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9 <section id="mixer-strips">
10 <title>Mixer Strips</title>
12 Each track and bus is represented in the mixer window by a
13 <emphasis>mixer strip</emphasis> that contains various controls related
14 to signal flow. There are two places in Ardour in which you can see
15 mixer strips. The mixer window is the obvious one (and the one we deal
16 with here), but you can also view a single mixer strip in the editor
17 window by clicking the <guibutton>editor mixer</guibutton> button.
21 <imagedata fileref="images/mixerstrip.png"/>
25 this image needs replacing with labels and better resolution The mixer
26 strip for a bus is essentially identical to the one for an audio track,
27 but it is missing certain controls that make no sense - you cannot
28 record into a bus, so there is no record enable button, for example.
32 The mixer strips are designed to visually model signal flow. The input
33 button selects the input of the track that this mixer strip monitors.
34 The outputs of the track (the 'tape recorder') are 'hard-wired' to the
35 inputs of the mixer strip. Think of the input to the strip starting at
36 the polarity switch, flowing down through the prefader
37 inserts/plugins/sends section, through the gain fader, past the
38 postfader inserts/plugins/sends section, the panner, and out through the
39 output selector. In the case of a bus, there is no 'tape machine'
40 inserted between the input selector and the actual input of the strip,
41 but the signal flow is identical otherwise.
44 <section id="mixer-strip-narrow-strip-button">
45 <title>Narrow Mixer Strip Button</title>
47 the button on the top left of the mixer strip is labelled with two
48 arrows separated by a line. Left clicking this button will reduce the
49 horizontal size of the mixer strip. Clicking it again will restore the
50 previous size. The first click also has the effect of shortening the
51 names of controls. Plugin lists become very small in this mode,
52 however more faders are accessible without scrolling. Your needs may
53 vary, hence the existence of this button.
57 <section id="mixer-strip-hide-button">
58 <title>Hide Button</title>
60 The button opposite the <emphasis>Narrow Mixer Strip Button</emphasis>
61 hides the mixer strip from view. this button has no effect on signal
62 flow or muting. When a mixer strip is hidden, it's entry in the strips
63 list is darkened. To restore the mixer strip to the visible state,
64 click it's entry in the strip list with the left mouse button.
68 <section id="mixer-strip-track-name">
69 <title>Track Name</title>
71 The track name displays the current name of the track as displayed in
72 the editor window. right-clicking on the name brings up a drop-down
73 menu that allows you to rename, activate, deactivate and remove the
74 track. Selecting <guimenuitem>Rename</guimenuitem> opens a new window
75 displaying the name of the track. to change it, type your change and
76 press ok. to leave it unaltered, press cancel. Selecting
77 <guimenuitem>remove</guimenuitem> opens a new window asking for
78 confirmation of your track removal request. removing a track removes
79 that track from the project. If the playlist used by the removed track
80 is not used by any other track, it will also be removed.
84 <section id="mixer-strip-group-button">
85 <title>Group Button</title>
87 The group button displays the name of the currently selected mix
88 group. if no group is selected, it will read no group. when clicked, a
89 drop-down menu appears which lists the current mixer groups, along
90 with the option no group. if a group is selected, any fader movement
91 on one of the group member faders will be translated to the other
96 <section id="mixer-strip-input-selector">
97 <title>Input Selector</title>
99 The input selector allows you to assign hardware or software inputs to
100 the track that this mixer strip monitors. clicking on the input box
101 makes a drop-down menu appear which lists ready-made combinations of
102 jack ports, along with the options disconnect and edit. You can either
103 select a preset hardware input combination from the drop-down list, or
104 select <guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem> to open the input selector
105 window which allows finer control, such as changing the number of
106 inputs to the track or using software devices as inputs. For more
107 information on this window, see <xref linkend="sn-other-windows"/>.
108 <guibutton>Disconnect</guibutton> removes all input assignments while
109 leaving the number of ports untouched.
