Channels

A channel in Shadow Rack is one signal from your interface going through a chain of plugins and back out. A new session starts empty: you add the channels you need, name them, and give them a colour and icon so you find them fast on stage.

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1. 1+ MONO / + STEREO: add a channel
2. 2The new channel: double-click the name to rename it
3. 3ICON and COLOUR for the selected channels
4. 4BYPASS the selected channels
5. 5DUPLICATE: a copy with all its plugins
6. 6DELETE

Adding a channel#

Use any of these:

• + MONO or + STEREO on the mixer's tool row, or at the right end of the channel switcher,
• ⌘⇧N for mono, ⌘⌥N for stereo,
• Channel > Add mono channel / Add stereo channel in the menu bar.

The new channel arrives at the end of your channels, already in rename mode: type the name and press ↩. It's set up so you rarely need to touch the routing:

• Input: the first interface input after every other channel's input.
• Output: the next free output - outputs used for a musician's in-ears are skipped.
• Colour: the next one in a cycle of ten.

A rack holds up to 256 strips.

Mono and stereo#

You choose mono or stereo when you add the channel. Input and output can be changed separately later: click the routing line at the top of the channel view and use the MONO | STEREO switch of each list. A channel can come in mono and go out stereo - for a mono vocal with a stereo reverb on it, for example.

When you add a plugin, Shadow Rack picks its version to match the channel: CLA-2A Mono on a mono channel, CLA-2A Stereo on a stereo one.

Naming#

• Double-click the scribble strip in the mixer or in the channel switcher, or
• click the name in the channel view's name row, or
• press ↩ (Channel > Rename channel), or right-click a strip > Rename channel.

↩ or a click elsewhere keeps the name, esc cancels.

Colours#

Ten colours: Blue, Cyan, Teal, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Pink, Purple, Grey. Pick one from the colour chip ▾ in the channel view, or select several channels in the mixer and use COLOUR to colour them all at once.

Icons#

The icons are the WING's own icon set, drawn as clean line icons, in groups: General, Vocals & mics, Drums & percussion, Strings & winds, Keys, Speakers, Specials. Pick one from the icon spot in the channel view's name row, or with ICON in the mixer for several channels.

Usually you don't need to: until you pick an icon yourself, Shadow Rack picks one to match the name. It knows about 560 English and Polish words and the usual desk abbreviations - Kick In, Snare Bot, OH, Bass DI, Gtr, Vox, Wiosło, Chórki and so on. Rename a channel and the icon changes with it. Pick No icon in the icon menu if you want the strip without one; that also stops the automatic icons.

Putting channels in order#

You drag a strip sideways in the mixer or in the channel switcher; a red line shows where it lands. Channels only move within their own section, so New York buses always stay after the channels. You undo a move in one step.

Duplicating#

Channel > Duplicate channel (⌘⇧D), DUPLICATE in the mixer, or Duplicate channel in the channel menu. The copy is called "name copy", sits right after the original and has all its plugins with their settings. Sidechains come along.

Deleting#

⌘⌫, Channel > Delete channel, Delete channel in the channel menu, or DELETE in the mixer.

• One channel goes at once. The message at the bottom, Deleted Vox, has an UNDO button - or use ⌘Z.
• Several channels: Shadow Rack asks first (Delete 3 channels?), and tells you how many plugins go with them.
• A New York bus that nothing feeds any more is deleted with its last channel. Deleting a bus switches off every send into it – and you undo that in one step.

Bypassing a whole channel#

⇧B, BYPASS on the strip or in the channel view's name row, or Channel > Bypass channel. The channel switches smoothly to the dry signal from its input, delayed exactly like its plugins delay it, so nothing jumps in time or phase – the channel stays in time with the others. The strip is drawn dimmed, with a red frame in the switcher.