[Ardour-Users] AFL monitor issues on A3b5

[michael noble]

On Sun, Jul 29, 2012 at 1:42 AM, Paul Davis <paul at linuxaudiosystems.com>wrote:

>
>
> On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 12:25 PM, michael noble <looplog at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Yes, I don't want to affect the master. I want to "listen" to the track,
>> via the monitor at [post-fader but before the mute] in the signal chain.
>>
>
> the mute point in ardour isn't a single point, btw. right click on the
> mute button for options.
>

yes, I saw these. I wouldn't have been able to get sends to work in the way
I did without these, so they are very useful options.


>
>> In other words, After Fader Listen, or at least what I thought AFL stood
>> for. This way I can listen to incoming live feeds, with effects, and then
>> drop them in the master for output to the PA by un-muting the track. In
>> other words, listen to live feeds in headphones before dropping them into
>> the mix. Perhaps my live use is at odds with studio use. I guess this is
>> what is called the "cue" switch on hardware DJ mixers.
>>
>
> yes, DJ consoles operate pretty differently from studio or live PA
> consoles. the cue switch is something ardour doesn't have (true of most
> DAWs, and has a lot to do with the reasons why tools like Traktor exist).
>

Don't get me wrong, but are you suggesting for me to go away and use
something else? I actually really like working with Ardour on an open
platform, so I'd rather find a way to make it work, regardless if Traktor
exists or not. I use this rig headless in a live situation as it is a
suitcase computer with a built in Behringer ADA8000. Weighs a ton but it
was fun to make and I like having an up-gradeable standard ATX case that is
portable. And linux and Ardour work well on the system. I just want to push
it as far as I can because I think it's great little system in the overall
sense of the word. In other words, Ardour fits well in the linux ecosystem,
and there IS a ecosystem of linux audio apps.

all the gain controls in ardour use a non-linear, volumetric control curve,
> as most h/w consoles do. when the fader is near 0dB, you have very fine
> control; as it moves further away from 0dB it takes fewer pixels or
> millimeters of motion to change by a given number of dB.
>
> so that physical MIDI faders provide the same feel, MIDI control obeys
> this mapping - the incoming value range of 0..127 is mapped to this
> non-linear volumetric gain control. 0 = -inf dB,  0dB being at about 0.717
> * 127 = 91, and 127 == +6dB
>
> i'm also not clear on what a "gain level of 127" would mean, btw.
>

Yes, I fully admit I am using a gain control in the "wrong" way. Hence
"jury-rigged". I am not at all complaining about Ardour's fader
implementation. Nonetheless, I still want to accomplish my goal. And using
the gain in this way seems to be the only thing that works for me.

I am trying to use a hardware button controller (on a launchpad) to control
the send volume as a makeshift mute switch. The problem is, it appears
that the slider does not respond to midi controls unless they come as a
stream of values. If I send a discrete controller value of 127 to the
slider via midi, the gain/slider does not move to maximum gain. The buttons
I am using are not programmable, and send alternating velocity values of
127 and 0 on a predetermined note number. Obviously I can't use these to
control a slider, though I can use them to control buttons.

So at first I attempted to have these buttons trigger puredata to send
static control values. This does not work. The gain/slider does not move at
all, presumably because the midi controller is not "picking up" the slider.
The only way I could get it to work is by triggering a "fade curve" in pd
when the button is pressed, and have that fade curve control the gain.


>
>> So to actually change the volumes I have to send a line of controller
>> increments over a 500 millisecond period. In other words, automated
>> fade-ins or fade-outs.
>>
>
> no, you don't. Ardour will do its own ramping of values. i'm not sure why
> you concluded this.
>

See above. Ardour doesn't seem to respond to discrete single controller
values sent to a fader. I would try OSC but that isn't staying turned on in
the options when I save, making it unusable in headless scenario.

>
>
>> age of this approach is that it is flexible - I can listen in at any
>> point in the signal chain by simply sliding the send up or down. If sends
>> had a mute I guess I could do what I originally wanted, and retain this
>> flexibility.
>
>
> the led button in the send as represented in the mixer strip is an on/off
> which effectively mutes (with a declick, IIRC)
>

Which is not midi controllable. So again, doesn't accomplish what I want to
do.

thanks

michael
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