Latest revision as of 19:35, 4 July 2023

Mixer

The Mixer is opened with the Mix tab at the top left of the interface.

If you are familiar with hardware mixer consoles, the Mixer in Renoise will look familiar to you. It provides a quick overview of all available tracks, Track Effects and output levels. This is especially useful in the last production stage, when you are finished with the main song structure and need to concentrate on polishing the final mix. The Mixer also allows you to display a subset of track effect parameters which you can customise. Using this, you can prepare your songs for live performance by showing only the parameters you would like to concentrate on adjusting.

Detaching The Mixer

Near the top-right of the interface and to the left of the Scopes options is the Detach button, which opens the Mixer in a completely separate window that can be moved around and resized. There are also additional buttons at the window's top right corner for minimizing, maximizing and closing. Clicking Attach will reattach the window to the main interface.

Note that the Spectrum and Track Effects panels and buttons are moved to the Mixer window when it’s detached.

Pre/Post Volume and Panning Concept

Volume and panning controls in the Mixer can be set up to show two different levels:

Pre: Volume and panning levels which are applied after instrument playback, but before Track Effects are applied.
Post: Volume and panning levels which are applied after all Track Effects are applied. This is the final sound leaving the track and being fed into the Master Track.

The idea behind the Pre/Post mix separation is that you should use the Pre levels while composing the song. Automation, like the fade-in of tracks, should be applied here or with a Gainer Device. Post volume and panning levels cannot be automated and should only be used in the final mixing stage to balance the mix.

Customizing the Mixer Layout

At the right side of the Mixer you will notice a set of buttons that allow you to show/hide to some of the components:

- Parameter labels above effect sliders.
- Mute and solo track controls.
- Panning sliders.
- VU meters and main volume faders.
- Volume edit box.
- Custom track delays. Entering a negative value will play the track before others, while a positive value will play it after. This is only available for regular Tracks. This can be useful to compensate small latency problems with MIDI and plugin based tracks.
- Audio routing control. Audio routing defines where the track's final output will be sent to. Selecting "Master" will send the output to the Master Track and through its effect chain. Selecting a dedicated output of your soundcard will bypass the Master Track, allowing you to separate and mix Renoise tracks with an external mixer console. This is only possible if your soundcard allows the use of multiple channels. To make use of this feature on Windows, you have to use ASIO; on Linux, Jack Audio.

Track colours can be shown or hidden in the Mixer as well. Right-click anywhere in the Mixer effect chain section and select, "Show Track Colors".

Working with Effects and Chains

Track Effects devices are shown in the Mixer rack above the track levels. Right-clicking an effect brings up a set of options for both that specific effect and the whole chain. To show/hide particular effect parameters, right-click on the effect and choose them from the "Show Sliders" menu option.

Send Devices/Tracks and the Post Mixer

To route a track into a Send Track, a #Send device is inserted into the original track. For a full explanation of how this works, see #Send device in the Routing Devices section of the manual. In the Mixer, the #Send device's slider controls the amount of audio that is sent to the send track.

When #Send devices use the "Mute Source" option, the post volume and panning levels will have no effect. That's because the signal is muted before it reaches post-mixer device. To change the track's levels in this case, you either have to have to adjust the #Send device's sliders or use the receiving Send Track's volume and panning levels.

To visualize this in the mixer, track levels which do not reach the Post volume and panning are shown by a different colour (white by default instead of green, but this may vary depending on the current interface Theme):

(Track with a Send Device using Mute Source)

(Send Device Routing in the Mixer)

Adjusting Level Meters

To disable or change the scaling for all meters, right-click on any level meter in the mixer and choose from the list. This also works for the master level meter at the top of the Renoise interface.

Controlling the Mixer with a MIDI Controller

You can attach MIDI controllers to the Pre/Post volume and mute/solo controls, allowing you to comfortably mix a song using the controller. To do so, select "View -> Midi Mapping…" from the main menu or click on the "MIDI Map" button at the top of the Renoise interface, next to the main VU meter.

Have a look at the MIDI Mapping section of the manual for a more detailed description of the available features.

