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 not described in this 
chapter. These are the following:
•Setting up and using audio effects.
See the chapter “Audio effects” on page 195.
•Setting up and using MIDI effects.
See the chapter “MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 372.
•Surround Sound.
See the chapter “Surround sound” on page 226.
•Automation of all Mixer parameters.
See the chapter “Automation” on page 239.
•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 473.
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 Windows” 
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.
Opening multiple Mixer windows
Several separate Mixer items are available on the Devices 
menu. These are not separate Mixers, but rather separate 
views of the same Mixer. 
•Each of the Mixer windows can be configured to show 
any combination of channels, channel types, narrow and 
wide channel strips, etc.
For example, you can configure one Mixer window to show MIDI channel 
strips, another to show input and output channels, and another to show 
all audio-related channels.
•You can also save channel configurations as view sets 
(see 
“Channel view sets” on page 156), which are then 
accessible from all Mixer windows. 
						

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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 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 (see the chapter “ReWire” on 
page 548).
• VST instrument channels (see the chapter “VST instruments 
and instrument tracks” on page 215).
ReWire channels cannot be reordered and always appear 
to the right of other channels in the main Mixer pane. VST 
instrument (VSTi) channels can be reordered in the track 
list which will in turn be mirrored in the Mixer.
Input and output busses in the Mixer
The busses you set up in the VST Connections window 
are represented by input and output channels in the Mixer. 
They are shown in separate panes (to the left and right of 
the regular channel strips), with their own dividers and 
horizontal scrollbars. Input and output channel strips are 
very similar. The only difference between the two is that in
-
put channels have no Solo buttons and no sends.
•You can hide and show these panes by activating or 
deactivating the “Hide Input Channels” or “Hide Output 
Channels” button on the common panel (see 
“The com-
mon panel” on page 154).
For input and output channel strips the following controls 
are available:
•You can check and adjust the input level using the Input 
Gain knobs and/or the level fader.
See “Setting input levels” on page 96.
•You can change the phase of the input signal.
This is done by clicking the Input Phase button next to the Input Gain 
control.
•You can add effects or EQ to the busses.
See “Recording with effects” on page 101 for an example of how to add effects to your recording at the input bus stage.
•You can open the Channel Settings window to add ef-
fects or EQ.
These will affect the whole bus. Examples of effects you may want to add 
here include compressors, limiters and dithering, see the chapter 
“Audio effects” on page 195.
For information on how to set up input and output busses, 
see the chapter 
“VST Connections” on page 27.
!The settings you make for the input channel will be a 
permanent part of the recorded audio file!
Input Gain
Bus level meter Automation controls
Clipping indicator, see 
“Setting input levels” 
on page 96. Speaker configuration
Inserts, EQ, and Sends
indicators and bypass 
buttons Input Phase button
Mute, Solo, and Listen 
buttons (only the Output 
bus features a Solo 
button)Bus volume fader
Edit button
Pan control 
						

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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 channels are displayed (see 
“Showing/hid-
ing channel types” on page 155), and expand the view to 
open additional sections above the fader display (see be-
low). On the left is the common panel which allows for 
global settings affecting all channels (see 
“The common 
panel” on page 154).
Normal vs. extended channel strips
While the fader panel in the Mixer is always visible, you 
can show/hide extended channel strips and the routing 
section at the top of the channel strips. The correspond
-
ing buttons can be found on the common panel on the left 
of the Mixer window. For details about the common panel, 
see 
“The common panel” on page 154.
The fader panel shows the basic controls – faders, pan 
controls and an associated vertical row of buttons. The ex
-
tended panel can be set to show EQs, send effects, insert 
effects, etc. The routing panel contains input and output 
routing pop-up menus (where applicable), along with In
-
put Phase and Input Gain controls for audio-related chan-
nel strips or an Input Transformer control for MIDI channel 
strips.
The extended panel and the routing panel can be shown 
and hidden as follows:
•On the common panel, click the “Show Extended Mixer” 
button or the “Show Routing View” button (respectively).
These options are also available on the Window submenu of the Mixer 
context menu.
Showing the extended Mixer panel
•On the common panel, click the “Hide Extended Mixer” 
button or the “Hide Routing View” button (respectively). 
These buttons (down arrows) are only visible when the 
corresponding section is open.
These options are also available on the Window submenu of the Mixer 
context menu.
Hiding the routing panel
The common panel
The common panel can be found on the left of the Mixer 
window. It contains settings for changing the look and 
behavior of the Mixer, as well as global settings for all 
channels.
In standard mode (extended view is hidden), the common 
panel contains the following controls:
Global automation 
Read/Write buttons
View set buttons, see 
“Channel view sets” on 
page 156. Channel type buttons, 
see below.
Global channel width 
controls, see “Setting the 
width of channel strips” 
on page 157.
Opens the VST 
Connections window, 
see “The VST 
Connections window”
on page 28. Reset Mixer/Reset 
Channels
Channel settings copy/
paste, see “Copying 
settings between audio 
channels” on page 166.Global Mute, Solo and 
Listen buttons
“Command Target” 
options, see “About the 
Command Target” on 
page 156. 
						

