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The Mixer
Overview
The Mixer offers a common environment for controlling
levels, pan, solo/mute status, etc. for both audio and MIDI
channels.
This chapter contains detailed information about the ele-
ments used when mixing audio and MIDI. You will also
learn about the various ways you can configure the Mixer.
Some mixer-related features are not described in this
chapter. These are the following:
• Setting up and using audio effects.
See the chapter “Audio effects” on page 131.
• Automation of all Mixer parameters.
See the chapter “Automation” on page 156.
• Mixing down several audio tracks (complete with auto-
mation and effects if you wish) to a single audio file.
See the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 296.
Opening the Mixer
The Mixer can be opened in several ways:
• By selecting Mixer from the Devices menu.
• By clicking the Mixer icon on the toolbar.
If this icon is not visible, you need to activate the “Media & Mixer Win-
dows” option on the toolbar context menu first.
• By using a key command (by default [F3]).
• By clicking the Mixer button in the Devices panel.
You open the Devices panel by selecting Show Panel from the Devices
menu.
What channel types can be shown in the
Mixer?
The following track-based channel types are shown in the
Mixer:
•Audio
•MIDI
• Effect return channels (referred to as FX channels in the
Project window)
• Group channels
• Instrument track channels
The order of audio, MIDI, instrument, group, and effect
return channel strips (from left to right) in the Mixer corre
-
sponds to the track list in the Project window (from top to
bottom). If you reorder tracks of these types in the track
list, this will be mirrored in the Mixer.
In addition to the above, the following channel types are
also shown in the Mixer:
• Activated ReWire channels (not in Cubase LE), see the
chapter
“ReWire (not in Cubase LE)” on page 324.
ReWire channels cannot be reordered and always appear to the right of
other channels in the main Mixer pane.
• VST instrument channels (not in Cubase LE), see the
chapter “VST instruments and instrument tracks” on page
145.
VST instrument (VSTi) channels can be reordered in the track list which
will in turn be mirrored in the Mixer.
Output busses in the Mixer
The output busses you set up in the VST Connections
window are represented by output channels in the Mixer.
They are shown in a separate pane (to the right of the reg
-
ular channel strips), with its own divider and horizontal
scrollbar. The output channel strip is very similar to other
audio channels.
• You hide and show this pane by activating or deactivat-
ing the “Hide Output Channels” button on the common
panel (see “The common panel” on page 116).
Ö Note that only the output busses are available in the
Mixer – not the input busses.