eMotion LV1 Tutorial 6.2: Extras – Using Mackie Control Devices
Learn how to control important mixer functions with external controllers using (MCU), Mackie Control Protocol for the eMotion LV1 live mixing console.
In the last lesson, you learned how to configure the eMotion LV1 mixer so that it can be controlled by an external device using Mackie Control Protocol. This is done in the System Inventory page. If you haven’t watched lesson 6.1, do it now, before you start working with your external controller.
Make sure that the controller is connected to the host computer with USB or WiFi. Additional controllers are connected between each other with MIDI. Consult the manufacturer’s user guide for connection details.
The control surface is made up of fader banks. These relate to LV1 mixer layers. Just like on the LV1 interface, the role of a specific channel strip changes according to the selected layer. If you’re using one controller with eight channels, click the right Fader Bank button to move to the next eight mixer channels in the layer.
Press the button again to select the first eight channels of the next mixer layer. With 16-channel controllers, or when you’ve coupled two 8-channel controllers, the right Bank button takes you to the next complete 16-channel mixer layer. The left Bank button takes you back one step.
Basic channel strip controls are the same on the mixer and the controller. These functions are always available on every channel strip:
- Fader
- Cue/Solo
- Mute
Channel names are shown on the text display strip.
To select a channel, press its select button. On most controllers, there’s a rotary control with a push-button shaft at the top of each channel strip. These are called VPOTs and they’re used to adjust the parameters that are displayed in the text strip.
There are six VPOT assignment modes, each with its own track maps that assign mixer controls to the external controller. Mapping assignment modes are:
- TRACK
- SEND
- PAN/ SURROUND
- PLUG-IN
- EQ
- Dynamics; whose button may be called: ‘INSTUMENT’.
Each VPOT assignment mode is made up of several control pages. Navigate through the pages with the left and right CHANNEL buttons.
The TRACK assignment layer is mapped to the LV1 Input layer mode. It controls the preamps and channel inputs. A channel does not need to be selected for you to control its inputs.
In the first page, the rotary knob controls preamp gain. A red frame around a control on the mixer indicates that it’s being controlled externally. Press the knob to toggle the 48v phantom on or off.
A VPOT can simultaneously control both sides of a stereo channel, or control them separately. Link or unlink stereo channels in the input section of the LV1 Channel window. When channel linking is on, left and right are controlled together, in one page. When linking is off, only the left side of the stereo preamp signal is controlled here.
Page 2 controls the preamp level and 48v for the right side of unkinked stereo channels. It is not used for mono channels.
Page 3 controls the channel trim and phase of mono channels and linked stereo channels, as well as the left side of unlinked stereo channels.
Trim and phase for the right side are controlled on Page 4.
SEND controls the aux sends’ level, source, imaging, and aux on/off. Select an AUX mode in the mixer. Mapping begins at the first Aux Effects send. The name of the channel and the Aux number are shown on the text display.
Page 1 controls the send level for the first Aux channel. Click the VPOT to turn the send on or off.
Page 2: Click the VPOT to cycle through the aux’s source options. Turn the knob to adjust the aux buss’s stereo imaging.
To learn more about panning, balance, and stereo rotation in eMotion LV1, watch lesson 3.6.
Page 3 moves you to next aux, which has two pages. This pattern continues until you reach the last Aux Monitor send control.
The PAN assign mode controls imaging. There are five pages:
Page 1 controls panning on mono channels and balance on stereo channels.
Page 2 controls stereo rotation.
Page 3 controls stereo width.
Pages 4 and 5 control left and right stereo panners.
As you’ve seen, in the TRACK, SEND, and PAN assignment modes, each channel strip has its own multi-function VPOT. This works like a traditional mixing desk.
PLUG-IN, EQ, and Dynamics (INSTRUMENT) assignment modes map to plugins, which usually have far more parameter controls than do channel strips. For this reason, the VPOTs of several channel strips are used to control the plugin parameters on the selected channel.
Use the PLUG-IN assignment mode to map to all of the plugins in the selected channel’s plugin rack. Any mappable plugin can be controlled.
Turn the left-most VPOT to choose the plugin you wish to control. Click on the next knob to select the plugin, and the third button to bypass it.
Plugin controls are mapped based context and the options on the interface. A plugin with lots of controls requires several mapping pages. The first page is usually mapped with the essential ‘go-to’ controls. The parameters for the current page are shown on the text display.
To select a different plugin to control, click the PLUG-IN assignment button and choose from the list.
The EQ assignment mode controls the channel’s assigned EQ plugin. The Dynamics/ (INSTRUMENT) assignment mode controls the channel’s assigned dynamics processor. These are direct ways to control the EQ and Dynamics plugins that you need all the time.
You can flip the control surface mapping at any time. Select the FLIP button, and the mapping of the VPOT controls moves to the faders, and vice versa. This lets you, for example, control the parameters of a plugin or adjust imaging with faders.
You can also use the mixer’s ‘Sends on Faders’ mode to adjust aux sends with the large faders and control the aux buss gain with the master fader. Activate this mode on the mixer itself.
eMotion LV1 has eight user-assignable keys that provide quick access to many mixer views or controls.
These functions can be assigned to the GLOBAL VIEW buttons on the remote. Select this assignment option in the Mackie Control Protocol control panel.
In the same manner, the mixer’s eight mute groups can be assigned to the controller’s function keys. There are also a few other useful utilities.
MARKER opens the ‘Scenes’ drop-down menu in the Top Bar. Double-click ZOOM to open the sub menu. Use the arrows to navigate through the scenes list, and then click ZOOM again to load the scene. Click the UNDO button to undo the scene change.
The CLICK button mirrors the Tempo panel in the Mixer Settings page. Tap the button to establish a tempo, which is indicated by the blinking light.
Click SAVE to save the current session.
In this lesson, you’ve seen how to control many important mixer functions using Mackie Control Protocol.
To learn more about how Mackie Control Protocol maps to the eMotion LV1 mixer, refer to the Mackie Control Implementation tables at the end of the eMotion LV1 User Guide.
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