Mackie Control and Cubase Essential
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Table of Contents
5 Introduction 6 7 The Steinberg layout for Mackie Control About Mackie Control XT 8 Basic mixing 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 About this chapter Selecting which channels to control Using the faders Rec/Rdy Mute and Solo Using the Select buttons A note about automation 11 Control strip assignment 12 12 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 18 19 About this chapter Basic procedures About the symbols used in this chapter Selected Channel: EQ Selected Channel: FX Send Selected Channel: Inserts Selected Channel: Instruments Fad
1 Introduction
The Steinberg layout for Mackie Control An overlay is included with your Mackie Control that shows all Steinberg-specific key assignments for this device. The overlay can be placed over the top right part of Mackie Control, above the transport controls. These key assignments are used to remote control Cubase Essential. This chapter describes the Steinberg-specific layout for Mackie Control, and also provides information regarding the Mackie Control XT 8 channel extender unit.
About Mackie Control XT Mackie Control XT 8 channel extender units are also supported. All faders and encoder/displays are combined into one continuous surface. The following applies: • When the encoder section is used to display the data for one channel (channel strip mode, or for plug-ins), the parameters are presented over the encoder section of all devices, from left to right. • Fader bank navigation and encoder section assignment is controlled by the Mackie Control unit.
2 Basic mixing
About this chapter • If you press the left or right Channel button in the Fader Banks section, the fader assignment will shift in steps of one channel instead. This chapter describes how to work with the faders and the rows of buttons above them (Solo, Mute, Select and Rec), and how to select which channels are affected by the fader settings. Let’s say the faders currently control audio channels 9-16.
Rec/Rdy Using the Select buttons The buttons directly underneath the row of V-Pots are used to arm a track for recording. The LEDs indicate the record arming state for a particular track. In the rows of buttons above the faders you will find the Select buttons. These are used for selecting a single channel for detailed settings (see “Selected Channel mode” on page 12). • Only one channel at a time can be selected. • When you solo a channel, it is automatically selected as well.
3 Control strip assignment
About this chapter About the three modes Mackie Control operates in one of three modes: Selected Channel, Fader Set or Global. Which mode is used depends on which parameter group is selected. For example, pushing the Pan button in the Assignment section puts Mackie Control in Fader Set mode. This chapter describes the assignment of the control strip to access all VST settings in Cubase Essential: EQ, effect sends, effect and VST Instrument parameters and so on.
Fader Set mode Using the control strip In this mode, you can view and edit a single parameter for eight different channels (the current Fader Set). You can think of this as working with a horizontal segment of a mixer desk, e.g. the pan controls for eight consecutive channels: When you have selected a parameter group (or parameter sub-group – see below), you need to go to the page containing the desired parameter.
About the symbols used in this chapter About parameter sub-groups Most of the settings are structured in the following way: a parameter group (accessed by pressing a button in the Assignment or Action Keys sections) contains one or several pages, each holding one or several parameters. On the following pages, all the different parameter groups are described. The parameter groups are divided according to the three modes, Selected Channel, Fader Set and Global.
Selected Channel: EQ Selected Channel: FX Send Accessing the EQ controls for the currently selected channel is achieved by pressing the EQ button in the Assignment section. If you press Shift + EQ one band per page will be shown for the selected channel. Accessing the FX Send (auxiliary) controls for the currently selected channel is done by pressing the DYN button in the Assignment section. Pressing Shift+ DYN will step through Fader Set mode “FX Send 1” to “FX Send 8”.
Selected Channel: Inserts • Page 4 Controls to choose the destination of the FX send signal. Accessing the Insert Effect controls for the currently selected channel is done by pressing the Plug-Ins button in the Assignment section. Please select a channel by pressing one of the Select buttons above the faders. • When Page 01 is selected, V-Pot 1 selects which of the insert slots is currently being edited (see “About parameter sub-groups” on page 14).
Selected Channel: Instruments Fader Set: Pan Accessing the Instrument controls for the currently selected channel is done by pressing the Instruments button in the Action Keys section. Accessing the Pan controls for the current Fader Set is done by pressing the Pan button in the Assignment section. Please select a channel by pressing one of the Select buttons above the faders. The left/right panning of a channel in the current Fader Set is controlled by the corressponding V-Pot.
Global: Send Effects Global: Master Effects Mackie Control can control the parameters of the effects that are loaded in the first insert of FX channels. To access these effects, press the Sends button in the Action Keys section. Mackie Control can control the parameters of the effects that are loaded in the master effects section of the main output. To access these effects, press the Master button in the Action Keys section.
Global: Instruments After an instrument plug-in has been selected in Cubase Essential, the display will change to show the currently selected instrument in this effect slot and the ‘number of pages’ indicator will be updated to show the amount of pages necessary to display all the plug-in’s declared parameters. Mackie Control can control the parameters of the instruments that are loaded in the VST Instruments rack. To access these, push the Instruments button in the Action Keys section and press Shift.
4 Transport control
About this chapter The transport controls This chapter describes how to control playback, recording, positioning and the time display in Cubase Essential from Mackie Control. The transport controls of Mackie Control are located in the lower right corner of the panel: Rewind Fast Forward Play Stop Record Cursor keys, see “Cursor keys” on page 25.
You can use Mackie Control to move directly to particular positions defined in your project with the aid of markers. Also, you can place such a marker at the current position in the project. The most common use for this is probably to move to the L and R markers – the left and right locators.
5 Other functions
About this chapter Working with windows This chapter describes the remaining functions available on the Mackie Control panel. Project functions The Save and Revert buttons in the Action Keys section of the panel have the following functionality: The buttons above and to the left of the Markers section allow you to control project functions or to open and close windows in Cubase Essential. • Press the Save button to save the current project.
Cursor keys In the top right corner of Mackie Control, next to the display, you will find an LED labeled Rude Solo. This LED lights up as soon as any channel has been soloed. The Rude Solo LED Function keys Pressing the cursor keys located to the left of the jog wheel is the same as pressing the arrow keys on your computer keyboard. You can use the function keys F1 to F8 and function key combinations with the Shift button to access functions in Cubase Essential.
Index
B N Bank buttons 9 Name/Value button 13 C O Channel buttons 9 Control strip 13 Cursor keys 25 Cycle button 24 Overlay 6 E Edit button 9 Effects Master Effects 18 Sends 18 EQ Selected Channel mode 15 F Fader Set mode 13 Faders 9 Flip button 9 FX Send Selected Channel mode 15 P Page Up/Down buttons 13 Pan Fader Set mode 17 Parameter groups 12 Parameter sub-groups 14 Project button 24 Punch button 24 R Read button 10 Rec/Rdy buttons 10 Redo button 24 Revert button 24 Right button 24 S Inserts Sele
