A typical control area or bus header is shown below:

bus controls

At the top-left of the controls is the name of the bus, which can be edited by double-clicking on it. The new name must be unique within the session. Underneath the name is a copy of the bus' main level fader. The control buttons to the right-hand side are:

M
Mute—click to mute the bus. Right-click to display a menu which dictates what particular parts of the bus should be muted.
S
Solo—solo the bus. The behaviour of the solo system is described in detail in the section Muting and Soloing.
A
Automation—opens the automation menu for the bus. For details see Automation.
G
Group—lets you assign the bus to an existing or a new group. For details see Track and bus groups.