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Chapter 2 Customizing Controller Assignments 45
About Zones and Modes
You can define a group of controllers as a zone in Expert view, and switch all controls in
a zone to different parameters—in one operation. Using a Mackie Control as an
example; you can define the eight rotary encoders as a zone, and switch them between
pan, send level, or plug-in parameters. You can define multiple zones for a control
surface: one for the encoders, and a second one that switches the function keys (F1 to
F8) to different commands or operations, for example.
Each set of zone parameters is called a mode. A zone can contain one or more modes.
Only one mode can be the active mode at any given time. A zone can also contain
assignments which are always active, regardless of the active mode (these are known
as modeless assignments).
The simultaneous use of modal and modeless assignments allows you to do things
such as:
 Define a zone that switches between two modes (or functions) by pressing/releasing
the Option button while using a particular Function key.
 Define a zone that allows you to use modeless assignments for tasks such as
updating the display, Transport functions, and Save or Undo operations. The same
zone could contain a modal assignment for all Volume and Pan controls. Switching to
another mode would provide access to EQ parameters. In both modal situations, the
display, Transport and Save/Undo functions would be available.
A mode can contain any number of assignments. Only the assignments for the active
mode are processed by Logic Express. Assignments of inactive modes are ignored.
You can switch the active mode for a zone by using special assignments (see below).
Zones and modes can be defined across multiple control surfaces, to support the use
of control surface groups.
The following list illustrates one possible arrangement of zones and modes, which
shows how you can define them, hierarchically:
Modal Assignment A
Modal Assignment B
Mode 1 (inactive)
Mode 2 (active)
Modal Assignment A
Modal Assignment B
Modal Assignment C
Modal Assignment A
Mode 3 (inactive)
Modal Assignment A
Mode 4 (active)
Mode 5 (inactive)
Modal Assignment A
Modal Assignment B
Modal Assignment C
Modal Assignment D
Zone 1 Zone 2
Modeless Assignment A
Modeless Assignment B