For many years I have been convinced that for anyone who does mixing activities at any level, from the Home Studio to the Pro, it is necessary to have physical control over all the objects on which they operate. There is no doubt that being able to act with a certain speed on Eq, processors, Pan and Volumes helps both the sound engineer and the eventual producer to fix ideas more quickly than can be done with a computer mouse and keyboard. With the MC Control Artist Series, the Euphonix, now AVID, has set a new benchmark in this area.
What the market offers:
Realizing this need, companies offer on their controllers (Keyboard, Drum Pad, etc…) at least commands for controlling the transport functions and sliders for controlling pan and volume. That's the least you can expect from a well-conceived Remote Controller today. All this, however, must often be framed in a product whose most important purpose is the execution of MIDI notes for the construction of the arrangement. New technologies such as Novation's Automap and M-Audio's Hyper Control allow further integration and interoperability between controllers and sequencers, offering the ability to directly recognize what is displayed on the computer screen, including tracks, effects and virtual instruments.
Finally, on an even higher step, we find products expressly dedicated to mixing where until today the undisputed master has always been the Mackie Control protocol which, in fact, in a more or less “present” way is also found in the products described above. In short, the Mackie Control, of which a rib generated Logic Control a few years ago (of which I am still happy owner ... ed), automatically recognizes the open sequencer, allowing the physical Controller to auto-configure itself on the transport functions, those mixing, managing plug-ins of both effects and virtual instruments (Fig.01).
MC Control:
Euphonix, before being incorporated into the large AVID family, thanks to the development of its EuCon protocol, already widely exploited on particularly professional machines (both in terms of operational capabilities but also in price) such as the System 5 MC (Fig.02)
or the best performing MC Pro (Fig.03), used in the audio / video post production of environments such as, for example, the Hollywodian ones, attacked the Project Studio sector by presenting the Artist series which includes MC Control
(for short MCC), test object, MC Mix (for short MCM), the MC Transport (Fig.04) and MC Color.
The MCC, which on the surface may seem like a control mixer for all DAWs, goes much further. In fact, one of the first aspects that the user might ask is what the large Touchscreen display does on a Controller that should actually manage Volumes, Pan, Plug-in, etc, all elements sharing the fact that to manage them you need Faders, Slider, Buttons, Knob.
Well the answer is that with the TouchScreen, in addition to the simplified management of the tracks present in the sequencer, it recalls and controls almost all the main functions of the sequencer itself without having to touch the alphanumeric keyboard of the computer.
In practice, for example, if you want to open the mixer or the Logic Global Tracks, on the MCC you will already find the dedicated buttons, with the name of the function indicated.
Not only! Because, given that the Artist system (not to be confused with the EuCon protocol, which I will discuss later) also manages the recognition of keyboard abbreviations, also called shortcut, the TouchScreen display can control non-music software, such as Final Cut, QuickTime, Safari, iChat, Mail.
The most attentive, will have noticed that it refers to Mac OsX software. In fact, the MCC was initially developed only on the Apple platform, on which the test was carried out. For some months, following the entry of AVID in the development of machines (I remember that AVID also owns the brands of Pro-Tools, Sibelius, M-Audio. Ed.), The system has also expanded towards the Windows platform.
Duty premise:
Since the test was carried out on one of the MCC models, prior to the purchase of the share package by AVID, it is now very likely that some software problems as well as some operational solutions described below may have changed.
Therefore, the information reported below, extended by the information found on the AVID website, must be filtered by the fact that the test was conducted on a system that was not completely intuitive and that also the operational pages, by virtue of the presentation of new releases, are of the MCC and of the DAWs themselves, may have radically evolved.
Installation and Hardware:
To manage all this, the MCC and MCM (which shares part of the operability except for everything that can be managed by the display), operate through an Ethernet network which greatly improves the data flow rate compared to conventional MIDI. (Euphonix declares a resolution of 1024 steps and a speed of 8000 kbps compared to the MIDI protocol of 128 steps and 32 kbps -Fig.05).
Reason why, the only connections to be made are the connection to the electricity network (there is no way to self-power) and the connection to the Ethernet network which can also be done through a router, if ever there is a need for ADSL, Telephony, etc.
Then there is a need for the special Drivers, supplied with the supplied CD (but I suggest you install the most recent ones available on the manufacturer's website directly, including any firmware update) and start the management software which will be discussed later. .
After this, the computer will ask for a restart of the machine, otherwise the MCC will not work. During the reboot, the MCC can be turned on and it will go into standby until the OsX opens.
ATTENTION: on reboot, when everything seems to have gone well, a few seconds after normal system boot, a new icon appears in the Menu bar at the top right, with the letter "E" starting to rotate. It is the Euphonix system that tries to create the connection between computer and MCC and starts the EuControl software with which to program the machine. With the release of the firmware with which the test was conducted, it happened that for the frenzy of starting an application, listening to a song or whatever, the system crashed with the need to restart the computer again. Have patience for the Euphonix system to finish its job and you will be able to control everything you want with the MCC.