Drag and Drop, Copy and Paste

To copy an effect from one track to the another, simply click and drag it to a new place. Holding "Left Control" while dropping the effect will create a copy of the device. The standard cut/copy/paste commands also work in the Mixer ("Left Control + X", "Left Control + C", "Left Control + V").

Note: Copying or moving an effect from one track to another will not move device's Automation(s) as well. When moving a device, the original Automation(s) will be removed.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 = Mixer =
-If you are familiar with real mixer consoles, the mixer in Renoise will look familiar to you. It provides you a quick overview of all used tracks, track DSPs and all tracks output levels. This is especially useful in the last production step, when you finished with the main song structure, the composing, and now want to concentrate on polishing the sounds of all the tracks.
+[[Image:3.2_tab-mix.png]]
-The Mixer in Renoise also allows you to show a sub set of track FX parameters, which you can customize by your own. This way you can prepare your songs for live performances, showing only parameters you would like to concentrate on in the performance in order to get a better overview.
+The Mixer is opened with the Mix tab at the top left of the interface.
+If you are familiar with hardware mixer consoles, the Mixer in Renoise will look familiar to you. It provides a quick overview of all available tracks, [[Effect Chains|Track Effects]] and output levels. This is especially useful in the last production stage, when you are finished with the main song structure and need to concentrate on polishing the final mix. The Mixer also allows you to display a subset of track effect parameters which you can customise. Using this, you can prepare your songs for live performance by showing only the parameters you would like to concentrate on adjusting.
-== Pre/Post Volume and Panning Concept ==
+[[Image:3.0_mixer.png]]
-Volume and panning controls in Renoises mixer can be set up to show two different levels:
-* '''Pre: '''Volume and panning levels which are applied after the sample and plugin instrument playback, but ''before track FX are applied''.
+== Detaching The Mixer ==
-* '''Post:''' Volume and panning levels which are applied ''after all track FX are applied'', so they do control the final result, the sound that is leaving the tracks feeding the master signal.
-[[image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_pre_post.gif|frameless|800px]]
+Near the top-right of the interface and to the left of the [[Track Scopes|Scopes]] options is the [[Image:3.0_modulation-detach.png|text-bottom]] Detach button, which opens the Mixer in a completely separate window that can be moved around and resized. There are also additional buttons at the window's top right corner for minimizing, maximizing and closing. Clicking [[Image:3.0_modulation-attach.png|text-bottom]] Attach will reattach the window to the main interface.
-To choose whether to control the pre or post levels, watch out for the Pre/Post icons on the top right of the mixer as shown in the image above.
+Note that the [[Track Scopes#Spectrum|Spectrum]] and [[Effect Chains|Track Effects]] panels and buttons are moved to the Mixer window when it’s detached.
-The idea behind the Pre/Post level separation is that you should use the Pre levels while composing the song. Automation, like fade ins or outs of tracks should be done here or by using Gainer FX devices. Post levels should only be used and applied in the final mixing stage to polish and weight all track levels, ''after ''all automation is applied. That's also why the POST volume and pans can not be automated: To make sure that you can always use them at the end of the song to balance all sounds, without having to touch and rescale all the existing volume and panning automation in the song.
+== Pre/Post Volume and Panning Concept ==
-== Customizing the Mixer Layout ==
+Volume and panning controls in the Mixer can be set up to show two different levels:
-On the right of the mixer, you will notice a set of buttons which do enable or disable some of the mixers components.
+[[image:3.0_mixer-prepost.png]]
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_labels.png]] - Show/hide parameter labels above the DSPs in the mixer (“Cutoff”, “Q” etc. in the example above).
+* '''Pre:''' Volume and panning levels which are applied after instrument playback, but before [[Effect Chains|Track Effects]] are applied.
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_mute.png]] - Show/hide mute / solo track controls in the track strips.
+* '''Post:''' Volume and panning levels which are applied after all [[Effect Chains|Track Effects]] are applied. This is the final sound leaving the track and being fed into the Master Track.
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_pan.png]] - Show/hide Panning sliders.
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_meter.png]] - Show/hide level VU meters and the main volume faders.
