Audio Track Controls

Right-click the track header, choose Color from the submenu, and then choose the color you want to use to display waveforms on the track.

If you've changed the color of any of a track's clips, changing the track color will not update the color of those clips.

Drag a track's bottom border to set its height. If you want to set a track's height as the default height for new tracks, right-click within the track list and choose Set Default Track Properties from the shortcut menu.

Click Minimize to minimize a track vertically.

Click Maximize to zoom in vertically so a track fills the track view.

After minimizing or maximizing a track, click the Minimize or Maximize button again to return a track to its previous height.

Track height keyboard shortcuts

• Press Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow or Down Arrow to change the height of all tracks at once.

• Press ` to minimize all tracks. Press again to restore tracks to their previous height.

• Press Ctrl+` to return all tracks to the default height.

Right-click a track header, choose Pitch Shift Track from the shortcut menu, and then choose a command from the submenu to change the pitch of all events on a track. The event-specific pitch shift is calculated after the project key and the track’s pitch shift.

TIP Tips:

• When a track is selected, press + and - on the numeric keypad to change track pitch.

• From the View menu, choose Event Information to toggle the display of event-specific information including the clip name and event pitch shift in the timeline:

  

1. Double-click the track name and type a new name.

2. Press Enter to save the name.

Click the Arm for Record button on an audio track to prepare it for recording.

When you click the Record button on the main transport bar, all armed tracks will begin recording.

For more information about recording audio, see Recording Audio.

Click the Invert Track Phase button to reverse the phase of all events on an audio track.

Although inverting data does not make an audible difference in a single file, it can prevent phase cancellation when mixing or crossfading audio signals.

Select multiple tracks to invert several tracks simultaneously.

Click the Track FX button to add effects to a track or edit the existing effects chain.

For more information about using track effects, please see Track Effects.

Click the Mute button to prevent a track from being played in the mix. Click the Mute button on additional tracks to add them to the mute group. To unmute a track, click the Mute button again.

NOTE Muting a track mutes its main output and post-fader sends only unless the Track prefader sends listen to mute check box on the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog is selected. For more information and examples about how the Track prefader sends listen to mute check box works, please see Preferences - Audio Tab.

Muting or unmuting a track

1. Deselect the Automation Settings button to toggle trim mode.

2. Click the Mute button .

TIP When you have a group of tracks muted, hold Ctrl while clicking the Mute button on an unmuted track to remove all other tracks from the mute group. Hold Ctrl while clicking the Mute button on a muted track to reset all Mute buttons.

Adjusting mute automation

When you select the Automation Settings button , the mute button is displayed as a , and you can use the control to edit volume automation.

Click the Solo button to mute all unselected tracks. Click the Solo button on additional tracks to add them to the solo group. To remove a track from the solo group, click its Solo button again.

TIP Hold Ctrl while clicking a Solo button to solo a single track and remove all other tracks from the solo group.

The Record Device Selector button in a track header chooses the audio input that will be used to record to a track.

You can click the Record Device Selector button to turn input monitoring on or off and choose a recording device:

For more information about recording audio, see Recording Audio.

The bus button in a track header chooses the track's primary output. Assigning tracks to busses is especially useful for creating submixes that allow you to adjust the levels of multiple tracks at once or apply an effect to multiple tracks.

1. Click the bus button on the track.

   The button is displayed as a when the track is routed to the master bus, and the bus letter is displayed (, , and so on) when a track is routed to another bus.

2. Select the desired bus from the submenu. The Bus button changes to display the selected bus.

NOTE If the Bus button does not appear on the track, then you have not specified more than one bus in your project settings. For more information about specifying the number of busses for your project, please see Adding or Deleting Busses.

TIP If you want to send a track to multiple outputs — for creating cue mixes or effects sends — you can use the multipurpose fader to control the level of the track sent to each bus or assignable effects chain.

During playback, a responsive meter is displayed in the track header to monitor the track's output.

When clipping is detected, the peak meter displays a red Clip indicator.

Right-click the meters and choose a command from the shortcut menu to adjust the display of the meters. This shortcut menu allows you to reset clip indicators, choose a display scale, toggle vertical display, or turn output meters off.

The Volume fader in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall volume of the track, or it can adjust track volume automation settings.

The trim level is added to the volume automation settings so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3 dB has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3 dB.

TIP When adjusting the mix of your tracks, remember to look at the meters in the track headers and on the Mixing Console. Because you are adding the volumes of all of the tracks together, it is easy to clip the audio output. Make sure that the meters never display the red Clip indication during playback.

Adjusting the volume trim level

1. Deselect the Automation Settings button to toggle trim mode.

2. Drag the Vol fader to control how loud a track is in the mix.

   A value of 0 dB means that the track is played with no boost or cut. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.

   You can hold Ctrl while dragging a fader to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the fader to return it to 0 dB.

   If multiple tracks are selected, all selected tracks are adjusted.

