Steinberg Cubase Essential 4 Mackie Control Manual

							Mackie Control and Cubase Essential 
						

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Release Date: January 30, 2008
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH 2008.
All rights reserved. 
						

							Table of Contents 
						

							4
Table of Contents
5Introduction
6The Steinberg layout for Mackie Control
7About Mackie Control XT
8Basic mixing
9About this chapter
9Selecting which channels to control
9Using the faders
10Rec/Rdy
10Mute and Solo
10Using the Select buttons
10A note about automation
11Control strip assignment
12About this chapter
12Basic procedures
14About the symbols used in this chapter
15Selected Channel: EQ
15Selected Channel: FX Send
16Selected Channel: Inserts
17Selected Channel: Instruments
17Fader Set: Pan
18Global: Send Effects
18Global: Master Effects
19Global: Instruments
20Transport control
21About this chapter
21The transport controls
21Working with markers
22Switching the time display
23Other functions
24About this chapter
24Project functions
24Edit functions
24Working with windows
25Function keys
25Cursor keys
25Showing level meters in the parameter display
26Index 
						

							1
Introduction 
						

							6
Introduction
The Steinberg layout for Mackie 
Control
This chapter describes the Steinberg-specific layout for 
Mackie Control, and also provides information regarding 
the Mackie Control XT 8 channel extender unit.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 assign-
ments are used to remote control Cubase Essential.
You can also order this overlay from Mackie. Contact your 
hardware dealer for details.
The following figure shows the Steinberg overlay for 
Mackie Control.
About the Shift button
In the Action Keys section, to the right in the second row 
of buttons, you will find the Shift button. The Shift button is 
always used in combination with another button to extend 
that button’s functionality. Pressing the Shift button alone 
has no effect.
Action Keys 
section Fader Groups 
section Function keys 
F1 to F8Display section
Markers section
The Shift button
!Please note that we will refer to the key assignments 
of the Steinberg overlay throughout this manual, i.e. 
the original key labels replaced by this overlay are not 
used. 
						

							7
Introduction
About Mackie Control XT
Mackie Control XT 8 channel extender units are also sup-
ported. 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. 
For each Mackie Control and Mackie Control XT unit, a 
new device needs to be added in the Device Setup. 
For each device select the appropriate MIDI ports. 
In the Device List, the top-most device represents the 
right-most channels, and vice versa. 
Please make sure that the used MIDI ports are deactivated in the “All 
MIDI Inputs” device. 
						

							2
Basic mixing 
						

							9
Basic mixing
About this chapter
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.
Selecting which channels to control
Mackie Control’s fader section controls eight different 
channels in Cubase Essential (plus the master level, which 
has its own fader). You select which channels to control 
with the aid of the Fader Banks section of Mackie Control.
The Fader Banks section
Using the controls in the Fader Banks section
In the Fader Banks section, press the left or right Bank 
button to switch from one set of eight channels to the 
next. For example, if you are currently controlling Mixer 
channels 1 to 8, pressing the right Bank button will switch 
to the next eight channels, i.e. channels 9 to 16. To go 
back to the previous eight channels, press the left Bank 
button.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.
Let’s say the faders currently control audio channels 9-16. If you press 
the left Channel button, the faders will shift one step to the left and con-
trol audio channels 8-15.
Pressing the Flip button in the Fader Banks section 
switches the parameter assignment between the faders 
and the V-Pots, i.e. what was controlled with a fader is 
now controlled with the corresponding V-Pot and vice 
versa.
Press the Edit button in the Fader Banks section to 
open an editor for the current selection.
Hold down Shift and press Edit to close the currently 
active window.
Using the faders
The faders of Mackie Control are used for hands-on level 
control and mixing, and allow precise adjustments of the 
corresponding channel levels in Cubase Essential. Since 
the faders are motorized, they will move to reflect any level 
automation you have created in your projects. The faders 
will also move when you select a new set of eight chan-
nels to control, instantly jumping to reflect the current lev-
els of the eight channels.
The faders are also touch sensitive, which means that 
as soon as you move a fader manually, the motors are 
“overridden”.
In other words, if you have automated level changes, you can grab a 
fader at any time, overriding the automation – just as you can click and 
hold a moving fader on screen with the mouse.
Even though the faders are very quiet, there may be sit-
uations when you want absolute silence – e.g. when mix-
ing an extremely soft and subtle piece of music. If that is 
the case, you can disable the motors by clicking the Mo-
tors button in the Action Keys section.
When you are finished, click the Motors button again. The fader motors 
are enabled again, and the faders will instantly move to reflect the current 
levels.Selects the 
previous eight 
channels.Selects the 
next eight 
channels.
!Turning the motors off does not affect the automa-
tion in Cubase Essential – all automation data saved 
in your project is played back as usual. 
						

							10
Basic mixing
Rec/Rdy
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.
The Signal LEDs underneath the Rec/Rdy buttons indi-
cate signal activity on the channels. The LED lights up as 
soon as the level meter for a channel shows any activity.
Mute and Solo
The two rows of buttons underneath the Rec/Rdy buttons 
allow you to mute or solo channels. The following rules 
apply:
You can mute or solo several channels at the same time.
The Mute and Solo buttons always show the status of 
the current set of eight channels!
This means that if you mute a channel and then select another set of 
eight channels for fader control, the Mute indicator will go dark. 
Using the Select buttons
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.
If you select a channel and then select another set of 
eight channels for fader control, the Select button will go 
dark.
This is because the channel is still selected, but it’s not shown in the cur-
rent fader set.
A note about automation
The Read and Write buttons in the top row of the Action 
Keys section control the status of the Read and Write but-
tons in the Mixer of Cubase Essential, allowing remote 
control of Mixer automation.
Press the Read button to enable or disable the reading 
of automation data for the selected channel.
Hold down the Shift button and press the Read button 
to enable or disable the reading of automation data for all 
channels.
Press the Write button to enable or disable the record-
ing of automation data for the selected channel.
Hold down the Shift button and press the Write button 
to enable or disable the recording of automation data for 
all channels.
!If you have soloed a channel, this is indicated by the 
Rude Solo LED at the top right of the Mackie Control 
panel. You can un-solo or un-mute any channel or 
combination of channels by pressing (without or with 
Shift) the Solo Defeat button. See “Working with 
windows” on page 24.