A mixer is the screen or the hardware where you adjust the level, pan, sends and output destination of multiple tracks together. It helps to think of a DAW’s mixer as an on-screen recreation of a hardware mixing console. It is the starting point for building the balance of the whole song.
Tracks laid out in columns
In a mixer, each track appears as a tall channel strip. The fader sets the level, the pan sets the left-right position, and mute and solo let you listen selectively. After placing sounds in the edit window, the mixer is where you shape how they sound on playback.
The main controls
Fader, pan, input and output, inserts, sends, mute and solo are the typical controls. The look changes with the DAW and the display settings, but they all share the idea of working while following the signal flow. Rather than trying to use everything at once, start by getting comfortable with level, pan and mute.
The order of level adjustment
First set the relative levels of the tracks with the faders. Then organize the left-right overlap with pan, and use EQ and compression as needed. Check the output level and the headroom so you do not mistake merely louder for better.
Reading the routing
The mixer is also where you check the path the sound takes. You can follow sends to aux or return channels, several tracks grouped into a bus, and the feed to the main output. When you hear nothing, or an effect is too strong, check the routing.
Easily confused terms
Mixer usually refers to the whole place or system you operate, while channel strip refers to the vertical column for each track inside it. For the bigger picture of mixing, see the DAW article.
