Acoustica Mixcraft 7 User Manual

USER MANUAL

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Mixcra Home Studio 7 Limitations ..................................1

Important Sound Setup Information .................................3

Quick Start ........................................................7

Registration ......................................................17

Mixcra Reference ................................................19

Sound Tab ...................................................... 69

Virtual Instrument (MIDI) Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

MIDI Basics .....................................................113

Project Tab ...................................................... 117

Recording Audio .................................................119

Loop and Sound Eects Library ...................................127

Performance Panel ..............................................141

Audio Mixer .....................................................151

Video ..........................................................155

Loading and Saving Projects ......................................183

Exploring The Main Window .......................................189

Mixing Down To Audio and Video Files .............................201

Burning Audio CD’s .............................................205

Markers .......................................................209

Eects .........................................................217

Included Eects ................................................ 225

Virtual Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

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Included Virtual Instruments ......................................271

Alpha Sampler ................................................. 283

Omni Sampler .................................................. 289

Plug-In Management .............................................297

Using Natively Supported Control Surfaces .........................301

Using Generic MIDI Controllers and Control Surfaces ................ 309

Musical Typing Keyboard .........................................315

Preferences .....................................................319

Main Window Menus ............................................ 333

Keyboard Shortcuts ............................................. 345

Cursors ........................................................ 353

Troubleshooting .................................................357

Glossary ....................................................... 370

iv

GETTING STARTED

Welcome to Mixcraft 7, a powerful recording DAW software offering the tools and
performance power to create professional music and video projects... easily!

ABOUT THE MANUAL

This manual was written to provide a basic walkthrough of some of the steps that an
artist may encounter when using Mixcraft. This manual provides a range of
step-by-step instructions and explanations of features in the software. We'll also throw
in some helpful tips from time to time.

CHECKING FOR UPDATES

Acoustica periodically provides updates to software. You can easily obtain these
updates through Acoustica's website,with an active Internet connection. To check for
updates, go to the Help menu at the top of the screen and choose Check For Update...

ADDITIONAL HELP

We've made a heck of an effort to include as much Mixcraft 7 information as possible
in this manual, but if you get stumped, contact Acoustica tech support online at
www.acoustica.com and click the Support link.

Mixcraft also has a lively online forum with tons of useful archived information and
support not only from the Acoustica tech support staff, but seasoned Mixcraft users as
well. Find it at www.acoustica.com, click Support, then Discussion Boards.

Welcome to the Acoustica family... we hope you'll enjoy Mixcraft 7 and make some
great music (and video) along the way!

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vi

MIXCRAFT HOME STUDIO 7
LIMITATIONS

Mixcraft is available in three different versions: Mixcraft Home Studio 7, Mixcraft 7,
and Mixcraft Pro Studio 7. In order to bring Mixcraft Home Studio 7 to you at such an
affordable price point, it sacrifices some features compared with its big brothers. Below
is a summary of its reduced feature set:

Feature Limits

Tracks 16 total Audio and Instrument tracks

Performance Panel 8 sets

Automation Pan/Volume only

Loops 2000+ Loops, no Sound FX or Sample Libraries

Virtual Instruments Acoustica Instruments, Impulse, Messiah,

MiniMogueVA, VB3 Organ

Effect Plug-ins Acoustica Chorus, Acoustica Compressor,

Acoustica Delay, Acoustica Distortion,
Acoustica EQ, Acoustica Flanger, Acoustica
Reverb, Classic Auto-Filter, Classic Chorus,
Classic Compressor, Classic Delay, Classic
EQ, Classic Flanger, Classic Master Limiter,
Classic Phaser, Classic Reverb, EZQ Equalizer,
GTune Guitar Tuner, Voxengo Amp Simulator,
Voxengo Spectrum Analyzer

Samplers Alpha Sampler

(does not include Omni Sampler)

Submix, Send, and Output Tracks No

Mixdown Formats WAV, WMA, OGG, WMV, AVI. Does not

include MP3 mixdown.

CD Burning No

MIDI/Audio FX Routing No

ReWire Hosting No

Import To Library No

1

2

IMPORTANT SOUND SETUP
INFORMATION

When Mixcraft is first launched, it’s important to ensure that the audio latency is set
optimally. Ideally, using a very low latency setting is best, as it results in little or no
audible delay when playing virtual instruments or recording using software monitoring.

Your computer’s processor speed and amount of RAM, as well as your audio system or
sound card all affect audio playback and recording performance. Optimally adjusting
your sound device will be a balancing act between latency versus gapping or breaks in
continuous sound. If you are recording audio using Mixcraft’s built-in monitoring or
playing virtual instruments, you’ll need to adjust your latency response properly.

CHOOSING AN AUDIO DRIVER TYPE

1. Click File> Preferences...

2. Click on the Sound Device tab.

3. Wave RT was introduced in Windows Vista and is part of every newer version of

Windows; this the default audio driver. If you have a slower computer, you may
need to increase the latency setting.

4. If you’re using Windows 7 or 8, you may be able to click WaveRT Exclusive Mode.
Depending on your computer’s speed and power, this mode will allow down to three
milliseconds of latency. In this mode, other programs will lose audio capability when
Mixcraft is running. You may need to restart other programs to get their audio back.
WaveRT exclusive mode is the best way to use every last ounce of computing power.

5. If you don’t have WaveRT, the next best option is ASIO. If it’s grayed out, go to your
sound device or sound card manufacturer’s website and install the latest drivers.
Click on the ASIO Device flip menu and choose the sound device or sound card
you wish to use. You can adjust the settings of the ASIO device by clicking “Open
Mixer.” Each ASIO driver is implemented differently; consult the manual or help for
your sound device in order to optimize the latency setting. Ensure that Default
Output (Playback) is set to the correct device so you’ll hear audio properly.

3

6. If you don’t have Vista or an ASIO option enabled, select Wave. To reduce latency,
decrease the Number Of Buffers and reduce the Buffer Size. The Latency field will
update – this will entail a bit of trial and error as adjustments are made. Click OK,
then check the quality of audio playback. A setting of 100 milliseconds or less is
tolerable; lower settings of 20 milliseconds or less are preferred.

QUICK GLANCE CHART

Right On Track

You may notice that
Mixcraft won’t allow
you to drop the loop
on a track with a
little keyboard icon;
that’s because these
are MIDI tracks. Make
sure to drag audio
loops to audio tracks,
i.e. tracks with a little
speaker icon. Mixcraft
actually has a number
of dierent track
types optimized for
dierent purposes, but
while we’re in “quick
startville,” we’ll just
concern ourselves with
Audio Tracks, that play
digitized audio, and
MIDI Tracks, that play
note on/o messages.

Type Windows Version Notes

WaveRT Windows 7,8

and Vista

The default option. Latency
down to 20 milliseconds.

WaveRT EXCLUSIVE Windows 7,8 Takes over the computer's

audio, but will work down to
three milliseconds of latency.
This option is available when
WaveRT is selected. Audio from
other programs and Windows
will not work at the same time
that you are in this mode.

ASIO XP, Vista, Win 7,

Win 8

Best for playback and recording
synchronization. Must have a
supported ASIO driver for your
sound device.

Wave XP, Vista, Win 7,

Only use if absolutely necessary.

Win 8

COMPUTER SPEED CONSIDERATION

If you have a slower computer and experience audible breaks in audio recording or
playback, you may need to increase the latency setting. Alternatively, you may need
to purchase a higher performance sound card or audio system designed with music
recording and playback in mind. Changing the latency will depend on what type of
audio driver is being used. See the Choosing An Audio Driver Type section above for
more information. Another effective speed enhancement is to defragment your hard
drive, or purchase a new hard drive. (Old hard drives can get slow with age.)

Notice the CPU meter on the lower right corner of Mixcraft.

This indicates the amount of CPU resources used by Mixcraft compared to the entire
computer’s CPU usage.

4

567

QUICK START

We know what you’re thinking … “I don’t wanna read this big ol’ manual now, I wanna
rock!” (or thereabouts). Don’t worry, we’ve got ya covered. In this section, we’ll show
how to play audio clips from Mixcraft’s huge included library, record audio and MIDI
tracks, and add effects.

LOAD AND PLAY AN AUDIO CLIP

To launch Mixcraft, double-click the Mixcraft 7 icon on the desktop. We’ll begin by
dragging an audio clip of a bass line into the Main Window – that’s the big gray grid
where clips of audio, MIDI, and video playback.

Click the Library tab at the bottom of the arrange window, then click the Sort By
pop-up menu and select Song Kit. You’ll see a list of song styles below; select 12-8 Blues.
In the list of loops on the right, you’ll see Bass 12 Bars. Click and drag this to bar 1 of
Audio Track in the empty gray grid beneath the word Start. While hovering a loop over
the grid in the Track View window, you’ll notice two tiny white triangles; this is called
the Caret.

The Caret shows where clips will land when the mouse button is released. It also
indicates where playback or recording will begin. Once you’ve dropped the audio into
place, a dialog box will open and ask: “Use Best Sounding Project Tempo, Key & Time
Signature?” We’ll explain exactly what this means later on, but for now, click Ye s .

Once you’ve dropped a loop into the main grid, it creates a “Clip.” Clips are the rectan­gular audio, MIDI, or video “building blocks” in the main grid that make up a project.

The Main Grid window should look something like this:

Jargon Alert:
The “>” Sign

Throughout this
manual, when you
see something like

+Track>Insert
Audio, the “>” sign

usually refers to a
sequence
of actions. Think about
it as a shorthand way
of us saying,
“click this>then this>
then this.”

8

Click the green play arrow button in the transport section to hear the bass clip play;
click a second time to stop playback, or press the space bar to start or stop playback.
If the clip begins playing somewhere in the middle, click the mouse near the number 1
in the timeline (the numbered line at the top of the Main Grid window). This will
relocate the Caret, thereby changing the playback start.

Try dragging different types of loops into the Main Grid on separate audio tracks.
Mixcraft will automatically match tempo and key signature, making it super easy to
create music! If you run out of audio tracks, create more by clicking +Track>Insert
Audio track at the top of the Track List.

If you’d like a section to loop during playback, drag the mouse in the timeline
at the top to create a purple highlight area, then click the Loop button in the
transport area. The button will turn green to show that loop mode is active.
Click it again to turn off looping. (Pressing the L button will also toggle looping.)

RECORDING AN AUDIO TRACK

Select a blank audio track in the Track List at the left side of the screen. Existing blank
audio tracks will already be named Audio Track and have a little speaker icon beneath
the name (we told you this would be easy!). If there aren’t any blank audio tracks in the
Track List, create new ones by clicking the +Track button at the top of the Track List
and selecting Insert Audio Track.

Click on the audio track you’d like to record on; the track will highlight in green. Now
choose the recording input source by clicking the down arrow to the right of the Arm
button. Depending on your audio hardware, this list may appear differently, but the
idea is to select the hardware input you’ll be plugging a mic or instrument into. In the
example below, we’ve chosen the left channel (i.e. input 1) of a two-channel audio device.

If you’re recording a mono signal, click the sound device followed by Left or Right
depending on where you’ve plugged into the audio device. If you’re recording in
stereo with simultaneous left and right inputs, select Stereo. Pay close attention to this
setting, because it’s easy to accidentally record mono input sources (e.g., lead vocals,
bass guitar, etc.) as a stereo file if you’ve set this incorrectly. It won’t hurt anything, but
you’ll unnecessarily waste hard drive space.

After selecting the input, click the track’s Arm button. The Arm button will turn red,
letting you know Mixcraft is ready to record. Now send some audio through the input
to verify that the correct input was chosen. You should see the meters moving on­screen on the recording track.

When a track is armed, the volume slider turns into a red recording input level
adjuster. Move the slider to adjust the recording input level. If peaks send the meter
into the red, back off the level. Ideally, the input signal should nominally sit in the
green-to-yellow area.

9

Important Note: If you’re using an audio device with an ASIO driver (you can

check in File>Preferences>Sound Device), the volume slider will disappear when
the track is armed for recording. This is because ASIO recording drivers do not
support input level adjustment in software. To set the proper recording input
level, you’ll need to use either the input level on your audio hardware, or if it
doesn’t have one, you’ll most likely want to set the recording level using the
output level control on an external preamp or channel strip.

In order to record in time with a project’s tempo, you’ll most likely want to
record with a metronome. To turn on the metronome, click the metronome
button in the middle of the transport. It looks like, well, a metronome.

The dialog below opens:

10

Check the Recording box. This means the metronome will click during recording.
Checking the Playback box makes it click during playback, but we can leave this off
for now. If it’s not already checked, check the Recording Count-In Measures box. Upon
pressing the Record button, this gives a “countdown” before recording begins. The
number selector lets you choose the length of the countdown – 1 bar usually provides
enough time. Hit OK when you’re done. Once you’ve configured the metronome,
you can quickly toggle it on and off by pressing the M key on the computer keyboard.

Almost there! Let Mixcraft know where to begin recording by positioning the Caret
in the grid. This can be done by either clicking in the timeline at the top of the main
window, or by clicking anywhere in the Main Grid. We recommend positioning the
Caret on an exact number in the timeline (e.g., 1, 2, 3). Setting the Snap To setting at
the top of the screen to Snap To Grid will simplify positioning the Caret.

Now it’s time to grab that microphone or guitar, and let it rip. If you want to monitor
the recording source during recording, click the little speaker icon (left of the Mute button).

Here we go. click the red Record button in the transport (the one with the red dot),

wait four clicks for recording to begin and record something! When you’re done,
click the Record button again to stop (you’ll notice the red circle turns into a square
while recording), or just hit your computer’s space bar. It should look something like this:

Congratulations, you’ve made your first Mixcraft audio recording!