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_vol.png]] - Show/hide volume edit box on the bottom of the large meters.
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_del.png]] - Show/hide custom track delays: Track delays let you “shift” tracks against each other in time. Entering a negative value will make it play before other tracks, a positive value will lay it back. This is only available for sampler tracks, that's a track you play instruments on and thus not available for the send or master tracks. This is especially useful to compensate small latency problems with for example MIDI and plugin based tracks, or to simply lay dow track to give them them a better “groove”.
-* [[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_out.png]] - Show/Hide audio routing control. Audio routing in the mixer defines where the tracks final output will be send to: Selecting “Master Track” will send the output through the master tracks DSP chain. Selecting a dedicated output of your sound-card will bypass master FX and also allow you to separate and mix Renoise tracks with an external mixer console. This is only possible when your sound cards allows the use of multiple channels. On Windows you have to use ASIO to use this feature. On Linux Jack Audio.
-Track colors can be shown or hidden in the mixer as well. Right click anywhere in the mixer DSP chain section, then select “Show Track Colors”.
+The idea behind the Pre/Post mix separation is that you should use the Pre levels while composing the song. Automation, like the fade-in of tracks, should be applied here or with a Gainer Device. Post volume and panning levels cannot be automated and should only be used in the final mixing stage to balance the mix.
-== Send Devices/Tracks and the Post Mixer ==
+== Customizing the Mixer Layout ==
-To rout a sound from any track into a another track (a Send Track), you do insert a “#Send Device” into the track DSPs you want to send the signal from. A“#Send Device” will then appear in the mixer as shown in the image below. The shown slider controls the amount of audio that is send to the send track.
+At the right side of the Mixer you will notice a set of buttons that allow you to show/hide to some of the components:
-Send tracks are used to ''group'' tracks, to apply the same set of DSPs on multiple tracks at once.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-parameters.png|text-bottom]] - Parameter labels above effect sliders.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-mute.png|text-bottom]] - Mute and solo track controls.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-pan.png|text-bottom]] - Panning sliders.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-meters.png|text-bottom]] - VU meters and main volume faders.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-vol.png|text-bottom]] - Volume edit box.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-delay.png|text-bottom]] - Custom track delays. Entering a negative value will play the track before others, while a positive value will play it after. This is only available for [[Pattern_Editor#Tracks|regular Tracks]]. This can be useful to compensate small latency problems with MIDI and plugin based tracks.
+* [[Image:3.0_mixer-routing.png|text-bottom]] - Audio routing control. Audio routing defines where the track's final output will be sent to. Selecting ''"Master"'' will send the output to the Master Track and through its effect chain. Selecting a dedicated output of your soundcard will bypass the Master Track, allowing you to separate and mix Renoise tracks with an external mixer console. This is only possible if your soundcard allows the use of multiple channels. To make use of this feature on Windows, you have to use ASIO; on Linux, Jack Audio.
-By stacking them, and being able to add multiple “#Send Devices” into a track, you can create complex routing and track FX layouts.
+Track colours can be shown or hidden in the Mixer as well. Right-click anywhere in the Mixer effect chain section and select, ''"Show Track Colors"''.
-When using a “Send Device” you do have the choice between:
-* Sending the tracks signal to a send track, but also keeping the signal in the original track (Keep Source)
+== Working with Effects and Chains ==
-* Sending the tracks signal to a send track, and muting the signal from the original track (Mute Source)
-When using Send Devices with a “Mute Source” option, the post volume and panning levels will have no effect. That's because the signal is sent “away” from the track to the send tracks before the signal reaches the tracks output. To change the tracks levels, you then either have to use the send tracks volume and pan levels or have to adjust the “Send Device” amount.
+[[Effect Chains|Track Effects]] devices are shown in the Mixer rack above the track levels. Right-clicking an effect brings up a set of options for both that specific effect and the whole chain. To show/hide particular effect parameters, right-click on the effect and choose them from the ''"Show Sliders"'' menu option.
