[ddots-l] Re: routing effects
- From: "Bryan Smart" <bryansmart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 18:05:32 -0400
Hi Steve.
Buses have two common purposes: for summing several tracks together in
order to create sub-mixes, and for sharing effects.
First, though it isn't recommended, you can live in a world where you
don't even concern yourself with buses. In this case, you set the output
control of your tracks to hardware outputs on your audio interface. When
you're setup this way, audio goes directly from the individual tracks to
the hardware outputs. However, most people don't work this way, since
there is no way to meter the entire mix, and there is certainly no way
to easily apply mastering type effects.
Most people use, at minimum, a master bus. When you work in this way,
you have a single bus who's output control is set to one of your
hardware output ports, and all of your tracks have their output controls
set to the master bus. This means that the audio from all of the tracks
is combined on the audio bus, and that combined signal continues to your
hardware ports. When you work in this way, you can view the master bus's
meter to evaluate the signal strength of the entire mix. You can also
use eq and compression on just the master bus and effect the entire mix
at once. On an analog console, this is identical to how all of the
channel strips are summed at the master outputs.
You can add additional buses to use as sub-mixes. For example, you can
create another bus to use for a drums sub-mix. The drums sub-mix bus
would have its output set to the master bus, and all of the tracks where
drums were recorded would have their output set to the drums bus.
You can go way overboard with this if you aren't careful. For example,
the drum tracks might feed a drums sub-mix bus, which feeds in to a
music sub-mix, which feeds a master bus. That's way too much to worry
about in a small project, but it makes it easier to organize very large
projects with dozens of tracks.
The other way that you can use buses is for sharing effects. Sometimes,
when a bus is used in this way, people call it an effects bus, an
auxiliary (AUX) send, or an effects loop, but they're all the same
thing. This is just like the AUX or effects loop on an analog mixer. You
create these buses the exact same way, but the difference regards how
you choose to send audio to them. When you're using a bus to sum tracks
together, you set the output control of the tracks to that summing bus
to make a sub-mix. However, when you're using a bus for sharing effects,
you add an auxiliary send control to a track, and use that auxiliary
send connection to get audio to the bus. The track's output control
could still send the main signal from the track to the master bus or
another bus to make a sub-mix, but the auxiliary send control allows you
to also send the signal from the track to a secondary location.
Here is a practical example that uses everything above. Suppose that
you've recorded a small combo (drums, bass, guitar, and piano) either
dry, or else you've generated dry versions of all of these instruments
from softsynths. Since you recorded them dry, they're clean, but you'd
like to mix them to sound like they're in a room.
First, you mix the drums. You used a few mics to record the drums, and
so have those recorded to separate tracks. First, you create a new bus
that you call "drum mix", and you set the output control of all the drum
tracks to the "drum mix" bus. Now, you adjust the levels of the
different drum tracks until you get them balanced the way that you'd
like. From now on, you can turn up and down the volume on the drum mix
bus to raise or lower the over-all level of the drums without messing up
the relative balance that you worked out between the individual drum
tracks.
Now, you'd like to add a little bit of room ambience to the instruments
so that they don't sound so dry and isolated. To do this, you add a new
bus and call it "reverb". In the effects bin of the reverb bus, you
insert a reverb effect, and set it to a nice room preset that you like.
Now, you have a reverb effect, but you need to get signal from your
instrument tracks to that reverb. To do this, you go to each of the
tracks that you'd like to be able to send signal to the reverb, perform
a route Jaws to PC cursor command JawsKey+-, select the Insert Send
sub-menu, and select your reverb bus. Now Sonar will add a few
additional controls to the end of the track strip. You can quickly jump
to those with shift+x. These controls basically give you a direct
connection from the track to the bus with the reverb effect. You'll
notice that one of them is a volume control, and so you can use that to
adjust how much signal is sent to the bus with the reverb effect. No
matter how much you turn up or down the volume for the send, the track's
audio still continue to the master bus of the mix, and so you still can
hear it, but increasing the level for the send causes Sonar to also send
signal to the bus where the reverb effect is located. So, in this way,
several tracks can all send signal to the same bus where the reverb is
inserted. Particularly with a conventional reverb (where you're trying
to simulate a room), sharing the reverb in this way is a good idea.
Instead of placing several identical reverb effects on many tracks, all
of your tracks can send their signal to a single reverb. This method has
the added advantage that, if you'd like to try a different sounding
room, and change the preset of the reverb effect on the reverb bus, then
you'll change the reverb that you hear for all of your tracks. By
comparison, if you used an individual reverb effect on each track, then
you'd need to manually adjust each of the individual reverb effects.
Sometimes you'll need separate reverbs for separate instruments if
you're attempting a special effect, but, in many cases, this method of
working is best.
Hope that this info helps you understand the big picture of how buses
work in Sonar.
Bryan
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Steve Wicketts
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 7:14 AM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: routing effects
Hi All,
I mentioned on an earlier email about routing effects, I forgot to put
I'm using Sonar 7 encase there maybe differences on the newer systems.
Just to recap, I understand how to rout effects through hardware mixers
and effects units.
The problem I'm having is thinking virtual, I can't seem to quite get my
head around this, I'm not managing to understand the help files on this
one.
I know it's a pain but please could one of you guys send a simple step
by step on how to set up the busses, how to assign effects to them and
finally
how to send the chosen tracks through them.
It would be very much appreciated.
Steve W
www.jerryleelewis.co.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: Darren H <mailto:darren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 7:02 AM
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: routing effects
Hi Steve.
don't beat yourself up about this one because I can't get my
head around it either, even with the great help files.
I think it might have something to do with setting the outputs
to auxe tracks? then going to the bus pain and setting the effect in
the corresponding auxe track.
but, that's just me barking, whether I'm up the right tree or
not is another matter entirely.
Cheers
Darren
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Wicketts
<mailto:steve.wicketts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ddtots <mailto:ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 11:56 PM
Subject: [ddots-l] routing effects
Hi All,
I've been adding effects to my project by using the
application key.
I'm aware it's easier on the system if you apply effects
to a bus then send the tracks through the bus.
I do this all the time with hardwhere , I use a Fostex
12 into 8 into two mixer with external effects.
The problem I'm having is thinking virtual, I can't seem
to quite get my head around this, I'm not being able to understand the
help files on this one.
I know it's a pain but please could one of you guys send
me an simple step by step on how to set up the busses and how to assign
effects to them and finally how to send the chosen tracks through them.
I know I must seem a pain, it's just it's all still
quite knew to me.
Steve W
www.jerryleelewis.co.uk
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