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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 determine globally what is displayed in the ex
-
tended Mixer panel for all channel strips. Depending on 
the channel type, the following options are available:
•For a description of the options available for audio-re-
lated channels, see “Options for extended audio channel 
strips” on page 160. The options for MIDI channels are 
described in the section “Options for extended MIDI 
channel strips” on page 174.
•To apply the global view settings also to the input and 
output channels, press [Alt]/[Option] while clicking on an 
icon.
•To set up the extended channel strip individually for a 
channel, you can use the View Options pop-up menu, see 
below. 
The View Options pop-up menu
Each channel strip in the Mixer features a View Options 
pop-up menu, which is used for two things:
•To determine what is shown in the extended panel for 
individual channels in the Mixer.
The corresponding options are only available when the extended Mixer 
view is open.
•To set the “Can Hide” status for individual channels in 
the Mixer, see below.
The View Options pop-up menu is opened by clicking the 
down arrow located just above the fader panel of a chan
-
nel strip.
Input Channels
Audio Channels
Group Channels
ReWire Channels
MIDI Channels
VST Instrument Channels
FX Channels
Output Channels “Can Hide” options, see 
“Showing/hiding individual 
channels” on page 156
Reveal All Channels
Clear all views  
(blank panels)
Show all Inserts
Show all EqualizersShow all Equalizers with 
Curve
Show all Sends
Show Sends 1–4 or 5–8
Show SurroundPanners 
(where applicable)
Show all Meters
Show Channel 
Overview Show Studio Sends
Show Direct Routing
Show Wave Meters 
						

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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.
3.On the common panel, click the “Hide Channels set to 
‘Can Hide’” button.
This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the 
button again, or click the “Reveal All Channels” button at the bottom of 
the common panel.
Below the “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” button, there 
are three additional buttons. These have the following 
functionality:
About the Command Target
Command targets let you specify which channels are af-
fected by Mixer “commands” (all the functions that key 
commands can be assigned to), e.
 g. what to display in the 
extended Mixer, or the width setting of the channel strips. 
You can set command targets using the common panel or 
the context menu.
The Command Target Controls on the common panel
The following options are available:
• All Channels – Select this if you want your commands to af-
fect all channels.
• Selected Only – Select this if you want your commands to 
affect the selected channels only.
• Exclude Inputs – Select this if you do not want your com-
mands to affect the input channels.
• Exclude Outputs – Select this if you do not want your com-
mands to affect the output channels.
Channel view sets
Channel view sets are saved configurations of the Mixer 
window, allowing you to quickly switch between different 
layouts for the Mixer. The following settings are stored in 
view sets:
• Settings for individual channel strips (e. g. narrow or wide 
mode and whether the channel strip is hidden or set to “Can 
Hide”).
• The global hide/show status for channel types.
• The panel hide/show status (fader panel, extended panel, 
routing panel).
• Configuration of the extended view.
To create a view set, proceed as follows:
1.Set up the Mixer configuration that you want to save.
2.At the bottom of the common panel, click the “Store 
View Set” button (the “+” sign).
3.A dialog opens, allowing you to enter a name for the 
view set.
4.Click OK to store the current Mixer view set.
OptionDescription
Set Target Channels 
to ‘Can Hide’This activates “Can Hide” for all channels that you 
specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from Target ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all channels that 
you specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from All ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all channels in the 
Mixer.
The orange color of this control on the common panel 
indicates that all channels set to ‘Can Hide’ are hidden from 
view. 
						

