mute, etc. A controller with tons of knobs/switches and good templates can give very fluid operation. Good examples of this are HUI (an aging, but still relevant, control protocol used primarily with Pro Tools), the Mackie Control (which has become a standard—many programs Frontier Design’s AlphaTrack is an inexpensive, single-fader controller that supports multiple programs. are designed to work with a Mackie Control, and many hardware controllers can emulate the way a Mackie Control works), Euphonix Artist series controllers, Alesis MasterControl, M-Audio ProjectMix I/O (which supports both HUI and Mackie protocols, as does TASCAM’s FW1884), and TASCAM FW-1028. But there are also “single fader” hardware controllers (e.g., PreSonus FaderPort and Frontier Design Group AlphaTrack) which while compact and inexpensive, take care of many of the most important control functions you’ll use. MIDI fader boxes. The late, great Peavey PC-1600 is a classic example of a MIDI fader box: It has 16 programmable faders and 16 buttons (there’s a data wheel too), which can transmit almost any kind of MIDI message. Similar controllers are made by Kenton (the USB Killamix has a joystick, nine knobs, and nine switches), Evolution (UC-33e), Behringer (the BCF2000, with moving faders, and BCR2000 with rotary controls are mainstays of many MIDIoriented studios), and CME—their Bitstream3X has a joystick, 35 knobs, eight sliders, 16 buttons, a ribbon controller, and tons of templates. While these don’t have the “fit like a glove” MIDI CONTROL BASICS Most hardware control surfaces use MIDI as their control protocol. Controlling DAWs, soft synths, processors, etc. is very similar to the process of using automation in sequencing programs: In the studio, physical control motions are recorded as MIDI-based automation data, which upon playback, control mixer parameters, soft synths, and signal processors. If you’re not familiar with continuous controller messages, they’re part of the MIDI spec and alter parameters that respond to continuous control (level, panning, EQ frequency, filter cutoff, etc.). Switch controller messages have two states, and cover functions like mute on/off. There are 128 numbered controllers per MIDI channel. Some are recommended for specific functions (e.g., controller #7 affects master volume), while others are general-purpose controllers. Controller data is quantized into 128 steps, which gives reasonably refined control for most parameters. But for something like a highly resonant filter, you might hear a distinct change as a parameter changes from one value to another. Some devices interpolate values for a smoother response. www.eqmag.com NOVEMBER 2008 EQ 59 http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - November 2008

EQ Magazine - November 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Brian Wilson Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Sony Acid 6 Abelton Live 7 Controller World New Controllers Analysis Room with a Vu

EQ Magazine - November 2008

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