From the hardware point of view, the MCC has three very distinct operational areas that interact according to the software in use.
From the left, we find the fader area dedicated to direct control of the channels (Fig.06).
Each of the four channels can manage the On / Off of the track (Mute), the Solo, its selection ("Sel" button) for channel management, any fixed assignment to pre-selected channels (for example the 4th it can always manage the Master Out while the other three rotate on the channels present in the arrangement), the Fader for volume control (the other functions, including Pan, are managed in the central area).
The area on the right, on the other hand, includes in the lower part the buttons for controlling the main transport functions (Rec, Play, Stop, FF, Rew), the wheel that can manage 4 single functions that can be recalled from the other two neighboring buttons: the horizontal zooms / vertical and the Jog / Shuttle functions, i.e. moving the timeline on grids one beat at a time or listening to the region based on the rotation speed.
Note: the two buttons just described, like many others on the controller, have double serigraphy. Either function is called up by holding down one of the two “Shift” buttons located at the two lower corners of the MCC.
The upper part of the same area, on the other hand, is occupied by eight buttons that manage some general functions such as the continuous selection of tracks in single clicks (Nudge buttons) or 4 at a time (Bank buttons). With the “Page” buttons, on the other hand, you can manage the various sub-pages of the plug-in parameters, while with “Back” you go up one level at a time through the pages assigned to the 8 potentiometers that surround the display. Finally with "Application" you switch between the various programs simultaneously open and / or placed in the background.
Also in this case the same buttons can call up double functions, all of which are easy to recognize because they are associated with program functions bearing the same name. So, for example, Home and End will return to the beginning and end of the song while Mixer will call up the relative page.
The two buttons "CFG”Which I will talk about later.
To complete this area we find the power button of the MCC and the potentiometer for the management of the Control Room.
In the central part of the MCC the large display represents the real and powerful innovation within professional Remote Controllers. I have already told you that from here it is possible not only to manage the tracks of the song you are working on, but it is even possible to recall the functions of the program itself. The display itself is also structured into operational areas: there are five in all.
The first, the larger central one, alternately manages three sub-pages:
traces: up to 32 tracks arranged in four rows of eight, per single page, can be managed simultaneously by putting them in Rec, Solo, or Mute much more quickly than can be done with the four channels present in the right area (Fig.07).
Functions: 24 buttons at a time for a virtually infinite number of pages. Each one, even those already assigned, can be totally reprogrammed. There is the possibility to refer to specific pages or to return to the main page with a single selection (Fig.08).
-Setup: any controls for the Control Room are set here.
Soft Keys: in the lower part of the display, in the same way as the 24 buttons, you can set 12 other controls - functions to be called up with the 12 physical buttons below the display. Also in this case the pages can be multiple and be selected with two dedicated buttons.
Knobs / potentiometers: 4 + 4 potentiometers which also respond to pressure for recalling or resetting parameters, placed on both sides of the display, manage everything concerning the channels of the range. Pan, Insert, Group, Send Bus, can be totally managed from here.
Convenient the possibility of being able to assign the Channel EQ on the fly simply by pressing the appropriate potentiometer. The same thing doesn't happen with the equally dedicated potentiometer for dynamic plug-ins.
Note: I found some operational contortion in recalling individual channel inserts. Faced with the fact of finding two comfortable touchscreen buttons dedicated to the Next / Previous Channel Strip of Logic, the change of the single plug-in both effects and instruments is not really intuitive and not even the manual gives a detailed indication. Reason why, I will try to summarize the steps:
- click on the potentiometer "Insertion";
- simultaneously press the buttons "Page / CFG"(Seen before). The screen relating to the potentiometers will change indicating the sixteen available Insert slots, arranged on two pages, to be selected alternatively, always using the "Page / CFG";
- choose the slot "Insertion”Where you want to load the plug-in. At this point the potentiometers screen will show the plug-in families as cataloged in Logic;
- select a plug-in family by pressing the appropriate potentiometer;
- select the desired plug-in. This, of course, implies that the user knows well how Logic's plug-ins are cataloged;
- after this to edit the parameters, you have to go up all the levels up to the first one and then re-enter the inserts and press the potentiometer of the plug-in to be modified. This last action will ensure that the plug-in parameters will be arranged vertically in correspondence with the Knobs for any changes.
If, as in most plug-ins, the parameters are higher than eight, we will act on the already seen “Page” potentiometers to move between the various pages.
Management software:
In addition to the drivers, the MCC also comes with the EuControl application which starts in the background after starting OsX (see “Warning” box).
With this software all the operating conditions are set that allow the MCC to work with any musical program and not.
Flying over the most common pages for setting the general functions, I pause a few more lines on the last “SoftKeys” Tab which displays the page on which to set all the functions of the Touchscreen and Soft Keys.
In fact, it is here that all the commands to be assigned to the display can be set. The screen is very simple and it takes a little practice to get carried away and work quickly with the assignments. In short:
- You choose the TouchScreen or SoftKey mode;
- Write the command that will appear on the Display;
- Choose any color to assign to the button;
- Enter the keyboard shortcut or the Key Command recognized by the EuCon protocol. For this last operation, by clicking on Command, a special page will open where you can manage the assignments.
