The mixer

The mixer balances your tracks and sends them to shared effects. It shows one strip per track, then any FX channels, then Master at the right. For example, you can give several instruments different amounts of the same reverb while keeping one place to adjust that reverb's overall level.

Open the mixer#

Choose Mixer view on the left rail for the full mixer, or Mixer in the lower dock for a compact version. The full view adds a decibel scale and numeric peak readings above the meters. Its dock can show the selected track's devices.

Click the background of a track strip to select that track and open its devices. Double-click a strip's background to open the track's clip editor. Controls handle their own clicks, so changing a fader or renaming a track does not count as selecting the strip background.

Tracks can scroll horizontally. FX channels and Master stay at the right. The Track button after the last track adds another, up to the project limit of 32 tracks.

Track controls#

Drag a fader vertically, use the mouse wheel, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Arrows change the displayed gain by 1 dB; hold Shift for 0.1 dB steps. Shift also gives fine control while dragging. Home sets silence; End sets the maximum. Double-click returns it to the maximum, 0 dB on the fader scale.

Drag a pan knob, use its wheel or arrow keys, or double-click to centre it. Hold Shift for finer changes. Volume, pan and send amounts can follow automation.

Arming a track for recording is done in the Arrangement or Clip launcher.

Fader readings and signal readings#

The number below the fader describes how much gain the fader applies. Its maximum is 0 dB, halfway on its 0–100 value scale is about −6 dB, and silence reads −∞ dB. The fader position follows a decibel scale, so halfway up its travel is not half the linear volume.

The meter shows the signal actually coming through the channel. A fader at 0 dB does not mean its signal will peak at 0 dB. The instrument, effects, notes and other level settings all influence that reading.

The meter fill shows an average signal level; its tick shows the peak. The two lanes currently mirror one channel-level reading. They do not give independent left and right measurements.

In the full mixer, the numeric reading above a meter holds a peak for about 1.2 seconds. Click it to clear the held value. It reads -inf when below the meter's range and turns red at 0 dB or above. The scale beside it runs from −60 to 0 dB. Small layouts omit some scale labels when they would collide.

If you need to locate a level jump within one track's effects, use the small meters between its effect cards.

Shared FX channels#

An FX channel receives sound from one or more track sends, processes it, then joins the main mix. You can have eight FX channels.

1. Right-click in the mixer and choose Add FX channel.
2. A new channel appears as FX 1, or the lowest unused FX number. It starts with Plate Reverb.
3. Find its send letter on a track, then drag the thin bar to the right to send more sound.
4. Repeat on other tracks that should share that effect.
5. Expand the FX channel with its chevron to adjust it.

The letter A, B and so on connects a send with its corresponding FX channel. A new send starts at zero, so adding a channel alone does not change the sound.

Pre-fader and post-fader sends#

Click the send's letter to switch between Pre-fader send and Post-fader send. Orange indicates pre-fader.

A post-fader send follows the track's volume. Turn the track down and less reaches the FX channel. A pre-fader send is independent of that volume, so the shared effect can remain audible when the track's fader is at silence. Both kinds stop when the source track is muted or excluded by Solo.

Drag a send horizontally. Hold Shift for fine control. With the bar focused, arrow keys change the amount; Home sets zero and End sets the maximum. Double-click resets it to zero. Right-click the bar to attach a modulator.

These sends follow the track volume when post-fader, but do not follow the track's Pan knob. Set the FX channel's own pan to position its result.

Edit an FX channel#

Collapsed FX channels show a meter, fader and letter. Expand one to reveal:

• Its pan knob and M mute button.
• Its current effects. Click an effect name to bypass or restore it; use its remove button to remove it.
• Add effect…, which offers the seven original effects. An effect already on that channel is omitted from this list.
• Its name, which you can double-click to rename.
• A button to Remove FX channel.

The FX channel's fader controls its processed contribution to the mix. Its effects run in their listed order. This expanded strip provides effect selection and bypass; it does not show the track cards' individual effect knobs or Mix bars. Use the send amount and FX channel fader to balance the effect with your mix.

Right-click an FX channel to expand or collapse it, remove it, or add another FX channel. Removing it also removes every send that fed it.

Master#

Master controls the level you hear. Its fader uses the same gestures as the track faders. Changing this listening level does not change the track balances or their saved volume settings, and does not set the level of a WAV export.

The Peak reading holds the highest Master peak until you click Reset peak. It turns red at 0 dB or above.

LUFS is a short-term loudness estimate over about three seconds. It is based on the channel's measured signal level. Use it to compare passages while working; it is not a calibrated broadcast loudness measurement. It shows — when the signal is too quiet to report a useful value.

The meter above Master and the Master Peak reading have different holds: the upper meter reading clears as new peaks arrive after its short hold, while Master Peak stays until clicked. Lowering a fader does not clear an earlier held peak.

When the mix is silent or too loud#

If a track is silent, check M, S on other tracks, the track fader, the instrument's power state and Master. For a missing shared effect, check the send amount and the FX channel's mute, fader and effect bypass states.

If the sound jumps in level, bypass effects one at a time and watch the meters between them. For distortion, reduce gain before the effect that causes it. Turning down Master makes monitoring quieter, but does not undo distortion already produced inside a track.