Adjusting the volume automation level

When you select the Automation Settings button , the fader thumb is displayed as a , and you can use the control to edit volume automation.

The Pan slider in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall panning of the track, or it can adjust track panning automation settings.

The trim level is added to the pan automation settings so your panning envelope is preserved, but with an offset applied. For example, setting the trim control to -9% left has the same effect as moving every envelope point 9% to the left.

NOTE This procedure applies to stereo panning only. For information about panning 5.1 surround projects, please see 5.1 Surround Panning and Mixing.

Adjusting track panning trim levels

1. Deselect the Automation Settings button to toggle trim mode.

2. Drag the Pan slider to control the position of the track in the stereo field: dragging to the left will place the track in the left speaker more than the right, and dragging to the right will place the track in the right speaker. You can hold Ctrl while dragging the slider to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the slider to return it to 0. If multiple tracks are selected, all selected tracks are adjusted.

Adjusting the track panning automation level

When you select the Automation Settings button , the Pan slider handle is displayed as a , and you can use the control to edit pan automation.

To change the behavior of the Pan slider, right-click the slider and choose a pan type from the shortcut menu.

NOTE The selected panning mode is also used for track-level pan envelopes.

The multipurpose slider in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall assignable effects send level of the track, or it can adjust assignable effects send automation settings.

The trim level is added to the assignable effects automation settings so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3 dB has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3 dB.

TIP Tips:

• FX sends are post-volume by default. To change to pre-volume, click the Pre/Post button at the end of the fader (or right-click the fader handle and choose Pre Volume from the shortcut menu).

• If you want to apply track panning (including pan position and panning mode) to FX sends, right-click the FX fader and choose Link to Main Track Pan from the shortcut menu.

  When Link to Main Track Pan is not selected, the track sends a center-panned stereo signal using the track's current panning mode.

• Select the Use legacy track send gain check box on the Audio page of the Preferences dialog  if you want to configure audio track sends to behave as they did in Acid 6.0 and earlier. When the check box is selected, you can open projects created with earlier versions of Acid and be assured they will sound the same as they did in earlier versions of Acid.

Adjusting the assignable effects trim level

1. Deselect the Automation Settings button to toggle trim mode.

2. Click the label on the multipurpose slider and choose an assignable effects chain from the menu. The multipurpose slider will change to display effects send levels for all tracks so you can monitor their relative send levels.

   

3. Drag the FX fader to control the level of the track sent to each of the assignable FX chains that you have created. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume. You can hold Ctrl while dragging a fader to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the fader to return it to 0 dB. If multiple tracks are selected, all selected tracks are adjusted.

Adjusting the assignable effects automation level

When you select the Automation Settings button , the fader thumb is displayed as a , and you can use the control to edit assignable effects send level automation.

The multipurpose slider in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall bus send level of the track, or it can adjust assignable bus send automation settings.

The trim level is added to the bus send automation settings so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3 dB has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3 dB.

TIP Tips:

• Bus sends are pre-volume (and pre-mute) by default. When bus sends are pre-volume, you can create a cue mix that is independent of your main mix. To change to post-volume, click the Pre/Post button at the end of the fader (or right-click the bus fader and choose Post Volume from the shortcut menu).

• If you want to apply track panning to bus sends (including pan position and panning mode), right click the bus fader and choose Link to Main Track Pan from the shortcut menu.

  When Link to Main Track Pan is not selected, the track sends a center-panned stereo signal using the track's current panning mode.

• Select the Use legacy track send gain check box on the Audio page of the Preferences dialog if you want to configure audio track sends to behave as they did in Acid 6.0 and earlier. When the check box is selected, you can open projects created with earlier versions of Acid and be assured they will sound the same as they did in earlier versions of Acid.

Adjusting the bus send trim level

1. Deselect the Automation Settings button to toggle trim mode.

2. Click the label on the multipurpose slider and choose a bus from the menu.

   

3. Drag the fader to control the level of the track sent to each of the additional busses that you have created for your project. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume. You can hold Ctrl while dragging a fader to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the fader to return it to 0 dB. If multiple tracks are selected, all selected tracks are adjusted.

Adjusting bus send automation

When you select the Automation Settings button , the fader thumb is displayed as a , and you can use the control to edit bus send level automation.

The controls in the track header can function as trim controls or automation controls for track volume, panning, assignable effects send, and bus send levels. Adjusting the trim control affects the level of the entire track as it did in previous releases of Acid software.

The trim level is added to the track automation setting so your automation settings are preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3 dB has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3 dB.  

To adjust trim levels, deselect the Automation Settings button . When the button is selected, the track controls adjust automation settings.

1. Click the Paint Clip Selector button in the track header. A menu is displayed to list the track's current clips.

   

2. Choose a clip from the menu. The selected clip will be used for creating events with the Draw or Paint tool .

For more information about using clips, please see Using Clips with Tracks.