RECORDING A MIDI TRACK

Unlike an Audio Clip, which contains digital sound data, a MIDI Clip contains MIDI
notes. Think of a MIDI Clips as a sort of computerized player piano ... a MIDI Clip
primarily contains digital on/off messages saying, “hey computer instrument, play these
notes at this time, wouldja?”

There are a number of ways to create MIDI clips, but the most common way is to plug
in a USB MIDI controller keyboard, press the Record button, and tickle the ivories
(plastics?). If you have a USB MIDI controller, plug it into an available USB port on
your computer. If you don’t have a USB keyboard controller, you can input notes direct
from the computer’s keyboard using Musical Typing. This can be toggled on and off by
going to the View menu at the top and selecting Musical Typing, or by using the key
shortcut CTRL+ALT+K. Musical typing uses the computer’s QWERTY keyboard to play
musical notes. When activated, the layout shows the “mini music keyboard,” octave,
transpose, velocity, and other relevant parameters:

Now that we’re playing some kind of keyboard, we’ll select one of Mixcraft’s built-in
Virtual Instruments. A Virtual Instrument is like having keyboard instrument that lives
inside the computer. Handy, right?

11

There’s Already
A Piano, Man

New MIDI Tracks
default to an acoustic
piano sound, so you
really don’t need to
select an instrument
to play MIDI notes, but
we thought you might
want to know so you
wouldn’t be stuck with
all piano, all the time!

First, create a new virtual instrument track. Click the +Track button at the top left, and
select Insert Virtual Instrument Track. Now click the track’s piano keyboard icon. This
opens a dialog box where instruments can be selected:

We’ll go with our old friend “Acoustic Piano,” but feel free to scroll through the list and
choose something saucy such as “Space Walk.” When you’ve made your selection, click
on the red X in the upper right corner.

Before we record a MIDI performance, let’s turn on Mixcraft’s metronome.
This lets you play in time with the project’s tempo. To turn on the
metronome, click the metronome button in the middle of the transport:

12

The dialog below opens:

Check the Recording box. This means the metronome will click during recording.
Checking the Playback box makes it click during playback, but we can leave this off
for now. If it’s not already checked, check the Recording Count-In Measures box. Upon
pressing the Record button, this gives a “countdown” before recording begins. The
number selector lets you choose the length of the countdown. Unless your computer

and MIDI keyboard are really far away from each other, choosing 1 bar should give
you plenty of time to get those fingers poised. Hit OK when you’re done. Once you’ve
configured when the metronome plays, you can quickly toggle it on and off by pressing
the M key on the computer keyboard.

We’re almost there! Let Mixcraft know where to begin recording by positioning the
Caret in the grid. This can be done by either clicking in the timeline at the top of the
main window, or by clicking anywhere in the Main Grid. We recommend positioning
the Caret exactly on a number (e.g., 1, 2, 3). To simplify positioning the Caret, make
sure Snap To Grid is selected in the Snap To menu at the top of the screen.

Make sure the track is armed for recording – if it’s not red, click on it. Now click the
red Record button in the transport (that’s the one with the red dot), wait four clicks for
recording to begin, and lay down the rock. When you’re done, click the Record button
again to stop (you’ll notice the red circle turns into a square while recording), or just
hit your computer’s space bar. You should have something like this:

To create more MIDI tracks, select empty tracks in the Track List on the left of the
screen and add more instruments as described above.

ADDING AN EFFECT TO AN AUDIO CLIP
OR VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT TRACK

Mixcraft includes a large suite of real-time audio effects that can be applied to audio
clips or virtual instruments. These are usually referred to as “plug-ins.”

To add a plug-in effect, click on an Audio Track or Virtual Instrument track (if it’s an
audio track, make sure it has associated audio clips in the grid). Now click the track’s
fx button.

The fx button will turn green and following dialog window opens. Click
<Select An Effect>. A drop-down menu will display a whole gaggle of effects;
choose one that sounds fun. For this example, we’lI choose Acoustica Delay.

13

14

At this point, you could just click the X in the top-right corner and be off on your
delayin’ way, but most likely you’ll want to change the default settings. Mixcraft
plug-ins include factory preset settings – to try out the factory preset settings,
click on <Custom> in the Preset list.

To create your own plug-in settings, click the Edit button to view a plug-in’s user interface.

This opens up the Acoustica Delay interface and lets you set its parameters to your
liking. You can press the play button in the transport and hear the settings change in
real-time. (We recommend using Loop Mode for more convenient previewing.)

15

16

REGISTRATION

Following installation, Mixcraft runs in trial mode for 14 days, so you’ll want to register
as soon as possible for full functionality. To register your copy, click the Register!

button on the toolbar or select Help> Enter Registration Code…
in the Main Window menus.

Type in or copy and paste the registration ID (usually your email address) in the Step 3
edit box and type or copy and paste the 20-character registration code (excluding
dashes) into the Step 4 edit box. (Do not enter any extra spaces.) Click the Register!
button and you’re done!

Thank you for choosing Mixcraft. Your support and patronage helps us to continually
improve Mixcraft. Enjoy! – The Acoustica Team

17

18

MIXCRAFT REFERENCE

A visual guide to the individual sections of the Mixcraft 7 user interface.

MAIN WINDOW

This is where you’ll spend most of your time in Mixcraft. We’ll explain each of its
sections below.

MENUS

Basic menus for accessing many Mixcraft functions.

19

MAIN WINDOW TOOLBAR

Contains button shortcuts for frequent Mixcraft functions and parameters.

TRACK HEADER

Button shortcuts atop the Track List allowing creation of new tracks, enabling the
master track, and enabling the Performance Panel.

TIMELINE

The Timeline acts as a song roadmap. The “ruler” can be set to display bar numbers
and divisions or elapsed time. The gray area above the ruler is where recording punch
in/out points, tempo, time signature, key, and song markers are displayed.

TRACK

20

The Track displays important info and parameters for individual audio, MIDI,
and video tracks.

TRACK LIST

The entire list of all audio, MIDI, and video tracks.

MAIN CLIP GRID

This is the playback and recording area where audio, MIDI, and video clips can be
created and moved.

PLAYHEAD

When playback is stopped, this vertical line shows where exactly where playback will
start. During playback or recording, the playhead moves across the screen showing the
current playback position.

21

AUDIO AND MIDI CLIPS

Clips can contain either MIDI data or audio. Clip automation can edited as well.

Tip: Zoom in and out by spinning your mouse wheel. (The mouse wheel’s behavior
can be changed in File>Preferences>Mouse Wheel.)

TRANSPORT BAR

Standard tape deck-style controls for playback, recording, loop mode, and punch in/
out. The large middle display shows song tempo, time signature, song key, and the
current position of the playhead. To the right are the master level meter, volume slider,
and master effects bypass button.

22

TABS

These show additional project information and parameters. Tabs pop up and occupy
the bottom half of the screen when clicked.

If the Sound Tab is selected, the following editors are available:

Audio Clips Loop Editor

Virtual Instruments Clips (MIDI) Piano Roll

Step Edit

Score Edit

STATUS BAR

This lonely area at the bottom of the window displays current CPU usage and whether

Mixcraft is saving, loading, or freezing something.

ADDING/MOVING/SIZING/DELETING

Drag, right-click, or use key shortcuts to add, delete, move, and duplicate tracks.

MOVING TRACKS

Tracks can be moved by clicking and dragging them vertically within the Track List.

RESIZING TRACKS

Tracks can be resized vertically. Track height can be increased for easier editing, or
decreased to fit more tracks on the screen simultaneously. To resize a track vertically,
move the mouse to the bottom of a track and drag up or down. When the mouse is in
the correct location for resizing, the cursor will become an up/down cursor.

Alternatively, you can click Track>Properties>Track Height and choose a size of small,
normal, or large.

RESIZING ALL TRACKS

You can resize all tracks at once by clicking on the View>All Tracks Height and
choosing a new size.

To resize all tracks to a specific size, hold down the SHIFT key, click on the bottom of a
track and drag up or down. All tracks will resize upon mouse release.

DELETING TRACKS

Click on a track to select it. Then click Track>Delete Track, or right-click on the track
and choose Delete Track. All sounds on the track will also be deleted.

23

FREEZE TRACK

If your computer is slow or you’re hearing gapping or stuttering as a result of many
effects or time stretching, tracks can be frozen to reduce the necessary amount of
processing. After freezing a track, a temporary WAV file, containing the track’s effects
and audio, is used for playback. Effects or sounds will not be editable until the track
is “unfrozen.” (Dragging a new sound onto a track will unfreeze it.)

To freeze, right-click on a track you’d like to freeze and choose Freeze Track
(key shortcut Ctrl+F), or choose Track>Freeze Track in the top drop-down menu.

CUSTOMIZING TRACK APPEARANCE

Change the color, icon, name or size of tracks.

NAME

24

The default name for newly created tracks will be “Track,” for audio tracks, or
“Instrument Track,” for MIDI tracks. Tracks can be renamed by left-clicking the current
name and typing. Hit the Enter key or click on another area of the window to finish.

IMAGE

Each track can have its own image for distinction, personalization, and organization.
Choose from twenty stock images or import your own!

To change the track image, double-click an existing track image or hover over the
track image and click the pop-up button. You can also select Track>Properties>Choose

Image… in the main window drop-down menus, or right-click on a track and select
Properties>Choose Image...

The Choose A Track Image window will open:

1. Select a new image and click OK.

2. Add Your Own Image Or Photo

3. Custom images can be added as well. The following image formats are supported:

JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF

To add a custom image, click Add My Own Image File…, navigate to the image to be
added, select the desired image, and click Open. The image will replace the existing
track image and be added to the list of thumbnail images. Note that added images will
be available for future Mixcraft projects, not just the current one.

COLOR

25

Track colors can be individually set by selecting Track>Properties>Track Color in
the main window drop-down menus or by right-clicking a track and choosing
Properties>Color. This affects a track’s highlight color and all clips on the track.

TRACK CONTROLS

26

Adjusts a track’s volume and pan levels.

VOLUME

Track volume is adjusted by the horizontal slider with built-in level meter. Click down
on the slider and move it left or right to decrease or increase volume.

The volume can be set from 0% to 200% (-Inf dB to +6 dB).

To set an exact track volume, choose Track>Properties>Set Volume>Set Exact Value…
from the main window drop-down menu and enter the desired volume. This can also
be accessed by right-clicking on the track.

Tip: Hold down ALT, SHIFT, or CTRL and click-drag the slider for finer and more
accurate adjustment.

NOTE ON ARMED TRACKS

When using Core Audio/Wave RT or Wave audio drivers

, if an audio track is armed
for recording (Arm button will be red), the volume slider turns into a red slider and
allows you to adjust the recording input level. The volume slider will return to its
original position and color when record arming is disabled.

When using the ASIO audio driver, if an audio track is armed for recording (Arm

button will be red), the volume slider disappears. The volume slider becomes visible
again when record arming is disabled.

Pan. The track’s pan control is the small horizontal slider to the left of the track

volume control. Adjust the pan control by clicking and dragging it to the left or
right. Pan is adjustable from 100% left to 100% right. The pan controls default to
center position – this means that the sound is equally balanced between the left and
right channels. Track panning can also be set in the main window drop-down menu
Track>Properties>Set Pan>Set Exact Value … This menu is also accessible by
right-clicking a track.

Tip: For finer and more accurate adjustment, hold down ALT, SHIFT, or CTRL
while dragging the pan slider.

Mute. Tracks can be temporarily silenced by clicking the track Mute button.

Once muted, the solo button will turn green.

The currently selected track can also be muted using the shortcut CTRL+M,
or by right-clicking the track and selecting Properties>Mute.

Solo. To hear a single track’s audio, click the Solo button. Multiple tracks may be

soloed. For example, to hear how the bass and guitar sound together without drums,
solo the bass and guitar tracks. Once soloed, the track’s solo button turns green.

The currently selected track can also be soloed using the shortcut CTRL+L,
or by right-clicking the track and selecting Properties>Solo.

27

CARET

The Caret is a line and two triangles indicating the precise point on the Main Clip
Grid where edits happen, and where playback or recording begins. The tiny triangles
indicate which track the Caret is on. The Caret location is set by clicking in the Main
Clip Grid. The Caret will obey the current Snap Setting.

New sounds and recordings are added at the Caret position. After adding a new sound,
the Caret will move to the end of the sound. The Caret is also the point at which
selected sounds will be split. The Caret can be moved by clicking the mouse or by
using the keyboard direction arrows. The Caret is not susceptible to being eaten by
wacky wabbits.

TRACK TYPES

Mixcraft supports many different track types.

Track Type Notes

Audio Record audio or remix loops

Virtual Instrument/MIDI Edit or record MIDI data

Video Add and edit video files or still images

Master Shape the master volume and effects; this is the

main output bus

28

Send Share effects between multiple tracks

SubMix Organize tracks in a submix so effects and volumes

may be adjusted in all the tracks in the submixin
one place

Output Additional output busses besides the Master Track.

Rewire Controls a third-party Rewire application.

Instrument Mix Mix additional audio channels from virtual

instruments with multiple output busses; this is
automatically created when a virtual instrument
with multiple output channel is added.

AUDIO TRACKS

Audio tracks contain audio clips. Audio clips can be recorded by the user or loaded
from pre-existing libraries.

LOADING AUDIO FILES

To load an audio file, double-click in the Main Clip Grid. (Make sure the cursor is to
the right of an audio track.) Then, navigate to the sound to be loaded and click the
Open button at the bottom of the window. You can also click the Add Sound button on
the toolbar, third from the right. The Add Sound icon looks like this:

The sound will appear at the current location of the Caret.

MONITORING/HEARING YOURSELF

“I need more me!,” said some musician, to every sound engineer who ever lived.

