[ardour.git] / manual / xml / mixer_strips.xml

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<section id="mixer-window-mixer-strips">
        <title> Mixer Strips </title>
        <para>
                Each track and bus is represented in the mixer window by a <emphasis>mixer
                strip</emphasis> that contains various controls related to signal flow.
                There are two places in Ardour in which you can see mixer strips. The mixer
                window is the obvious one (and the one we deal with here), but you can also
                view a single mixer strip in the editor window by clicking the
                <guibutton>editor mixer</guibutton> button.
        </para>
        <mediaobject>
                <imageobject>
                        <imagedata fileref="images/mixerstrip.png"/>
                </imageobject>
        </mediaobject>
        <para>
                this image needs replacing with labels and better resolution The mixer strip
                for a bus is essentially identical to the one for an audio track, but it is
                missing certain controls that make no sense - you cannot record into a bus,
                so there is no record enable button, for example.
        </para>

        <para>
                The mixer strips are designed to visually model signal flow. The input
                button selects the input of the track that this mixer strip monitors. The
                outputs of the track (the 'tape recorder') are 'hard-wired' to the inputs of
                the mixer strip. Think of the input to the strip starting at the polarity
                switch, flowing down through the prefader inserts/plugins/sends section,
                through the gain fader, past the postfader inserts/plugins/sends section,
                the panner, and out through the output selector. In the case of a bus, there
                is no 'tape machine' inserted between the input selector and the actual
                input of the strip, but the signal flow is identical otherwise.
        </para>

        <section id="mixer-strip-narrow-strip-button">
                <title>Narrow Mixer Strip Button</title>
                <para>
                        the button on the top left of the mixer strip is labelled with two arrows
                        separated by a line. Left clicking this button will reduce the horizontal
                        size of the mixer strip. Clicking it again will restore the previous size.
                        The first click also has the effect of shortening the names of controls.
                        Plugin lists become very small in this mode, however more faders are
                        accessible without scrolling. Your needs may vary, hence the existence of
                        this button.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-hide-button">
                <title>Hide Button</title>
                <para>
                        The button opposite the <emphasis>Narrow Mixer Strip Button</emphasis>
                        hides the mixer strip from view. this button has no effect on signal flow
                        or muting. When a mixer strip is hidden, it's entry in the strips list is
                        darkened. To restore the mixer strip to the visible state, click it's entry
                        in the strip list with the left mouse button.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-track-name">
                <title>Track Name</title>
                <para>
                        The track name displays the current name of the track as displayed in the
                        editor window. right-clicking on the name brings up a drop-down menu that
                        allows you to rename, activate, deactivate and remove the track. Selecting
                        <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem> opens a new window displaying the name of
                        the track. to change it, type your change and press ok. to leave it
                        unaltered, press cancel. Selecting <guimenuitem>remove</guimenuitem> opens
                        a new window asking for confirmation of your track removal request.
                        removing a track removes that track from the project. If the playlist used
                        by the removed track is not used by any other track, it will also be
                        removed.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-group-button">
                <title>Group Button</title>
                <para>
                        The group button displays the name of the currently selected mix group. if
                        no group is selected, it will read no group. when clicked, a drop-down menu
                        appears which lists the current mixer groups, along with the option no
                        group. if a group is selected, any fader movement on one of the group
                        member faders will be translated to the other members of the group.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-input-selector">
                <title>Input Selector</title>
                <para>
                        The input selector allows you to assign hardware or software inputs to the
                        track that this mixer strip monitors. clicking on the input box makes a
                        drop-down menu appear which lists ready-made combinations of jack ports,
                        along with the options disconnect and edit. You can either select a preset
                        hardware input combination from the drop-down list, or select
                        <guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> to open the input selector window which
                        allows finer control, such as changing the number of inputs to the track or
                        using software devices as inputs. For more information on this window, see
                        <xref linkend="sn-other-windows"/>. <guibutton>Disconnect</guibutton>
                        removes all input assignments while leaving the number of ports untouched.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-polarity-button">
                <title>Polarity Button</title>
                <para>
                        The polarity button, when pressed, inverts the phase of the signal as it
                        leaves the track and enters the mixer strip. it has no effect on the signal
                        being recorded to disk. It has no effect on the timing of the signal,
                        either.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-solo-button">
                <title>Solo Button</title>
                <para>
                        The solo button puts the mixer strip in solo mode. the solo indicator in
                        the editor window will flash if any mixer strip is set to solo, and only
                        those tracks that are set in solo will be routed through the system.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-mute-button">
                <title>Mute Button</title>
                <para>
                        The mute button mutes the output of the mixer strip.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-track-speed-control">
                <title>Track Speed Control</title>
                <para>
                        The track speed allows a varispeed setting to be applied to the track. a
                        setting of <literal>1.0</literal> corresponds to the normal playback speed
                        of the session. a setting of <literal>0.5</literal> will play at half
                        normal playback speed. when altered, the track will be redrawn to reflect
                        the new position of the audio resulting from the speed change. The Track
                        Speed Control has three decimal places of precision. A left or right click
                        on the displayed number will raise or lower the track speed by 0.1%. when
                        the speed is not exactly 1, the display will be coloured red. Hovering over
                        the displayed number will allow you to use the mouse wheel to set the
                        desired speed. A middle click on the displayed number will return the speed
                        to exactly 1.
                </para>

