Logic Pro X keyboard command of the day. #LogicProX @StudioIntern1

  Select Folder Stack Tracks

In the Arrange window (commonly called the Main Window in the documentation)

Select all of the Folder Stack tracks. There is a ‘Select Summing Stack Tracks’ command as well, which selects all of the Summing stacks.

One additional command that is of interest is the ‘Select Sub/VCA Tracks’. This command will select all of the Folder Stacks as well as VCA tracks, if any.

Folder Stacks get created as “Sub” tracks and have VCA channel strips created in the mixer. The nice feature of the Folder Stack is that the VCA channel strip/track is included in the Arrange window and can be moved around on the mixer.

You can create tracks for VCAs which you can position in the mixer, but the Folder Stack version makes for a convenient ‘spill’ of the tracks affected by the VCA.

Track Stacks overview — Logic Pro X

Folder stacks let you combine multiple tracks and control them as one unit, without changing the audio routing of the individual subtracks. When you create a folder stack, the channel strip assigned to the main track is called the stack master. Using the main track or the stack master channel strip, you can mute, solo, and adjust the volume level for the folder stack. This is similar to the way a VCA master fader functions on a hardware mixing console.

⇧ SHIFT – ⌃ CONTROL – ⌥ OPTION – ⌘ COMMAND

Logic Pro X keyboard command of the day. #LogicProX @StudioIntern1

  Create Folder Stack    ⇧⌘H

The naming of the folder stack (default) is somewhat misleading, I guess. When I see “Sub 1” I think of a sub-mix more than a VCA. A folder stack looks like a VCA, and appears in the mixer just like a VCA except that it is located in position in the Arrange window.

Using folder stacks makes it much easier to gain control of VCAs from my control surface. Normally VCAs are located at the far right of the mixer. With the VCA “in-line” I don’t have to bounce around the control surface as much, or switch the surface to “output” channels.

As I investigated just how many VCAs I could have (more than 32) I decided to look at the Environment to see what VCAs “look like”. A VCA is a sub-channel of the master channel named “Sub 1”, “Sub 2”, etc.

Not sure what I would do with more than 32 VCAs, but there could be situations where it might be plausible — a performance with hundreds of channels.

Track Stacks overview — Logic Pro X

Folder stacks let you combine multiple tracks and control them as one unit, without changing the audio routing of the individual subtracks. When you create a folder stack, the channel strip assigned to the main track is called the stack master. Using the main track or the stack master channel strip, you can mute, solo, and adjust the volume level for the folder stack. This is similar to the way a VCA master fader functions on a hardware mixing console.

⇧ SHIFT – ⌃ CONTROL – ⌥ OPTION – ⌘ COMMAND

Logic Pro X keyboard command of the day. #LogicProX @StudioIntern1

  Select Summing Stack Tracks

Located in the Edit dropdown menu in the Arrange window. Selects all of the Summing Stacks in the Arrange window.

Track Stacks overview — Logic Pro X

Summing stacks let you combine multiple tracks and route their output to an audio subgroup. When you create a summing stack, the outputs from the subtracks are routed to a bus. The destination aux of the bus is assigned to the main track. When the main track is selected, you can mute, solo, and adjust volume and send levels for the summing stack, and add and edit plug-ins, affecting the sound of all the subtracks in the summing stack. This is similar to the way an audio group works.

⇧ SHIFT – ⌃ CONTROL – ⌥ OPTION – ⌘ COMMAND