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Odd question; Non motorized faders/knobs on control surfaces.


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So I'm thinking about trying out a control surface. I really like the way the Korg nanokontrol looks and it's functionality, but I don't get how non motorized faders and knobs will work.

 

If I load a new project, and the knobs and faders don't move into place, then what happens? Will they levels and whatnot remain where the are until you touch something, and then the DAW will reflect the new place the knob and or fader is? Are the knobs and faders at zero whenever a new project is loaded? How does that work?

 

Stupid question I know, but I'm genuinely clueless right now.

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I think with most controls like this, the knob or fader position memory is retained until you move the physical knob/fader past the memory position. That way, your mix isn't buggered every time you switch channels.

 

This is actually the way most non-motorized faders and controllers work. In the software, you also have arrow indicators that let you know if the physical fader is below or above the actual software value.

 

Here's a screen shot of some software channels / faders in Pro Tools 9.

 

Fig+2+Pro+Tools+meters.png

 

Notice the two small triangles that are just above the numbers of the individual channels ("1 Audio 1, 2 Audio 2, etc.). Those will illuminate to let you know the position of the physical fader relative to the software fader. If the ^ illuminates, you have to raise the hardware fader to get it to match the software, and if the v illuminates, you need to lower it. When they are both "off", the hardware and software values are matched.

 

When placed in Automation Write mode, most software DAW applications won't start writing controller data until it matches up or "passes" the location indicated by the software. IOW, if the physical fader is "beneath" the software value, it won't start writing data until it matches the software value - after that, if you go up or down, it will "track" it.

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