Docs/Rack FX
The mixer
Every rack channel side by side, like on a desk: plugins, New York sends and meters at a glance, plus tools that work on several channels at once.
The MIXER view is the whole rack on one screen: one strip per channel, the way a desk shows them. You see every insert, every New York send and every meter at a glance, and you can select several channels and change them in one go. When you need to work on one channel's plugins, go to the CHANNEL view.
Open it with MIXER on the top bar or ⌘1. Shadow Rack remembers the view you used last and opens on it next time.
- 1SESSION: the session's name; a red dot means unsaved changes
- 2MIXER / CHANNEL: the two views of the rack
- 3The mixer tools: they act on every selected channel
- 4Number, format and scribble strip: colour, icon, name
- 5Insert tiles, one per plugin, in chain order
- 6The SEND key: this channel feeds a New York bus
- 7The NEW YORK section with its buses
- 8IN / OUT meters and the channel's delay
Sections#
The strips come in a fixed order, separated by a gap and a vertical line with the section's name on it:
- your channels first (this section has no label),
- NEW YORK - the New York buses, framed in yellow (see New York buses).
A channel can be dragged sideways to a new place, but only inside its own section: New York buses always stay after the channels.
A strip, top to bottom#
| Part | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Number row | The channel number (01) and MONO or ST. A New York bus shows a yellow NY pill and the output it plays on (OUT 15-16) |
| Scribble strip | Colour, icon and name. A bypassed channel is drawn dimmed |
| Routing line | Input and output: 1 → 1, 3-4 → 3-4 |
| INSERTS | The number of plugins, then one tile per plugin: its name (and maker when there's room), a bar on the left edge - green working, faint bypassed, red missing - and a pill: BYP or MISSING. A dashed + ADD PLUGIN tile closes the list. If not all plugins fit, the last tile reads +N MORE |
| SEND | Not sending: a dashed + NEW YORK key. Sending: a yellow key with the bus name and the send level (-3.0 dB, OFF, or nothing at 0 dB); +1 when it feeds more than one bus. A New York bus has FED BY here instead, with the big SOF key |
| Meters | IN and OUT, like the WING's: green up to -18 dBFS, yellow above, a separate red clip segment at 0 dBFS held for about 2 s, peaks held about 1.5 s |
| Delay | What the channel delays its signal by: 0 ms or for example 5.00 ms (its plugins plus any extra delay that lines it up in time). A New York bus shows a range. Yellow PA 4.20 ms means the channel is lined up in time with the PA - see latency |
| Keys | BYPASS (red, the whole channel - ⇧B) and OPEN (go to the CHANNEL view on this channel) |
Narrow strips and scrolling#
Strips have a set width. With many channels they get narrower, and on a narrow strip the icon moves above the name and BYPASS / OPEN turn into a power icon and a chevron. Past the narrowest width the row scrolls sideways, with a thin scroll bar underneath. A trackpad scrolls smoothly; a mouse wheel scrolls a big step at a time.
Selecting channels#
The read-out on the left of the tool row says what's selected: NO CHANNEL SELECTED, 1 CHANNEL or 3 CHANNELS.
- Click a strip: only that channel is selected.
- Cmd+click: adds a channel to the selection, or takes it out.
- Shift+click: selects everything from the last clicked strip to this one.
- ALL selects every channel, NONE clears the selection.
The channel you click last is also the one the CHANNEL view opens on.
The mixer tools#
Everything on the tool row works on all the selected channels at once, and you undo a change to several channels in one step (BYPASS doesn't go into the undo history at all).
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| CHAIN | Load a chain preset on the selected channels, or give them another channel's chain (see the chain) |
| ADD PLUGIN | Opens the plugin list; the plugin you pick goes at the end of every selected channel |
| NEW YORK | Makes a New York bus for the selected channels: one channel gets its own bus, several share one (see New York buses) |
| ICON / COLOUR | Icon or colour for all of them |
| BYPASS | If any selected channel is playing, bypasses them all; if all are bypassed, turns them back on |
| DUPLICATE | Copies the channels with their plugins and settings |
| + MONO / + STEREO | Adds a channel (see channels) |
| DELETE | Deletes the selected channels. One goes at once (the message has UNDO); for several you're asked first |
Everything except ALL is greyed out while nothing is selected.
Mouse on a strip#
| You do | What happens |
|---|---|
| Right-click | The channel menu: Rename channel, Keep in time with the PA, and on a New York bus Save as my ready-made New York. Right-click a strip inside a multi-selection and the menu is for all selected channels |
| Double-click the scribble strip | Rename it right there. ↩ or clicking away keeps the name, esc cancels |
| Double-click empty strip space | Opens the CHANNEL view on this channel |
| Click a plugin tile | Opens the CHANNEL view with that plugin |
| Click + ADD PLUGIN | The plugin list for this channel; the plugin goes at the end |
| Click + NEW YORK | Makes a bus at once if there's none yet; otherwise the New York menu |
| Click a yellow SEND key | Goes to that bus (or the New York menu, when it feeds several) |
| Click SOF on a bus | Sends On Fader: the channels' sends to this bus on faders (see New York buses) |
| Drag a strip sideways | Moves the channel; a red line shows where it lands |
The menu only holds what has no button of its own: everything else is on the tool row.
Something wrong or out of date on this page? Tell us