Navigating in the Main Mixer

Viewing the Main Mixer area

There are several ways to bring the Main Mixer area into view:

•	By dragging the gray Rack header downwards to reveal the mixer area.

•	By pressing [F5] on your keyboard or selecting “View Main Mixer” from the Windows menu.

•	By clicking the Show/Hide icon on the gray Mixer header.

•	To view the mixer in a separate window, either click the Detach icon on the Mixer header, select “Detach Main Mixer Window” from the Windows menu or hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [F5].

Scrolling and navigating in the Main Mixer

The Channel Strip Navigator and Mixer scrollbar allow you to navigate between channels in the Main Mixer or to focus on a specific channel strip area. The Channel Strip navigator area can be shown/hidden using the “Show Navigators” Options menu item.

The Channel Strip Navigator is the miniature mixer and channel strip area at the far right of the Main Mixer window. The blue rectangle shown inside the area acts much in the same way as a scrollbar in standard document windows. If you move the pointer inside the rectangle the pointer changes to a hand, allowing you to click and scroll. You can also click anywhere in the Navigator area to immediately get to the desired destination.

•	The Mixer scrollbar allows you to scroll between all the channels in the mixer.

The Mixer scrollbar will only show and scroll the regular channel strips - the Master Section is always visible and fixed to the right in the Main Mixer area.

•	The Channel Strip Navigator area allows you to scroll between the various channel strip sections (channel strip sections can also be hidden, see below).

All areas of the channel strips and Master Section can be scrolled, except the Channel Header section (the area below the faders) which is always visible at the bottom. If the Main Mixer is detached, the fader section is also always visible and stays at the bottom.

•	Alternatively, you can use a mouse scroll wheel or a trackpad to scroll.

•	The [left]/[right] arrow keys can be used to move between channels

•	The [Page Up]/[Page Down] keys can be used to scroll vertically.

•	The [Home] and [End] keys will scroll the mixer to the leftmost and rightmost channel strip, respectively.

Showing and hiding channel strip sections

Channel strips are divided into sections, which can be globally shown or hidden in the mixer. This enables you to hide sections that you don’t need to tweak or to focus on specific sections. Hiding a section does not alter the mixer functionality in any way, sections are still active when hidden.

Each section has a section name header in the channel strip. The sections are as follows (from the top down): Input, Dynamics, EQ, Inserts, FX Sends and Fader. (See “The channel strip” for descriptions of each section.)

The section headers are always visible even if a section is hidden, as is the channel header (name label) section below the faders. Note that if the Main Mixer is detached from the rack, the fader section cannot be hidden.

Section headers in the channel strip. A red light to the right of the section header name indicates that the section is in use for the channel. Here, all sections are hidden (except the Fader section), so that only the section headers are visible.

There are two ways to show/hide channel strip sections:

By using the Show/Hide buttons in the bottom right corner of the Channel Strip Navigator.

Each button enables you to show or hide the corresponding section. Hidden sections are indicated by grayed-out buttons. Hold down [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) and click on any of the buttons to show or hide all sections in one go. Hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click on a button to show this section and hide all other sections.

The Show/Hide buttons. Here, the EQ section is hidden.

By double-clicking a section header in the channel strip.

This will also show or hide the corresponding section.

•	Showing/hiding channel strip sections affects all channel strips, including the Master Section strip.

Differences between the channel strips and the Master Section strip

Showing/hiding mixer strip sections also affects the Master Section strip. There are a few differences in the Master Section and the channel strip sections when using the Show/Hide buttons:

•	There is no Input section in the Master Section. If the Input section is shown, the Master Section will display a blank panel.

•	The “EQ” Show/Hide button affects the FX Send section in the Master Section.

•	The “FX Sends” Show/Hide button affects the FX Return section.

Switching between channels, rack devices and tracks

The RACK and SEQ buttons allow you to go to a channel’s rack device or sequencer track directly from the Main Mixer. Both buttons are located in the Channel Header section of the Main Mixer:

If you click the RACK button the following happens:

For Audio Track channels, this will bring the Audio Track rack device into view.

The rack area will be shown (if hidden) with the channel device in view.

For Mix channels, this will bring the Source device (i.e. the instrument device connected to the channel) into view.

[Shift]-clicking the RACK button for a Mix channel will instead bring the Mix Channel device into view.

The SEQ button allows you to go to a channel’s sequencer track from the mixer. The SEQ button is also located in the Channel Header section. If you click the SEQ button the following happens:

For Audio Track channels, this will bring the Audio Track into view.

The sequencer area will be shown (if hidden) with the track in view.

For Mix channels, this will bring the track for the Source device into view.

[Shift]-clicking the SEQ button for a Mix channel will instead bring the Mix Channel automation track into view. If there isn’t an automation track, one will automatically be created.

If you have previously deleted Mix Channel tracks and/or Audio tracks in the sequencer, clicking the SEQ buttons on the corresponding channel strips in the mixer will automatically create new sequencer tracks.

To find the mixer channel for a specific track in the sequencer, or for a specific Mix Channel or Audio Track device in the rack, proceed as follows:

1.	Select the track in the sequencer, or select the Mix Channel/Audio Track device in the rack.

2.	Bring the mixer into view.

The channel will get Edit Focus (see “Channel Header section”) and be scrolled into view in the Main Mixer. If you have both the sequencer and Main Mixer in view, or the rack and Main Mixer, clicking a track in the Track List, or on a Mix Channel/Audio Track device in the rack, will flash the corresponding channel strip in the Main Mixer.