General Control Surfaces settings in Logic Pro for Mac

General Control Surfaces settings

• Bypass all while in background checkbox: Turn on to allow your control surface to be shared with other applications when Logic Pro is not the active program.

• Resolution of Relative Controls slider: Drag to set the resolution of controls that change values in a relative manner. The default resolution is 128 steps. Choose a higher resolution value to divide the value range into finer increments.

• Maximum MIDI Bandwidth slider: Drag to set the maximum amount of MIDI bandwidth that your control surface can use. This is set to a default of 50%, which should be suitable for most situations. You can adjust the value if MIDI or automation playback is being affected.

• Touching fader selects track checkbox: Turn on to select the track corresponding to the fader when you touch a fader on the control surface.

  Note: This feature works only with devices that have touch-sensitive faders.

• Control surface follows track selection checkbox: Turn on to automatically select the corresponding track or channel on the control surface when you select a track in the Tracks window.

• Jog resolution depends on horizontal zoom checkbox: Turn on to link the precision of scrubbing (using the Jog/Shuttle Wheel of your control surface) with the horizontal zoom level of Logic Pro. Your control surface must feature a Jog/Shuttle Wheel (or similar control) for this to have an effect. To retain a consistent resolution, regardless of Logic Pro window zoom levels, deselect this checkbox.

• Pickup mode checkbox: Turn on to use your control surface in Pickup mode (if this mode is available).

  Some control surfaces, typically those without motorized faders or knobs, do not show parameter changes—caused by playing back existing automation data—on their interface. Such control surfaces usually offer a Pickup mode. In Pickup mode, the controller must reach (“pick up”) the current value before the value starts to change. This feature prevents sudden jumps of parameter values caused by playing back automation. Your device may provide a display (usually a pair of arrow LEDs) that indicates the direction or distance you need to move the controller, in order to match the settings shown in Logic Pro (also known as NULL). Once you have matched the onscreen values, you can create or edit automation data. When Pickup mode is turned off, adjusting a fader modifies the parameter immediately (which can result in parameter value jumps).

• Flash Mute and Solo buttons checkbox: Turn on to make the Mute and Solo buttons on the control surface blink (flash) on and off when mute or solo modes are engaged.

• Multiple Controls per Parameter pop-up menu: Choose the maximum number of encoders used for each parameter when editing plug-ins or audio instruments. The choices are:

  • 1: Parameters are always displayed using one encoder per parameter, with the least space available for the parameter name and value in the LCD.

  • 2: On each unit, encoders 1 and 2 are used for the first parameter, encoders 3 and 4 for the second, and so on.

  • 4: On each unit, encoders 1 to 4 are used for the first parameter, encoders 5 to 8 for the second, and so on.

  • 8: On each unit, encoders 1 to 8 are used for the first parameter, encoders 9 to 16 for the second, and so on.

  When multiple encoders are used per parameter, the encoders are divided into groups (1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, for example). The first encoder of each group controls the parameter shown in the display. The remaining encoders are inactive. Using more than one encoder per parameter shows fewer parameters at any given time, but you gain space on the LCD to cater for longer parameter names and values. The more control surfaces you have within a control surface group, the more you benefit from this feature.

• Only when all parameters fit on one page checkbox: Turn on to use the defined number of encoders only when there are sufficient encoders available to show all parameters without changing pages.

  For example, if you have a Mackie Control and two Mackie Control XTs (giving you a total of 24 encoders), a plug-in with 13 parameters is shown with one encoder per parameter. Eleven encoders remain unused. A plug-in with 11 parameters is shown with two encoders per parameter. Two encoders remain unused (as do the inactive encoders of the subdivisions mentioned above). When this parameter is turned off, multiple encoders are used for each parameter, which may require scrolling. This is not the case if only one encoder is used for each parameter.

• Show Value Units For checkboxes: Turn on the two checkboxes to add the measurement unit to parameter values, where applicable—“Hz” or “%,” for example. You can set this option separately for instrument and plug-in parameters, and for volume and other channel strip parameters. Turn off this option if viewing unit types makes the display too cluttered.

• Controller Assignments button: Click to open the Controller Assignments window. See Overview of controller assignments.

• Setup button: Click to open the Control Surfaces Setup window. See Overview of Control surface inspector.