Even if the system is very practical and fast (there is no need, for example, to exit the assignments page to change the button), I would have liked to find Copy / Paste options that would have allowed an even faster reassignment of commands if those by default there would not have been congenial.
In the same way I would have appreciated a continuous bilateral refresh between the software and the MCC at the push of a button on the display or, vice versa, at the selection of a command from the EUControl. This would have allowed even more immediacy, for example, in the case of programs whose functions are arranged on multiple pages. Little sins of youth?
EuCon and Mackie Control:
During the article the EuCon protocol was mentioned frequently. But what does this new system allow us to do and why is it more powerful than Mackie Control?
To explain it, we need to start from the Mackie Control protocol used today, in a more or less recognizable way, by many of the controllers that manage mixing and plug-in management functions. To simplify, since the management of Volumes, Pan, Mute, Solo, Play, Stop, Rec, ... just to name the best known, are functions common to all sequencing software, it goes without saying that once the recognition has been standardized, a single controller will be able to manage Logic, Cubase, Live, etc.
EuCon instead starts from a different principle: thanks to a direct partner ship with the software House that builds the software, it is able to recognize and therefore manage all the functions that the sequencer has. To simplify, the way of recalling the Channel Strips, for example, is different between Logic and Cubase: well, the EUCon establishes a different, but full management, both towards Cubase and Logic, thanks to the fact that it is Apple that Steinberg have released the command codes of the many implemented functions to Euphonix. Reason for which, from the "EuControl" programming area, by first recalling the "Command" page and then the "EuCon" option, you will find, well ordered, all the functions that, in the case of Logic, are found in the page that owns the "Keys" Commands ". Easier and more comfortable than that…?
Hence, the Touchscreen display becomes fundamental for total control of the sequencer not limited, of course, to the simple final mixing.
With the latest updates (January 2011) Avid declares that the EuCon protocol recognizes the following DAWs in proprietary mode:
Apogee Master;
Apple Logic Pro and Express, Final Cut Pro, Sundtrack Pro, Color;
AVID ProTools and Media Composer;
Cakewalk SONAR;
Magix Sequoia;
Merging Pyramix
Metric Halo MY Console;
MOTU Digital Performer;
Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo;
In Mackie Control mode, however, it works with:
Ableton Live
Propellerhead Reason and Record
It should be remembered, however, that the MCC also in Macki Control mode is able to manage the keyboard abbreviations recognized by the sequencers via the display. It goes without saying that even the software managed in this way will have greater operational control through MCC.
It must be said that the assignment to the Mackie protocol, which is more complex than the EuCon, must first be done in the OsX “System preferences” page where, after installing the drivers, the Euphonix icon also appears. By opening the window, simply drag the software from the Applications folder to the central area and indicate Mackie Control as an operational choice from the second drop-down Tab where the HUI item appears by default. Once this is done it will be necessary to establish from the sequencer itself the control mode using the Mackie protocol.
Other Software:
The MCC, although I mainly referred to Logic in this test, comes with more than 30 templates already set up.
It is obvious that the list can become virtually infinite by setting all the keyboard shortcuts for each individual program from the EuControl, if you need them!
MC Control vs Logic Control:
I mentioned at the beginning that I am still a loyal user of the Logic Control (LC) which underlies the same specifications as the Mackie Control. During the few weeks of using the MCC more than once, the comparison between the two machines was mandatory.
To the advantage of the LC there are two points in favor: a simpler recall or change of the single plug-in inside the channel strip and the eight channels plus the ninth fader for the Master Out.
The MCC, on the other hand, starts from a much higher possibility of control that goes beyond the simple mixing to which the LC seems to be dedicated, as a concept. The Touchscreen and Soft Keys in a short time, I'm talking about a few hours of use, will become a sort of operational drug that will not make you regret not even having read the Logic manual.
As if that were not enough, in version 9 of Logic Pro an item has been added in the "Options" panel which concerns the interactive management of the program through the MCC (Fig.09).
Surely there is something to do with it, but I seriously believe that it is a machine to be considered within a Project Studio or even better in the Pro studios. The price certainly keeps it at a distance from any home situations.
Video and AVID:
To complete the article, I remind you that YouTube also in this case it remains an excellent source to realize the ergonomics of the Artist series. Otherwise, the site of the AVID, provides you with software and PDFs in case you need to consult updated material.
Pro: unique control possibilities thanks to the TouchScreen display, the Soft Keys and, in short, the new EuCon protocol. Logic, Cubase, Nuendo and Digital Performer fully share the EuCon system.
Cons: only 4 channels with dedicated faders; missing Copy / Paste functions in the EuControl assignments page; management of the "Insert" slots not exactly intuitive.
USEFUL INFORMATION:
Producer: AVID
Model: MCControl
Website: www.avid.com/US/
Distributor: www.midiware.com
Orientation price: € 1.259,00 + VAT (Midiware Price List March 2011)