Some sound devices let you listen to the input recording in real-time, or very close
to it, during recording. This is known as “software monitoring.” To enable software
monitoring for a track, click the arm button, then click the speaker icon. The
speaker icon will turn green to indicate that software monitoring is enabled
for the track.

We recommend using headphones in order to avoid feedback when recording with a
microphone. (Closed-ear headphones also help to prevent the click from bleeding into
mics during recording.)

One caveat when using software monitoring is that audio hardware must be set to a
low latency, otherwise the monitored audio will have an audible delay. (For the lowest
latency and best audio performance, use the ASIO audio driver if available. Check
in File>Preferences>Sound Device to see if ASIO is available; it may be necessary to
download and install drivers from the manufacturer of your audio hardware.) The
downside to reducing buffer size is, depending on your sound card and computer
speed, you may hear gaps or clicks in the audio. Learn more about setting up your
sound device in Important Sound Setup Information (see pg. 1).

HEARING EFFECTS DURING RECORDING

If effects are added, they’ll be audible when software monitoring is on. This is often
desirable, e.g., adding reverb when tracking a vocalist, or when tracking electric guitar
with Mixcraft’s Shred Amp Simulator. Though you’ll hear the effects during recording,
effects are not recorded into the track. In other words, Mixcraft always records dry.
In this way, effect settings can be changed or removed later without altering the
original recording.

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GUITAR TUNER

Each audio track features a built-in tuner. Though we refer to it as a “guitar tuner,” it
will work with any monophonic instrument signal (i.e. one-note-at-a-time). Those of
you using drifty, old analog synthesizers should find it quite handy!

To toggle the tuner on or off, simply click the track’s Arm button, then click the tuning
fork icon. The tuning fork icon will turn green, and the track’s volume slider/level
meter turns into a display for the tuner. When the tuner detects an audio signal, it
displays the closest note. When the signal is in tune the “tuning cursor” will appear in
the middle and highlight in white.

The tuner can also be turned on or off by right-clicking on the track and selecting
Guitar Tuner or clicking the main window menu Track>Guitar Tuner.

USING MIDI VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS

Virtual instruments are like having a keyboard instrument within Mixcraft. They can be
played and recorded using a USB or MIDI keyboard controller and edited with Mixcraft’s
powerful editors. (You can even forgo the keyboard controller altogether and program
notes using Mixcraft’s editors.) Mixcraft includes numerous virtual instruments.

30

A virtual instrument track contains MIDI clips. MIDI clips can be recorded or loaded.
Below is a virtual instrument track with a MIDI clip.

Virtual instrument tracks have a small keyboard icon to the left of the mute button.
Below is the instrument button; click it to add or edit virtual instruments.

Virtual instruments can be played with an external USB or MIDI controller keyboard,
or directly from the computer keyboard using the Musical Typing Keyboard.

MUSICAL TYPING KEYBOARD

The Musical Typing Keyboard can be enabled by clicking View>Musical Typing in the
main screen drop-down menus, or with the keyboard shortcut CTRL+ALT+K. Musical
typing uses the computer’s QWERTY keyboard to play musical notes.

When activated, the layout shows the “mini music keyboard,” octave, transpose,
velocity, and other relevant parameters.

ARMING A MIDI TRACK FOR RECORDING

Arming a track prepares the software to record on that track. To arm a track, click the
track’s arm button. The arm button will turn red. You can also arm the current track
with the key shortcut CTRL+B.

CHOOSING THE MIDI RECORD INPUT

By default, Mixcraft will listen to all MIDI channels (any channel) for each track, letting
you record multiple tracks of virtual instruments at the same time.

Clicking the down arrow on the Arm button lets you select the MIDI input and MIDI
channel the track listens to. For example, if you have two keyboards and want to
record each keyboard on a different track:

1. Set keyboard one to send on MIDI channel 1 and set keyboard two to send on
MIDI channel 2.

2. Click the Arm button on track 1 and select All Input Devices to Receive From
MIDI channel 1.

3. Click the Arm button on track 2 and select All Input Devices to Receive From
MIDI channel 2. You are ready for recording.

31

More About
Multiple-Out Virtual
Instruments

In addition to
conguring Mixcraft
to recognize multiple­output virtual
instruments, you’ll
likely need to set
up the instrument
itself. Drum-based
multiple-output virtual
instruments typically
feature a built-in mixer
page with output
destination settings.
This is where you’ll
instruct the instrument
to send individual
sounds to Mixcraft’s
separate outputs.
Sampler-type virtual
instruments may not
have a page resembling
a traditional audio
mixer, but may feature
keymaps or groups
with output destination
settings. If you’re
unable to gure it out,
consult the virtual
instrument’s owner’s
manual. We’re big fans
of poking around ‘til
it works, but don’t tell
anyone, ok?

Alternatively, you could split one MIDI keyboard into two sections, sending the first
section or range of notes to MIDI channel 1 and the second range of notes to MIDI
channel 2. This would allow one keyboard to behave like two separate ones. (You may
need to check the keyboard’s owner’s manual to see if it’s capable of sending separately
channelized MIDI zones.)

RECORDING MULTIPLE TRACKS SIMULTANEOUSLY

Multiple virtual instrument MIDI tracks can be recorded simultaneously. Simply click
the arm button for each track to be recorded. To record from multiple sources or MIDI
channels, click the down arrow on the Arm button, then choose the MIDI input device
and/or the MIDI channel you’d like the track to record from.

INSTRUMENT MIX OUTPUT CHANNELS

Some virtual instruments have multiple output channels (most commonly virtual
“drum set” instruments), allowing separate routing and processing of individual
sounds. When a multiple-output instrument is loaded, a + sign appears next to the
small keyboard icon.

If a track has multiple outputs, Mixcraft creates a child track for each output. This
enables independent control of volume, pan, and EQ settings, as well as using applying
independent insert and send effects for each of the instrument’s outputs. This is nice
when you’d like a massive reverb on a snare drum, but want to keep the kick drum dry,
for example.

To set up multiple outputs, click the channel’s keyboard instrument icon next to the
Mute button, then click the instrument’s Outputs>Config… button

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Use the checkboxes to enable individual outputs, or click the All or None button to
quickly enable or disable all outputs (or if you’re an all-or-none kind of guy/gal).

Checking the Automatically add all instrument output tracks for Virtual Instruments
box at the bottom will always enable all available individual outs when new multiple­out instruments are opened (you can also enable the Automatically add all instrument
output tracks for Virtual Instruments in the File>Preferences>Plug-Ins menu in the
main window).

If you do not need all the mix output channels, unused outputs can be shut off by
unchecking outputs. Click the OK button when the outputs are configured as desired.

The + sign in a Multiple-Out Virtual Instrument track will hide or display the view of
child tracks. This won’t affect the audio configuration in any way, but it’s convenient if
you don’t want to fill the screen with tracks from one virtual instrument.

VIDEO

A video track holds video clips, images, and text. A project can only have one video
track. To create a video track, click the +Track button and select Insert Video Track.
You can also insert a video track by right-clicking and selecting Insert Track, or
accessing Insert Track from the Track menu at the top of the main page.

33

To toggle viewing of the video playback window, click the Show/Hide Video Window
button. A video preview window will open, and the Show/Hide Video Window button
will turn green.

A video track has an automation lane, as well as an optional child text track for titles,
lyrics, credits, etc. Learn more about video in the Video section (see pg. 155).

VIDEO TEXT TRACK

The text track contains text clips and is a child of the video track. It can be viewed by
clicking the + sign at the bottom-left corner of the video track.

There are two types of text clips:

 Normal
 Scrolling Text

Text tracks can contain multiple lanes and can be used for titles, lyrics, credits,
transitions, and more. Mixcraft’s Scrolling Text track style has been used

MASTER TRACK

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A project has one Master Track. Think of this as the stereo master output the entire mix
gets routed through. Volume, panning, and effects can be added and automated for the
entire project.

To toggle the Master Track view, click the Master button at the top of the Track List.
The button will turn green and the Master Track will display at the very bottom of the
Track List. (The idea is that the Master Track is the final processing stage.) You can also
click Track>Show Master Track in the main page drop-down menus.

SEND TRACK

Send Tracks are tracks containing an effect, or a chain of effects, and track automation.

Unlike inserting an effect into a standard audio channel, multiple audio channels can
be sent to a send track effect using the red channel send knobs in the Mixer tab.

Fading Out Again
To end a project
with an automated
fadeout, display the
Master Track and
select Master Volume
in the automation
drop-down. Scroll to
the end of the project
and add volume
automation points
to lower the volume
for the whole project.
Learn more in the
Automation section
(see page 43).

WHEN TO USE SEND TRACKS

Audio tracks and Virtual Instrument tracks can send their audio output to a send track.
A Send Track is also known as an Aux Bus.

Use a Send Track to:

 Use effects on a specific portion or section of a track.
 Share effects over multiple tracks.
 Have a great degree of control over dry vs. effect level.

35

To Insert or To Send Eects, That Is The Question

There are two ways to use eects in a mix environment:
insert eects, and send (or bus) eects. Both methods can
be used somewhat interchangeably, but each has its own
advantages largely dependent upon the type of eect, its
intended use, and, in the virtual DAW environment, use of
computer resources.

Insert Eects

When an eåect is added to a track by clicking the fx
button, you’re using it as a channel insert. You can think
of an insert eect as being a part of an individual channel
strip. It also means that the dry-to-wet signal balance is
adjusted using the controls in the eect itself. Although
you can insert any type of eect, inserting is best suited to
gain and dynamics eects such as compressors, limiters,
EQs, distortion, etc., because their mix is typically set
“fully wet.” In other words, you don’t usually use a partial
amount of a compressed or distorted signal, although
some crafty engineers have been known to break this rule.
Conversely, time-domain eects such as chorus, delay,
and reverb are almost always mixed with the dry signal.

Send Track Eects

One good way to think of a send eect is as one or more
channels being mixed together and then being sent to a
standalone eects unit. The dry mix remains unaected,
and the eect gets added to nal mix. Because of this,
the wet/dry mix control of a send eect should always
be set to 100% wet. (Otherwise you’d end up with the
dry signal from the main mix plus some dry signal from
the eect itself, making it it dicult to mix.) Perhaps the
biggest benet of send eects is conservation of computer
processing resources; if you’re using a reverb plug-in that
demands a great deal of computer overhead, send tracks
allow you to send many mix channels to just one instance.
And if you’re using an eect to process many channels
of one “instrument” (e.g., a drum kit, several vocal tracks,
etc.), a send eect lets you add dierent amounts of the
eect for each channel by simply adjusting the amount of
each track’s send knob. Send tracks also oer tremendous
exibility with regard to stereoization; for example, a dry
track could be panned to one side of the stereo image,
with the eected side panned to the other.

ROUTING AUDIO TO A SEND TRACK

Add a Send Track to the project by clicking the +Track
button and selecting Add Send Track. You can also click
Track>Add Track>Send Track in the main window menus.

In this example, we’ve renamed the Send Track, “Reverb
(SEND).”

Click on the track you’d like to add reverb to. Display its
track automation by clicking the Automation button.

Click the Automation Type drop-down menu (by default it
will say Track Volume), then click beneath Sends to select
the Send Track effect. In this example, the number 11 is
the track number of the Send Track, and Reverb (SEND) is
the Send Track’s name.

36

Once the Send Track is selected, a knob appears. This sets the amount of signal sent to
the Send Track.

The send level can be set by clicking and dragging the knob up and down. (The mouse
cursor turns into up and down arrows.) You can also set a channels Send Track level by
clicking the Mixer tab at the bottom of the screen and rotating the channel’s Send knob,
but we’ll tell you all about the mixer later on. Keep in mind that numerous tracks can
be sent to the same Send Track. (Check out the To Insert or To Send Effects, That Is
The Question sidebar for more information.)

The amount of the track’s audio sent to the Send Track can also be adjusted via track
automation. (For more information, see Automation, pg. 43.)

SEND VOLUME TYPE

This determines if audio is sent to the Send Track before or after the track’s volume fader.

 Pre Volume Adjustment (PRE-Fader Send)

The track’s audio is sent to the Send Track before its own volume adjustments.

 Post Volume Adjustment (POST-Fader Send)

The track’s audio is sent to the Send Track after applying its own volume
adjustments.

To change the Send Volume Type, right-click on the channel’s Send knob in the Mixer
or on the Send knob displayed when track automation is visible, and select Send
Volume Type>Pre Volume Adjustment or Send Volume Type>Post Volume Adjustment.

Mixcraft Send Tracks default to Post Volume Adjustment. This is a sensible choice for
most mix situations, because it means reducing the volume of a track fader proportionally
reduces the volume of the Send Track. There are situations where this behavior isn’t
optimal. For example, if you’d like a dry instrument to be very quiet, but you’d like the
reverbed signal very loud, Pre Volume Adjustment would be a better choice.

37

Send Track Eects

When adding an eect
to a Send Track, we
recommend using a
preset designed for a
Send Track. (They’ll
have the word Send in
the title.) These presets
will already have the
wet/dry mix set to
100% wet in order to
avoid the problem of
having the dry signal’s
volume controlled by
the channel fader and
the eect’s dry signal
balance. If the clean
volume appears to
behave strangely
(“Why can’t I turn
this darn channel
down!%^&?”), click
fx in the Send Track,
then the Edit button
next to the eect.
Now adjust the dry
mix down to 0% and
the wet mix up to 100%.

AUDIO SIGNAL FLOW

To reiterate, the send volume type determines whether audio from the track is routed
to the Send Track before or after the track fader and volume automation. Here’s a
diagram of the audio signal flow in Mixcraft:

1. Clips (with clip-level automation)

2. Track Insert Effects

3. PRE-Fader Send*

4. Track volume and pan

38

5. POST-Fader Send*

* Depending on the send volume type, the audio from a track will be sent at one of the
starred * points in the audio signal ow.

