Do you have problems viewing all of your tracks in Logic using the mixer window? Did you know that you can customize environment windows to view several tracks at once? Well you can! Here’s how…
Open the Environment and create a new empty layer. You can name this layer anything you like. Make it relevant to the channels you will include in your custom mixer.
Once you create the layer you can begin placing the channels you want into the layer. (Be sure to create all the tracks you need in the arrange window first.) Then go to the main Mixer layer in the Environment and select the channels you would like to include in your new layer. You can hold Shift to select multiple tracks at once.
When you have all the tracks selected that you would like to include in your custom view, click on Edit > Copy (⌘C ) to copy the channels. Return to your custom layer and paste (⌘V) the channel objects.
You can arrange the objects however you see fit. You can go to Options > Clean Up > Align Objects to line up selected objects and make it look nice.
Tips and Suggestions
We suggest that you protect the position of your items to prevent accidental movement while clicking around in the mixer. Click on View > Protect Cabling/Positions to do so.
You can maximize screen real estate by selecting View > Frameless Floating Window. This will remove the clutter of the environment window and allow area for plugins or other items.
If you appreciate the power of screensets as much as we do, you can create a screenset for each of your custom mixer views. Here is an example screenset with a mixer for the band (minus drums) with compressor plugins for each instrument so you don’t have to mouse to the track and double click the plugin to make a change.
When dealing with custom mixer views in the environment, be sure to leave enough room for the track objects to expand as you add inserts and sends.
This type of setup is VERY powerful and useful when dealing with large scale projects. Here is an example of a custom mixer that we use on a dual screen setup.
We could never see all of those tracks onscreen with the default mixer pane or by opening the mixer in a separate window. Apple, why isn’t this the standard mixer view?
One thing to remember when using the “Frameless Floating Window” option is that once you open a plugin, if you click back to the mixer, the plugin will be hidden by the environment window. The best way we have found to get around this is to use ⌘` to cycle through the open windows to get back to the plugin or to close the plugin window when you are finished making changes.
One more thing… The insert behavior is not quite the same when using this method. While you can still insert plugins on tracks, you cannot ⌘ + click/drag to rearrange plugins once they are inserted. This must still be done in the regular mixer view.
We use custom mixer views everyday and love them… but we want to know what you think. Post any questions or issues in the comments.
