The Blue Cat's Gain Suite free volume control plugins offer the ability to link several instances of the same plugin to control them with a single slider. This tutorial shows how to use this capability to control the balance between two tracks (the drums and bass tracks in this example) with a single slider.

This tutorial uses Cakewalk Sonar as a host, but you can use any other VST or DirectX compatible host application.

Step By Step

01- Insert the Blue Cat's Gain (Stereo) plugin on both tracks:

02 - On one of the tracks, hit the 'reverse' button of the plugin:

03 - On each track, connect the plugin to the A group by clicking on the 'A' button:

04 - Increasing the gain on a track now decreases it on the other track, and the plugin pair acts as a balance control:

06.1 - For each track, open the automation window...:

06.2 - ...And arm the gain parameter:

07 - Hit the 'record automation' button (or the play button with Sonar 6):

08 - Moving one single slider will produce two reversed automation curves (one on each track):

This tutorial has shown you a very simple way to control the balance between two tracks with a single slider. It is a simple example of the grouping capabilities of the Blue Cat's Gain Suite free plugins.

You can now extend this tutorial by yourself and use this capability for your own needs: group mixing, linked gain control anywhere in a signal chain (for example to modify the volume in the chain without modifying the overall level)...