                <para></para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-record-enable-button">
                <title>Record Enable Button</title>
                <para>
                        The record enable button arms the track for recording. pressing this will
                        change the way you monitor and meter the selected input signal depending on
                        the state of the monitoring settings in the options editor, as well as the
                        auto input setting in the editor.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-automation-mode-buttons">
                <title>Automation Mode Buttons</title>
                <para>
                        The automation mode buttons allow you to select a fader or pan automation
                        mode from a drop-down list. see <xref linkend="sn-automation"/> for more
                        information about automation modes.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-redirect-boxes">
                <title>Redirect Boxes</title>
                <para>
                        These dark areas above and below the fader allow you to place inserts,
                        sends and plugins into the signal path before and after the fader
                        respectively. you may also easily reorder them whilst playing.
                        collectively, the objects that belong in these boxes are called redirects.
                        If there are redirects present in the channel, they can be reordered by
                        dragging them vertically. because plugins and inserts can have different
                        numbers of inputs to outputs, sometimes you may reach a situation where the
                        inputs and outputs cannot be all connected sensibly. in this case, your
                        reordering change will be disallowed by the program.
                </para>

                <para>
                        Right clicking within the dark area will bring up a drop-down menu which
                        allows you to manipulate the redirects in various ways.
                </para>

                <variablelist>
                        <title>Redirect Boxes</title>
                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>new plugin</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting new plugin will open a dialog which lists the plugins
                                                available on your system. selecting a plugin which is compatible with
                                                the number of streams in the channel at that point will result in the
                                                plugin being placed in the redirect box in an inactive state. this is
                                                indicated by the brackets around the plugin name. double-clicking the
                                                plugin name will bring up a window that allows you to control the
                                                parameters of the plugin statically (including bypass) or using
                                                automation. all plugins that report their latency are time-compensated
                                                automatically in ardour.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>new insert</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                places at least two new jack ports at that point in the mixer strip (one
                                                input, one output). these ports will then be available to any jack
                                                client (including Ardour itself), allowing another program (or channels
                                                within another program) to be inserted across the channel. hardware
                                                ports may also, of course, be used, allowing the insertion of outboard
                                                equipment. the insert will then appear in the redirect box in brackets
                                                indicating that it is inactive. to activate or deactivate an insert,
                                                right-click on it and select activate. double-clicking on the insert
                                                will bring up a dialog which allows to to assign its inputs and outputs
                                                to other jack ports.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>new send</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting new send will first bring up a dialog box that enables you to
                                                select the number of outputs the send has, along with the destination of
                                                each output. closing this dialog will reveal the name of the send in
                                                brackets, indicating that it is inactive. to activate the send, right
                                                click on it and select Activate. double-clicking on the send brings up
                                                the previous dialog, which will now include a fader which is provided
                                                for level control.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>clear</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting clear in the menu removes all redirects from the mixer strip
                                                (pre and post fader). you can remove an individual redirect by holding
                                                the shift key and right clicking it.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>cut</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>copy</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>paste</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                these items allow you to cut, copy and paste plugins, including their
                                                current settings, between Redirect Boxes.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>rename</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting rename will bring up a dialog displaying the name of the
                                                selected redirect. change the name by typing into the text area and
                                                pressing ok.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>select all/deselect all</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                these two options select or deselect all plugins in the channel. this
                                                could be used, for instance, in preparation to copy all plugins from a
                                                channel to another one, along with the current settings.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>activate/deactivate</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting either of these will activate or deactivate the currently
                                                selected redirect(s) respectively. deactivate is the equivalent of
                                                <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem>.
                                        </para>
                                        <note>
                                                <para>
                                                        note that you can bypass a plugin from it's parameter window as well as
                                                        from here.
                                                </para>
                                        </note>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>activate all/deactivate all</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting either of these will activate or deactivate all redirect(s) in
                                                the mixer strip respectively. deactivate is the equivalent of
                                                <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> if you're a plugin.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>

