TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Production Studio
-- Question on using bus sends

Question on using bus sends

Alright so i started working on a collab track with an old friend and i had a few questions about sends.

Generally what do you guys have your sends set up as? I'm new to the whole feature (i know, i should be smacked for not knowing it before) but i have all my drums going into one send, bass into another, main synths into another and FX into another. Am i doing it all wrong? I'd like some tips on this! i'm using FL studio 9 as my current DAW.

heres a sample of the track.
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]

I think you are refering to grouping parts to a bus channel for sub mixing? I do that also.

As for sends though I have reverb, delay sometimes compression on a send which I can then use on separate channels. I dont use FL but at a guess, set these devices you want on the return channels and then you can use them as send FX's.

you should group if there's a purpose not because it's easier to turn down a one fader for 5 sounds.


send's on the other hand should be used a lot, from delays, reverbs, spacial things etc. they can really make your track sound expensive if used right

quote:

Originally posted by Zombie0729 you should group if there's a purpose not because it's easier to turn down a one fader for 5 sounds. send's on the other hand should be used a lot, from delays, reverbs, spacial things etc. they can really make your track sound expensive if used right

yeah i was thinking this beforehand. right now my drums ie, clap,snare, hihats and percs are all going into one grouping "bus" with a compressor. i figured this would give a more "gel" to the various drum tracks. for my synths, ie, leads and chords, i have a reverb and a delay to save CPU. lol am i doing this right?

I generally start all projects with buss groups for similar instruments (e.g., drums, bass, synths, guitars, vocals, BG vox, etc.), but I add or (rarely) subtract busses based on what I'm using them for. Yes, you can use them as a sub-master for levels of instruments, but they're also useful for muting/soloing groups of instruments. They're most useful IMO when you want to treat multiple instruments the same way (e.g., have the same effect or automation on multiple tracks).

quote:

Originally posted by Final Call right now my drums ie, clap,snare, hihats and percs are all going into one grouping "bus" with a compressor. i figured this would give a more "gel" to the various drum tracks.

yeah, "gel"-ing the drums is ok. but I found, that the use of a multiband-compressor is better suited for that purpose.

quote:

Originally posted by Final Call for my synths, ie, leads and chords, i have a reverb and a delay to save CPU. lol am i doing this right?

yep, its not just about performance. using the same reverb settings for all your tracks is more cohesive, than using a different reverb for every track.

Edit: btw, liking your track

cheers

Ableton 7 user here but I do like this...

channel 1: kick + snare/clap
channel 2: all hats
channel 3: percs

if I use compression, I put one above each channel above.

and I use send/return tracks for fx: reverb's, delay's, etc...
1 reverb for pads, 1 for percussion, etc...

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik I generally start all projects with buss groups for similar instruments (e.g., drums, bass, synths, guitars, vocals, BG vox, etc.), but I add or (rarely) subtract busses based on what I'm using them for. Yes, you can use them as a sub-master for levels of instruments, but they're also useful for muting/soloing groups of instruments. They're most useful IMO when you want to treat multiple instruments the same way (e.g., have the same effect or automation on multiple tracks).

Indeed I often group parts for automation purpose's like filtering drums sections or other musical parts.

sends are useless, try bussing sounds

quote:

Originally posted by sako487 sends are useless, try bussing sounds

Sends are anything but useless. A typical use of sends is to have one or two reverbs and/or delays on auxiliary channels. You can send a proportional amount of any one individual track to that auxiliary channel. It accomplishes the same effect as a wet/dry knob on some plugins by mixing a partially effected signal with the dry signal.

quote:

Originally posted by sako487 sends are useless, try bussing sounds

On the contray, nothing is useless, its what works and sounds good to you. Otherwise why have it? Not the best advice to give.

Unless I have my wires crossed arent you contradicting yourself. You said in this thread you have just starting using sends and it add's energy.

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=566858



I found send FX's can sound different than when using as an insert, at times. Sends have many uses.

quote:

Originally posted by music2dance2 On the contray, nothing is useless, its what works and sounds good to you. Otherwise why have it? Not the best advice to give. Unless I have my wires crossed arent you contradicting yourself. You said in this thread you have just starting using sends and it add's energy. http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=566858 I found send FX's can sound different than when using as an insert, at times. Sends have many uses.

I meant using sends as busses, I dont like the fact that when you send a signal to a channel it somehow duplicates the sound, cause there 2 signals going to the master.

