Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Mackie Control Manual

							 
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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 indicate 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. 
 
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 page 30.   
						

							 
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Using the Select buttons
 
In the rows of buttons above the faders you will find the Select buttons. These are used for select-
ing a single channel for detailed settings (Selected Channel mode, see page 14).  
• 
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 current 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 buttons in the Mixer of Cubase SX/SL, 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 automa-
tion data for all channels. 
• 
Press the Write button to enable or disable the recording of automation data for the selected 
channel. 
• 
Hold down the Shift button and press the Write button to enable or disable the recording of auto-
mation data for all channels.  
						

							 
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3
 
Control strip assignment 
						

							 
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About this chapter
 
This chapter describes the assignment of the control strip to access all VST settings in Cubase 
SX/SL: EQ, effect sends, effect and VST Instrument parameters and so on. It also contains de-
scriptions of the available parameter pages, as shown in the display of Mackie Control. 
Basic procedures
 
Selecting a parameter group
 
To be able to view the settings of a parameter in the display and edit the values with the V-Pots, you 
need to select the corresponding parameter group. This is done by pressing one of the buttons in 
the Assignment and Action Keys sections of Mackie Control. 
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 but-
ton in the Assignment section puts Mackie Control in Fader Set mode.
The functionality of the three modes is described on the following pages. 
Selected Channel mode
 
This mode gives you access to up to eight different parameters at the same time for a single, se-
lected channel. You can think of this as working with a single, vertical channel strip on a mixer desk, 
having access to pan, EQ, sends, etc. for a single channel.
The Action Keys section
The Assignment section   
						

							 
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When you have selected a parameter group in this mode, the display shows the following informa-
tion: 
• 
You select which channel to edit in Selected Channel mode by pressing one of the eight Select 
buttons directly above the faders. 
See page 12.
 
Fader Set mode
 
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. 
• 
You select which set of eight channels to edit by using the buttons in the Fader Banks and/or the 
Fader Groups section, as described on page 9. 
Global mode
 
This is where you make global settings, i.e. settings that are not related to the individual channels. 
Examples include parameter settings for the send effects, master effects and VST Instruments.
The contents of the display depend on the selected parameter group. Here, the “Instruments” group 
is selected, and the display shows settings for one of the active VST Instruments:
The upper row shows the names of the available parameters. Each parameter can be controlled with the corresponding 
V-Pot. In this example, V-Pot 1 would control the “Freq1” parameter, V-Pot 2 would control “Gain1” and so on.
The name of the selected 
parameter group.The selected channel. This indicates which page is shown, and how many 
pages there are in the selected parameter group. In this 
example, the display shows page 1 out of 2 pages.
The lower row shows the names of the eight channels in the current Fader Set. You can control the selected parameter 
for each one of the eight channels by using the corresponding V-Pot. In this example, V-Pot 1 would control the Pan 
parameter for the channel “Ch1”, V-Pot 2 would control the same parameter for the channel “Ch2” and so on.
The name of the selected 
parameter group.The parameter avail-
able for editing.This indicates which page is shown, and how many 
pages there are in the selected parameter group. In this 
example, the display shows page 1 out of 2 pages.
The upper row shows the names of the available parameters. As you can see, only four parameters are shown on one 
page, allowing longer parameter names. Each parameter can be controlled with any of the two V-Pots above it. Here, the 
“Octave” parameter would be controlled with V-Pot 1 or 2, “Semitone” would be controlled with V-Pot 3 or 4 and so on.
The name of the selected parameter 
sub-group. See page 16 for an expla-
nation of parameter sub-groups.The name of the 
VST Instrument.This indicates which page is shown, and how many 
pages there are in the selected parameter group. In 
this example, the display shows page 2 out of 8 pages. 
						

							 
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Using the control strip
 
When you have selected a parameter group (or parameter sub-group - see below), you need to 
go to the page containing the desired parameter. This is done by pressing the two buttons labeled 
I/O for Page Down and Sends for Page Up at the top of the Assignment section. 
• 
Holding down the Shift button (on the right in the second row of buttons in the Action Keys sec-
tion) and pressing Page Up or Page Down takes you to the first or last available parameter page.
Once the parameter is shown in the display, you can adjust its value by moving the corresponding 
V-Pot. 
• 
When you move the V-Pot, the display will switch to show the parameter values instead of the 
parameter names. 
After you have moved a V-Pot, the display will keep the values shown for a short while before switching back to parameter 
names.
 
• 
To view the parameter values without making any changes, press the Name/Value button in the 
Display section. 
This makes the display switch to showing parameter values. Click the N
 
ame/Value 
 button again to go back to parameter 
names.
 
• 
The parameter values are also indicated by the LED rings around the V-Pots. 
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.
However, in the case of send effects, master effects, instruments (Global mode) and inserts 
(Selected Channel mode), there is one more hierarchical level, called a parameter sub-group. 
For example, the parameters for master effects are structured in the following way:
The “Master Effects” parameter group contains eight sub-groups – one for each master effect slot 
in Cubase SX/SL (in Cubase SL there are only four master effect slots, so only four sub-groups 
are available). Each sub-group contains a number of pages which contain a number of parameters 
(both numbers depending on the activated effects). 
• 
To select another parameter sub-group, go to the first page of the current sub-group and use 
V-Pot 1. 
The figure below shows the first page of the first parameter sub-group in the Master Effects group.
This indicates Master Effect slot 1. Use V-Pot 1 to select an-
other parameter sub-group (i.e. another Master Effect slot).  
						

							 
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About the symbols used in this chapter
 
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. 
For quick navigation in this manual, an icon at the top of each manual page shows to which mode 
it belongs:
When a group of parameters has more than one page of parameters in the Mackie Control display, 
this is indicated by the following symbol:
This corresponds to the Page Up/Down buttons in the Assignment section of Mackie Control.
For example, in the picture below, you would use the Page Up/Down buttons to switch between 
the “Level” and the “Enable” parameter pages:
This icon indicates the “vertical” 
Selected Channel mode.This icon indicates the “horizontal” 
Fader Set mode.This icon indicates 
Global mode. 
						

							 
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Selected Channel: EQ
 
Accessing the EQ controls for the currently selected channel is achieved by pressing the EQ but-
ton in the Assignment section. If you press Shift + EQ one band per page will be shown for the 
selected channel.
Please select a channel by pressing one of the Select buttons above the faders.
The controls for the equalizers are divided into 2 pages:
Page 1 - Frequency and Gain pairs for the four bands.
Page 2 - Enable and Q controls for the four bands.  
						

							 
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Selected Channel: FX Send
 
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”.
Please select a channel by pressing one of the Select buttons above the faders.
The controls for the sends are divided into 4 pages:
Page 1 - Send Levels for each of the 8 FX Sends.
Page 2 - Enable switches for each of the 8 FX Sends.
Page 3 - Switches to change between pre/post fader mode.
Page 4 - Controls to choose the destination of the FX send signal. 
The Bus destinations control whether the FX send signal is sent directly to the internal effects, to the 
 
Group channels or to a physical bus output (if your sound card has additional outputs.)  
						

							 
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Selected Channel: Inserts
 
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 
page 16).
If no effect is selected for the current insert slot, the display will show that ‘No Effect’ is selected. 
After a plug-in has been selected in Cubase SX/SL, the display will change to show the selected 
plug-in 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.
Here the Reverb32 plug-in has been selected.