SUBMIX TRACK

A SubMix track routes audio to an intermediate track before the Main Mix master
volume. This is very useful as a master volume control for a group of related tracks
such as a drum kit, or multiple tracks of backing vocals. SubMix tracks are also useful
if you’d like to send a group of tracks to one channel-insert-type effect. One common
use would be to send multi-tracked layered backing vocals through a single compressor
to “glue” them together.

To create a SubMix Track, click the +Track button and select Add Send Track. You can
also click Track>Add Track>SubMix Track in the main window menu or right-click in
the Track List area and use the Insert Track menu.

To add tracks to a SubMix Track, drag and drop the tracks onto the SubMix track.
(Make sure to grab tracks in the track list, not clips in the grid; when you move a track,
its clips move with it.) Once tracks are the child of a SubMix track, they can be freely
moved up and down in track list. Besides being directly beneath the SubMix track,
child tracks will indent slightly with a small black region on the left side for easy visible
identification. If the SubMix Track is moved in the the track list, all child tracks move
with it. Child tracks may be shown or hidden by clicking the +/- sign at the far left side
of the SubMix Track.

39

Volume, panning, solo, mute, insert effects, and automation remain independently
adjustable for SubMix child tracks. Tracks may also be dragged and dropped out of the
SubMix track – drag the track up or down to a location out of the SubMix track and
the track becomes a standard track again.

OUTPUT BUS TRACK

An Output Bus Track allows routing to alternate devices and/or outputs. It allows
routing to physical audio outputs when using audio hardware with multiple outputs.

To create a SubMix Track, click the +Track button and select Add Output Bus Track.
You can also click Track>Add Track>Output Bus Track in the main window menu or
right-click in the Track List area and use the Insert Track menu.

If you’re using an audio device with multiple outputs, click on the Output drop-down
menu directly beneath the level meter. Here, you’ll be able to select from your audio
hardware’s available physical outputs. The routing of tracks to physical outputs can also
be configured in the Mixer tab; this is covered in the Audio Mixer section (see pg. 151).

There are many ways to use Output Bus Tracks to enhance a mix, or to take advantage
of multiple outputs on an audio device. Here are some examples:

CREATE OUTPUT BUS TRACKS FOR SIMPLIFIED MIXING

In the image below, there are five Output BusTracks created for combining all drums,
bass, guitars, keyboards, and vocals. All of the drum tracks are routed to the Drums
Output Bus Track, all vocal tracks are routed to the Vocals Output Bus Track and so on.

40

This example doesn’t require audio hardware with multiple physical outs, as all of the
audio outputs are set to the the default stereo output pair, but submixing all tracks of
a song across five faders makes mixing the song very easy. Remember that each Output
Bus Track can have its own EQ, effects, and automation applied as well.

CREATE HEADPHONE CUE OR MONITOR MIXES

When recording or performing live, each musician will likely need their own custom
monitor mix. The keyboard player may want to hear the drums, keyboards, and some
vocals, but maybe they don’t want to hear the guitarist. Meanwhile, the drummer
only wants to hear bass and vocals. And the vocalist will, of course, only want to hear
themself, at eardrum-searing volume.

If your audio hardware is equipped with multiple outputs, you can create a custom
headphone mixes for individual band members. In the image below, a Send Track
has been added for the keyboard player’s headphone mix. The Send Track’s output is
routed to the Headphone Mix 1 output track, which is routed to a specific output on
the audio device. The level of the Send knobs on each track are used to create a custom
monitor mix for the keyboard player.

The audio hardware’s individual outs can be sent to monitor speakers or headphones.
With enough hardware outputs, each person in a band can have their own custom
monitor mix.

USE VINTAGE HARDWARE EFFECTS IN A MIX

Sometimes classic hardware effects are the only way to achieve a specific sound. In
the example below, a Send Track has been created to make use of a vintage tape delay
hardware effect. The Send Track has been routed to an Output Track, which has been
routed to a specific output on the audio interface. This allows an external hardware
effect to behave the same as a Send Track with an onboard plug-in effect.

The vocal track’s send knob is routed to the Send Track, which is then sent to the
Output track. The selected output of the audio interface is physically plugged into the
tape delay. To return the affected sound to Mixcraft’s mixer, create a new Audio Track,
select a physical input on the audio interface using the track Arm button, and plug the
output of the tape into this. The tape echo’s output can then be recorded. If software
monitoring is activated on the audio track (by clicking the speaker icon with the track
armed), the tape delay’s output will be heard alongside all other mix elements.

41

REWIRE

ReWire is an audio and MIDI protocol developed by Propellerhead Software
allowing Mixcraft to access sounds, virtual instruments, and features of external
music programs.

Mixcraft acts as a host, also known as a ReWire Mixer, with other applications working
as “clients,” or ReWire Devices. External applications will synchronize their tempo,
loop points, and start and stop times with Mixcraft. MIDI data from Mixcraft can also
be routed to control virtual instruments inside other applications. Audio from these
other applications is routed to Mixcraft, where it can be mixed and affected.

There are two ways to add a ReWire track with Mixcraft:

 Click the Mix>Add ReWire Application from the main screen menus and select the

desired Rewire application. This adds a ReWire track in Mixcraft and displays the
third-party program’s interface as a child window inside Mixcraft.

 Click the keyboard icon on an Instrument Track and select <ReWire Devices> in

the category menu. Choose a ReWire application from the Instrument Preset menu.
A new ReWire track will be created for the application, if one doesn’t currently exist.

42

Once a ReWire track has been created, all transport
controls, including play, rewind, and stop, as well as
tempo changes and loop points, will be sent to the Rewire
application, letting you use the application in conjunction
with Mixcraft. Instrument Tracks can also send live or
recorded MIDI data to instrument tracks available in the
ReWire application.

All audio generated by the ReWire application will play
through to Mixcraft on the ReWire track. As with other
Mixcraft tracks, volume, pan, solo, and mute parameters
apply. Effects and automation can also be applied to
ReWire tracks.

AUTOMATION

Mixcraft’s lane-based track automation allows simple
automation of volume, pan, and send tracks, as well as all
parameters of a track’s plug-ins and virtual instruments.
You can view or hide as many parameters as you like
simultaneously, with each parameter occupying its
own “lane,” until you run out of screen space. It’s also
compatible with the Mackie Control, TranzPort, and other
hardware control surfaces.

Keep in mind that lane-based track automation is separate
from the clip-based automation. To better understand each
automation type, check out the sidebar Understanding
Lane- Vs. Clip-Based Automation.

TRACK AUTOMATION

Understanding Clip VS. Lane Automation

Mixcraft contains two separate types of automation,
clip- and lane-based automation. Clip automation is
displayed by the horizontal line that appears when
hovering over the bottom section of audio or MIDI
clips. It allows automation of volume, pan, low pass
lter cuto frequency and resonance, or high pass lter
cuto frequency and resonance on a per clip basis. In
other words, automation of these parameters is set
independently for each clip. The parameter currently
shown is selected with the drop-down menu at the top
of the screen in the main menu tool bar. (Click the
one that says Volume to view all the clip automation
parameters.) The drop-down menu parameter selection is
global – in other words, if you choose the Pan parameter,
all clips in a project will now display the Pan parameter.

Lane-based automation diers in a number of ways.
Most signicantly, lane automation functions
independently of clips – try to imagine it as “laid over”
the the clips making up a project. Because it functions
independently of clips, for example, you could create
a slow volume fade that spanned numerous clips. And
instead of being superimposed on clips, lane-based
automation is displayed on its own “lanes,” separate
from, but parallel to, the clips it aects.

The other important dierence is that clip-based
automation does not aect the control positions in
the Mixer tab – it simply adds or subtracts parameters
“on top” of the current control positions. Conversely,
if an automation lane’s Lock button is engaged,

automation behaves like
a “third hand,” causing
mixer controls to move.
This makes it more
suitable for use with
hardware control surfaces
with moving faders, as the
controls move together on
a one-to-one basis.

43

TRACK LIST AUTOMATION CONTROLS

Toggle Automation

This displays and hides automation lanes for individual tracks. If a track has no prior
automation, a single automation lane opens displaying volume automation. If a track
has existing automation, you’ll see all automation lanes with views currently enabled
(using the + and x buttons described below). If the the track contains lane automation
the Toggle Automation button appears green; if it doesn’t, the button will be gray
regardless of whether the view is toggled on or off. This makes it easy to distinguish
if a track contains automation or not.

Keep in mind that the Toggle Automation button only hides and displays the
automation lanes, but has no affect on automation playback. In other words, lane
automation still happens even if the lanes are hidden with Toggle Automation button.

You can view as many automation lanes for a single track, or tracks, as you like.
This makes it easy to edit numerous parameter simultaneously. To open additional
automation lanes for a track, click the + sign, then click the Automation Parameter
drop-down menu to select the desired parameter for editing. To hide an automation
lane, click the X sign. When an automation lane is hidden, the automation still remains
active – it’s simply hidden from view.

To simplify remembering which track parameters contain automation data, the text
for parameters containing automation data is displayed in blue in the Automation
Parameter drop-down submenu.

44

 (+) Button

Adds a new automation lane to the track.

 (-) Button

Hides the automation lane.

 Arm

This is the automation Arm button to the left of the lock icon in the automation
track header, not the record Arm button above it. Clicking this allows recording
of automation data for a lane either via the onscreen control associated with the
lane’s automation parameter, or by using a hardware controller assigned to a
parameter. (See Recording Automation Using Hardware Controllers, pg 50.)

 Lock Button

This synchronizes the movements of lane automation with onscreen displays
of channel volume and pan, as well as submix, send, output bus, and master track
volumes. As these parameters are being controlled by lane automation in lock
mode, the onscreen controls for these parameters will be disabled when in lock
mode – you’ll see them shrink slightly and “go dark.” Automation parameter lock
is especially useful when using hardware control surfaces with motorized faders,
as it keeps onscreen and hardware controls locked together at all times.

If an automation lane’s Lock button is not engaged, mixer controls will not move,
and their control positions act as “master” controls in addition to automation data.
In other words, if lane automation contains a volume curve, moving a channel fader
will cause the entire volume curve to become louder or quieter, but the automated
volume will still occur.

 Automation Parameter

This drop-down menu is where you’ll choose which parameter the automation lane
will control. These can be Mixcraft mixer parameters such as channel’s volume, pan,
or send levels, or the may be individual parameters of a plugin or virtual instrument;
clicking the name of a plugin or virtual instrument will display a drop-down
submenu with all automatable parameters.

45

SELECTING PARAMETERS FOR AUTOMATION

To select a parameter for automation, click a track’s Automation Parameter drop­down lane in the track list – by default it will say Track Volume. You can click it or the
downward facing arrow next to it.

46

A drop-down menu appears showing the track volume, pan, and send parameters, as
well as a list of currently inserted virtual instruments and/or plug-in effects. Hovering
the mouse over a virtual instrument or plug-in effect name will display all currently
automatable parameters for that instrument or effect. Clicking a parameter name will
display current automation for that parameter in the automation lane.

ADDING AND EDITING AUTOMATION

To add automation points, simply click on an automation lane’s automation line and
drag the point up and down. The position of newly created automation points will
conform to the the current snap setting. The global snap value applies when adding
and editing automation points. If you experience problems moving an envelope point
to a specific location, change the Snap setting to Snap Off.

To move a horizontal section of the automation line, hold down the SHIFT key while
dragging. The cursor will turn into an up/down arrow.

Dragging an automation point over other automation points will cause them to be
“overrun” and deleted upon mouse release.

FINE TUNING AND DELETING AUTOMATION POINTS

 Edit Exact Value

To precisely set automation point values, right-click it and choose Edit Exact Value.
The dialog box below opens and allows exact settings for automation points.

 Delete Point

To delete an automation point, right-click on and choose Delete Point.

CUTTING, COPYING, AND PASTING AUTOMATION DATA

Automation data can easily be cut, copied, and pasted.

 Cut

To Cut a section of automation, highlight the section of automation to be cut by
clicking and dragging over the area to be cut. Now select CONTROL+X either in
Mixcraft’s file menu, or by right-clicking the mouse to copy.You can paste the cut
automation data to a new location by positioning the Caret marker in the desired new
location, then selecting CONTROL+V either in Mixcraft’s file menu, or by right­ clicking.

 Copy

To Copy, highlight the section of automation you’d like copied by clicking and
dragging over the area to be copied. Now select CONTROL+C either in Mixcraft’s
file menu, or by right-clicking the mouse to copy. Position the Caret marker in the
desired copy location, and paste by selecting CONTROL+V either in Mixcraft’s file
menu, or by right-clicking.

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Automation data may be freely copied between tracks, and even to different parameter
lanes. You can also copy multiple automation lanes or automation lanes and clips
simultaneously. The only limitation is that Mixcraft will only copy automation data
to visible lanes, e.g., if volume and pan lanes are copied to track with only a volume
lane visible, only the volume controller data will be copied. This is done to prevent
automation data from copying to an “invisible” location and potentially causing
confusion.

ADDITIONAL AUTOMATION PARAMETERS

Right-click in the track automation header to display additional parameters.

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 Clear

Deletes automation data in the currently selected lane.

 Invert

Reverses the positions of automation data in the currently selected lane.

 Boost

Raises automation data value in the selected lane by 5%, 10%, 25%, or 50%.

 Reduce

Lowers the value of automation data in the currently selected lane by 5%, 10%,
25%, or 50%.

 Clear All Automation

Deletes all automation in all lanes for the current track. Be careful with this one!

 Hide Automation Lane

Hides the current automation lane - the same as clicking the X in the lane’s header.

RECORDING REAL-TIME AUTOMATION

“Real-time” automation is a fancy way of saying that Mixcraft will record parameter
changes such as moving a knob or slider, or pressing a button. You can record
parameter changes using onscreen controls or using knobs, sliders, and buttons on a
hardware USB controller.

