User guide

Tracktion 4 Reference Manual
147
7.3 : Mix Automation
Creating Automation Curves
Mix automation describes the process of having mix parameters vary along the time-line of your edit.
For example, you may want the percussion to drop slightly in level when the chorus starts to make way
for an increase in background instrumentation. You may also want to increase the amount of chorus
and reverb applied to the backing vocals, during the chorus section. Alternatively, for electronic and ex-
perimental music, you may want to vary settings like cut-off and resonance on your virtual instruments.
Mix automation allows you to do all these things, and more.
There are a number of ways of creating automation curves. Points can be manually created, moved,
and edited, both during play-back and when play-back is stopped. Alternatively, they can be recorded
in real time both by making changes to lter parameters on screen, or by recording changes from hard-
ware controllers such as MIDI controllers and control surfaces. Both of these hardware approaches are
discussed later in this chapter, but for now let’s look at editing automation curves just in Tracktion.
Automation curves can be activated by clicking on the “A” symbol at the top-right-hand corner of
every track (Fig. 7.3.1). The pop-up list will show you all of the automatable parameters for the current
track, as well as parameters for master lters such as the master volume / pan control. Automation
curves can be hidden by clicking on the “A” symbol, and selecting the hide automation curves for this
track option. This does not disable or lose the curve, it’s purely a cosmetic thing, and can help avoid
making inadvertent changes to an automation curve through accidental mouse clicks..
You can also drag the “A” icon onto a lter icon and drop it there to see only automatable parameters
for that lter. This can be particularly handy when a track contains a number of lters, or if there are a
few lters of the same type on the track, and you wish to be sure that you are selecting the correct one
to automate.
A further useful trick that is available when dragging the “A” icon to a lter surface is that you can
view automation curves on any track, rather than just the track that contains the lter. For example, you
could drag the “A” icon from track #2 to a delay lter on track #4. This would allow you to see the auto-
mation curve for the delay on track #2, even though the delay is on track #4. So, why would you want
to do this? Perhaps the most useful aspect of this feature is that you can see more than one automa-
tion curve for a track at once. Let’s say you wanted to see both the automation for track #1’s volume,
but you also wanted to see the pan curve for that track alongside it. With the draggable “A” icon, this is
easily achieved: simply show the volume curve as normal, then drag the “A” icon from track #2 to the
vol/pan lter on track #1, and select the pan parameter. You’ll now have both parameters for that lter
visible at once.
The important thing to take from this is that automation curves belong to a lter, not a a track. This
means that if you move a lter from one track to another, you can be sure that the automation curves
associated with it will follow along.
Figure 7.3.1