Reference Guide

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Tutorial 7 – Mixing and adding effects
Mixing is an important part of recording that can really help the music you create in SONAR sound its
best. Mixing involves placing different instruments and sounds in layers of the frequency spectrum,
adjusting levels so that tracks blend nicely, spreading them across the stereo field and adding effects
where appropriate.
There are many important decisions to make when mixing, things that are sometimes not considered
while writing a song. The choices you make can have a major effect on how pleasurable the listening
experience is for your audience.
In this tutorial, we'll discuss some general guidelines. But, it's important to remember that there are no
rules. This is another artistic stage of song creation.
We'll start by opening the MixingTutorial project:
1. Go to File > Open and select the file named MixingTutorial.cwb.
2. Go to File > Save As and save it under a new name. This way, you can save your work without
overwriting the original, in case you'd like to start over.
See:
“Volume and pan” on page 152
“Adding effects (FX)” on page 153
“Using Automation” on page 158
Note: Tutorial files are located in the C:\Cakewalk Content\SONAR X3 [Producer or
Studio]\Tutorial Projects\Mixing Tutorial folder, by default. If you specified
another location during installation, navigate to the tutorial folder you specified during
installation.