10 · Mixing

Mixing is balancing your tracks into a finished whole — levels, panning, tone, dynamics, effects, and space. This chapter covers the mixing workflow and the features that tie it together. For the individual processors see The Audio Processors; for the full rundown of each strip type see Channel Strip Types.

The Mix view

Switch to MIX to see your session as a mixing console — a row of vertical channel strips:

[ Track ] [ Track ] [ Track ] … | [ Mix Bus ] [ Aux Return ] [ Cue ] [ VCA ] | [ MASTER ]

Track strips come first, then your mix buses, aux returns, cue buses, and VCA groups, with the master anchored on the right. Each strip shows one section at a time — DYN, EQ, INS, or SND — tap the tabs to switch.

The core moves

Level (faders)

Each strip's fader sets its level, metered right beside it (range up to +6 dB). Start by getting a rough balance with faders alone before reaching for processing.

Pan

The pan control places a track across the stereo field, from hard left (−1) through center (0) to hard right (+1). Spread instruments out so they each have their own place.

Mute & Solo

• Mute (M) silences a strip.
• Solo (S) isolates the soloed strip(s) and silences the rest — the fastest way to focus on one element. Soloing understands routing, so soloing a track keeps the buses it feeds audible.

Tone & dynamics

Shape each track with its EQ, compressor, gate, filters, and de-esser (see The Audio Processors), and add plug-in inserts as needed.

Buses — grouping and routing

Rather than sending every track straight to the master, route related tracks to a mix bus so you can process and ride them together.

• Create a bus: main menu ☰ ▸ Add Bus, or from a track's output routing ("add a bus and send this track to it").
• Route a track to a bus: set the track's output to that bus.
• A mix bus has its own full channel strip — filters, gate, de-esser, EQ, compressor, inserts — so you can, e.g., glue a whole drum kit with one compressor, or brighten all the background vocals at once.

Buses can route to other buses or to the master, letting you build sub-mixes (Drums → All Music → Master).

Aux returns — shared effects

An aux return hosts an effect (like reverb or delay) that many tracks share via their aux sends:

1. Add an aux return and choose its effect (reverb type or a delay).
2. On each track, open the Sends (SND) section and raise that track's aux send level.

Now all those tracks feed one reverb, which keeps your mix cohesive and saves CPU. Each send can be pre- or post-fader — post-fader (the usual choice) keeps the effect proportional as you ride the fader; pre-fader is independent.

Aux returns also have their own EQ, dynamics, and inserts, plus built-in reverb (Small/Medium/Large Room, Medium/Large Hall, Plate, Cathedral) and delay (time, feedback, mix).

Cue buses — headphone mixes

A cue bus is a separate headphone mix for performers, sent to its own hardware output pair. Use cue sends on each track to build a mix where the singer hears more of themselves, the drummer hears more click — without touching the main mix the listeners (or the recording) get. A cue bus can also follow the main mix as a starting point.

VCA groups — one fader to rule many

A VCA group is a single control fader that offsets the level of all its members at once, without re-routing audio. Tracks, mix buses, and aux returns can all belong to a VCA group. Assign members and ride the group fader to bring up "all drums" or "all vocals" together while keeping each member's internal balance intact. VCA moves can be automated too.

Bus vs. VCA: a bus actually sums audio through one strip (so you can process the combined signal); a VCA just links faders (no extra processing, no summing). Use a bus to process a group, a VCA to ride a group.

The master bus

The master is the final strip every sound passes through on the way out. It has a mastering-grade chain: tape saturation → filter → EQ → compressor → inserts → brickwall limiter → output. Use it for final polish and to control your overall level and loudness. See Channel Strip Types for full detail.

Edit groups

An edit group links tracks so that actions on one member propagate to all members. This is essential for multi-mic sources — group all the drum-kit mics so editing and balancing happen to the whole kit together.

When you edit one member of an enabled group, these propagate to the others:

• Clip edits and take/comp choices — trimming, comping, splitting, etc.
• Mute, Arm, and Input Monitor — toggled together (matched on/off).
• Solo — soloing one member solos the group.
• Fader and Pan — applied as a relative change, so the members move together while keeping their offsets from one another.

Other notes:

• A group can be enabled or disabled without un-grouping: disable it temporarily to edit one member alone, then re-enable to resume linked editing.
• Groups have a name and color for clarity.

(An edit group links editing and mix-move behavior; a VCA group links a single level offset. You can use both.)

Automation modes

Automation records and plays back control moves over time. Each automatable strip has an automation mode:

Draw and edit automation breakpoints on the track's automation lane in the timeline (see Editing Clips). The automatable parameters are volume (fader), mute, pan, and each aux send level.

A simple mixing workflow

1. Balance with faders only; get the song to feel right with level alone.
2. Pan for width and separation.
3. Subtractive EQ and filters to clear mud and make room.
4. Compress what needs steadying; gate/de-ess problem tracks.
5. Group with buses and VCAs; glue sub-mixes.
6. Add effects via aux returns (reverb/delay).
7. Automate rides and details.
8. Polish on the master bus and check loudness.

Next: Channel Strip Types →