I'd much rather have 1 signal goin to a channel and to the master, and adjusting the wet/dry levels on the reverb. Sorry for the vague statment lol.

sends are extremely useful especially with reverbs and delays

maybe i should try bussing? never did before. only sends on reverb and delay to save cpu.

quote:

Originally posted by sako487 I meant using sends as busses, I dont like the fact that when you send a signal to a channel it somehow duplicates the sound, cause there 2 signals going to the master. I'd much rather have 1 signal goin to a channel and to the master, and adjusting the wet/dry levels on the reverb. Sorry for the vague statment lol.

Ah I see now. Yeah that works great to.

quote:

Originally posted by sako487 I meant using sends as busses, I dont like the fact that when you send a signal to a channel it somehow duplicates the sound, cause there 2 signals going to the master.

One reason that you might want to do this (aside from the obvious send FX, as already discussed) is when you want one of your instruments to both be heard and act as a sidechain input for another group of instruments. Hypothetical example - route your snare drum directly to the drum buss, but also send it to a synths buss that has a gate on it such that the snare drum triggers the gate to open. The result is a snare (heard directly via the drums buss) layered with a synth stab (triggered by the SC gate).

quote:

Originally posted by cryophonik One reason that you might want to do this (aside from the obvious send FX, as already discussed) is when you want one of your instruments to both be heard and act as a sidechain input for another group of instruments. Hypothetical example - route your snare drum directly to the drum buss, but also send it to a synths buss that has a gate on it such that the snare drum triggers the gate to open. The result is a snare (heard directly via the drums buss) layered with a synth stab (triggered by the SC gate).

great tip right there man! been always wondering how to do that

edit : here is an updated clip of the track i posted in the OP. http://www13.zippyshare.com/v/26737954/file.html

quote:

Originally posted by sako487 I meant using sends as busses, I dont like the fact that when you send a signal to a channel it somehow duplicates the sound, cause there 2 signals going to the master. I'd much rather have 1 signal goin to a channel and to the master, and adjusting the wet/dry levels on the reverb. Sorry for the vague statment lol.

WTF? this makes me think that you have no idea about the subject.

The WHOLE POINT of sends is that you are taking a copy of the signal to another destination then back to the master, while not affecting the original (dry ) channel. It's to allow you to balance a wet dry mix of that desired function.

An insert is to take the actual signal flow and divert it to another destination then back to the master. Essentially, it is only wet because there is no dry signal to balance it with.

They are both used to route audio but have two distinct uses and are different functions on purpose.

Yes, you use a buss to route and you use a send to route audio somewhere but they both have their own places. For instance,(generally speaking) a buss carries many signals and a send is the function of sending one "split" off a single channel. They do the same thing in terms of routing theory but have different terms as tey are different in function.

you can use sends for multi band effect purposes. Each send will isolate a frequency range and then effect as needed.

I've been sending a lot of my percussion and drums via send to IL's Gross Beat. Absolutely loving it.

This thread goes ro show it there are many ways of doing things, and its good to try different ways out to see what works for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad you can use sends for multi band effect purposes. Each send will isolate a frequency range and then effect as needed.

Sends don't isolate a frequency range, they send the incoming signal (pre- or post-fader) to a buss. You can isolate frequency ranges at the buss end (e.g., using a series of sends to multiple busses/EQs), but the sends themselves won't separate frequency bands (at least not in any console or DAW I've ever used).

that is what I said or meant. You send a copy to many busses, have the original have no output and you can operate that way. I thought it was obvious that the isolation would be achieved via EQ at the buss stage. Many daws do not allow the channel multiple channel outputs so this is a way around it.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad that is what I said or meant. You send a copy to many busses, have the original have no output and you can operate that way. I thought it was obvious that the isolation would be achieved via EQ at the buss stage. Many daws do not allow the channel multiple channel outputs so this is a way around it.

What you wrote was: "Each send will isolate a frequency range", which implies that the send itself will somehow split frequencies. I have no doubt that you understand the difference between what you wrote and what you meant, so I'm just clarifying it for those who might not.

And, that is a great tip, BTW!

This is actually what you do with surround mixing for score (which is why I think you know that one M4B )

You send channels (or groups like lo perc) with lower frequencies to a subharmonic synthesizer to create the frequencies needed for the LFE channel speaker (or the .1 channel).

That's how you get those deep boom sounds in the cinema....

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.