REFERENCE MANUAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 2 FIRST THINGS FIRST: DRIVER INSTALLATION ......................................................................... 3 WINDOWS ........................................................................................................................................ 3 MAC OS X.............................................................................
INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of the Alesis MasterControl! The MasterControl is Alesis’s most advanced computer recording product to date and designed to be the centerpiece of your studio. Just consider this list of features: y 24-bit, 192kHz audio interface with analog preamplifiers and line inputs, plus ADAT and S/PDIF digital audio inputs. Up to twenty-six inputs and six outputs can be used simultaneously. Standard MIDI inputs and outputs are included, too.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: DRIVER INSTALLATION IMPORTANT!!! Follow these steps BEFORE you plug in your MasterControl for the first time. If your computer has Internet access, go to http://www.alesis.com/mastercontrol. It’s possible that updated drivers have been posted there since the time the software DVD included with your MasterControl was printed. WINDOWS If you are using the drivers from the DVD, click to begin the MasterControl driver installer from the DVD’s splash screen.
REAR PANEL FEATURES 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 13 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 1. MIC / LINE INPUTS – These two inputs can accept microphones (using an XLR cable) or an instrument or line-level device (using a 1/4” cable) such as a guitar, bass, sampler, or other audio device. These are balanced, low-impedance inputs. For best results when connecting balanced, line-level gear, use a TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) cable to connect to the 1/4" inputs. 2.
8. FOOTSWITCH – You may connect a remote footswitch to this jack. This can operate either as a control option surface or as a toggle switch to turn the MasterControl’s talkback function on and off. Please refer to the GLOBAL MENUS section to configure your footswitch. 9. MIDI IN / OUT – You can use MIDI cables to connect an external MIDI device to these jacks. 10.
TOP PANEL FEATURES This section breaks down the control surface into its functional areas. The area being discussed is shaded in the accompanying diagrams. A G C F F E B F F D (A) Analog Input Signal Indicators (B) DAW Control: Channels (C) DAW Control: Multi-Function Knobs (D) DAW Control: Transport (E) DAW Control: Assignable Button Banks (F) Monitoring / Control Room Features (G) Configuration Controls (A) ANALOG INPUT SIGNAL INDICATORS 1 1.
(B) DAW CONTROL: CHANNELS 4 3 3 5 3 6 3 1 2 1. CHANNEL FADER – Use this 100mm, touch-sensitive fader to adjust the volume levels of each channel. The exact level will be shown in the DISPLAY. 2. MASTER FADER – This fader controls the DAW’s master fader. Note that different DAWs control this fader differently. Some DAWs, such as Pro Tools, do not make use of the fader at all. 3. SELECT / RECORD / SOLO / MUTE – These buttons control the corresponding functions in your DAW. 4.
(C) DAW CONTROL: MULTI-FUNCTION KNOBS 1 3 2 1. TEMPLATE OVERLAY – Place the long plasticized overlay (included) that matches your currently selected DAW preset here. Remove the plastic protective covering from the template overlay before placing it in the slot. Insert one end first, then bend the overlay slightly upwards in order to slide the overlay into the opposite slot. 2. ROW SELECT – Use the ROW SELECT buttons to select which row of parameters the CHANNEL KNOBS are currently controlling.
(E) DAW CONTROL: ASSIGNABLE BUTTON BANKS 1. TEMPLATE OVERLAY - Place the short plasticized overlay (included) that matches your currently selected DAW preset here. 2. ASSIGNABLE BUTTONS – These buttons perform functions in your DAW such as SAVE, LOOP, etc. For most presets, you can re-assign the buttons to various functions by pressing EDIT at the upper right of the MasterControl. 3. 1 2 2 BUTTONS A / B – Press this button to toggle between the two banks of ASSIGNABLE BUTTONS.
2. DIRECT MON LEVEL – This knob raises or lowers your entire direct monitor mix. This allows you to blend your direct monitor signals with the audio being played from your computer. 3. OUTPUT 1-2 LEVEL – This knob controls the volume sent out of the analog outputs for any of the analog output pairs that are set to listen to DAW outputs 1/2. 4. HEADPHONE 1 / 2 – These knobs control the volume for the corresponding HEADPHONE 1 and 2 outputs on the rear panel.
