Switching the Contents of the Plug-in Window

Accessing the multitude of plug-ins active in a song can be a clumsy process requiring the opening and closing of each plug-in window. Menus in the plug-in window provide a simpler way to navigate around active plug-ins, allowing you to view any plug-in in the same window regardless of its channel or its order in the signal chain.

This navigation technique also helps when you're copying presets from one location to another and identical processing is required. The two violin tracks are a good example of this, since they both could benefit from similar EQ and dynamics processing. In this exercise you navigate from the Violin I channel to the Violin II channel using the plug-in window menus, copying and pasting settings from one plug-in to another.

1.	Look at the two adjacent Violin tracks in the Track Mixer. Notice that they have identical plug-ins at the same Insert locations in the channel. The Violin I plug-ins have customized settings, while the Violin II plug-ins are still in their default state. In order to use this plug-in settings technique, you need to have a plug-in window open.
2.	In the Violin I channel, double-click the Channel EQ plug-in to open the plug-in window. The EQ curve indicates a subtle dip at around 395Hz and a smaller boost at around 3450Hz.
3.	Click the Settings menu and choose Copy Setting. Now that you have copied the EQ plug-in settings from Violin I, you can paste them into the Channel EQ in the Violin II channel. You will use the two pop-up menus located at the top of the plug-in window to view the Channel EQ setting for Violin II in the same plug-in window. The topmost pop-up menu accesses the same numbered Insert slot on any channel that has an active plug-in. NOTE The track number displayed in the top pop-up menu button corresponds to the Object type and number, not to the channel order in the Track Mixer. Track type and number are displayed in the Track Mixer in the middle of each channel strip. This makes Violin I Track 2, and Violin II Track 8.
4.	Click the upper of the two pop-up menu buttons, and choose Track 8 (Violin II). The Violin II Channel EQ settings (default) are now displayed in the open plug-in window (identified as Track 8).
5.	Click the Settings menu and choose Paste Setting. The plug-in settings from Violin I are pasted into the Channel EQ of Violin II.
6.	Click the top pop-up menu button, and choose Track 2 (Violin I). This returns you to the Violin I Channel EQ. Let's move on to display the Compressor plug-in located in the second Insert slot for the channel. Each Insert slot for a single channel can be accessed by the bottom pop-up menu button.
7.	Click the bottom pop-up menu button and choose Comp (m/m). NOTE The letters that appear next to a plug-in's name indicate whether it is mono to mono (m/m), mono to stereo (m/s), or stereo to stereo (s/s). The Compressor interface now appears in the plug-in window.
8.	Click the Settings menu and choose Copy Setting.
9.	Click the top pop-up menu button and choose Track 8 (Violin II). The Compressor inserted in the second Insert slot on the Violin II channel is displayed in the plug-in window.
10.	Click the Settings menu and choose Paste Setting. The plug-in setting from Violin I is pasted onto the Compressor of Violin II.
11.	Close the plug-in window.