Controlling different tracks or groups of tracks

The Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in can control anywhere from 1-32 tracks simultaneously, as specified by whatever number you fill in the Number of Track Strips field in the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page. There is always at least one track being controlled, referred to as the Base Track. The Number of Track Strips value refers to the base track plus ‘n’ number of additional tracks. The Control Bar’s ACT module automatically updates to display the range of tracks (1-8, 2-9, 9-16, etc.) that your control surface currently controls.

If multiple controller/surfaces are enabled, the Control Bar’s ACT module lets you select which controller/surface to display track information for.

The currently controlled tracks are displayed in the ACT module. It is important to understand that the ACT module is for display purposes only—it gets information from the Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in (or any other active controller/surface plug-in), but the ACT module cannot update, or send information to the Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in. Changing which tracks are controlled must be done with the Move 1 Left, Move 1 Right, Move Bank Left, or Move Bank Right parameters, or by clicking the BaseTrack buttons that are at the top of the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page.

Note: If you don’t have any buttons left over to assign to the Move 1 or Move Bank parameters, you can click the right or left buttons in the BaseTrack section of the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page to move the Base Track to the right or left by one track. The buttons are located so that you can resize the property page to just show the buttons and the Presets field.

To control the next track or bank of tracks

1.	In the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page under Global Parameters, select Move 1 Right to control the next higher-numbered track, or Move Bank Right to control the next higher-numbered bank of tracks.

2.	Move (twice) the button or knob that you want to use to shift the controller/surface to the next higher-numbered track or bank (for example, from track 1 to track 2, or from tracks 1-8 to tracks 9-16).

3.	Click the Learn button.

The property page reads the type of MIDI message and displays the characteristics in the appropriate fields.

4.	Press the TAB key to accept the data.

5.	Move the button or knob again and watch the display in the Control Bar’s ACT module to see if the current tracks shift by the appropriate number.

Repeat this procedure, but use a different knob, and select Move 1 Left or Move Bank Left so that you can move the current track or bank to a lower-numbered one.

 

See also:

The Cakewalk Generic Surface property page