15 · Control Surfaces
A control surface is a piece of hardware — motorized faders, knobs, and
transport buttons — that lets you mix and run AnalogDAW with your hands instead
of the mouse or trackpad. AnalogDAW supports control surfaces on both macOS
and iPad/iPhone, and the connection is two-way: when you move a fader on
screen, the motor fader on the hardware follows, and the scribble strips, LEDs,
and meters stay in sync.
Open the setup from ☰ ▸ Audio Settings… ▸ Control Surface ▸ Configure….
AnalogDAW speaks two control-surface "languages":
- Mackie Control (MCU) — the industry-standard DAW protocol. Most hardware
surfaces have an MCU / "Mackie" mode, including the Behringer X-Touch, PreSonus
FaderPort (MCU mode), Icon Platform, Mackie Control Universal, and many more.
Choose this for full plug-and-play control with motor faders, V-pots, scribble
strips, meters, and the time display.
- Generic MIDI Learn — for simpler MIDI controllers (knob/fader boxes,
pad/keyboard controllers with assignable controls). You teach AnalogDAW which
physical control does what, one at a time.
- Open Audio Settings ▸ Control Surface ▸ Configure….
- Turn on Enable Control Surface.
- Choose the Protocol — Mackie Control (MCU) for a pro surface, or
Generic MIDI Learn for a basic controller.
- Pick the Input and Output MIDI ports that match your hardware. (The
Output port is what drives motor faders, LEDs, and displays — set both for a
full two-way experience.) Use Rescan MIDI Ports if your device isn't
listed.
- On iPhone/iPad, tap Connect Bluetooth MIDI… to pair a wireless
surface. Network (Wi-Fi) MIDI sessions set up in the system also appear in the
port lists.
Your configuration is remembered between sessions — it belongs to your studio,
not to any one project.
With a Mackie-class surface, AnalogDAW maps the controls the way you'd expect:
Channels (per fader strip)
- Fader — track level.
- V-pot (encoder) — pan by default; see Encoder modes below.
- Mute, Solo, Record-arm, Select — the channel buttons, with their LEDs lit
to match the on-screen state.
- Scribble strip — shows the track name (and color on surfaces that support
it).
- Meter — the channel meter bounces in real time.
Banking — a surface has a fixed number of strips (usually eight). Use
Bank Left/Right to page through your tracks eight at a time, or
Channel Left/Right to nudge by one. The master fader always controls the
master output. (In plug-in encoder mode, the bank buttons page through the
plug-in's parameters instead of moving the track bank.)
Transport — Play, Stop, Record, Rewind, Fast-Forward, and Loop, plus the
jog wheel to move the playhead (press Scrub to toggle fine, audio-rate
moves on and off). The time display shows the playhead position.
Encoder (V-pot) modes — the Assign buttons change what the encoder row
edits, shown on the two-character assignment display:
- PN — Pan: each encoder pans its own channel.
- SN — Sends: each encoder rides its channel's first send.
- EQ: the eight encoders edit the selected track's EQ (band
gains and frequencies).
- DY — Dynamics: the encoders edit the selected track's compressor and gate.
- PL — Plug-in: the encoders edit the selected track's first insert
plug-in's parameters (use the plug-in bank buttons to page through more).
Flip swaps the fader and encoder duties (for example, ride sends on the big
motor faders).
Automation — the Read / Write / Touch / Latch buttons set the selected
track's fader-automation mode, with the matching LED lit. See
Mixing ▸ Automation.
Editing — Undo, Redo, and Save; Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete on the selected
timeline clips; Nudge to move selected clips by a small step; and Marker
to drop a marker at the playhead or jump between markers. See
Editing Clips.
With the Generic MIDI Learn driver:
- Choose a Target (e.g. Fader, Mute, Play) and, for channel controls,
the strip.
- Tap Learn, then move the physical control or press the button you want to
assign. AnalogDAW captures it and adds the mapping.
- Repeat for each control. Remove a mapping with its trash button.
Bidirectional controllers (motor faders, button LEDs) get feedback where the
mapping allows it.
- Your keyboard controller still plays instruments. The control surface uses
its own MIDI port, which AnalogDAW reserves for control — that port's
messages drive the surface and are kept out of instrument note input, and notes
from a separate keyboard continue to play the selected instrument track. Use a
separate port for the surface: many controllers expose their keys and their
control section as two ports, so assign only the control port here and the
keys keep playing instruments.
- Disable any time. Turn off Enable Control Surface to release the
hardware without losing your settings.
Back to the AnalogDAW User Guide.