4. EDIT – In Edit Mode, you can change the assignments for TOUCH A CONTROL the A and B banks of the ASSIGNABLE buttons – a total of (Enter to save) 16 assignable functions. Upon entering Edit Mode, the DISPLAY will look like the image on the right and the ASSIGNABLE BUTTONS will light up orange. First, press the button whose function you want to assign (the other buttons will become unlit). Then, use the VALUE / ENTER encoder to scroll through the functions. Press VALUE / ENTER to select one.
CONFIGURING YOUR DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION SOFTWARE FOR USE WITH THE MASTERCONTROL Once your MasterControl is connected to your computer, there are three steps to perform to establish audio and control surface communication with your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): 1) On the MasterControl, select the proper MasterControl preset for your DAW. 2) In your DAW, select the MasterControl as your audio input/output device. 3) Still in your DAW, select the MasterControl as a control surface: a.
CUBASE AND NUENDO SETUP: SELECTING THE AUDIO DRIVER (WINDOWS ONLY) This discussion addresses Cubase. Nuendo setup is similar. 1. From the menu bar, go to Devices f Device Setup… 2. Click on “VST Audio System” in the left-hand pane. Then, in the right-hand pane, select “ASIO Alesis Firewire” for the ASIO driver.
CUBASE AND NUENDO SETUP: CONTROL SURFACE (MAC AND WINDOWS) 1. Again from the menu bar, go to Devices f Device Setup… 2. Click the “+” button on the upper-left corner of the window and select “Mackie Control” from the list.
3. Under Remote Devices f Mackie Control, select “Alesis FireWire” from the MIDI Input and MIDI Output drop-down menus. 4. Press “OK” to accept this setting. 5. Once the MasterControl is selected as the audio device, individual channels must be activated for use. From the “Devices” menu, select “VST Connections.” 15 Some versions of Cubase, including Cubase LE provided with the MasterControl, do not allow all inputs to be used simultaneously.
6. In this first tab labeled “Inputs,” you can decide which of the MasterControl’s channels will be routed to the Cubase’s inputs. Click the entries under “Device Port” to select an available channel from a drop-down menu. (This number and kind of available channels will vary depending on the sampling rate.) If necessary, you can add more buses by clicking the “Add Bus” button. 7. In the “Outputs” tab, you can decide which of the Cubase channels will be routed to the MasterControl’s outputs.
8. If you want, you can rename channels by clicking on the entry under “Bus Name.” This is useful for keeping track of which instrument is on each stereo channel. 9. Close the window. You are now ready to begin recording with the MasterControl. 10. See the Cubase/Nuendo notes later in this manual for details on MasterControl operation with these DAWs. ABLETON LIVE SETUP 1. From the menu bar, go to Options f Preferences (Windows XP) or to Live f Preferences (Mac).
2. Click the MIDI/Sync tab. Select “MackieControl” from the Control Surface drop-down menu, and select “Alesis FireWire” for the corresponding Input and Output. 3. Click the Audio tab. Select “ASIO” from the Driver Type drop-down menu. (The MasterControl will still work if another option like MME/DirectX is selected, but we recommend using ASIO as it is a better choice.) Then select “ASIO Alesis FireWire” as the Audio Device.
4. Click “Input Config.” In the window that appears, select the inputs from the MasterControl that you want to be sent to the DAW, then click “OK.” 5. Click “Output Config.” In the window that appears, select the outputs on the MasterControl to which the DAW will send its audio. We recommend the selecting the top two boxes, which correspond to the physical MON / LINE OUTPUTS 1 and 2 on the MasterControl. Click “OK” when you are done.
6. Close the Preferences window. 7. From the menu bar, go to Insert f Audio Track. 8. Be sure the circular button on the right-hand side of the screen labeled “I-O” is on. Underneath each track, you should see the headings “Audio From,” “Monitor,” and “Audio To.” (MIDI tracks will read “MIDI” instead of “Audio.”) 9. In order for Live to receive audio from the MasterControl’s outputs, the first box under “Audio From” should read “Ext. In.” If it doesn’t, click the box and select it. 10.
