<s>
A	O
Virtual	B-Application
Mixer	I-Application
is	O
a	O
software	O
application	O
that	O
runs	O
on	O
a	O
computer	O
or	O
other	O
digital	O
audio	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Providing	O
the	O
same	O
functionality	O
of	O
a	O
digital	O
or	O
analog	O
mixing	O
console	O
,	O
a	O
virtual	B-Application
mixer	I-Application
takes	O
the	O
audio	O
outputs	O
of	O
many	O
separate	O
tracks	O
or	O
live	O
sources	O
and	O
combines	O
them	O
into	O
a	O
pair	O
of	O
stereo	O
outputs	O
or	O
other	O
routed	O
subgroups	O
for	O
auxiliary	O
outputs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
following	O
decade	O
,	O
many	O
artists	O
began	O
recording	O
their	O
own	O
music	O
in	O
home	O
studios	O
with	O
the	O
aid	O
of	O
DAW	O
(	O
digital	B-General_Concept
audio	I-General_Concept
workstation	I-General_Concept
)	O
software	O
like	O
GarageBand	O
or	O
ProTools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
this	O
move	O
away	O
from	O
high	O
end	O
studios	O
and	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
computing	O
power	O
in	O
personal	O
computers	O
that	O
gave	O
rise	O
to	O
virtual	B-Application
mixers	I-Application
that	O
required	O
minimal	O
to	O
no	O
physical	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
of	O
most	O
virtual	B-Application
mixers	I-Application
is	O
modeled	O
after	O
physical	O
mixers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
channel	O
displays	O
a	O
decibel	O
meter	O
and	O
slots	O
for	O
optional	O
third-party	O
plugins	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
plugins	B-Application
range	O
from	O
built-in	O
effects	O
to	O
EQ	O
,	O
compression	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
gates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
plugins	B-Application
can	O
be	O
implemented	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
ways	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
channel	O
allows	O
for	O
plugins	B-Application
to	O
be	O
added	O
via	O
dropdown	O
menus	O
from	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
slots	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Through	O
this	O
method	O
,	O
plugins	B-Application
are	O
applied	O
to	O
individual	O
channels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alternatively	O
,	O
plugins	B-Application
can	O
be	O
applied	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
channels	O
by	O
busing	O
the	O
desired	O
channels	O
to	O
another	O
track	O
.	O
</s>