                        <varlistentry>
                                <term><guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem></term>
                                <listitem>
                                        <para>
                                                selecting edit brings up the controls relevent to the selected redirect.
                                                this is the equivalent to holding control and right-clicking on a
                                                redirect. note that the right click method will not bring up the
                                                controls of the selected redirect, only the one beneath the mouse
                                                pointer.
                                        </para>
                                </listitem>
                        </varlistentry>
                </variablelist>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-pre-post-input-button">
                <title>Pre/Post/Input Button</title>
                <para>
                        This button cycles between three metering modes, which determine which
                        signal is fed to the meters. the modes are pre-fader (the signal at the
                        input to the fader), post-fader and input (the level at the track input).
                        left clicking cycles through the three modes one step at a time, while
                        middle-clicking alternates between the current setting and the setting two
                        steps ahead. this allows one-click direct a/b comparison between all
                        available monitoring points.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-gain-display">
                <title>Gain Display</title>
                <para>
                        this control displays the current gain of the fader to the nearest 0.1dB.
                        left clicking on the value will lower the gain by an amount dependent upon
                        the fader position the graduations become smaller as the fader nears 0dB
                        gain. right clicking increases the gain by the same amount. middle clicking
                        resets the gain to 0dB.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-unit-selector">
                <title>Unit Selector</title>
                <para>
                        Right clicking on the meter bars allows you to select the range of signal
                        levels displayed by the meters. the selected range will be displayed as a
                        column of numbers next to the meter. /*XXX this feature is currently not
                        working*/ Gain Level Display
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-peak-meter">
                <title>Peak Meter</title>
                <para>
                        This control displays the highest peak since the last peak meter reset.
                        Resetting the peak meter is achieved by left-clicking the displayed number.
                        The peak meter monitors the signal selected by the <emphasis>Pre/Post/Input
                        Button</emphasis> .. the same signal as the meters. It should be noted here
                        that 0dBfs corresponds a value equal to the maximum input or output level
                        of your audio hardware, independent of it's bit depth.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-gain-fader">
                <title>Gain Fader</title>
                <para>
                        The fader changes the signal level within the mixer strip before the
                        post-fader plugins, which are before the output ports. 6dB of gain is
                        allowed. there are several shortcuts available for the fader. Using the
                        scroll wheel of your mouse while hovering above the fader will coarsely
                        change its position. Holding the control key whilst mouse wheeling will
                        give you finer control. Holding the shift key and clicking the fader will
                        reset it to unity gain. Holding control and pressing the middle mouse
                        button whilst over the fader will allow you to bind a midi control to it,
                        provided you have an available midi device set in the options menu.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-meters">
                <title>Meters</title>
                <para>
                        The number of meters displayed next to the fader is dependent on the number
                        of inputs or outputs the channel has, whichever is greater. The meters
                        provide a colour-graduated scale from -50 dBfs to +6dBfs. They display the
                        instantaneous value of the signal at the monitoring point selected by the
                        Pre/Post/Input button. 0dBfs corresponds a value equal to the maximum input
                        or output level of your audio hardware, independent of it's bit depth.
                        Exceeding 0dBfs does not correspond to running out of headroom within the
                        mixer, or in any signal path subsequent to that point within the Jack
                        server. It merely means that if that signal is connected directly to a
                        hardware port whose resolution is less than the 32-bit floating point
                        resolution that Ardour uses (i.e. a soundcard), then that port will exceed
                        it's maximum output level, resulting in distortion. hitting 0dB within the
                        mixer (or any point in the Jack server) means that you have approximately
                        100dB of headroom remaining. as it is unlikely that you will reach this
                        point, it is not represented in any special way by the meter. Naturally, if
                        the input is selected as the monitoring point for the meter, exceeding
                        0dBfs means that the input of your a/d converter has clipped.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-panner">
                <title>Panner</title>
                <para>
                        The panner in Ardour is actually two panners. Because any mixer strip in
                        Ardour can route any number of streams of audio anywhere, the idea of
                        panning can be a complex one. To allow for the current stereo-centric
                        mainstream world as well as the multi-speaker experimental one, one of two
                        styles of panner will appear here depending on the number of outputs the
                        channel strip has. In the simple case of mono channel input / stereo
                        output, a single panner will be present. The current pan position is
                        represented by a dot (the dot is the audio stream) which lies between the
                        letters 'L' and 'R', which represent the left and right outputs
                        respectively. To change the panning position of the stream, move the mouse
                        while holding down the left mouse button. the dot will follow your mouse
                        pointer. To introduce sudden changes to the pan setting, place the mouse
                        pointer over the desired position and click the middle mouse button. The
                        pan control will immediately snap to the mouse pointer position. The panner
                        may be bypassed by right-clicking the control and selecting
                        <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> from the drop-down menu. The panner will
                        immediately be bypassed. The increased level you notice when the panner is
                        bypassed is due to the way panning works. It is not a bug. <emphasis>XXX
                        what gain law is used in the panner?</emphasis>
                </para>