113 <section id="mixer-strip-polarity-button">
114 <title>Polarity Button</title>
116 The polarity button, when pressed, inverts the phase of the signal as
117 it leaves the track and enters the mixer strip. it has no effect on
118 the signal being recorded to disk. It has no effect on the timing of
123 <section id="mixer-strip-solo-button">
124 <title>Solo Button</title>
126 The solo button puts the mixer strip in solo mode. the solo indicator
127 in the editor window will flash if any mixer strip is set to solo, and
128 only those tracks that are set in solo will be routed through the
133 <section id="mixer-strip-mute-button">
134 <title>Mute Button</title>
136 The mute button mutes the output of the mixer strip.
140 <section id="mixer-strip-track-speed-control">
141 <title>Track Speed Control</title>
143 The track speed allows a varispeed setting to be applied to the track.
144 a setting of <literal>1.0</literal> corresponds to the normal playback
145 speed of the session. a setting of <literal>0.5</literal> will play at
146 half normal playback speed. when altered, the track will be redrawn to
147 reflect the new position of the audio resulting from the speed change.
148 The Track Speed Control has three decimal places of precision. A left
149 or right click on the displayed number will raise or lower the track
150 speed by 0.1%. when the speed is not exactly 1, the display will be
151 coloured red. Hovering over the displayed number will allow you to use
152 the mouse wheel to set the desired speed. A middle click on the
153 displayed number will return the speed to exactly 1.
159 <section id="mixer-strip-record-enable-button">
160 <title>Record Enable Button</title>
162 The record enable button arms the track for recording. pressing this
163 will change the way you monitor and meter the selected input signal
164 depending on the state of the monitoring settings in the options
165 editor, as well as the auto input setting in the editor.
169 <section id="mixer-strip-automation-mode-buttons">
170 <title>Automation Mode Buttons</title>
172 The automation mode buttons allow you to select a fader or pan
173 automation mode from a drop-down list. see
174 <xref linkend="sn-automation"/> for more information about automation
179 <section id="mixer-strip-redirect-boxes">
180 <title>Redirect Boxes</title>
182 These dark areas above and below the fader allow you to place inserts,
183 sends and plugins into the signal path before and after the fader
184 respectively. you may also easily reorder them whilst playing.
185 collectively, the objects that belong in these boxes are called
186 redirects. If there are redirects present in the channel, they can be
187 reordered by dragging them vertically. because plugins and inserts can
188 have different numbers of inputs to outputs, sometimes you may reach a
189 situation where the inputs and outputs cannot be all connected
190 sensibly. in this case, your reordering change will be disallowed by
195 Right clicking within the dark area will bring up a drop-down menu
196 which allows you to manipulate the redirects in various ways.
200 <title>Redirect Boxes</title>
202 <term><guimenuitem>new plugin</guimenuitem></term>
205 selecting new plugin will open a dialog which lists the plugins
206 available on your system. selecting a plugin which is compatible
207 with the number of streams in the channel at that point will
208 result in the plugin being placed in the redirect box in an
209 inactive state. this is indicated by the brackets around the
210 plugin name. double-clicking the plugin name will bring up a
211 window that allows you to control the parameters of the plugin
212 statically (including bypass) or using automation. all plugins
213 that report their latency are time-compensated automatically in
220 <term><guimenuitem>new insert</guimenuitem></term>
223 places at least two new jack ports at that point in the mixer
224 strip (one input, one output). these ports will then be
225 available to any jack client (including Ardour itself), allowing
226 another program (or channels within another program) to be
227 inserted across the channel. hardware ports may also, of course,
228 be used, allowing the insertion of outboard equipment. the
229 insert will then appear in the redirect box in brackets
230 indicating that it is inactive. to activate or deactivate an
231 insert, right-click on it and select activate. double-clicking
232 on the insert will bring up a dialog which allows to to assign
233 its inputs and outputs to other jack ports.
239 <term><guimenuitem>new send</guimenuitem></term>
242 selecting new send will first bring up a dialog box that enables
243 you to select the number of outputs the send has, along with the
244 destination of each output. closing this dialog will reveal the
245 name of the send in brackets, indicating that it is inactive. to
246 activate the send, right click on it and select Activate.
247 double-clicking on the send brings up the previous dialog, which
248 will now include a fader which is provided for level control.
254 <term><guimenuitem>clear</guimenuitem></term>
257 selecting clear in the menu removes all redirects from the mixer
258 strip (pre and post fader). you can remove an individual
259 redirect by holding the shift key and right clicking it.
265 <term><guimenuitem>cut</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>copy</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>paste</guimenuitem></term>
268 these items allow you to cut, copy and paste plugins, including
269 their current settings, between Redirect Boxes.
