Tracktion Waveform has many mixing tools for editing our sound.
In this tutorial, we’ll cover the track volume and pan controls, signal routing for
submixes and sends, and basic plugin features of this free digital audio workstation.
This is the 4th part of our Waveform tutorial series, and in the previous videos we covered
how to setup the program, the basic layout, and recording and editing audio and MIDI.
Make sure to check those out first, since we’ll be assuming you’re familiar with
everything in those videos before continuing.
Also, make sure to subscribe to the channel and press the bell icon to get notified whenever
new videos are released, that way you can catch all the new videos in this series.
The first things we’re going to cover in Tracktion
Waveform are the mixing controls.
To start, we’ll look at how to adjust the volume and panning of a track.
This is the same regardless of whether it’s an audio track with audio recordings, or a
MIDI track with virtual instruments.
The audio and panning controls are added like a plugin on the track, and they’re found
under Waveform Plugins, then effects.
This means that it can be removed, disabled or rearranged.
Like we looked at in the last video, we had to have the virtual instruments and synthesizers
before the volume and pan, that way they can be controlled.
If we click the volume and pan plugin, the more detailed options are available in the
bottom center panel.
We can slide the volume left or right to move the volume up or down.
We can also move the panning sliders to the left or right to change the position of the
track in stereo.
Clicking on the volume and panning sliders allows us to type in the value, that way if
we want them exactly the same between different tracks, then we can do that.
To the right, there are buttons to reset the volume to 0 and reset the panning to center.
We can also mute the track, and change the polarity.
Changing the polarity is useful if we recorded tracks out of phase.
This can happen with stereo recordings, like an acoustic guitar or drum kit when multiple
microphones that are recording the same thing.
If the tracks are out of phase, it will cause interference that will destroy our sound.
Flipping the polarity is an easy way to fix this.
To the right of the volume and pan controls, we have the track level indicator, and the
top red bar will light up if the track clips.
Keep in mind that this level indicator is after the volume control.
Then we have mute and solo buttons, but we talked about those in the first video.
To recap, mute turns off the track, and solo makes it so only that track plays back, or
other tracks that are also soloed.
The next thing we should look at is signal routing.
One type of signal routing is to create a send.
A send splits off the signal to go to a different track.
That track will still go to the master output as it is, but it will also go through the
auxiliary track.
This is commonly used for reverb effects.
We can add the reverb to the second track, and it will apply one reverb plugin to multiple
tracks that are feeding it.
Since those original tracks are still going to the master output, we set the reverb to
100% wet so that no dry signal comes through.
The nice thing about this is it allows the tracks to blend and processes the reverb together,
so it can really pull the mix together.
To create a send, first create a new track and rename it reverb.
Now on the track, drag an aux receive to the beginning of the plugin chain before the volume
control.
This is a plugin found under Waveform and Utilities.
It will bring up the Aux Return window.
We can set it to bus #1, or whichever free bus is available.
Then change the bus name to reverb.
On the tracks we want to go to the send, add the Aux Send.
This is also found under plugins, Waveform and Utilities.
Add the send before the volume and pan slider.
That way, if we want to adjust the volume of the track later, it won’t affect the
blend of the reverb on the send.
Do this for all the tracks that you want to go to the send.
If we’re adding this to a track with other effects or a virtual instrument, add it after
these plugins, but before the volume plugin.
If we click on the send on the track, we can enable or disable the send, delete it, or
adjust it.
The main adjustment is to change the volume going to the send.
For a reverb send, we might have multiple things going to it, like our vocals, guitars,
drums, or whatever else.
We can adjust the level to the reverb, such that the volume of the send for the vocals
is louder than the level that is sent for the drums or guitar.
Next up we’ll cover creating a submix.
A submix allows us to combine a bunch of tracks, mix them together and then send them to the
master channel.
Unlike the send, all the tracks have to go through the submix first and they don’t
also go around it without getting processed.
We can use this to apply processing to a set of tracks, like all the drum tracks or all
the guitar tracks, and then make changes to how they sound together instead of having
to apply it to everything individually.
Hold down the control key to select the tracks that will be in the submix and click them
to select them.
Right click on them and select create submix containing.
To add tracks to the submix after, click and drag them into the submix.
To get rid of the submix, click and drag tracks out of the submix.
If you just right click the submix and delete it, it will also delete all the tracks contained
in it.
With the submix, we can now adjust the volume, apply panning, and apply plugins to the submix
track itself, and it will be applied to everything within it.
Now that covers our signal processing in Tracktion Waveform.
The next thing we’re going to cover is some of the basic plugins that are used in this
program.
Waveform contains a lot of built in plugins for adjusting our sound, and they can all
be applied by clicking and dragging them onto the track.
I like to apply my plugins pre-fader, so that means before the volume and pan control.
If you add it after the volume and panning, changing the volume of the track can mess
up all the settings, like the threshold, when using compression and other processors.
