Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

13
The Mixer 

152
The Mixer
Overview
The Mixer offers a common environment for controlling lev-
els, pan, solo/mute status, etc. for both audio and MIDI 
channels. Furthermore it is a convenient environment for 
setting up the input/output routing for multiple tracks or 
channels at the same time.
This chapter contains detailed information about the ele-
ments used when mixing audio and MIDI, or routing audio. 
You will also learn about the various ways you can config
-
ure the Mixer.
Some mixer-related features are...

153
The Mixer
ÖAll options for configuring the Mixer described in this 
chapter are identical for all Mixer windows.
The use of multiple Mixer windows combined with the abil-
ity to recall different Mixer configurations enables you to 
focus on the task at hand and keep window scrolling 
down to a minimum.
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...

154
The Mixer
How to route audio channels to busses is described in the 
section 
“Routing audio to output busses in the Mixer” on 
page 169.
ÖIf the Control Room is disabled (see the chapter “Con-
trol Room” on page 179), the Main Mix (the default output) 
bus is used for monitoring. For information about Monitor-
ing, see “About monitoring” on page 32.
Configuring the Mixer
The Mixer window can be configured in various ways to 
suit your needs and to save screen space. You can decide 
which types of...

155
The Mixer
Showing/hiding channel types
In the lower part of the common panel you will find a vertical 
strip with icons representing the different channel types:
•To hide or show a channel type, click the corresponding 
icon.
If an icon is lit (orange), the corresponding channel type is not visible in 
the Mixer.
•To show all hidden channel types again, click the “Re-
veal All Channels” button.
Configuring the extended channel strips
Using the icons in the extended area of the common panel 
you can...

156
The Mixer
Showing/hiding individual channels
Additionally to hiding or showing channel types via the 
common panel, you can show or hide individual channel 
strips. Proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the View Options pop-up menu for a chan-
nel that you want to hide and activate the “Can Hide” op-
tion (or [Alt]/[Option]-click in the top middle section of the 
channel strip).
The “/” icon is shown if “Can Hide” is activated for a channel strip.
2.Repeat this for all the channels that you want to hide....

157
The Mixer
•You can now return to this stored configuration at any 
time by clicking the “Select Channel View Set” button (the 
down arrow to the left of the “Store View Set” button) and 
selecting it from the pop-up menu.
•To remove a stored channel view set, select it and click 
the “Remove View Set” button (the “-” sign).
Setting the width of channel strips
Each channel strip can be set to either “Wide” or “Narrow” 
mode by using the “Channel Narrow/Wide” button on the 
left above the fader strip....

158
The Mixer
You can use the faders to set up a volume balance be-
tween the audio and MIDI channels, and perform a manual 
mix by moving the faders and other controls while playing 
back. Using the Write function (see 
“Enabling and dis-
abling the writing of automation data” on page 240), you 
can automate the levels and most Mixer actions.
About the level meters for audio channels
When playing back audio in Nuendo, the level meters in 
the Mixer show the level of each audio channel.
•Directly below...

159
The Mixer
About the Input Phase control
Each audio-related channel and input/output channel has 
an Input Phase button (to the left of the Input Gain con
-
trol). When this button is activated, the phase polarity is 
inverted for the signal. Use this to correct for balanced 
lines and mics that are wired backwards, or mics that are 
“out of phase” due to their positioning.
•Phase polarity is important when mixing together two 
similar signals. 
If the signals are “out of phase” with respect to one...

160
The Mixer
Audio-specific procedures
This section describes the options and basic procedures regarding audio channels in the Mixer. The following graphic 
shows different types of (non-extended) audio-related channels (from left to right): an audio track, a group channel, an 
instrument track, an FX channel, and a VST instrument channel:
All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, 
group, effect return, VST instrument, and ReWire) have 
the same channel strip layout, with the following...