                <para>
                        In the case of a stereo input / stereo output combination, two panning
                        controls will appear, one corresponding to each audio stream. You can
                        <emphasis>link</emphasis> the controls together in two different ways in
                        this situation, using the direction arrows next to the
                        <guibutton>link</guibutton> button. Panners can be linked to travel either
                        in opposite directions or to maintain a consistent stereo width across the
                        travel of the control. These two modes are represented by the orientation
                        of the two arrows next to the <guibutton>link</guibutton> button, which
                        point in either the same or opposite directions. The
                        <guibutton>link</guibutton> button must be engaged before you can change
                        the <emphasis>link</emphasis> mode. To link all the panners in a mixer
                        strip, left-click the <guibutton>link</guibutton> button, then select the
                        desired link mode by pressing the button marked with arrows.
                </para>

                <para>
                        Let's get a little more complicated by adding another output to the mixer
                        strip. From this point onwards, the panning positions are represented with
                        numbered dots on a square field. Orange dots represent the outputs, and the
                        numbered dots represent the streams. the position of the outputs change
                        according to the number of outputs in the strip. This happens in order to
                        allow the most useful arrangement of the available space. At some point,
                        adding an output will cause the outputs to line up from the top left of the
                        panning square towards the centre. this is to allow for the 'multi-speaker
                        big sweep' to occur - where the sound is panned from speaker to speaker
                        around the room in sequence.
                </para>

                <para>
                        Don't forget that you can bypass the panner by right clicking and selecting
                        <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> from the drop-down menu. this may
                        simplify your multi-speaker setup, as often in this type of project panning
                        between all speakers or outputs is not required on all tracks.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-output-selector">
                <title>Output Selector</title>
                <para>
                        The output selector allows you to assign the outputs of each mixer strip.
                        left-clicking the output selector causes a ready-made list of output ports
                        to appear in a drop-down menu, along with edit and disconnect options.
                        Selecting <guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem> will allow you to change the
                        number of outputs the channel has, as well as select software and hardware
                        ports to route signals to. For more information on the window that appears
                        when you select this option, see the <xref linkend="sn-other-windows"/>.
                        <guimenuitem>Disconnect</guimenuitem> will leave the number of output ports
                        unchanged, but remove all assignments to output ports.
                </para>
        </section>

        <section id="mixer-strip-scratch-pad">
                <title>Scratch Pad</title>
                <para>
                        This is the text area below the <guibutton>output</guibutton> button. it
                        allows you to enter any notes that you feel may be relevant to that track.
                        The notes are stored when you save the session.
                </para>
        </section>
</section>