275 <term><guimenuitem>rename</guimenuitem></term>
278 selecting rename will bring up a dialog displaying the name of
279 the selected redirect. change the name by typing into the text
280 area and pressing ok.
286 <term><guimenuitem>select all/deselect all</guimenuitem></term>
289 these two options select or deselect all plugins in the channel.
290 this could be used, for instance, in preparation to copy all
291 plugins from a channel to another one, along with the current
298 <term><guimenuitem>activate/deactivate</guimenuitem></term>
301 selecting either of these will activate or deactivate the
302 currently selected redirect(s) respectively. deactivate is the
303 equivalent of <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem>.
308 note that you can bypass a plugin from it's parameter window
309 as well as from here.
316 <term><guimenuitem>activate all/deactivate all</guimenuitem></term>
319 selecting either of these will activate or deactivate all
320 redirect(s) in the mixer strip respectively. deactivate is the
321 equivalent of <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> if you're a
328 <term><guimenuitem>edit</guimenuitem></term>
331 selecting edit brings up the controls relevent to the selected
332 redirect. this is the equivalent to holding control and
333 right-clicking on a redirect. note that the right click method
334 will not bring up the controls of the selected redirect, only
335 the one beneath the mouse pointer.
342 <section id="mixer-strip-pre-post-input-button">
343 <title>Pre/Post/Input Button</title>
345 This button cycles between three metering modes, which determine which
346 signal is fed to the meters. the modes are pre-fader (the signal at
347 the input to the fader), post-fader and input (the level at the track
348 input). left clicking cycles through the three modes one step at a
349 time, while middle-clicking alternates between the current setting and
350 the setting two steps ahead. this allows one-click direct a/b
351 comparison between all available monitoring points.
355 <section id="mixer-strip-gain-display">
356 <title>Gain Display</title>
358 this control displays the current gain of the fader to the nearest
359 0.1dB. left clicking on the value will lower the gain by an amount
360 dependent upon the fader position the graduations become smaller as
361 the fader nears 0dB gain. right clicking increases the gain by the
362 same amount. middle clicking resets the gain to 0dB.
366 <section id="mixer-strip-unit-selector">
367 <title>Unit Selector</title>
369 Right clicking on the meter bars allows you to select the range of
370 signal levels displayed by the meters. the selected range will be
371 displayed as a column of numbers next to the meter. /*XXX this feature
372 is currently not working*/ Gain Level Display
376 <section id="mixer-strip-peak-meter">
377 <title>Peak Meter</title>
379 This control displays the highest peak since the last peak meter
380 reset. Resetting the peak meter is achieved by left-clicking the
381 displayed number. The peak meter monitors the signal selected by the
382 <emphasis>Pre/Post/Input Button</emphasis> .. the same signal as the
383 meters. It should be noted here that 0dBfs corresponds a value equal
384 to the maximum input or output level of your audio hardware,
385 independent of it's bit depth.
389 <section id="mixer-strip-gain-fader">
390 <title>Gain Fader</title>
392 The fader changes the signal level within the mixer strip before the
393 post-fader plugins, which are before the output ports. 6dB of gain is
394 allowed. there are several shortcuts available for the fader. Using
395 the scroll wheel of your mouse while hovering above the fader will
396 coarsely change its position. Holding the control key whilst mouse
397 wheeling will give you finer control. Holding the shift key and
398 clicking the fader will reset it to unity gain. Holding control and
399 pressing the middle mouse button whilst over the fader will allow you
400 to bind a midi control to it, provided you have an available midi
401 device set in the options menu.
