The audio-related channel strips

The speaker configuration for the channel

Input Gain control

Input Phase switch

Narrow/Wide button

Pan control

Level fader

Level meter

Listen button (see the chapter “Control Room” on page 151)

Edit button (opens the Channel Settings window)

Channel name

Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons (see below)

The mixer in normal mode (faders and Routing View visible), showing (from left to right): the common panel, a stereo audio channel, a group channel, an instrument channel, an effect return channel and a VST Instrument channel strip.

About the Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons

All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, input/output channels, group, effect return, VST Instrument and ReWire) basically have the same channel strip layout, with the following differences:

•Only audio track channels have an Input Routing pop-up menu.

•Only audio and instrument track channels have a Monitor and Record Enable button.

•Input/output channels do not have sends.

•Instrument track and VST Instrument channels have an additional button for opening the instrument’s control panel.

•Input channels and output channels have clip indicators.

The three indicator buttons in each audio channel strip have the following functionality:

•If an Insert or Send effect or an EQ module is activated for a channel, the corresponding button is lit.

The effect indicators will be blue, the EQ indicator will be green.

•If you click these buttons when lit, the corresponding EQ or effects section will be bypassed.

Bypass is indicated by yellow buttons. Clicking the button again deactivates bypass.

Basic mixing procedures

Setting volume in the mixer

In the mixer, each channel strip has a fader for volume control.

•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 “Surround sound in Nuendo” on page 203.

•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 connected 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 channels and in the MIDI volume 0 to 127 value range for MIDI channels.

You can click in the fader value fields and enter a volume setting by typing.

•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 will be reset to its default value, i.e. 0.0 dB for audio channels, or MIDI volume 100 for MIDI channels.

This reset to default values works for most mixer parameters.

You can use the faders to set up a volume balance between the audio and MIDI channels and perform a manual mix by moving the faders and other controls while playing back. By using the Write function (see “Enabling and disabling the writing of automation data” on page 214), you can automate the levels and most mixer actions.

It is also possible to create volume envelopes for separate events in the Project window or Audio Part Editor (see “Event Envelopes” on page 97) or to make static volume settings for an event on the info line or with the volume handle (see “About the volume handle” on page 88).

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 peak 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 141.

If the peak level of the audio goes above 0dB, the numerical level indicator will show a positive value (i.e. a value above 0dB).

Nuendo uses 32 bit floating point processing internally, so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals can go way beyond 0dB without clipping. Therefore:

Ö Having higher levels than 0dB for individual audio channels is 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’s good practice to keep the max levels for individual audio channels roughly around 0dB.

domain, the maximum level is 0dB – higher levels will cause the clip indicator for each bus to light up.

If the clip indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – digital distortion which should always be avoided.

If the clip indicator lights up for an output channel, reset the clip indicator by clicking on it, and lower the level until the indicator doesn’t light up.

Adjusting Input Gain

Each audio channel and input/output channel features an Input Gain control. This controls the gain for the incoming signal, before EQ and effects.

The Input Gain is not meant to be used as a volume control in the mixer, as it is not suited for continuous level adjustments during playback. It can, however, be used to cut or boost the gain in various circumstances:

• To change the level of a signal before the effects section.

When Direct Monitoring is used and the option “Map input bus metering to Audio track (in Direct Monitoring)” is activated in the Preferences (VST–Metering page), the level meters in the mixer will show the level of the input bus instead.

About the level meters for input and output channels

For the input and output channels, things are different. I/O channels have clip indicators.

•When you are recording, clipping can occur when the analog signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware.

It’s 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 about checking and setting input levels, see “Setting input levels” on page 69.

•In the output busses, the floating point audio is converted to the resolution of the audio hardware. In the integer audio

The level going into certain effects can change the way the signal is affected. 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, you need to press [Shift] and adjust the control (to avoid accidental gain changes). If you press [Alt]/[Option], you can adjust the Input Gain with a fader. Alternatively, you can also enter the desired number in the value field.