RECORDING AUTOMATION OF ONSCREEN CONTROLS

The easiest way to automate parameters is by recording the movements of onscreen
controls. Here’s how:

1. Click on the track you’d like to automate a parameter on in the track list.

2. Click the track’s automation button. The automation button will turn green, and

an automation lane will open beneath it. The default automation parameter will be
Track Volume; to choose a different parameter for automation, click the down arrow
next to the default automation parameter. (When virtual instruments and plug-ins
in the list are clicked, you’ll see submenus displaying its automatable parameters.)

3. Once the appropriate parameter has been chosen, click the Arm button beneath
and to the left of the automation parameter display; this tells Mixcraft to record
controller data for selected parameter. (The track’s Record Arm button does not
need to be armed; it can be, but keep in mind that you’ll now be recording
automation data as well as audio or MIDI note data depending on the track type.)

4. Position the playhead where you’d like automation recording to begin by clicking
in the ruler at top of the project.

5. Press Record. If you’re recording volume, pan, send level, or other parameters with
a parameter control on the main screen or in the Mixer tab, you can simply move
these onscreen controls, and Mixcraft records their movements. If you’re recording
automation for virtual instrument or plug-in parameters, make sure to open up
their interface prior to recording (right-click on the keyboard icon or the fx icon)
for access to controls. Either way, newly recorded automation will appear as it’s
recording. Remember that you can add as many automation lanes and parameters
as you like.

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Remember to hit the Stop button when you’re done, and be careful not to enable
Loop Mode, otherwise the movements you record may be instantly overwritten when
Mixcraft “comes back ‘round.”

RECORDING AUTOMATION USING HARDWARE CONTROLLERS

This works almost exactly as described above, but instead of moving or clicking the
mouse on virtual on-screen controllers, you’ll be able to record the movements of the
knobs, sliders, or buttons on a hardware controller. Before you can record automation
data from a hardware controller, you’ll need to assign controls to parameters using
MIDI controller information in Mixcraft. Don’t worry, Mixcraft makes it really easy!

AUTOMATING EFFECTS ON NON-CLIP TRACKS

A non-clip track is any track that doesn’t have audio or MIDI clips associated with it.
The primary track does not have an X, because these tracks only display automation in
the main clip grip. However, if you choose to display additional parameters for a non­clip track (by clicking the + button), these will have an X allowing the extra parameters
to be displayed or hidden. The following track types are non-clip tracks:

 SubMix
 Send
 Output
 Master
 Instrument Mix Output
 Rewire

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AUTOMATING WITH A MIDI CONTROLLER

Any USB MIDI controller or keyboard can be set up to control any effect parameter

or virtual instrument parameter. The basic idea is that you’ll map buttons, knobs, or
sliders to specific parameters. This allows a whole new level of expressiveness with
virtual instruments, effects, and synthesizers.

MAPPING A HARDWARE CONTROL TO A PLUG-IN EFFECT PARAMETER

In this example we’ll assume that an effect has already been inserted into the channel.

1. Click the FX button in the channel header, then click the Edit button to the right
of the effect name.

2. Click the gear in the upper left corner of the plug-in interface window to open the
MIDI Mapping window.

Alternatively, the MIDI Mapping window can be accessed by displaying
a channel’s lane automation (press the automation button).

… then clicking the automation parameter (in this case, Track Volume).
When the drop-down menu opens, choose MIDI Map.

3. Under the Parameter heading, click <Add New> to view the automatable parameters
for the current effect or Virtual Instrument. Choose a parameter and click to select it.

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4. Click the MIDI Learn button. If a knob or fader is being assigned, move it back and
forth. If a button is being assigned, press it. You’ll be able to tell that the controller

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has successfully been assigned, because the MIDI controller number associated with
it will display beneath the CC heading. Once the parameter has been assigned,
click Stop Learning.

5. Click the Close button.

Assigning hardware controls to Virtual Instruments works exactly the same; the only
difference will be the location of the instrument Edit button used to display the Virtual

Instrument user interface. You can see the Edit button in the screenshot below, to the
right of the instrument name.

Super Helpful Tip: If a Virtual Instrument or plug-in effect is already loaded into a
channel, its user interface can be accessed directly by right-clicking on the keyboard

instrument icon or FX button. This is a super-useful shortcut, and in this case, it will
immediately get you to the “gear” icon for MIDI mapping.

ADDITIONAL MIDI MAPPING WINDOW PARAMETERS

 Reverse

This reverses the effect of continuous controllers and buttons.

 Reset All

This button clears the current mapping

 Delete Current Mapping

Clicking the red X will delete the currently selected controller mapping.

LOADING AND SAVING EFFECT MAPPINGS

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To save current mapping assignments, click the Save or Save As buttons. (You
may want to create a directory for these.) MIDI Mapping window assignments will
automatically be saved with the current project, but the ability to save mappings lets
you reuse settings in new projects.

 Effects

Effects can be added to any track type (excluding video and text tracks).
To add effects to a track, click the FX button in a track header.

Mixcraft features a large array of effects including echo, delay, chorus, EQ,

distortion, and more. (Plus our favorite feature: “And more!”)

Learn more in the Effects section (see pg. 217).

 Lanes

Lanes allow multiple tracks of audio or MIDI to exist in the same time location
without piling on top of one another or playing simultaneously. This is useful
when recording multiple takes (either for recording and editing takes together
the best performance, or stacking takes together for a full sound).

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ADDING AND DELETING LANES

Lanes are created automatically if a new audio or MIDI recording overlaps a previous
one. Most often, this occurs when Mixcraft is set to Loop Mode. Lanes can be manually
added by right-clicking in the Main Clip Grid and selecting Lanes>Add (or with the
shortcut ALT+L). Conversely, a track’s bottom-most lane can be deleted by right­clicking and selecting Lanes>Delete. To delete unused lanes, right-click and select
Lanes>Delete Empty Lanes (or with the shortcut ALT+K).

MUTING LANES

All clips on any lane can be muted or unmuted by right-clicking on an empty part of a
lane and clicking Lanes>Mute All or Lanes>Unmute All.

LANE MIDI CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT

Separate MIDI channels can be assigned to individual lanes when using Virtual
Instruments. This is particularly useful with multi-timbral instruments. To assign
MIDI channels, right-click an empty part of a lane, select Lanes>MIDI Channel,
then the desired MIDI channel for the lane.

AUDIO/MIDI/VIDEO CLIPS

Clips are the “building blocks” of projects. Depending on the clip type, they may
contain audio, MIDI, video, or text. Following are operations that are common
to all clip types.

MUTING CLIPS

Clips can be muted. Most commonly, you might want to mute a clip in order to modify
the arrangement of a song without permanently deleting a clip.

Muted clips appear gray. The easiest way to mute or unmute a clip is to click the small
circle-with-a-cross-through-it button in the clip title bar. You can also mute clips by
highlighting them and selecting Sound>Properties>Mute in the Main Screen Menu.

MOVING/DELETING/LINKING/LOCKING CLIPS

 Moving Clips

Clips can be freely moved in the Main Clip Grid. To move a clip, click its title bar
and drag vertically or horizontally while holding down the mouse button. (The title
bar is the top area of the clip where the name is displayed.)

You can also move a clip by using the keyboard. Highlight the clip or clips to be
moved, and press the arrow keys. The clip(s) will move based on the current
snap setting.

 Deleting Clips

Select a clip or group of clips and then select Edit>Delete from the Main Window,
or press your computer's DELETE key.

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 Deleting Parts Of Clips

If only a part of a clip is selected, only the selected part gets deleted selected.
For example, if you’ve recorded a singer and there is an extra audible breath,
select the unwanted area and delete it.

LINKING CLIPS

Related clips can be linked together causing them to move as a single unit. This is
useful when moving video clips with associated audio, multiple-mic drum recordings,
or layered background vocals.

To link clips together, select the clips and click Edit>Link Selected Clips in the Main
Window menus or by right-clicking one of the selected clips. To unlink clips, simply
click the two rings/X button on the clip, or choose the Edit>Unlink Selected Clips.
If there are multiple clips linked together, you can unlink just one by choosing
Edit>Unlink This Clip.

LOCKING CLIPS

Clips can be locked to prevent them from being moved or resized. To lock a clip(s),
select it then click Sound>Properties>Lock from the Main Window menus (or by right­clicking the clip). Clips can be unlocked the same way; simply click in the same menus
to uncheck locking. Clips can also be locked and unlocked using the Sound tab.

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 Looping/Cropping/Trimming Clips

Loops can be cropped and trimmed by resizing. Sounds can also be looped by
resizing from the left or right.

 Cropping and Trimming Clips

You can trim the start and end of any clip. Moving the mouse to the right or left edge
of a clip will change the cursor into a left/right resize arrow. Hold the mouse down

and drag to resize or trim. For more precise adjustment, zoom the view in closer.

The left or right edge of will trim based on the current Snap setting. If a clip
won’t trim to a specific length, check the Snap setting; you may need to set the

value to Off.

 Crop From A Selection

A specific region can be cropped by making a selection over a clip, or a group of
clips, and selecting Edit>Crop from the Main Window menus or by right-clicking
and selecting Crop.

 Looping Clips

To create additional loops of a clips, move the mouse onto the left or right edge of
the clip. The cursor will turn into a left/right arrow. Click and drag the right edge of
the clip; when the length of the clip exceeds the length of the Loop Start and Loop

End points (defined in the Sound tab), a new loop begins.

The indentations in the bottom of a clip indicate the loop start and end points.
You can also make additional loop copies by clicking the +1 Loop button next

to the immediate left of the clip’s name.

 Remove Space Between Clips

This eliminates silent gaps by moving clips together. It does not combine clips into
one big sound – it just scoots clips closer together. Select Edit>Remove Space
Between Clips from the Main Window Edit menu.

 Cutting/Copying/Pasting Clips

To cut and paste a clip, select a clip, or a portion of one, by dragging over it. Select
Cut from the Main Window Edit menu, then click in the Main Clip Grid to position
the Caret in the desired destination. Select Paste from the Edit menu to paste to the
Caret location.

Copying clips work exactly as above, just select Copy instead of Cut and the original
clip will remain. You can also Cut, Copy, or Paste by right-clicking the mouse.

 Alt-Drag Copying

To quickly copy selected clips, hold down the ALT key and click-drag a clip to
quickly make a duplicate.

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MERGE

To merge two or more audio or virtual instrument clips on the same track, select the
clips and then click Sound>Merge To New Clip in the Main Window menus.

Before a merge:

After the merge:

Reasons To Merge Clips

Multiple virtual instrument clips are on one track and you’d like to print out sheet
music for the entire track, but the notation view only displays one clip at a time.
Merging the clips together allows the notes to appear correctly in the notation view.

You have multiple audio clips one track recorded with the same noisy air conditioner
in the background and you want to remove the noise in one command. Merging the
clips together allows you to remove the noise one time.

The current project has hundreds of clips and your workspace is getting confusing and
slow. Merging the clips to one sound will cut down on resources, speed up your mix by
cutting down on CPU, and unclutter the interface, as well.

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SELECTING CLIPS

A selection is an area that you’d like to edit or work on.

 Drawing A Selection

Click and drag the cursor over a region to create a selection. The selected is
displayed as a transparent purple rectangle. Selections obey the snap setting.
(“Transparent Purple Rectangle” is a fabulous name for a psychedelic band as well.)
The selection drag may be started on the timeline, a clip, or a track body.

 Selecting An Individual Clip or Multiple Clips

To select an individual clip, click on its title bar. The clip will have a white outline
when selected.

To select multiple clips, hold down the CTRL key and click on the title bars of the
clips to be selected.

 Selecting A Region of a Clip

To select part of a clip, click and drag in the bottom section of a clip (beneath the
Title Bar). The cursor will change to an I-beam to simplify selection.

Selection Shortcuts

Action Shortcut Description

Selecting All Clips
On A Lane

Selecting All Clips
On A Track

CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+A Choose Track> Lanes

>Select All

CTRL+SHIFT+A Choose Track>Select

All Clips On This Track.

Alternatively, double-click a
track header.

Selecting All Clips

CTRL+A Choose Edit>Select All

In Project

Unselect Clips Esc Deselect any selected clips.

Select Next Clip Tab A quick way to select the

next clip.

Select Previous Clip SHIFT+Tab A quick way to select the

previous clip.

 Other Things You Can Do With Selections

Once regions are selected, they may be cut, copied, and pasted the current selection.
Here are some less obvious operations that can be done with selected regions:

 Boosting or reducing audio levels  Normalizing clips
 Creating fades  Removing space between clips
 Cropping clips  Setting Loop to Crop
 Linking clips  Trimming silence
 Merging clips

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CLIP-BASED AUTOMATION

Each audio clip has its own independent automation line for the following parameters:

 Volume  Low Pass Resonance
 Pan  High Pass Cutoff
 Low Pass Cutoff  High Pass Resonance

These are all simultaneously available for any clip. To select the currently displayed
automation line, highlight a clip, or clips, and select the parameter in the Main
Window Toolbar at the top of the screen.

Note: Clip Automation, where automation is applied to clips individually, is separate
from Lane Automation, where automation affects an entire track in a continuous line.
Both types of automation work simultaneously, so be aware of this if you’re
using both types on the same content.

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Here we’ll adjust clip volume.The clip automation display selector (that’s a mouthful)
switches the parameter displayed globally for all clips in a project.

 Adjusting Clip Automation

To create and adjust clip automation points, hover the mouse cursor over the lower
section of a clip. The clip’s automation line will appear, and the cursor will turn into
crosshairs. Click to create new points, and drag to position them.