405 <section id="mixer-strip-meters">
406 <title>Meters</title>
408 The number of meters displayed next to the fader is dependent on the
409 number of inputs or outputs the channel has, whichever is greater. The
410 meters provide a colour-graduated scale from -50 dBfs to +6dBfs. They
411 display the instantaneous value of the signal at the monitoring point
412 selected by the Pre/Post/Input button. 0dBfs corresponds a value equal
413 to the maximum input or output level of your audio hardware,
414 independent of it's bit depth. Exceeding 0dBfs does not correspond to
415 running out of headroom within the mixer, or in any signal path
416 subsequent to that point within the Jack server. It merely means that
417 if that signal is connected directly to a hardware port whose
418 resolution is less than the 32-bit floating point resolution that
419 Ardour uses (i.e. a soundcard), then that port will exceed it's
420 maximum output level, resulting in distortion. hitting 0dB within the
421 mixer (or any point in the Jack server) means that you have
422 approximately 100dB of headroom remaining. as it is unlikely that you
423 will reach this point, it is not represented in any special way by the
424 meter. Naturally, if the input is selected as the monitoring point for
425 the meter, exceeding 0dBfs means that the input of your a/d converter
430 <section id="mixer-strip-panner">
431 <title>Panner</title>
433 The panner in Ardour is actually two panners. Because any mixer strip
434 in Ardour can route any number of streams of audio anywhere, the idea
435 of panning can be a complex one. To allow for the current
436 stereo-centric mainstream world as well as the multi-speaker
437 experimental one, one of two styles of panner will appear here
438 depending on the number of outputs the channel strip has. In the
439 simple case of mono channel input / stereo output, a single panner
440 will be present. The current pan position is represented by a dot (the
441 dot is the audio stream) which lies between the letters 'L' and 'R',
442 which represent the left and right outputs respectively. To change the
443 panning position of the stream, move the mouse while holding down the
444 left mouse button. the dot will follow your mouse pointer. To
445 introduce sudden changes to the pan setting, place the mouse pointer
446 over the desired position and click the middle mouse button. The pan
447 control will immediately snap to the mouse pointer position. The
448 panner may be bypassed by right-clicking the control and selecting
449 <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> from the drop-down menu. The panner
450 will immediately be bypassed. The increased level you notice when the
451 panner is bypassed is due to the way panning works. It is not a bug.
452 <emphasis>XXX what gain law is used in the panner?</emphasis>
456 In the case of a stereo input / stereo output combination, two panning
457 controls will appear, one corresponding to each audio stream. You can
458 <emphasis>link</emphasis> the controls together in two different ways
459 in this situation, using the direction arrows next to the
460 <guibutton>link</guibutton> button. Panners can be linked to travel
461 either in opposite directions or to maintain a consistent stereo width
462 across the travel of the control. These two modes are represented by
463 the orientation of the two arrows next to the
464 <guibutton>link</guibutton> button, which point in either the same or
465 opposite directions. The <guibutton>link</guibutton> button must be
466 engaged before you can change the <emphasis>link</emphasis> mode. To
467 link all the panners in a mixer strip, left-click the
468 <guibutton>link</guibutton> button, then select the desired link mode
469 by pressing the button marked with arrows.
473 Let's get a little more complicated by adding another output to the
474 mixer strip. From this point onwards, the panning positions are
475 represented with numbered dots on a square field. Orange dots
476 represent the outputs, and the numbered dots represent the streams.
477 the position of the outputs change according to the number of outputs
478 in the strip. This happens in order to allow the most useful
479 arrangement of the available space. At some point, adding an output
480 will cause the outputs to line up from the top left of the panning
481 square towards the centre. this is to allow for the 'multi-speaker big
482 sweep' to occur - where the sound is panned from speaker to speaker
483 around the room in sequence.
487 Don't forget that you can bypass the panner by right clicking and
488 selecting <guimenuitem>bypass</guimenuitem> from the drop-down menu.
489 this may simplify your multi-speaker setup, as often in this type of
490 project panning between all speakers or outputs is not required on all
495 <section id="mixer-strip-output-selector">
496 <title>Output Selector</title>
498 The output selector allows you to assign the outputs of each mixer
499 strip. left-clicking the output selector causes a ready-made list of
500 output ports to appear in a drop-down menu, along with edit and
501 disconnect options. Selecting <guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem> will
502 allow you to change the number of outputs the channel has, as well as
503 select software and hardware ports to route signals to. For more
504 information on the window that appears when you select this option,
505 see the <xref linkend="sn-other-windows"/>.
506 <guimenuitem>Disconnect</guimenuitem> will leave the number of output
507 ports unchanged, but remove all assignments to output ports.
511 <section id="mixer-strip-scratch-pad">
512 <title>Scratch Pad</title>
514 This is the text area below the <guibutton>output</guibutton> button.
515 it allows you to enter any notes that you feel may be relevant to that
516 track. The notes are stored when you save the session.