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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.
•Narrow channel strips contain a narrow fader, miniature 
buttons, and the View Options pop-up menu.
In the extended panel, only the Channel Overview, the Meter and the Di-
rect Routing outputs are shown in narrow mode. (All other parameters 
are shown again when you return to wide mode.)
A wide and a narrow channel strip
•If you select “All targets narrow” or “All targets wide” on 
the common panel, all channel strips selected as command 
targets (see 
“About the Command Target” on page 156) 
are affected.
The Window submenu
The Mixer context menu, opened by right-clicking any-
where on the Mixer window background, contains a Win-
dow submenu. Its options are handy for quickly switching 
to another open Mixer window, showing/hiding the differ
-
ent Mixer panes, etc. It contains the following options:
•Show Routing View
Allows you to show/hide the topmost section of the Mixer which contains 
the input/output routing settings.
•Show Extended View
Allows you to show/hide the middle section of the Mixer, where you can 
display different settings for the channels (EQs, Send effects, etc.).
•Next Mixer
This displays the next Mixer window (if you have several Mixer windows 
open).
Basic mixing procedures
Setting volume in the Mixer
In the Mixer, each channel strip has a volume fader. 
•For audio channels, the faders control the volume of the 
channels before they are routed (directly or via a group 
channel) to an output bus.
Each channel can in turn handle up to 12 speaker channels – see the 
chapter “Surround sound” on page 226.
•An output channel fader determines the master output 
level of all audio channels routed to that output bus.
•MIDI channels handle fader volume changes in the 
Mixer by sending out MIDI volume messages to the con
-
nected instrument(s).
Connected instruments must be set to respond to MIDI messages (such 
as MIDI volume in this case) for this to function properly.
•The fader settings are displayed numerically below the 
faders, in dB for audio-related channels and as MIDI vol
-
ume (0 to 127) for MIDI channels.
You can click in the fader value fields and type in a new volume value.
•To make fine volume adjustments, hold down [Shift] 
when you move the faders.
•If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on a fader, 
it is reset to its default value, i.
 e. to 0.0 dB for audio-re-
lated channels, or to 100 for MIDI channels.
Most Mixer parameters can be reset to their default values like this.
!Some remote control devices support this function, 
which means that you can use the remote device to 
switch between the channel view sets. 
						

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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 the level meter is a small level readout – 
this shows the highest registered level in the signal.
Click this to reset the peak levels.
•Peak levels can also be shown as static horizontal lines 
in the meter, see 
“Changing the meter characteristics” on 
page 167.
ÖNuendo uses 32 bit floating point processing internally, 
so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals can go way 
beyond 0
 dB without clipping. Having higher levels than 
0
 dB for individual audio channels is therefore not a problem 
in itself. The audio quality will not be degraded by this.
However, when many high level signals are mixed in an 
output bus, this may require that you lower the output 
channel level a lot (see below). Therefore it is good prac
-
tice to keep the maximum levels for individual audio chan-
nels roughly around 0 dB.
About the level meters for input and output channels
Input and output channels have clipping indicators.
•When you are recording, clipping can occur when the 
analog signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware. 
It is also possible to get clipping in the signal being recorded to disk 
(when 16 or 24 bit record format is used and you have adjusted the 
Mixer settings for the input channel). For more information, see 
“Setting input levels” on page 96.
•In the output busses, the floating point audio is converted 
to the resolution of the audio hardware. In the integer audio 
domain, the maximum level is 0
 dB – higher levels cause the 
clipping indicator for each bus to light up.
If the clipping indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – 
digital distortion which is to be avoided.
About the Input Gain control
Each audio-related channel and input/output channel fea-
tures an Input Gain knob. It controls the gain for the in-
coming signal, before EQ and effects.
The Input Gain knob is not meant to be used as a volume 
control in the Mixer, as it is not suited for continuous level 
adjustments during playback. However, it can be used to 
cut or boost the gain. This is useful in the following cir
-
cumstances:
•To change the level of a signal before the effects sec-
tion.
The level going into certain effects can change the way the signal is af-
fected. A compressor, for example, can be “driven” harder by raising the 
input gain.
•To boost the level of poorly recorded signals.
To change the input gain value, you need to press [Shift] 
before you can adjust the control (that way accidental gain 
changes are avoided). If you press [Alt]/[Option], you can 
adjust the Input Gain using a fader. Alternatively, you can 
directly enter a new value in the value field.
!It is also possible to create volume envelopes for 
separate events in the Project window or Audio Part 
Editor (see 
“Event envelopes” on page 121), or to 
make static volume settings for an event on the info 
line or with the volume handle (see 
“About the vol-
ume handle” on page 114).
!When Direct Monitoring is used and the “Map input 
bus metering to Audio track (in Direct Monitoring)” 
option is activated in the Preferences dialog (VST–
Metering page), the level meters in the Mixer show 
the level of the input bus instead. 
!If the clipping indicator lights up for an output chan-
nel, lower the level until the indicator is no longer lit. 
						