Keyboard Modifiers
 Add Points: Hold the CTRL key down and click to add points anywhere
on the sound.

 Move Line: Hold the SHIFT key down and click down on an automation line

to move the line up or down.

 Delete Points: Hold the ALT key down and click points to remove or delete them.

 Setting Exact Value

Precise values can be set by right-clicking on the point and choosing Edit Exact
Value... This opens a dialog box where exact number values can be entered.

 Fades, Boosts, and Reductions

Though these sound like procedures rich ladies get done, these are actually
shortcuts that add multiple envelope points at a time. Select an area of a sound
and choose one of the following predefined options from the Sound menu in the
Main Window:

 Sound>Envelopes>Fade Out

 Sound>Envelopes>Fade In
 Sound>Envelopes>Reduce
 Sound>Envelopes>Boost

 Clip Volume

Volume can be set to values from 0% to 200% (-Inf dB to +6 dB).

 Clip Pan

Pan is the volume balance between the left and right channel (i.e. left and right
speaker). By automating pan settings, sounds can move from left to right or
vice-versa. Pan can be set to values from 100% left to 100% right.

LOW AND HIGH PASS FILTERS

In addition to changing the volume and pan of a sound over time, Mixcraft’s low pass
and high pass filters allow filtering to change over time.

What Is A Low Pass Filter?

A low pass filter is an audio filter that literally allows low frequencies to “pass” while
removing (or “filtering out”) high frequencies. A low pass filter has a cutoff value, such
that every frequency below the cutoff can be heard, and every frequency above the
cutoff is reduced or removed entirely from the audio. For example, if you use a low
pass filter with a cutoff frequency of 2000 Hz, every frequency below 2000 Hz will be
heard in full, but every frequency above 2000 Hz will be reduced or removed entirely.

The low pass filter in Mixcraft is a resonant filter. This means that in addition to the
cutoff value, there is also a value for the amount of resonance. Simply put, resonance

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involves emphasizing frequencies at the filter’s cutoff point. So, if we imagine a filter
with a cutoff frequency of 2000 Hz and a high resonance value, what will be heard
is a sound where frequencies above 2000 Hz have been removed, frequencies below
2000 Hz remain the same, and frequencies at and directly around 2000 Hz are louder.
Resonance is a simple concept, but it can be a dramatic effect, especially if resonance is
high and the filter’s cutoff frequency is changing. This effect is what’s known as a “filter
sweep”.

Every sound in Mixcraft has its own resonant low pass filter. These filters can be used
in many ways. You can use them as an EQ effect, reducing certain high frequencies,
such as acoustic guitar finger squeaks. You can also use them to create filter sweeps, by
adding resonance while the cutoff frequency moves up or down. The cutoff frequency
and resonance amount are each controlled via an envelope, and these values can
change over time, in the same way a volume or pan envelope can be used to change to
volume and pan amount over time.

Editing A Low Pass Filter

To edit a sound’s low pass filter cutoff, go to the toolbar and make sure that “Low Pass
Cutoff” is selected. By default, all points on this envelope are at 100%, meaning that all
sounds below the cutoff (i.e. everything) can be heard. Adding points lower than 100%
will cause high frequencies to be increasingly removed from the audio.

To edit a sound’s low pass filter resonance, go to the toolbar and make sure that “Low
Pass Resonance” is selected. By default, all points on this envelope are at 0%, meaning
that there is no resonance/emphasis at the cutoff point. Adding points higher than 0%
will cause emphasis at the cutoff frequency, if any frequencies exist at and around that
frequency.

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What Is A High Pass Filter?

A high pass filter is the exact opposite of a low pass filter, meaning that high
frequencies above the cutoff point are allowed to pass, while frequencies below the
cutoff point are reduced or removed. Mixcraft’s high pass filter is also a resonant filter.

Editing A High Pass Filter

To edit a sound’s high pass filter cutoff, go to the toolbar and make sure that “High Pass
Cutoff” is selected. By default, all points on this envelope are at 0%, meaning that all
sounds above the cutoff (i.e. everything) can be heard. Adding points above 0% will
cause low frequencies to be increasingly removed from the audio.

To edit a sound’s high pass filter resonance, go to the toolbar and make sure that
“High Pass Resonance” is selected. By default, all points on this envelope are at 0%,
meaning that there is no resonance/emphasis at the cutoff point. Adding points higher
than 0% will cause emphasis at the cutoff frequency, if any frequencies exist at and
around that frequency.

AUDIO CLIPS

An audio clip is a clip containing an audio recording. Audio clips always display a
waveform in their lower section.

Existing audio can be added to Mixcraft, or new audio clips can be created by
recording audio into Mixcraft.

MP3, OGG, WMA, WAV or AIF format audio files can be loaded into Mixcraft. New
recordings will be saved as WAV or OGG files and stored in the current project folder.

ADDING AND LOADING AUDIO CLIPS

There are several ways to add audio clips to a project.

 Sound Menu

Click Sound>Add Sound File… from the Main Window menus. Navigate to a
folder, select the sound and click Open. The sound will be placed at the current
location of the Caret. Alternatively, use CTRL+H or click the Add Sound button on
the Main Window Toolbar. The Add Sound button has musical notes on a folder.

 Double-Click a Track

Double-clicking an audio track body sets the Caret and simultaneously opens a
window letting you choose a sound. The sound will be placed at the location of Caret.

 Add a Sound From the Mixcraft’s Loop Library

Click the Library tab on the bottom of the Mixcraft window. Select a sound from
the library, position the Caret where you’d like the sound to go, then click the +
button next to the sound. Alternatively, you can drag the sound directly into the
Main Clip Grid.

 Drag In a Sound From Windows File Explorer

Open a Window’s File Explorer window and navigate to the sound or sounds to be
added. Select the sound(s) in Windows File Explorer and drag them into the Main
Clip Grid.

 Sound Analysis During Loading

As a sound loads, Mixcraft parses it for peaks in order to display the waveform.
If Auto Beat Matching is on, the software also parses for tempo, beats, and key for
sounds over 30 seconds. If the software detects a tempo or key, it may adjust the
snap point to the first beat and alter the sound based on the project key and tempo.

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These operations make it easier for Mixcraft to automatically match up timing and key
signature in a project… in other words, they’ll make making music easier!

AUDIO CLIP PROPERTIES

These settings govern how Mixcraft displays and plays back individual audio clips.

 Channel

If a clip contains a mono audio file, the clip will display one waveform:

If a clip contains a stereo audio file, the clip displays two waveforms atop one another:

If the a track’s height is reduced to a small size, stereo clips will display
only one waveform. (Track height can be restored to normal size by selecting
Track>Properties>Track Height>Normal in the Main Window menus.)

To play back only the left or right channel of a stereo sound, highlight the audio clip
and select Sound>Properties>Channels>Left Channel or Right Channel. (Or Chanel
No5 if smelling nice is your thing.) To restore stereo playback, select select
Sound>Properties>Channels>Stereo.

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If a stereo clip is set to play one channel only, Mixcraft addends [Left Channel]
or [Right Channel] to the clip name as a reminder.

 Phase

The Phase setting allows inversion of either or both channels in a stereo file. This
is useful if you’re experiencing frequency cancellation as a result of poorly placed
mics, and can also be used to eliminate monophonic audio content, such as drums,
bass, and lead vocals, in complete mixes.

 Sound menu>Properties>Phase>Normal
 Sound menu>Properties>Phase>Invert Left Channel Only
 Sound menu>Properties>Phase>Invert Right Channel Only
 Sound menu>Properties>Phase>Invert Both Channels

 Normalize

Normalizing a sound locates its loudest peak, raises it up to “full scale” (i.e. loudest
level before clipping), and proportionately raises the volume of the rest of the clip.
To normalize a clip, highlight and select Sound>Properties>Normalize. Like
all Mixcraft, normalization is not “destructive,” so it doesn’t permanently alter the
sound stored on your hard drive. To disable normalization, simply go back to
Sound>Properties and uncheck Normalize.

Note: Normalizing essentially makes clips as loud as possible without clipping,
but does not alter dynamic balance like a compressor or limiter.

EXTERNAL WAVE EDITOR

Mixcraft will work in conjunction with external sound editing software to apply
permanent changes or edits to the sound. For example, if you want to reverse a sound
or edit out clicks and pop, you may want to use an external Wave editing software.

 Configuring an External Wave Editor

To configure an external Wave editor, select File>Preferences>General. Under
External Wave Editor, click the Browse… button, navigate to the Wave editing
software and click to select it.

 Editing a Sound in an External Wave Editor

Right-click on

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a sound and choose Edit In External Editor... or choose
Sound>Edit In External Editor... from the menus in the Main Window.

You’ll have the option of editing the original sound or a copy of it. If the original
sound is edited, any changes made to it will be permanent. This is known as
"destructive editing".

CROSSFADING BETWEEN CLIPS

Crossfading with Mixcraft is so easy that, for all intents and purposes, it’s automatic.

Simply drag one sound over another and a crossfade is instantly and visibly created.
The length of the crossfade corresponds to the size of the overlap of neighboring clips.

REVERSING CLIP PLAYBACK

Audio clip playback can be reversed by highlighting a clip and selecting Sound>Reverse
in the Main Window menus. (Or “unreversed” by reselecting Sound>Reverse.) If clip
automation has been applied, remember that envelope points won’t move – they stay

Fast Talkin’ With
FlexAudio™

Ever made a 30- or
60-second that ran a
couple seconds long?
Try time-stretching it
with FlexAudio™. Ever
heard a lightning-fast
legal disclaimer at the
end of a commercial?
Create the by time­stretching by about
75%. Turn o snapping
and FlexAudio™ it to
the desired length.

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in their original location. Reverse sound playback works especially well with long,
decaying sounds such as cymbal crashes or long piano chords.

FLEXAUDIO™ TIME STRETCHING

FlexAudio™ allows easy time compression and expansion by visually dragging the left

or right edge of a clip. While holding the CTRL key down, click on the left or
right edge and drag left or right.

The cursor turns into two hands when in FlexAudio™ mode.

FlexAudio™ works on audio and MIDI clips. For finer control of clip lengths,

set the Snap value to Off.

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SOUND TAB

Click the Sound tab at the bottom left of the screen to edit and set parameters for
audio, MIDI, and video clips with greater precision. The sound tab will display
different parameters and graphics depending on what type of clip is currently selected.

Sound Tab Navigation Bar

The Sound Tab Navigation Bar allows clip previewing, vertical and horizontal zoom
in/out, and lets you hide or show the Sound Tab Parameter Editor. Its appearance and
operation are the same whether editing audio or MIDI notes.

Preview

The preview play button at the top of the Sound Tab Navigation Bar plays
back the currently selected clip.

Zoom Controls

The up/down magnifying glass and left/right arrow icons adjust the current
vertical and horizontal zoom view of the current audio clip. The zoom
controls have no effect on the sound.

Hide Sound Tab

The dual left arrows hide the sound tab parameters for increased
viewing size.

SOUND TAB (WITH AUDIO CLIP SELECTED)

Pitch, key, loop points, and time stretching can be set and edited in the Sound tab.

 Name Field

The name of the currently selected clip appears here. (“Crash” is the name of the
clip in the above screenshot.) To edit a clip name, click on the name text and type
a new name. Changing the name of audio clips from the Mixcraft library will not
affect the filename in Windows Explorer, only within the current project.

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 Lock/Unlock

Clicking the Lock icon will prevent changes to the clip’s Loop Start, Loop End, and

Snap Point. Lock also prevent clips from being moved in the grid.

 Mute /Unmute

This is the circle-with-a-cross-through-it next to the Lock icon that mutes or
unmutes the clip. When muted, all instances of the clip will turn gray. The Mute
Sound button in the Sound tab is interchangeable with the Mute Sound button on
clip itself – you can mute or unmute with either button.

 Time Signature

This lets you set the time signature of an audio loop with individually settable
numerator (beats per bar) and denominator (note value constituting a beat). Keep
in mind that the time signature setting has no effect on the sound; it only changes
the placement of beats on the ruler above the waveform to simplify setting in/out
points and looping.

 Use Project Tempo/Time Stretch

Mixcraft plays audio clips in one of two time-domain modes:

 Use Project Tempo Time Stretch

 Use Project Tempo

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 Time Stretch
In this mode, Mixcraft adjusts sounds based on the difference between the project’s
tempo and the sound’s detected tempo. For example, if the project tempo was 120
BPM and the sound’s detected tempo was 60 BPM, it would time-stretch the sound
to be half as long, because it would be playing the sound back two times as fast.

However, a project’s tempo many not remain constant throughout. For example,
in a transition between two songs, you could slowly ramp the tempo up with
multiple tempo changes. In Use Project Tempo mode, Mixcraft dynamically adjusts
the playback rate of audio to maintain perfect synchronization based on the current
tempo. This offers lots of latitude to mix and match loops of various tempos.
(Yeah, we know, we’re pretty cool.)

To set the loop speed by tempo, click Use Project Tempo. The numeric display will
show the loop’s original tempo. Enter a tempo by clicking in the number field to the
right, or use the up/down arrows.

 Time Stretch

In this mode, the sound is simply time stretched by a fixed amount. The sound
will not adjust to the project tempo. You’ll most likely use Use Project Tempo mode
most of the time, but there are situations when automatic tempo change isn’t
desirable. For example, if you had a long drone with no inherent tempo, and you
didn’t want its length affected. Fortunately, Mixcraft’s audio playback is mode is
settable on a per-sound basis, so you can mix and match modes as you please.

To set the loop speed by percentage, click the Time Stretch and enter a percentage
value by clicking in the field, or by using the up/down arrows.

 Double/Half-Speed

If the current clip is set to Use Project Tempo mode, clicking on the 2x button will
play loops at double speed. Clicking once will play the loop at half-speed, a second
click will play the loop at double-speed, and clicking a third time will return the
loop to standard playback speed.

