Mixing, of course, is the art of leveling, panning, EQing, adding effects, and otherwise accentuating individual sounds and instruments to get your song to sound just right. Most audio software accomplishes this through the use of a dedicated "mixer" screen, which mirrors the faders and knobs of a traditional analog mixer. Tracktion, however, has never had - or needed - a dedicated mixer screen, because its users are actually "mixing" their songs throughout the recording process. This is really the genius of Tracktion, and one we'll explore a bit here.

FILTERS
When a track is first created in Tracktion, it comes with a volume/pan filter and a level meter filter, located to the right of the arrange window. These filters are used for setting panning and levels much the same way you would with a knob and fader control on a conventional mixer screen - yet they are infinitely more useful because they can be copied, re-arranged, and applied to individual audio clips, groups of tracks, and more. Nor are filters limited to level and panning; in Tracktion, the term "filter" applies to any effect, native or third party plug-in, virtual instrument, or anything else you want to throw at your song. New filters can be created with ease, or deleted if they are not being used.

Common types of Tracktion filters include: Volume / Pan, Level Meter , 4-Band EQ, Aux Send and Return filters, Effects filters, plus third-party VST plug-in and virtual instrument filters.

EFFECTS PLUG-INS
Tracktion 3 comes with a full-suite of native effects plug-ins ranging from dynamics to modulation, reverb and more. But it also supports commercially available third party VST and VSTi plug-ins, and comes with a staggering collection of them in both the Ultimate and Project Bundles. These plug-ins are available as filters to place on any track, group of tracks, individual audio clips, or on groups of audio clips. You can even place them across your entire mix (i.e., in the case of that killer compressor that squashes your song just right). Here's the rundown of what's available to you, right out of the box.

MIX AUTOMATION
Mix automation, in the most simple of terms, is the ability to record and play back mix settings at different stages of your song. This makes it easy, for example, to have vocals mixed louder during choruses than during verses, or to have drums really come up at the end of a song. Automation can also be used to handle much more subtle things, like making changes to filter settings or reverb levels on a virtual instrument, for example. These types of automated changes bring life to songs, and Tracktion makes them very easy.

Simply drag and drop the "A" from a track on to any filter. A list of automatable parameters will be shown. Once you choose a parameter, its associated automation curve will be shown on the track. To change the curve, click and a node appears to get the desired parameter to automate the way you want it to over time. Alternately, enable Automation Record to make changes to a filter as Tracktion plays. Your moves are captured and can be edited further until the mix is perfect.

RACK FILTERS

Rack filters allow for the simple creation of complex instrument and effects combinations. They are so named because they allow you to combine filters together and use them as a group - just as you would a rack of effects processors. A rack filter can be applied to a single track or many tracks, processing them simultaneously. With rack filters you can create totally unique effects and instruments combinations, unattainable with conventional mixer-based audio software. And they're also great for recalling complex sets of effects - say a killer female vocal sound with EQ, two types of compression and reverb - without having to go through and call up all the individual plug-ins, one by one.

TRACK FREEZING
What with Tracktion being so fun and easy to use, one could possibly create so many tracks, effects, and virtual instruments, that even the hardiest of computers could choke on all the action. So Tracktion includes a Track Freeze function that renders single and multiple tracks with all their assorted audio files, effects and instruments to a single file on the hard disk. This frees up the computer's CPU for important tasks - like creating more tracks!

CONTROL SURFACE SUPPORT
Tracktion 3 offers improved support for the uber-popular Mackie Control Universal/Extender Pro and Mackie Control C4 Pro controllers, providing complete hands-on control of a full range of recording and mixing parameters - including plug-ins and virtual instruments. It also supports a wide range of third-party control surfaces including the Frontier Design Tranzport™ and Novation ReMOTE LE. In true Tracktion fashion, it's so intuitive and easy that you'll be enjoying the productivity boost only real knobs and faders can provide - plus they look wicked on your desktop.