All the plugins we’ll be mentioning are found in the Waveform Effects menu, so you
can find them there to follow along and they’re available in the free version of Waveform.
The first plugin we’ll take a look at is the compressor and limiter.
Compressors are used to change the dynamics of the song.
They monitor the level of a song, and then reduce the volume by a certain amount only
when a certain volume level is reached.
This also depends on the setting for attack and release which control the timing of the
compression.
When a track is limited, it can make the entire track louder, and this is something that’s
often added to a master channel before exporting.
There are 5 controls for compression.
The threshold sets the level that the compressor starts at, and this is a volume level.
Below this, the compressor will not do anything to the signal.
This setting depends on how loud you recorded your audio track and how much compression
you want to apply.
The ratio sets how much the level is reduced once it gets above the threshold.
So if a track is 8 decibels above the threshold and we apply a 2:1 compression, the signal
level is reduced to 4 decibels above the threshold.
With a 4:1 compression ratio, then it’s instead reduced to 2 decibels above the threshold.
The attack sets how quickly the compression starts after the threshold is reached, since
it’s not immediate.
Release sets how long the compression lasts after the signal drops back down below the
threshold.
Both the attack and release can be slow or fast.
Output is used to return the signal level to normal.
When adding compression, a useful thing to do is use the output gain to bring the level
up to where we started, since compression reduces the level.
Then we can compare it before and after to make a direct comparison of the way the compression
has affected the sound, without considering the volume changes.
Sidechaining is a more advanced technique and it allows us to trigger the compressor
with another track.
So one thing we can do is compress one track based on a trigger from another track to help
the trigger track cut through the mix.
The next plugin is the 4-band equalizer.
Instead of adjusting this plugin from the bottom center panel, double click it to bring
it up in a separate window.
Equalizers are used to adjust the levels of different frequencies.
We can use them to boost frequencies that sound good for a particular instrument, and
cut out problematic frequencies.
Equalization can also be used to give instruments their particular space in the frequency spectrum
so they can play through without interfering with each other.
The 4-band equalizer gives us the option to adjust the gain at 4 frequency bands.
Each of them has a frequency adjustment to adjust where it is, the gain knob to adjust
the amount we boost or cut, and the Q, which adjusts the width and shape of the band around
that frequency.
All we have to do is click on the circles for the band and the knobs at the bottom will
switch to that band to adjust it, or we can drag the circles over the grid.
The low and high-pass filter is a plugin that is usually combined with equalizers in other
digital audio workstations.
This is a really simple plugin.
We just select a frequency, and then whether it is a high pass or low pass.
A high pass allows high frequencies to pass through and cuts off low frequencies.
A low pass allows low frequencies to pass through and cuts off high frequencies.
Unlike a lot of other high and low pass filters, this one does not allow us to change the steepness
of the cutoff.
Reverb is the plugin we looked at earlier that would be added to a send.
Reverb simulates the effect of sound waves bouncing around inside a room, and adds space
to what are normally dry recordings we get from having a microphone really close to the
instrument.
For settings, we can adjust the room size.
Damping affects the frequency response and basically how the different frequencies sound
like the scatter in the room.
Wet is the amount of reverb sound, and dry is the amount of the original signal.
Like we said earlier, if we’re using this on a send, set the wet mix at 100% and turn
the dry mix all the way down because the dry mix already goes directly to the master channel
without going through the send.
Last, we just have the width which adjusts the spacing in stereo of the reverb.
This will allow us to create a narrow or wide reverb effect.
The delay plugin is used to create repeats in our signal.
The length is the amount of time it is delayed.
This can be set to absolute time in milliseconds, or use a delay based on the project tempo
with the menu.
The feedback controls how much of the delayed signal gets delayed again and therefore how
much it repeats.
The amount adjusts the blend between the original signal and the delay.
Chorus is an effect that adds a very fast delay to our signal and makes it sound like
there are multiple instruments playing at once.
It can be used to thicken up a guitar track and gives a very distinct sound, but can also
be set to be very subtle.
We get a depth control which adjusts the delay time, speed control, stereo width, and wet
dry mix.
Phaser is an effect that gives us a sweeping sound across the frequency spectrum.
This is an effect that is common on instruments like guitar, and many guitar pedalboards will
include a phaser pedal.
The controls we get are for speed, depth, and feedback.
The last plugin we’ll cover is the pitch shifter effect.
This gives us control of the amount of pitch change, and we can change it by semitones.
The type just determines the algorithm used to change the pitch.
Some are better for some instruments, and sometimes one may require more processing
power from the computer than another.
Overall, the Tracktion Waveform plugins are great for basic editing, but they’re missing
some of the fine control of some other plugin sets that some other digital audio workstations.
If you choose to upgrade to one of the paid versions of Tracktion Waveform and get it
with the DAW essentials plugins pack, you’ll get more controls in your plugins.
Tracktion has provided me with these plugins, so I do plan on making on a video on them
in the future.
Thanks for checking out this video on mixing, signal routing, and plugins in Tracktion Waveform.
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