Note: Loops can be slowed down or sped up by up to four times their normal
speed (i.e. 25% - 400% of normal playback speed). If values set are above or below
this, Mixcraft “maxes out” at 25% - 400% normal playback speed.

 Key/Pitch Adjustments

Mixcraft plays audio clips in one of three key/pitch modes:

 Use Project Key
 Transpose
 No Pitch Adjustments

 Use Project Key

Mixcraft adjusts the pitch of the sound based on the difference between the project’s
key and the sound’s key. (The project key can easily be seen and adjusted in the
transport bar display.) For example, if the project key was F# and the sound’s key
was F, it would adjust the pitch of the sound up by one semitone so that it was in
tune with F# instead of F.

Changing The Key Of
A Sound, aka Songs In
The Key of Right

Assuming that the key
of the sound is correct,
you can change the
key of a sound by
adding markers with
key changes and/or by
changing the project’s
key. You do not need to
change the key of the
sound on the Sound
tab. It’s recommended
to change the project
key or add key change
markers. In short, if
you want to change
the key of a sound,
change the project key.
(Changing the key of
a sound should only
be done if the detected
key is wrong!) If the
sound’s key is wrong,
you can adjust it with
the Original Clip Key
control.

However, you can have more than one key change in a project. A sound in Use
Project Key mode will adjust in real-time to the correct number of half steps in

order to play in the correct key based on the most recent key change. To continue
the example, if the sound was in F and there were two key changes to A and then G,
it would correspond to shifting the pitch of your sound by four semitones up to A
and then by two semitones up to G.

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Mixcraft adjusts the pitch by the shortest distance between two keys. For example,
if the project key was G and the sound’s key was F, it will adjust it by +2 semitones,
instead of -10 semitones.

 Transpose

This gives manual control over the playback key of audio. It’s useful if you don’t want
audio to follow Mixcraft’s project key setting or obey key changes on the timeline.

You can type in a partial amount such as 1.26 semitones or use the up/down to
adjust pitch in semitones up to 24 semitones in either direction. You might use this
option to fix a slightly off key vocal performance or transpose a sound into a key
you are more familiar with.

 No Pitch Adjustments

If Use Project Key and Transpose are both deselected, No Pitch Adjustments appears
beneath the buttons and audio will play “as is” with no pitch transposition.

SOUND TAB – TIME SUB TAB

These controls let you fine tune a clip’s location in the Main Clip Grid as well its length
and looping parameters. If the project is set to Beats mode in the top toolbar (next to
the handsome Mixcraft 7 logo) the edit boxes display in measures, beats, and partial
beats. If the project is set to Time mode, the edit boxes display positions in minutes,
seconds, and milliseconds. Helpful hint: you can use the mouse scroll wheel to quickly
set values by clicking in the number fields and spinning.

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 Offset

The offset setting defines a clip’s location in the Main Clip Grid.

 Length

The length setting defines the size of the clip. If the length value setting is longer
than the entire audio clip, the clip will repeat until it reaches the set length value.
The clip will show “indentations” in the bottom where it repeats.

 Loop Start/End

Defines a clip’s playback start and end points. Example: say you like the second half
of a four-bar loop, but don’t like the first half. Changing the Loop Start setting from
1:1:0 to 3:1:0 will skip playback of the first half. Loop start and end points can be
set either by clicking in the number fields in the Sound>Time tab, or by moving
the Loop Start and Loop End markers in the audio waveform display. You can also
set a clip’s start and end points by grabbing and moving its start and end points in
the Main Clip Grid. Regardless of how a clip’s start and end points are set, all
displays will update.

 # Loops

The number of times a loop will repeat. (This setting can potentially overlap with
the Length setting – changing one automatically updates the other.)

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SOUND TAB – AUDIO SUB TAB

Here you’ll find some useful extra parameters.

 Channels

If the audio clip is stereo, the pop-up menu selects regular stereo playback or left
or right channel only. If left or right channel is selected, playback becomes mono
and the channel pan slider will control panning. (If a clip is playing in stereo, the
pan slider acts as a balance control.)

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 Phase

Normal plays in standard stereo; Invert Left, Invert Right, and Invert Both flips the
waveform phase 180 degrees of each respectively.

 Noise Reduction

Mixcraft features built-in noise reduction feature for audio clips. Noise may be
background hum, clicks and pops, or any other unwanted sound (not including
your band’s drummer). However, Mixcraft’s noise reduction works best on
steady-state noise such as fans, air conditioners, or anything constant throughout
the recording.

To use Mixcraft’s noise reduction, highlight the audio clip you’d like to remove the
noise from, then click the Sound tab on the bottom. Now click the Noise Reduction
button next to the slider, and select a value up to 100%. Once an amount is
selected, Mixcraft will attempt to locate good noise sample. Mixcraft shows the
noise section by two controls called Noise Start and Noise End.

The above image shows an example of a good noise sample. The noise is
determined by the audio section between the Noise Start and Noise End controls.
You can edit the noise sample by clicking and dragging the Noise Start or Noise End
controls. To automatically locate the next best noise print, click the Find Next Noise
Sample button next to the Noise Reduction slider. (It’s the button with the green
downward arrow on a wee waveform.) This instructs Mixcraft to look for the next
best noise sample based on what it thinks could be noise. Only you know what
noise is, though, so you may need to adjust it manually.

 Finding A Noise Sample

The best candidate for noise reduction is a sound that has a snippet of the noise
by itself. For example, if you had an air conditioner in the background and started
recording, there would likely be one second of the air conditioner by itself – this
would make an ideal noise sample. If you don’t have a good sample of the noise,
you could potentially record the noise by itself and then merge the clips together.
If you find a section with a good sample of the noise you’d like to get rid of,
highlight it in the audio tab, then right-click and select Set Noise Reduction
From Selection.

 Normalize

Checking the Normalize check box automatically increases the peak level of an
audio waveform to full 100% scale while proportionally increasing the level of
the entire waveform. In this way, audio files will play back as loudly as possible
before clipping. Unlike a compressor or limiter, the dynamic range of a sound
is not altered; normalization simply makes the entire waveform proportionately
louder. Like most Mixcraft audio processes, normalization is non-destructive,
so unchecking the Normalize checkbox will return the waveform to its original
gain state.

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Why Does Mixcraft Ask If I Want
To Change My Project’s Tempo?

If you’ve tried dragging loops from the library onto the
playback grid, you’ve probably seen this window. You

may have clicked
Understanding the relationship between project tempo
and the timing of clips used in a project is important, so
read on!

When a new, empty Mixcraft project is opened, the project
tempo setting is displayed in the transport in beats per
minute. (If you want to get a feel for the tempo, click the
Metronome icon, then click the Play button.)

Most of Mixcraft’s included loops a beat or musical
phrase, and are precisely edited to be an even length to
ensure that they’ll loop smoothly. They contain embedded
information that “tells” Mixcraft their original key and
tempo. (You can see the original key and tempo when
browsing clips in the Library tab.)

For example, a new Mixcraft project and its tempo was
set to 100 BPM. If a 90 BPM loop is placed at at bar one,
it won’t play in time with the project tempo. It also won’t
line up to bars and beats very well. If we drop in a second
loop with a native tempo of 163 BPM at bar one and
play back, it’ll be a timing train wreck. This is where the

Yes, not knowing exactly what it meant.

Use Best Sounding Project Tempo window comes

in. Clicking
changes the project’s tempo to match the rst loop’s
native tempo. Additional clips dragged into a project are
automatically adjusted to match the project tempo. Now
everything plays in sync. Mixcraft works a similar kind of
magic with key signatures by transposing imported clips
to match the project key signature (which is displayed and
adjustable in the Transport Bar).

Yes when this window pops up automatically

 Formant Preserve

The Formant Preserve checkbox allows Mixcraft to
maintain the harmonic “imprint” of a sound when
transposing pitch up or down. This is most useful
for avoiding the so-called “chipmunk” effect when
transposing vocals upward, and conversely, the
“old-born-under-a-bad-sign blues singer” effect when
transposing downward.

 File Path

Not really a parameter per se, but the actual file name
as displayed in Windows Explorer is shown in yellow
text for reference. Clicking the yellow folder icon to
the left of the filename opens the enclosing Windows
Explorer folder. This can be time saver if you’re trying to
determine where the original file is located on your drive.

 Format

Again, not an adjustable parameter, this displays the
current audio clip’s format (e.g., WAV, Ogg, etc.), as
well its sample rate, bit depth, mono or stereo, etc.

SHOW/HIDE CONTROLS BUTTON

Click the [<<] Show/Hide Controls button to see more
sound data, instead of the controls. This toggles between
showing and hiding the controls. To show the controls
again, click the [>>] button.

ADJUSTING THE SNAP POINT, AUDIBLE CLIP
REGION, AND LOOPING

The looping and audible region of a sound has a white
background. The unused parts of the sound are shown in
green. If the clip is “closed down” smaller in the Main Clip
Grid than the entire looped region, the unused section
of the loop will have a gray background. The adjustable
points in the waveform display are as follows:

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 Snap Point Marker

A red vertical line defining the position a clip snaps to in the Main Clip Grid. Set
the Snap Point Marker by clicking and sliding at the marker’s top or bottom (the
cursor will turn into left/right arrows), or by right-clicking and selecting Set As Start
Time. Right-clicking and selecting Reset Start Time will return the Snap Point
Marker to its original position.

 Loop Start

Defines the point where sound playback begins. To position Loop Start, click and
drag at the top of the marker (the cursor will turn into left/right arrows). You can
also set it by right-clicking in the waveform and selecting Set Loop Start.

 Loop End

Defines the point where sound playback ends, because all good loops must come
to an end. To position Loop End, click and drag at the top of the marker (the cursor
will turn into left/right arrows). You also set it by right-clicking in the waveform and
selecting Set Loop End.

Loop points can be returned to their original positions by right-clicking and
selecting Reset Loop Points.

SOUND TAB TOOLBAR (WITH AUDIO CLIP SELECTED)

 Snap To Grid

This determines the snap value when selecting a waveform region, as well as
moving the play insert and loop start/end markers. When set to Grid, items will
snap to the ruler markings in the timeline, directly above the waveform.The ruler
markings vary in size depending upon horizontal zoom level. Grid (Triplets) is best
suited for music with a three feel, i.e. 3/4 or 6/8 time signatures.

 Copy Selection To

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The Copy Selection To command exports the currently highlighted audio wave
region to one of the following:

 Copy Selection To> Performance Panel

Places the selected region in the highlighted cell of the Performance Panel.
If no cell is currently selected, the sample will be placed at the first open location.

 Copy Selection To> Alpha Sampler

A new instrument track with an Alpha Sampler is created, and the selected
region will be loaded into Alpha Sampler.

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 Copy Selection To> Omni Sampler
If there are no instances of Omni Sampler in the current project, selecting
Copy Selection To> Omni Sampler>New opens a new instrument track with
an Omni Sampler, and the sample is placed on the C4 sample pad. If Mixcraft
detects an existing Omni Sampler, this is displayed when Copy Selection To>
Omni Sampler is displayed. At this point you can export the audio region to an
existing Omni Sampler, or select New to create a new Omni Sampler instance on
a new track. Samples exported to an existing Omni Sampler instance will be
loaded into the first open cell above C4.

 Copy Selection To> Track

The selected region is imported to a track in the Main Clip Grid. The region is
placed at the current playhead location on the current audio track.
If the currently selected track isn't an audio track, the region is placed on the
first audio track. (Be careful, the region can potentially land beneath existing
audio - you won’t see it unless you slide the existing audio up or down.)

 Slice To…

The Slice To… button cuts up audio regions and exports the “slices” to the
Performance Panel, Omni Sampler, or directly to a Mixcraft audio track.
Though the audio slices can be any length, you’d typically use this for cutting
up a section of loop or a song into smaller chunks allowing you to create new
beats or loops (using small slices), rearrange sections of a song (with larger slices),
or anything in between. Clicking the Slice To… button opens this window:

Slice By defines how the audio will be sliced.

 Beats slices by the note value defined in the pop-up menu to the right.

This works well for slicing beats and loops into small “chunks.”

 Measures works the same as Beats, but is defined in number of measures in
the pop-up menu to the right, making it more appropriate for larger chunks
of music.

 Transients slices according to audio transients detected by Mixcraft.

The sensitivity level is defined by the slider to the right according to the
amplitude level in percentage; the lower the slider setting, the more sensitive,
thus creating more slices.

 Warp Markers slices according to the location of warp markers; you must

have warp markers already created in the audio region (see Warp, pg. 80)

 Limit To Selection

If a region of audio is currently selected, checking this box ensures that only audio
within the selected region is exported as slices.

 No Slices Before Measure 1

This prevents the export of slices before the first measure of a loop.
(Desirable if you’ve manually relocated a loop’s start point.)

 Confine To Loop Area

Checking this box ensures that slices are only exported from audio between
the Loop Start and Loop End markers of the current clip.

 Send To

Selects the destination for exported slices.

 Performance Panel exports slices to the Performance Panel. The first slice
appears in the currently highlighted grid location, and each additional slice
lands in the next grid location to the right. If you’d like slices to land in on a
particular track, it’s a good idea to highlight the desired grid location prior to
exporting slices.

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 Omni Sampler exports slices to individual Omni Sampler cells. If the pop-up
menu to the right is set to New, Mixcraft creates a new track with a blank Omni
Sampler loaded. If there are existing instances of Omni Sampler, these can be
selected in the pop-up menu. To begin exporting, click OK. Exported slices
begin loading at the cell number selected in the Start At selector. If a cells
already contain samples, Mixcraft will skip them and continue loading at the
next open cell location.

 Track exports slices to the currently selected audio track, beginning at the

current playhead location in the Main Clip Grid.

