TABLE OF CONTENTS Mixing is the final stage of your multi-track session where you balance all the levels, apply effects and make any last minute edits or even record any additional material that you feel is needed. Engineers will particularly value the use of an external control surface during the mixing process as this provides immediate tactile control of fader levels, mutes and so forth (see Chapter 10 for more info). As with the Recording and Editing chapters, I will introduce the various features that you will use during your mixing sessions before presenting a case study of an actual mix session.
Many engineers prefer to build their mixes from the outset of the project balancing levels, panning and adding effects so that the mix develops continually throughout the process. Others will start afresh after all the recording and basic editing has taken place.
Audio tracks can be mono, stereo or multi-channel if you have a MIX system. These can be routed to Auxiliary Inputs or directly to Master Faders. Auxiliary Inputs can be used to bring in audio from MIDI devices and other sources or to create sub-mixes of any group of tracks and control these using the Auxiliary Input s fader. They can also be used to apply effects to any group of tracks. You can use plug-in effects on the Auxiliary Input channel or you can send from any of your tracks to an external effects processor and return the signal from the external device via an Auxiliary Input.
