The following information is taken from the Mixer4 manual in order to quickly view features added over the past year or so. Dither (From 10_Output_Files.txt) ------ Dither is a low level signal of noise added to an audio signal before reducing bit depth in order to reduce the amount of digital distortion. By default, Mixer4 adds dither signal at the lowest bit level. In other words, one bit of noise is added. You can adjust the level of dither noise in the prefs.txt file by adding a line that begins with "dither" and then the number of bits to dither separated by a tab. For example, dither 2 would dither the lowest two bits. Dither can be turned off completely by setting the dither bits to 0. For a 24-bit file output, the dynamic range is 144 dB and a 2-bit dither signal would have a maximum signal of -132 dBFS. If the output is a 16-bit file, the dynamic range is 96 dB and a 2-bit dither signal has an amplitude of -88 dBFS. Therefore, the output file resolution selected affects the dither signal level. Increasing the dither signal should reduce quantization distortion at the expense of increased background (dither) noise. Each bit increases the level of dither noise by about 6 dB. The maximum number of dither bits is set at 8, but not recommended to be used unless your destination is an 8-bit audio file. Dither noise shaping has not yet been implemented, so experiment with dither in the 1-3 bit range. Manual volume ramp shapes (from 08_Volume_Automation_Advanced) -------------------------- Beginning in version 1.063 you can change the shape of a manual volume ramp. You must set the ramp time as show above. The shape of the ramp is entered by beginning a line with "shape" on a line below "rmp". Then enter a tab and the desired shape. The shape must be a positive number, but it can be any any decimal number. By default, a ramp's shape is set to 1. This will give a linear transition with respect to change in decibels over the ramp time. A value between 0 and 1 would make the initial part of the ramp steep and the end of the ramp gradual. A value greater than 1 would make the initial part of the ramp gradual and the end of the ramp steep. Any positive number from 0.125 to 8.0 can be entered. Values between 0.5 and 2 will probably be most useful. For a 15 second fadeout that begins quickly and tapers off slowly, change the start time (it is set to 4 minutes below) and then enter the following: t 4 0 0 v M -96 rmp 15 shape 0.5 Above, "M" stands for master fader. Its volume should also be set a time 0. Using Command Line Arguments (optional): ---------------------------------------- You may specify different control file names other than tracks.txt, faders.txt, and prefs.txt by using one or more command line arguments. The 1st argument is tracks.txt, the 2nd is faders.txt, and the 3rd is prefs.txt. A space is between the arguments. To run mixer4 with a different tracks file called drum_list.txt you would type: mixer4 drum_list.txt To run mixer4 with a different faders.txt file, but the default tracks file you would type: mixer4 tracks.txt drum_faders.txt Finally, to just use a different prefs.txt name you would type: mixer4 tracks.txt faders.txt drum_prefs.txt VCA Faders (from 08_Volume_Automation_Advanced) ---------- Beginning in version 1.15 vca style faders can be used. You are able to assign any number of channels to one of 8 vca faders, and by changing the value of the vca fader, all channels assigned to it change by the same amount. This is similar, but different from a submix. In a submix, the channels assigned to it actually get mixed before the submix channel's effects or gain. With a vca fader, the channels do not change their routing or get mixed together because of the vca fader. One application is for drum tracks with reverb on the toms only, for example. In a submix situation, decreasing the submix fader would not decrease the reverb since the signal to the sends from the tom channels has not decreased. With a vca fader, the level of the individual channels and therefore the signal sent to the reverb is decreased so that the reverb will drop with the dry signal. There are 8 vca faders available complete with automation including volume ramps. A channel can only be assigned to one vca fader at a time. Submix channels and the master fader can also be assigned to a vca fader! Recall that regular channel number are 1-127. When assigning to a vca fader, the master fader is channel 0. And submix channels use channel numbers 128-135. Assigning channels to a vca fader is essentially like assigning channels to a submix. In the faders.txt file begin a line with "VCA:" and then a tab, enter the vca fader number 1-8 and a tab, then enter the channels assigned to it with a comma between them. For example, to assign tracks 1-6 