 Warp

Warping audio lets you adjust the timing of audio by detecting the locations of
transients or “hits,” then effectively time-stretching and -expanding small regions
between transients within an audio file. This offers powerful creative and corrective
options. Used on a smaller piece of audio, such as a drum loop, warping lets you
correct the timing of poor playing, or requantize audio for different rhythmic feels.
When applied to an entire song, warping makes it easy to lock up the tempos and
feels of songs, allowing easy mixing and creation of song “mash-ups.”

Mixcraft’s warping tools are easy to use; not only can Mixcraft interpret tempo,
time signature, and beat locations to assist in the placement of warp markers,
Mixcraft includes an Autowarp function that automatically locates warp information
and places warp markers.

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 How To Use Warp

1. When Warp is clicked in the Sound Tab Toolbar, Mixcraft scans the currently

looped audio region and makes educated guesses as to tempo, time signature,
and beat locations. The blue lines shown display the predicted beat locations,
and black lines show transient hits. The blue and black lines have no effect on

sound, but the predicted beat locations are very helpful when placing warp
markers described below.

2. Once the predicted beat locations and transient hits are displayed, set the Audio
Tab’s snap setting to Snap To Grid. (This makes the Caret snap to predicted beat
and transient locations.) Now click on beats and transients to place the Caret,
and add red Warp Markers by clicking the Add Warp Marker button in the
toolbar (or right-click and select Add Warp Marker). If you don’t want
neighboring hits or audio areas to be affected, place “safety” Warp Markers
on hits before and after the hits or areas to be manipulated.

3. Once Warp Markers are in place, they can be freely moved left and right to
squeeze and stretch audio in time. It’s easiest to hear the effects of warping by
pressing the green Sound tab play button and moving the Warp Markers in
real-time during playback. Feel free to experiment - like all Mixcraft audio
processes, warping is non-destructive, and its operation is easier to wrap your
head around when you’re actually using it!

4. To remove a Warp Marker, right-click it and select Clear. To remove all Warp
Markers from a loop, click the Clear button in the Sound Tab Toolbar.

 Autowarp

Autowarp analyzes audio material and automatically places Warp Markers at
relevant points. It’s particularly useful for “mashup” mixes where two unrelated
songs are to be mixed together. There are four strength settings ranging from sloppy
to tight. Tighter settings add more Warp Markers and affect timing more strongly,
whereas looser settings add fewer Warp Markers and have less effect on the timing
of audio content. By all means, experiment, as different source material responds
better to different settings.

 Quantize

Warp Quantize allows audio material to be quantized much like MIDI notes by
intelligently squashing and stretching rhythmic hits in source material.

 Note Type
This is the quantize value; transients will be moved to the closest note value.

 Sensitivity
The amplitude a transient must reach before Mixcraft considers it a “hit” to
quantize to.

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 Strength
Regulates how close hits will be moved in time toward the quantize values. 0%
won’t move transients at all, whereas 100% would move transients all the way
to the quantize point.

 Swing

As stated on-screen, Swing value delays the start time of every other note.
Your ears will recognize this as the sound as the rhythmic feel of old blues
music, “Take The A Train,” or any Bobby Brown hit. The percentage sets how
much every other note is delayed.

 All/Selection
A setting of All applies Warp Quantization to the entire audio clip. Selection
quantizes only the highlighted region.

SOUND TAB WITH MIDI CLIP SELECTED

The Sound tab lets you edit a MIDI clip’s speed, pitch, key, grid placement, and looping
parameters.

 Name Field

The name of the currently selected clip appears here. To edit the name, click on
the name text and type a new name. Click outside of the name field when done.

 Lock/Unlock

Clicking the Lock icon prevents a clip from being moved in the grid. It also disables
cropping and resizing.

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 Mute /Unmute

This silences the clip. All instances of the clip will turn gray. The Mute Sound
button in the Sound tab is interchangeable with the Mute Sound button on clip
itself – you can mute or unmute using either button.

 Time Signature

This lets you set the time signature of a MIDI clip with individually settable
numerator (beats per bar) and denominator (note value constituting a beat). Keep
in mind that the time signature setting has no effect on the sound; it simply
changes the placement of beats on the ruler in the selected MIDI editor to the right
of the Sound tab.

 Setting MIDI Clip Playback Rate

Mixcraft plays MIDI clips in one of two time-domain modes:

 Use Project Tempo

 Time Stretch

 Use Project Tempo

MIDI clips will lock to the current project tempo. Original Clip Tempo is displayed
and can be altered by clicking the number field and entering a new temp, or by
using the up/down arrows.

 Time Stretch

To set the playback rate by percentage, select Time Stretch and enter a number
value by clicking in the field, or by using the up/down arrows.

 Key/Pitch Adjustments

Mixcraft plays MIDI clips in one of two key/pitch modes:

 Use Project Key

 Transpose

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 Use Project Key

Mixcraft adjusts the pitch of the sound based on the difference between the project’s
key and the sound’s key. (The project key can easily be seen and adjusted in the
transport bar display.) For example, if the project key was F# and the sound’s key
was F, it would adjust the pitch of the sound up by one semitone so that it was in
tune with F# instead of F.

However, you can have more than one key change in a project. A sound in Use
Project Key mode will adjust in real-time to the correct number of half steps in
order to play in the correct key based on the most recent key change. To continue
the example, if the sound was in F and there were two key changes to A and then G,
it would correspond to shifting the pitch of your sound by four semitones up to A
and then by two semitones up to G.

Mixcraft adjusts the pitch by the shortest distance between two keys. For example,
if the project key was G and the sound’s key was F, it will adjust it by +2 semitones,
instead of -10 semitones.

The MAJ/MIN popup selector conforms notes to the correct major or minor scale
notes for the selected key signature. (The major and minor popup is mainly to
ensure that the correct key signature is displayed when using Score mode.)

SOUND TAB> TIME SUB TAB

These controls let you fine tune a clip’s location in the Main Clip Grid as well its length
and looping parameters. If the project is set to ` mode in the top toolbar (next to the
handsome Mixcraft 7 logo) the edit boxes display in measures, beats, and partial beats.
If the project is set to Time mode in the top toolbar, the edit boxes display positions in
minutes, seconds, and milliseconds. Helpful hint: you can use the mouse scroll wheel
to quickly set values by clicking in the number fields and spinning.

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 Offset

The offset setting defines a clip’s location in the Main Clip Grid.

 Length

The length setting defines the size of the clip. If the length value setting is longer
than the entire audio clip, the clip will repeat until it reaches the set length value.
The clip will show “indentations” in the bottom where it repeats. If the sound is
made long enough, this will also cause it to loop.

 Loop Start/End

Defines a clip’s playback start and end points. Loop start and end points can be
set either by clicking in the number fields in the Sound>Time tab, or by moving
the Loop Start and Loop End markers in the Piano, Step, or Score editors. You can
also set a clip’s start and end points by grabbing and moving its start and end
points in the Main Clip Grid. Regardless of how a clip’s start and end points are set,
all displays will update.

 # Loops

The number of times a loop will repeat. (This setting can potentially overlap with
the Length setting – changing one automatically updates the other.)

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VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT
(MIDI) CLIPS

A Virtual Instrument Clip is made up of MIDI data and instructs a synthesizer to play
notes (as well as how to play them).

The tiny horizontal lines inside a MIDI clip represent notes. These correspond roughly
to the length and pitch of the clip’s notes, offering some visual feedback as to its content.

ADDING/LOADING CLIPS

Virtual Instrument Clips can be added in several ways.

 Creating A Blank Virtual Instrument Clip

Blank Virtual Instrument tracks can be created by double-clicking a Virtual
Instrument Track or right-clicking a Virtual Instrument Track and clicking
Add Instrument Clip.

 Recording A Virtual Instrument Clip

Arm a Virtual Instrument Track and use a MIDI controller to record notes.

 Import a MIDI File

Right-click on a Virtual Instrument Track and select Add Sound File...
Select a MIDI file (.MID) and click Open.

Note: If the MIDI file contains more than one track, each track will be loaded
to a separate track and new tracks may be created.

MIDI files may also be loaded by selecting File>Open Project from the Main Window
menus and then selecting a MIDI file.

MIDI EDITING

There are many ways to edit MIDI data. Right-click on a Virtual Instrument clip and
select MIDI Editing. Choose from the following options:

 Quantize

Moves notes closer to the beat.

 Humanize

Adjusts notes for a looser or tighter feel.

 Transpose

Moves notes up and down the scale.

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 Velocities

Adjusts how hard notes are played (usually affecting volume or brightness).

 Offsets

Adjusts note start times.

 Durations

Adjusts note lengths.

 Soloize

Deletes extraneous notes in a performance intended to be one-note-at-a-time.
Regrettably, Soloize will not turn you into Van Halen (but we're working on it).

QUANTIZE

Quantization is the process of moving notes closer to a set note value or “grid,” in
order to tighten the timing of sloppy performances. To access the Quantize menu,
right-click on a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano Roll Editor and select MIDI

Editing>Quantize...

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 Note Type

Specifies the snap setting to quantize to.

 If this is set to eighth-note but you’re actually quantizing a whole note, it will
not adjust the length of the note to an eighth-note, but rather align it to the
closest eighth-note.

 If the Start Times box is checked, then the start times of each note will be
quantized to this note type.

 If the Note Ends box is checked, then the end times of each note will be
quantized to this note type.

 Start Time

Click the checkbox next to Start Time and then choose a Note Type setting. Mixcraft
adjusts all notes to the closest beat or partial beat, based on the Note Type.

 Note Ends

Mixcraft adjusts the note endings to the closest beat or partial beat, based on the
Note Type.

 Swing

If you want to quantize with swing, click Swing and choose an intensity %. Swing
will offset every note that is on an odd beat, depending on the quantize note start setting.

For example, if you had a recording of eighth notes, set the Note Type to eighth-notes
and then set swing to 30%; every other eighth-note would be offset by 30%.

Before: “Unswung” eighth notes.

After: Quantized eighth notes with a 35% swing. Swingin’!

 All or Selection

Choose whether to quantize the selected notes or all the notes in the current virtual
instrument clip. (Only apples if a region is highlighted within the Piano Roll Editor.)

Before quantizing.

After quantizing Start Times and Note Ends to 1/8 Notes.

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HUMANIZE

Humanizing is the process of adding a random and more “humanized” feel. When
entering MIDI data via the mouse and using snap, music can sound stiff and artificial
Humanize can lend a more natural feel.

Right-click on a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano editor and select MIDI

Editing>Humanize...

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 Max Adjustment

The maximum note duration to humanize towards.

 Start Time

Specifies if we are humanizing the start time with options for Early, Late, or

Random timing.

 Duration

Specifies whether Humanize affects note durations with options for Early, Late
or Random timing.

 Note Velocities

Allows randomization of note velocities with following options:

 Randomize by – A percentage of the original note value.

 Randomize in range – A new note velocity is randomly chosen in the range entered.

 All or Selection

Choose whether to edit the selected notes or all the notes in the current virtual
instrument clip. (This applies only if a region of notes has been highlighted within
the Piano Roll Editor.)

Before humanizing – notes exactly on beats:

After humanizing:

TRANSPOSE

The Transpose dialog allows shifting of all notes or selected notes in a clip by octaves
or semitones. Right-click a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano Roll and select MIDI
Editing>Transpose...

Choose Octave(s) or Semitone(s) from the Transpose By drop-down menu, then enter
the amount and click OK.

To transpose selected notes only, click the Selection radio button.

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VELOCITIES

The Velocities dialog allows adjustment of all or selected note velocities. A MIDI
velocity indicates how hard the note has been struck. The range is from 1 to 127.

Right-click a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano editor and select MIDI
Editing>Velocities…

 Adjust By

Adjust velocities by a specific percentage.

 Force To

Specify a velocity to adjust all notes to. The valid range is from 1 to 127.

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 All or Selection

Choose whether to edit the selected notes or all the notes in the current virtual
instrument clip. (This applies only if a region of notes has been highlighted within
the Piano Editor.)

OFFSETS

Offset Notes allows adjustment of all notes or the selected notes time offsets.

Right-click a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano editor and select MIDI

Editing>Offsets…

 Offset Direction

Choose left or right.

 Offset Amount

Note values are:

 Whole notes  1/32 notes
 1/2 notes  1/64 notes
 1/4 notes  1/4 triplet notes
 1/8 notes  1/8 triplet notes
 1/16 notes  1/16 triplet notes

Choose the number of the note value chosen. For example, you could choose
to offset by three 1/8 notes.

 All or Selection

Choose whether to edit the selected notes or all the notes in the current virtual
instrument clip. (This applies only if a region of notes has been highlighted within
the Piano editor.)

DURATIONS

Note Durations allows adjustment of all notes or selected note durations.

Right-click on a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano Roll and select MIDI

Editing>Durations…

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 Adjust By

Adjusts notes durations by a percentage.

 Force To

Note values are:

 Whole notes  1/32 notes
 1/2 notes  1/64 notes
 1/4 notes  1/4 triplet notes
 1/8 notes  1/8 triplet notes
 1/16 notes  1/16 triplet notes

 All or Selection

Choose whether to edit the selected notes or all the notes in the current virtual
instrument clip. (This applies only if a region of notes has been highlighted within
the Piano Roll Editor.)

SOLOIZE

Soloize is a unique function that modifies the note data in a MIDI clip by forcing it to
play one note at a time.

Right-click on a MIDI clip or MIDI data in the Piano editor and select MIDI
Editing>Soloize…

For example, if you played a clarinet part and accidentally hit some overlapping notes,
you could use the Soloize feature.

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Before soloizing:

After soloizing:

DOUBLE

Duplicates the current clip and merges them, creating one large double-length clip.