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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 another, there will be 
some cancellation in the resulting audio, producing a hollow sound with 
less low-frequency content.
Level meters for MIDI channels
The level meters for MIDI channels do not show actual vol-
ume levels. Instead, they indicate the velocity values of the 
notes played back on MIDI tracks.
MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel and output
If you have several MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI chan-
nel (and routed to the same MIDI output), making volume 
and pan settings for one of these MIDI tracks/Mixer chan
-
nels also affects all other Mixer channels set to the same 
MIDI channel/output combination.
Using Solo and Mute
You can use the Mute and Solo buttons to silence one or 
several channels. 
The following applies:
•The Mute button silences the selected channel.
Clicking the Mute button again unmutes the channel. Several channels 
can be muted simultaneously. Muting group channels can have two dif
-ferent results depending on how the Preferences are set (see “Settings 
for group channels” on page 170).
•Clicking the Solo button for a channel mutes all other 
channels.
A soloed channel is indicated by a lit Solo button, and also by the lit Glo-
bal Solo icon on the common panel. Click the Solo button again to turn 
off Solo.
•Several channels can be soloed at the same time.
However, if you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click the Solo button for a 
channel, any other soloed channels are automatically un-soloed (i.
 e. this 
Solo mode is exclusive).
•[Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo De-
feat” for that channel.
In this mode the channel will not be muted if you solo another channel. To 
turn off Solo Defeat, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Solo button again. 
•You can un-mute or un-solo all channels simultaneously 
by clicking the Global Mute or Global Solo icon on the 
common panel.
A muted channel 
in the Mixer.A lit Global Mute icon on the 
common panel shows that one or 
more channels are muted.
Solo Defeat is activated for this channel. 
						

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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 excep
-
tions:
• Only audio track channels have an Input Routing pop-up 
menu.
• Only audio and instrument track channels have Monitor and 
Record Enable buttons.
• Instrument track and VST instrument channels have an addi-
tional button for opening the instrument’s control panel.
About the Insert/EQ/Send indicators and 
bypass buttons
The three buttons in each audio channel strip have the fol-
lowing functionality:
•If an insert or send effect, or an EQ module is activated 
for a channel, the corresponding button is lit. 
The effect indicator buttons are blue, and the EQ indicator buttons are 
green.
•If you click any of these buttons when lit, the corre-
sponding EQ or effects section is bypassed.
Bypass is indicated by the color yellow. Clicking the button again deac-tivates bypass.
Options for extended audio channel strips
When using the extended view (see “Normal vs. extended 
channel strips” on page 154), the upper panel can be set 
to show different views for each audio-related channel 
strip. You can select what to display in the extended panel 
individually for each channel or globally for all channels.
The following views are available:
•A blank panel (“Empty”).
•The Inserts section, with 8 effect pop-up menus, a by-
pass and an edit button.
The inserts can also be found in the Inspector and the Channel Settings 
window, see 
“Using Channel Settings” on page 163.
Automation controls
Monitor and Record 
Enable buttons Input/Output Routing
Opens the control panel for the VST instrument. Level fader and meter
Edit button (opens the 
Channel Settings window)
Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons (see below)Channel name Input Gain control
Speaker configuration
Input Phase switch
Listen button (see the section 
“Listen mode” on page 161) Pan control