-To visualize this in the mixer, track levels which do not reach then POST volume and paning are shown in a different color. That's white by default instead of green, but may vary depending on which color theme you are using in Renoise:
+[[Image:3.0_mixer-contextmenu.png]]
-[[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_post_send.png]]
-(Track with a Send Device with Mute Source)
+== Send Devices/Tracks and the Post Mixer ==
+To route a track into a [[Pattern_Editor#Send_Tracks|Send Track]], a #Send device is inserted into the original track. For a full explanation of how this works, see [[Routing_Devices#.23Send|#Send device]] in the Routing Devices section of the manual. In the Mixer, the #Send device's slider controls the amount of audio that is sent to the send track.
-[[Image:vvoois_renoise_mute_keep_source.png]]
+When #Send devices use the ''"Mute Source"'' option, the post volume and panning levels will have no effect. That's because the signal is muted before it reaches post-mixer device. To change the track's levels in this case, you either have to have to adjust the #Send device's sliders or use the receiving Send Track's volume and panning levels.
-(Send Device Routing in The Mixer)
+To visualize this in the mixer, track levels which do not reach the Post volume and panning are shown by a different colour (white by default instead of green, but this may vary depending on the [[Preferences#Theme|current interface Theme]]):
+[[Image:3.0_mixer-send.png]]
-== Adjusting Level Meters ==
+(Track with a Send Device using Mute Source)
-Volume level meters display volume on one in four available scales: −24dB to 0dB, −48dB to 0dB −96dB to 0dB dB and a linear scaling. To change the scaling for all meters you can right click on any level meter in the mixer. The meters can this way also be disabled.
-A small tip: The master level meter on top of the interface can be adjusted and disabled as well this way.
+[[Image:3.0_mixer-sendrouting.png]]
-[[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_volume_scale.gif]]
+(Send Device Routing in the Mixer)
-== Controlling the Mixer with a MIDI controller ==
+== Adjusting Level Meters ==
-You can attach MIDI controllers to the pre- AND post-mixer, Mute/Solo controls to be able to comfortably do mix the a MIDI controller. To do so select '''View''' → '''Midi Mapping…''' in the main menu, or click on the MIDI Mapping button on top of the interface next to the main VU meter.
+To disable or change the scaling for all meters, right-click on any level meter in the mixer and choose from the list. This also works for the master level meter at the top of the Renoise interface.
-Please have a look for a more detailed description of the [[MIDI Mapping]] feature.
+[[Image:3.0_mixer-meterscale.png]]
-== Working with DSP Effects and Chains ==
+== Controlling the Mixer with a MIDI Controller ==
-Track DSP devices are shown in the mixer-rack above the track levels and the other channel strip controls. Right clicking an effect gives you a set of options for the selected FX and for the whole chain. For example to initialize, cut, copy paste a device or to set up which parameters you would like to see in the mixer for every DSP.
+You can attach MIDI controllers to the Pre/Post volume and mute/solo controls, allowing you to comfortably mix a song using the controller. To do so, select ''"View -> Midi Mapping…"'' from the main menu or click on the ''"MIDI Map"'' button at the top of the Renoise interface, next to the main VU meter.
-[[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_context.png]]
+Have a look at the [[MIDI Mapping]] section of the manual for a more detailed description of the available features.
 == Drag and Drop, Copy and Paste ==
-To copy a DSP from one track to the another, simply click on it with the mouse and move it to its new place while still holding down the mouse button. Pressing CONTROL while dropping the DSP will create a copy of the device. This and more can also be done with the standard copy/paste key commands ('''CONTROL-c, CONTROL-x and CONTROL-v''').
+To copy an effect from one track to the another, simply click and drag it to a new place. Holding ''"Left Control"'' while dropping the effect will create a copy of the device. The standard cut/copy/paste commands also work in the Mixer (''"Left Control + X"'', ''"Left Control + C"'', ''"Left Control + V"'').
-Please note: Copying or moving an effect from one track to another, will not move also the automation for the device. When moving a device the original automation will be removed.
+Note: Copying or moving an effect from one track to another will not move device's Automation(s) as well. When moving a device, the original Automation(s) will be removed.
-[[Image:vvoois_renoise_mixer_dsp_copy_paste.gif]]
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+[[Image:3.0_mixer-devicechain.gif]]
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Mixer: Difference between revisions