11. Underneath “Monitor,” select the monitoring configuration you want. “Auto” will monitor the channel when it is “record-armed” or recording. “In” will monitor the channel continuously, whether it is being recorded or not. “Off” will disable monitoring for that track. 12. The box underneath “Audio To” should read “Master.” If it doesn’t, click the box and select it. 13. This process (Steps #9-12) should be repeated for each channel you want to record. 14.
CAKEWALK SONAR SETUP 1. From the menu bar, go to Options f Controllers/Surfaces. 2. Click the button with the “star” icon to add a new device. 3. Select “Mackie Control” from the Controller/Surface drop-down menu, and select “Alesis FireWire” for the Input Port and Output Port. Click “OK,” then close the Controller/Surfaces window.
4. From the menu bar, go to Options f Audio…” 5. Click the “Advanced” tab. Select “ASIO” as the “Driver Mode.” Most users will find that this provides better performance than WDM/KS mode. If you change this setting, you will need to exit and then restart Sonar.
6. On the “General” tab, select any available MasterControl channels as the “Playback Timing Master.” We recommend “ASIO Alesis FireWire MasterControl DAW1,” which corresponds to the physical MON / LINE OUTPUTS 1 and 2 on the MasterControl. 7. Select any available analog MasterControl channel as the “Playback Record Master.” The available channels (corresponding to the MasterControl’s input channels) will depend on the sampling rate, which you can also set here in the “General” tab.
8. Move to the “Drivers” tab. Click on each input pair and also on the output pair to make them available to Sonar. The available input channels (corresponding to the MasterControl’s input channels) will depend on the sampling rate, which you can set in the “General” tab. There will always be three available output channels, which correspond to the three stereo pairs of physical outputs (1/2, 3/4, and 5/6) on the MasterControl.
LOGIC PRO SETUP 1. From the menu bar, go to Logic Pro f Preferences f Control Surfaces f Setup. 2. Click on “New” and select “Install” from the drop-down menu.
3. Select “Mackie Designs > Mackie Control > Logic Control” from the list, and click “Add” at the bottom-right. Close the window. 4. Select “Alesis FireWire” for the Out Port and Input. 5. See the Logic notes later in this manual for details on MasterControl operation with Logic.
SAMPLITUDE SETUP 1. From the menu bar, go to MIDI f MIDI Options f System Options f Hardware Controller. 2. Click the “Add New” button and select “Mackie Control” from the list. 3. Select “Alesis FireWire” for the “MIDI Input” and “MIDI Output,” and be sure “Activate Controller” is checked. DIGITAL PERFORMER SETUP 1. Open a new Finder window and go to Applications f Utilitiesf Audio MIDI Setup. 2. Click on the “MIDI Devices” tab, then click the “Add Device” button. 3.
AUDIO INPUTS AND OUTPUTS Channels Sent from the MasterControl to the Computer The FireWire port sends every available individual MasterControl channel to the computer. This means that, from the MasterControl, you can send a maximum of 26 channels: eight analog channels, 16 digital channels over the ADAT connections, and two digital channels over All digital audio carried over the coaxial S/PDIF connection.
WINDOWS AUDIO CONFIGURATION CHOOSING THE MASTERCONTROL AS YOUR DEFAULT AUDIO DEVICE To use your MasterControl as your default Windows sound device, follow these steps: 1. From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel. 2. Choose Sounds and Audio Devices (XP) or Sounds (Vista). 3. Click the “Audio” tab. Change the default devices for both sound playback and sound recording to “Alesis FireWire Audio.” If you will be using MIDI, select “Alesis FireWire MIDI” from the MIDI music playback menu. 4.
DISABLING WINDOWS SYSTEM SOUNDS Windows System Sounds – the sounds that Windows plays to signal starting up, shutting down, alerts and so forth – can interfere with your audio recording. We strongly suggest disabling these sounds. 1. Click the “Sounds” tab of Sounds and Audio Devices (XP) or Sounds (Vista). Under the “Sound Scheme” drop-down menu, choose “No Sounds.” 2. Click “OK” to accept this entry and close the dialog box.
