Reference Guide

Tutorial 7 – Mixing and adding effects
Mixing is an important part of recording that can really help the music you create in SONAR sound its
best. Mixing involves placing different instruments and sounds in layers of the frequency spectrum,
adjusting levels so that tracks blend nicely, spreading them across the stereo field and adding effects
where appropriate.
There are many important decisions to make when mixing, things that are sometimes not considered
while writing a song. The choices you make can have a major effect on how pleasurable the listening
experience is for your audience.
In this tutorial, we'll discuss some general guidelines. But, it's important to remember that there are no
rules. This is another artistic stage of song creation.
We'll start by opening the MixingTutorial project:
1. Go to File > Open and select the file named MixingTutorial.cwb.
2. Go to File > Save As and save it under a new name. This way, you can save your work without
overwriting the original, in case you'd like to start over.
In the same folder is a file named MixingTutorial-Complete.cwb, which is a copy of the same
project, but after the tutorial has been completed. You can use this project as a reference to which you
can compare settings and levels.
See:
“Volume and pan” on page 150
“Adding effects (FX)” on page 151
“Using Automation” on page 156
Note: Tutorial files are located in the /Cakewalk Content/SONAR X2/Tutorial
Projects folder, by default. If you specified another location during installation, navigate to the
tutorial folder you specified during installation.