Helpful ReplyUsing Sonar without motorized faders

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Moe
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September 05, 09 3:31 AM (permalink)

Using Sonar without motorized faders

Hi guys.

First off I'm not only new in the forum but also a Sonar newbie. (Sonar 7 S)
I've searched the forums for a while but haven't found what I wanted to.

I'm currently thinking about buying a controller keyboard, mainly about the Edirol PCR-500, but since I don't want to just use it for MIDI applications, but also for controlling the mixer, one issue I have is that I don't know how far I have to be concerned about the non-motorized faders, because in other sequencers there are issues with jumping faders when switching channels.
Ableton has a feature witch allows you to set the fader mode to "pickup"; meaning the fader only triggers after you have reached it's original position in the software.

Is it reasonable what I'm talking about?
Does such a feature exist in Sonar too?

Cheers,
Moe

PS: Sorry for my english.
#1
wintaper
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Re:Using Sonar without motorized faders September 05, 09 11:19 AM (permalink)
Hello, makes perfect sense. I have both motorized (MC-Mix) and non-motorized (Axiom) faders in my setup.

The problem with non-motorized faders is that they go out of sync with the project settings. Here is a contrived example of the problem:

You have a fader set at 50% on project A and the fader is physically in the middle. You now open project B which uses the same fader, but the value for the fader in this project is 0. The fader onscreen will now show 0, but the control fader is still physically sitting at 50%.

The instant I move the fader in project B, signals will be sent out from the controller. So if I move the fader down, the value will jump from 0 to 50 and then track my fader movements down. So, if I were attempting to move the fader in project B from 0 to 10%, it would actually move from 0% to 50% and then down to 10%.  This is the fader spiking problem you refer to.

The "pickup" mode you describe in Ableton sounds like it is design to circumvent this problem. Using knobs instead of faders is another solution. It may work, I can't say. I don't think Sonar has this capability.

I almost never use the sliders on my axiom.

-Dan


Intel i7 @ 3.60GHz, 12GB DDR3 1600MHz, Win7 / OSX 10.6.6, Sonar 8.53 / Pro Tools 9.0.1, RME RayDAT, UAD2-Quad, Focusrite OctoPre (x4), Euphonix MC Mix, Tascam US2400, Monette Ajna (x2), 15' Macbook Pro

#2
RichardHK
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Re:Using Sonar without motorized faders September 05, 09 12:48 AM (permalink) ☄ Helpful
Moe. Sonar does have the 'pickup mode' as you describe. For knobs and faders.
 
I have the Edirol PCR-800 and it works fine in default mode like this. If you go for PCR-500 it will work exactly the same way. And it will also be there automatically to control tracks and main bus. ( A neat WAI 'Where Am I' function labels the tracks and bus being controlled, and you can change this by simply dragging the labels with your mouse! The knobs default to track PAN settings too. All can be changed to suit your needs.)
 
Also an option somewhere to disable the 'pickup mode', so that fader/knob will react as soon as touched, but I am not using that. Check Help file.
post edited by RichardHK - September 05, 09 12:55 AM

Richard, Hong Kong
Sonar 8.5PE, EWQLSO, SC, RA & Goliath, GPO4, and Omnisphere.
http://richardentwistle.com/

#3
Moe
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Re:Using Sonar without motorized faders September 05, 09 2:44 PM (permalink)
Thanks a lot Richard.
You are really encouraging me to go for the PCR500!

But hey,
I don't really get the thing with this WAI function! What is it actually about? Sounds a bit confusing.

Thanks both of you!
#4
Thatsastrat
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Re:Using Sonar without motorized faders September 05, 09 10:20 PM (permalink)
Hi Moe,
WAI= Where Am I
Say you controller has six faders and your current project has 10 tracks.
So when you activate WAI in the control surface settings it will give your faders a number.
So if i  have fader 1 on track 1 it will show my faders as
track1=fader1
track2=fader2
track3=fader3 and so on
But I have 10 tracks to control
So maybe its
track6=fader1
track7=fader2
track8=fader3 and so on
WAI assigns a number and choice of color so when you are mixing more tracks than you have faders for you can tell
(Where Am I)
#5
kcearl
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Re:Using Sonar without motorized faders September 05, 09 11:33 PM (permalink)
My PCR works the same on ableton and sonar (ie not picking up until it reaches the pick up point)...never had any difficulty going from one project to another..

Sonar 8 Studio, Ableton Live 8, XP Media SP2, Intel Dual Core 2.80Ghz, 4GB RAM, 500 & 250Gb SATA

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#6
Moe
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Re:Using Sonar without motorized faders September 06, 09 3:43 AM (permalink)
Alright!

Thanks a lot guys,
now I'm a little bit further!
#7
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