[ddots-l] Re: routing effects
- From: "Darren H" <darren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 23:21:54 +0100
Hi
Oh god, I now actually understand buses and how to set them up.
thanks for that explanation, very very useful.
Cheers
Darren
----- Original Message -----
From: Bryan Smart
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 11:05 PM
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: routing effects
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
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
To: ddtots
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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