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How to Lock Mixer Settings

Almost any digital audio workstation worth its salt contains a locking feature that lets users group multiple tracks and their individual mix parameters. Track consolidation is a crucial time-saving tool for projects with large track counts. Mixers use this feature to group together specific elements of the mix that are spread among several tracks --- such as guitars, drums and vocals --- to control them from fewer knobs and faders. This allows mixing engineers to treat performances composed of several tracks as a single track.

Instructions

  1. Pro Tools

    • 1

      Press "Ctrl" and "G" to bring up the "Create Group" dialog box.

    • 2

      Enter the name of the group in the "Name" box and select "Edit and Mix" as the "Type." Under "Linked Within Groups," select all of the available check boxes ("Mutes," "Send Mutes," "Solos" "Send Levels").

    • 3

      Go to the "Available" window and click on each track you want to include in the group. Click the "Add >>" button.

    • 4

      Click "OK" to finish creating the group.

    • 5

      Go to the "Groups" list in the lower-left corner of the Mix window. Click the name of the group to activate it.

    Logic

    • 6

      Hold the "Shift" key and click the channels on the mixer that you want to lock into a group.

    • 7

      Click in the blank gray rectangle under the track nameplate to open the drop-down "Track Group" menu. Select a "Group 1" from the list.

    • 8

      Click in the same blank gray area to reopen the drop-down "Track Group" menu. Select "Open Group Settings."

    • 9

      Enter the name of the group in the "Name" box. Check "Volume," "Mute" and "Pan" to lock the mixer controls.

    • 10

      Press "Command" and "G" to temporarily disable the groups while mixing.

    Ableton Live

    • 11

      Press the "Tab" key to enter Session View.

    • 12

      Hold the "Shift" key and click on the tracks you want to lock together. Right-click on the highlighted tracks and select "Group Tracks."

    • 13

      Click the "Triangle" button on the newly labeled "1 Group" to collapse the folder and hide the mixer controls for the individual tracks within the group.

    • 14

      Use the controls on the track named "1 Group" to adjust the volume and pan for all tracks in the group.

    • 15

      Right-click on "1 Group" and select "Ungroup Tracks" to unlock the mixer settings for the grouped tracks.

Recording Music

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