I can't remember but in the environment window under new---Channel Strip-- (both audio and instrument fields are greyed out) how do I enable them again? Also how can I create knob/fader in the environment that controls synth parameters such as cutoff with multiple instruments. Logic 9 user here.

To your first question, turn off "Automatic Channel Strip Management" in your Project Settings. Then those options will become available again. To your second question, click on the Environment's local [b]New[/b] menu and there you'll find a "Fader" menu item. Mouse over to access its sub-menu from which you can select a variety of different fader and button types.