Input Phase switch

Each audio channel and input/output channel has an Input Phase switch, to the left of the Input Gain control dial. When 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.

• [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo Defeat” 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.

About level meters for MIDI channels

The level meters for MIDI channels do not show actual volume levels. Instead, they indicate the velocity values of the notes played back on MIDI tracks.

About MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel and output

If you have several MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel (and routed to the same MIDI output), making volume and pan settings for one of these MIDI tracks/mixer channels will also affect all other mixer channels set to the same MIDI channel/output combination.

• You can un-mute or un-solo all channels by clicking the Mute or Solo indicator on the common panel.

Listen Mode

Using Solo and Mute

The Mute (top) and Solo buttons.

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 un-mutes the channel. Several channels can be muted simultaneously. Muting Group channels can have two different results depending on how the Preferences are set (see “Settings for group channels” on page 142). A muted channel is indicated by a lit Mute button and also by the lit Global Mute indicator on the common panel.

The Listen button for a channel strip and the global Listen button on the Common panel

Clicking the Listen button for a channel routes that channel to the Control Room without interrupting the normal signal flow. The following applies:

•When the channel is set to after-fader (also referred to as post-fader), the signal being routed to the Control Room channel will come after the fader and pan controls of the Listen-enabled channel.

•When the Control Room channel is set to pre-fader, the signal will be routed from just before the fader.

•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 Global Solo indicator 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 will automatically be un-soloed (i.e. this Solo mode is exclusive).

A Listen-enabled channel is indicated by a lit Listen button, and also by the lit Global Listen button on the common panel. Click the Listen button again to turn off Listen mode. You may also turn off Listen mode for every Listenenabled track at once by clicking the Listen button on the common panel.

For more information about the Listen functionality, see the chapter “Control Room” on page 151.

Setting pan in the mixer

The pan control.

The pan controls in the mixer are used to position a channel between the left and right side of the stereo spectrum. By default for stereo audio channels, pan controls the balance between the left and right channels. You can change this in the Preferences. By selecting one of the other pan modes (see below), you can set pan independently for the left and right channel.

•To make fine pan adjustments, hold down [Shift] when you move the pan control.

•To select the (default) center pan position, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the pan control.

•For MIDI channels, the pan control sends out MIDI pan messages.

The result depends on how your MIDI instrument is set to respond to pan

– check your documentation for details.

Ö The Surround Panner is described in the section “Using the Surround Panner” on page 208.

Panning Bypass

You can bypass the panning for all track types except MIDI tracks. To do this, keep [Shift] and [Alt]/[Option] pressed and click on the pan setting for the respective channel in the mixer (on the fader panel or in the extended mixer view). The Panning Bypass state is reflected in all the different pan setting sections, e.g. if you bypass a channel in the mixer, this is automatically reflected in the Inspector for the respective track.

When panning is bypassed for a channel, the following happens:

•Mono channels will be panned center.

•Stereo channels will be panned left and right.

•Surround channels will be panned center.

Ö To deactivate Panning Bypass, simply press [Shift]+[Alt]/[Option] and click again.

About the three pan modes

If you right-click in the pan control field for a (stereo) audio channel, you can select one of three pan modes:

•Stereo Balance Panner controls the balance between the left and right channels.

This is the default mode.

•If Stereo Dual Panner is selected, there will be two pan controls with the upper controlling pan for the left channel, and the lower controlling pan for the right channel.

This allows you set pan independently for the left and right channels. Note that it is possible to reverse the left and right channels, i.e. the left channel can be panned to the right and vice versa. You can also “sum” two channels by setting them to the same pan position (i.e. mono) – note that this will increase the volume of the signal.

• If Stereo Combined Panner is selected, the left and right pan positions are shown as two lines with a blue/gray area between them.

If you reverse the left and right channels, the area between the pan controls will be red instead of blue/gray.

In this mode, the left and right pan controls are linked, and can be moved left and right like a single pan control (keeping their relative distance).

• Stereo Combined mode also allows you set pan independently for the left and right channels. This is done by holding down [Alt]/[Option] and dragging the corresponding pan control.