Control Surfaces Topics:
» What is a control surface?
» Why should I consider buying a control surface?
» What are all these faders, knobs, and buttons for?
» Banks
» Control surfaces that are also audio interfaces
» How a control surface communicates with a DAW
» What To Look For...

For hands-on command of DAW software or soft synths, you can't beat a control surface. It frees you from your computer keyboard and mouse and provides visual and tactile feedback that can help you work more creatively and productively. This guide covers many of the factors to consider when you're choosing a control surface. As always, if you have questions, call us toll-free at 1-800-222-4700 for friendly, knowledgeable advice.

What is a Control Surface?

For hands-on command of DAW software or soft synths, you can't beat a control surface. It frees you from your computer keyboard and mouse and provides visual and tactile feedback that can help you work more creatively and productively. This guide covers many of the factors to consider when you're choosing a control surface. As always, if you have questions, call us toll-free at 1-800-222-4700 for friendly, knowledgeable advice.

Why should I consider buying a control surface?

The advent of computer-based recording has been great for streamlining the amount of physical gear an engineer needs to record and mix a project. Until the last few years, mixing involved rigging up a console and its various outputs and inputs to a tape machine or DAT to perform fader moves and such. With DAWs, virtually every function of a traditional console can be handled on-screen by drawing automation in or performing fader moves by dragging virtual faders with the mouse. But if you learned to mix on an analog console, you might not like the virtual route, thus a control surface is perfect, as it provides the familiar, hands-on feel of a mixer. Even if you didn't hone your skills in the analog world, some engineers just prefer to use physical faders and knobs, as they feel it provides smoother fades and automation moves.

What are all these faders, knobs, and buttons for?

A control surface will normally be equipped with faders, knobs to adjust panning, and controls to start, stop, and seek within the playback. Some control surfaces offer access to advanced functionality such as EQ and dynamics plug-ins if the tracks you're working with have those plug-ins inserted. Many of the current control surfaces feature motorized faders that provide a great visual aid when looking at the levels. There are typically two types of knobs featured on a control surface: infinite rotary encoders and knobs. Rotary encoders can handle any number of functions and are typically assignable. For example, you could assign pan controls to a rotary encoder, and set the pan to whatever you wish. When you come back to that track, the encoder will know where it was set, and adjustments will correspond to its previous position. A knob has a designated travel path and typically has set values. If the pan was set using a knob rather than a rotary encoder, upon coming back to a track, the software would show the correct pan value, but the knob could possibly be showing a different value. Another important feature a control surface should include is transport controls. As mentioned before, transport controls let you start and stop playback or recording, as well as fast forward and rewind tracks. This is great as it maintains the mouse-free convenience provided by a control surface as well as minimizing the use of the computer keyboard.

Banks

Banks refer to groups of faders. These faders normally come in groups of eight. The eight faders correspond to eight sequential tracks in the DAW. Banks can be selected using the aptly titled Bank Select button. The great thing about banks is that you can stay in the sweet spot for mixing, yet still have fader control over any track you need. Whether you're working on a kick drum on channel one or a guitar overdub on channel 28, you never have to leave the mix position.

Control surfaces that are also audio interfaces

Most control surfaces are just that - devices that provide control over the software. There are a few surfaces that provide I/O options in addition to their control functions. The ProjectMix I/O from M-Audio offers eight preamps with XLR and line inputs as well as digital and word clock I/O. TASCAM also has a pair of FireWire interfaces that function as control surfaces as well. The FW-1082 and FW-1884 offer four and eight preamps respectively with MIDI I/O and whole host of other connectivity options with nine faders each. One device that's perhaps responsible for the recent boom in control surfaces is the digi 002 from Digidesign. This unit serves as a hardware interface for Pro Tools LE with four preamps, four +4/-10 inputs, and is a control surface for Pro Tools. Without the innovative digi 002, control surfaces as we know them today may not exist.

How a control surface communicates with a DAW

There is no set protocol for the means by which a control surface sends and receives data with a DAW. Many use MIDI to send control information. MIDI is a perfect match for such an application since a large part of MIDI music production is simply sending commands. FireWire-equipped interfaces/control surfaces typically use FireWire since its, well, already there. Along the same lines, USB is often found on control surfaces as the primary means of connecting to a DAW. Some controllers such as the Digidesign Control|24 connect and transmit control data using Ethernet.