to vca fader 1 enter VCA: 1 1,2,3,4,5,6 To enter a volume setting for a vca fader, use the command "vca" instead of "v". This is followed by the vca channel number and volume setting, all tab separated. To set vca fader 1 to -6 dB you would enter vca 1 -6 Filtering the Reverb (from 12_Effects.txt) -------------------- Beginning in version 1.15 you may apply a high pass and low pass filter to the reverb send. This will affect both rev and trev reverbs. This is useful, for example, when sending a whole drum kit to the reverb and you do not want the bass drum's low frequencies to cause rumbling as it bounces around the room. Also, you can make a more subtle reverb by filtering out some of the high frequencies. To add a high pass filter (to remove low frequencies) use the command "rhp" followed by the frequency in Hz, tab separated to the faders.txt file. To add a low pass filter (to remove high frequencies) use the command "rlp". Both can be used together, for example, to narrow the bandwidth of the signal sent to the reverb to primarily between 200 Hz and 7000 Hz, you enter rlp 7000 rhp 200 Entering Volumes as Percents (from 07_Volume_Automation.txt) ---------------------------- Instead of entering volumes in decibels you can use percents. 100 percent is the same as 0 dB or no change. 50 percent is -6.02 dB or half as loud. To use percent add "v=percent" without the quotes to a new line in the prefs.txt file. Setting channel 2 volume to 75 percent would look like the following: v 2 75 Note that using this mode also affects compressor thresholds, and reverb send and returns which will now all expect percent values. EQ's are not affected. The Launch Command (from 11_Audio_Playback.txt) ------------------ Audio playback (or a system command) can be initiated as soon as a mix is complete. The command is called "launch" and it is placed on the beginning of a line in the prefs.txt file. You place a tab between "launch" and the command. Changing Effect Order (from 12_Effects) --------------------- With some minor exceptions, the order of effects can be changed in version 1.10 or later. In the faders.txt file, use the command "ord" for order. This is followed by a colon and then the name of the effect. Then, enter tab and the channel number. Then, another tab and the effect position. For example, ord:comp 3 1 This means change the order of the compressor on channel 3 to position 1, the first processor to receive the signal. There are 11 positions available. If two effects are in the same position then the effect that will run first will be the one that normally runs first in the default setup. Before you change the order, all effects are in position 11, and EQ's process before compressors. The exceptions are that the reverb and limiter are not movable on the master fader channel. And the fxg, effect makeup gain, is fixed as the last processor on all channels. Extract and Offset Functions (from 13_Trimming_and_Extracting.txt) ---------------------------- You can change the number of time fields used in the xin and xout commands from the default of 3, to 2 or 1. If using 2 fields, the time fields are minutes and then seconds. If 1 field is used, only seconds are entered. In this same preferences file, start a line with "xfields" followed by a tab and a number from 1 to 3 for the number of fields. Setting the Volume Change Rate (from 08_Volume_Automation_Advanced) ------------------------------ You can set the rate of normal volume changes in decibels per second. In the prefs.txt file start a line with "dbps" followed by a tab and the decibel value. This must be a positive non-zero number. This does not affect ramps where you enter a defined length, just the normal "quick" changes. Changing the Time Fields (from 07_Volume_Automation) ------------------------ Beginning in version 1.0991 you may change the number of time fields from the default of 3 to either 2 or 1. With 3 fields, you are required to enter a value for minutes, seconds, and milliseconds even if the value is 0. To speed up workflow you can use 2 time fields which would be minutes and seconds. Keep in mind that seconds can be a decimal number which naturally incorporates milliseconds in the decimal. And when using just 1 time field, the value would be in seconds. Here's how to express a time value in the three ways for an entry at 0 minutes, 5 seconds, and 300 milliseconds: With 3 fields: t 0 5 300 With 2 fields: t 0 5.300 or simply, t 0 5.3 With 1 field: t 5.300 To set the number of time fields, in the prefs.txt file begin a line with "tfields", then tab, and then a value of 1 or 2. Otherwise, 3 will be used. Although not as practical, the fields also apply when working in bars, beats and ticks. Two fields would be for bars and beats. One field would be for beats only.