Mix automation

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In music recording, mix automation allows the mixing console to remember the mixing engineer's dynamic adjustment of faders during a musical piece in the post-production editing process. A timecode is necessary for the synchronization of automation. Modern mixing consoles and digital audio workstations use comprehensive mix automation.

Contents

The need for automated mixing originates from the late 1970s transition form 8-track to 16-track and then 24-track magnetic tape machines, as mixing could be laborious and require multiple people and hands, and the results could be almost impossible to reproduce. With 48-track recording - synchronized twin 24-track recorders (for a net 46 audio tracks, with one on each machine for SMPTE timecode) - came larger recording / mixing consoles with even more channel faders to manage during mixdown. Manufacturers, such as Neve Electronics (now AMS Neve) and Solid State Logic (SSL), [1] [2] both English companies, developed systems that enabled one engineer to oversee every detail of a complex mix, although the computers required to power these desks remained a rarity into the late 1970s. [3]

According to record producer Roy Thomas Baker, Queen's 1975 single "Bohemian Rhapsody" was one of the first mixes to be done with automation. [4]

Types

Voltage Controlled Automation
fader levels are regulated by voltage-controlled amplifiers (VCA). VCAs control the audio level and not the actual fader.
Moving Fader Automation
a motor is attached to the fader, which then can be controlled by the console, digital audio workstation (DAW), or user.
Software Controlled Automation
the software can be internal to the console, or external as part of a DAW. The virtual fader can be adjusted in the software by the user.
MIDI Automation
the communications protocol MIDI can be used to send messages to the console to control automation.

Modes

Auto Write
used the first time automation is created or when writing over existing automation
Auto Touch
writes automation data only while a fader is touched/faders return to any previously automated position after release
Auto Latch
starts writing automation data when a fader is touched/stays in position after release
Auto Read
digital Audio Workstation performs the written automation
Auto Off
automation is temporarily disabled

All of these include the mute button. If mute is pressed during writing of automation, the audio track will be muted during playback of that automation. Depending on software, other parameters such as panning, sends, and plug-in controls can be automated as well. In some cases, automation can be written using a digital potentiometer instead of a fader.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The History of SSL: From Consoles to Creators - gearnews.com". 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2025-12-08.
  2. ↑ "SSL Oracle mixer review | SOUND ON SOUND". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2025-12-08. SSL were pioneers of computer‑based console automation. Other digital control systems may have existed, but their 4000 B console, released in 1976, was one of the earliest to have computer‑based automation built in, and the 4000 E that followed in 1979 took the concept much further; it was, I believe, the first desk to combine total parameter recall, level automation, tape transport control and comprehensive channel EQ and dynamics.
  3. ↑ Inglis, Sam. "Creative Mix Automation In Your DAW". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Clark, Rick (1 April 1999). "Roy Thomas Baker: TAKING CHANCES AND MAKING HITS". Mix . Archived from the original on 26 April 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2019.

Free open source Mix automation software

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