ALESIS FIREWIRE CONTROL PANEL (WINDOWS) Open the Alesis Firewire Control Panel from the shortcut on your Desktop, the Programs menu, or from within your audio application. To open the control panel within Cubase in Windows, go to Devices f Device Setup… f VST MultiTrack, then under the “ASIO Alesis Firewire” Device, click the “Control Panel” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. Selecting the Alesis MasterControl: Be sure that your MasterControl is shown here. If it is not shown, then your computer does not “see” it.
4. Adjusting the sample rate: You can change the sample rate that the MasterControl uses in this area. Some audio programs require that you change the sample rate under their Project Setup or similar menus. For instance, Cubase will take control of this parameter. 5. Adjusting latency by changing the buffer size: “Latency” refers to the amount of time it takes for audio to get into and out of the computer.
MAC AUDIO CONFIGURATION AUDIO MIDI SETUP On Mac, after you install the drivers, open the Audio MIDI Setup utility. Choose “Alesis Firewire” for your “Default Input” and “Default Output” devices under Mac’s Audio MIDI Setup utility. Also, choose your clock source, and set your sample rate here. 34 Audio MIDI Setup is available from your Mac’s Applications / Utilities folder. You may want to drag Audio MIDI Setup to your dock, so you can access it easily.
ALESIS FIREWIRE CONTROL PANEL (MAC) On Mac, buffer sizes are controlled by individual applications, and clocking and sample rates are set in Audio MIDI Setup. Therefore, the Alesis Firewire Control panel—available either by pressing “Configure Device” from within Audio MIDI setup or by choosing Preferences from your Apple (top left) menu— provides just a few options: General tab 1. Master Device: Ensure that your MasterControl is an option in this drop-down box.
GLOBAL MENUS Press the GLOBAL button to edit the MasterControl’s configuration, including where you want to route which channels, talkback and footswitch settings, and other features. Use the PAGE buttons beneath the DISPLAY to scroll through the settings. For each page, you can scroll through your options with the VALUE / ENTER knob at top right. To save your new settings, press the knob. Screen Contrast Adjust the contrast of the DISPLAY to an appropriate setting.
Direct Monitoring When the MasterControl’s Direct Monitoring function is enabled, DIR. MON ON 1/2 the signal you are hearing is taken directly from the MasterControl Yes rather than from your DAW. This allows you and your musicians to monitor the audio with no perceptible delay (latency). Here, you can choose whether or not the Direct Monitoring signal will be blended with the signal from the DAW in each channel pair.
Factory Reset Activating a Factory Reset will restore all default settings and Preset configurations. If you want to reset, select “Reset all.” You will be asked, “You sure?” If you want to continue, select “Yes.” The DISPLAY will read “Resetting” with two asterisks moving across the screen to indicate its progress. When the reset is complete, the MasterControl will reboot itself automatically.
MONITORING & CONTROL ROOM FEATURES Speakers / Outputs Controls The SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS buttons allow you to monitor the MasterControl’s MON / LINE OUTPUTS as follows: y y y The “A” SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS button monitors the “A” outputs (Channels 1 and 2) The “B” SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS button monitors the “B” outputs (Channels 3 and 4) The “C” SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS button monitors the “C” outputs (Channels 5 and 6) You can monitor any of these three outputs individually or simultaneously.
DIRECT MONITORING The MasterControl contains a hardware-based, DSP mixer which enables you to route the inputs to the outputs directly, bypassing any latencies associated with sending the audio to and from the computer. This hardware-based routing provides the minimum possible latency – only the time required for audio to be converted between analog and digital formats and then back again to analog. This time is essentially imperceptible (just a few milliseconds at 44.1kHz, half of that at 88.
CREATING A CUBASE LE PROJECT FOR RECORDING Once you have set up Cubase to work with the MasterControl, you’re ready to create an audio project. 1. Choose File f New Project. 2. You can begin with a template or an empty file. For now, begin with an empty file. 3. Cubase needs to know where to place audio. directory here. Choose a An excellent scheme for storing your projects is to create a directory called “audio projects.” Then, within that folder, create a new folder for each song you work on.
