Controlling Wah-wah with track automations

1 Guitar part

We start from an open project containing at least one recorded guitar part or an Apple Loop. For illustration we have dragged ‘Drop the Funk Lead Guitar’ into a new track.

2 Plugins picking

Next we’ll make the Pedalboard available to our track. Show the Smart Controls (B) and in the Track Inspector add the Pedalboard to an empty Plugins slot via the menu.

3 Show Pedalboard

This will show the Pedalboard window automatically. If you already had this available on a recorded guitar track, it is accessible by simply clicking the corner button.

4 Wah selection

Within the Pedalboard we will pick our Wah pedal. There are two choices between Classic and Modern, but for our example we’ll drag out the Classic one into an empty spot.

5 Show Automation

Hide the Pedalboard and return to Tracks view. Navigate up to Mix>show Automation (A) and then click the Automation Parameter dropdown found within the track’s header.

6 Pedal position

From the Automation Parameter menu you need to navigate down to Plugins and Pedalboard, then in our case the Classic Wah we added in slot 1, then picking Pedal Position.

7 Curve drawing

Now we can draw our Automation curve. The pedal and Automation line is down by default; so click it to add points that you can drag upwards to push the pedal forwards.

8 Good timing

To get that ‘quacking’ Wah rhythm you want your pedal rocks to fit the beat, so take some care over aligning the up/down curves to fit the project’s beat measures as desired.

9 Project preview

Finish up by drawing your pedal tilt curve along the full duration of the track or region. Pressing play (spacebar) lets you preview the effect while making curve tweaks.