Fader styles

A fader’s style is shown in the line under the icon. It can be changed by selecting the current style name and choosing a new style from the pop-up menu.

Remember that a fader’s style does not usually affect its function—you can select the most convenient style for the intended use of the object.

Some of the fader styles are described below.

• Vertical/Mute: This is exactly like the Vertical 4 fader style, with an added Mute button.

  

  When you click the Mute button, the fader sends an event (with a value of 0) that matches the Output definition.

  • The fader’s movements are not sent while the Mute button is on.

  • The current fader value is sent when you turn the Mute button off.

• Buttons: Button style faders can only send two possible values: the minimum (off) and maximum (on) values of their range. If the minimum and maximum range parameters are set to the same value, the button sends this value each time it is clicked.

  

• Text: Text faders function like numerical faders, but can display text for each of the 128 possible MIDI values (0 to 127). Double-clicking the surface of a text fader opens the Text Fader window.

  

  • Click a position in this window to send the corresponding fader value. (This is similar to selecting programs by name in the Multi-Instrument window.)

  • Double-click a position in the window to enter new text. By default, when you create a text style fader, the text positions contain numerical values. You can use this feature to create numerical style faders with colored backgrounds.

  You can modify the following parameters in the Text Fader window:

  • Options pop-up menu: Provides Cut, Copy, and Paste functions. You can use these operations to transfer the entire list of names to a text editor, for more convenient editing.

    • Empty lines (and lines that only contain spaces) are ignored.

    • If you want to insert blank positions in the list, use Option–Space bar.

  • Behave as Menu checkbox: Makes the text fader act like a pop-up menu. When unselected, the text fader acts like a scrolling menu.

  • Text Fader Range: Determines the number of names that can be entered into a text style fader object. If you set a text style fader’s range to 0, 1 you can only enter two values.

    You should always set the minimum necessary range for a text fader, as this saves memory. In any case, remember that the first name corresponds to the lowest value in the range (not necessarily 0), and the last name corresponds to the highest value (not necessarily 127).

    If you force a text fader to a value outside its range (with MIDI input) it displays “---” for values below its range and “+++” for values above. The one exception is when the fader’s range is 0, 1; in this case, all values above 1 display the name for value 1.