4. Now, you have a blank project. Add an audio track for recording by choosing Project f Add Track f Audio. 5. Be sure that the “inspector” – a strip on the left-hand side of Later, you can hide the Cubase that shows all sorts of information about the selected Inspector if you want to save track – is active. If your view is similar to that shown below, the space on your screen. Inspector is active. If you do not see all of the information on the left-hand side, the Inspector is not active.
6. Choose an input for your track by selecting it from the drop-down menu of available inputs. By default, the input will be the first stereo bus in the “VST Connections” window. 7. You will do most of your monitoring through the mixer. However, if you want to monitor with Cubase’s effects, or if you just want to hear what the computer is hearing, press the direct monitoring button next to the Record Enable button.
IMPORTANT POINTS FOR USERS OF VARIOUS DAWS When using the MasterControl with various Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), you will find the control surface interacts slightly differently with some of them. This is normal! This section lists the kinds of control surface behavior that are unique to certain DAWs, using their current versions at the time of this writing. Some important notes: y Button operations F1 through F8, and Shift-F1 through Shift-F8, refer to control surface (Mackie Control) functions.
LOGIC PRO y Ensure that you choose a “Mackie Control” control surface. The “Logic Control” control surface uses a different set of MIDI messages and is not compatible with the Alesis MasterControl. y Rows 2 and 3 on the MasterControl correspond to different modes in Logic: Row 2 is Send Mode. Four “Send Parameter” options are selectable within Logic for this row: 1. Destination (incompatible with the MasterControl) 2. Level (dB) 3. Position (Pre-/Post-) 4.
DIGITAL PERFORMER y y y y Row 2 of the MasterControl is not mapped. Vertical Zoom is not possible from the MasterControl. MasterControl’s ZOOM button cycles through three stages (as opposed to two on most other DAWs): unlit, lit, and flashing. It will be lit when it is on and unlit when it is off. When the button is flashing, no zoom functions are possible using the cursor buttons. Grouping and ungrouping faders must be done within the Digital Performer software. This cannot be done from the MasterControl.
PRO TOOLS y JOG is unavailable in Pro Tools. This is a limitation of the HUI protocol used by Pro Tools. Pressing the SCRUB button puts the JOG WHEEL into Scrub Mode. y When scrubbing, if you want your cursor to remain at the last scrub point in the timeline, go to Setup>Preferences>Operation>Transport and check "Edit Insertion Follows Scrub/Shuttle." This is necessary if you wish to use an edit function such as SEPARATE in conjunction with the jog wheel.
PLUG-IN 1, 2 y These presets are designed to control virtual instruments and effects plugins. If you are using a virtual instrument within a DAW, you will need to disconnect the Alesis Firewire MIDI ports from control surface operation (Mackie Control or HUI) so that you can use the MasterControl as a generic MIDI controller. In these presets: o The eight channel faders are mapped to CC 12-19. o The Master fader is mapped to CC 20. o The knobs are mapped to CC 22-29.
SIGNAL FLOW DIAGRAM 49
SPECIFICATIONS Microphone preamplifier Gain range: +9.1dB to +59.2dB Impedance: 3.67K @ min gain; 3.33K @ max gain Line preamplifier Gain range: -7dB to +43.1dB Maximum input signal levels before clipping Mic In to Line Out: At min gain: 9.6dBu in, 18.7dBu out (gain = 9.1dB) At max gain: -40.5dBu in, +18.7dBu out (gain = 59.2dB) Line In 1-2 Max input signal level before clipping (at midband frequencies): At unity gain: 18.7 to 18.9dBu At min gain: 25.7 to 25.9dBu At max gain: -24.4 to -24.
TRADEMARKS All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Specifically: “MasterControl” is a trademark of Alesis, LLC. “Soundtrack,” Soundtrack Pro,” “Logic,” Logic Pro,” “CoreAudio,” “CoreMIDI,” “Mac” and “Mac OS” are trademarks of Apple, Inc. “Windows,” “Windows XP,” and “Windows Vista” are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. “SONAR” is a trademark of Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. “Digital Performer” is a trademark of Mark Of The Unicorn.
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