Hello hello, new around these parts *waves*
Im writing here to try and get some advice on the best approaches when using busses and grouping tracks when mixing down to add slight "glue" compression etc. I use Ableton.
What i had being doing before (i had read this on some other forum), was using the return channels as busses. So as a quick example, i have set up a Return channel named Hats which will have some slight compression and an EQ on it. I then send my hats to this Return channel, turning the knobs all the way on each individual.
It sounds alright so far? Well what ive realised, that i might be doing wrong, is the individual hat tracks had their audio out to MASTER. So this is wrong right? The return channel isnt being used as a glue track, its instead some kind of parallel comp, EQ track? As the master is recieving BOTH the orginal track AND the output from the Return channel.
So im not really sure what ive been doing. Now this isnt to say my stuff has been sounding terrible. In fact its sounding pretty good but im not sure if this is just because it sounds louder as its basically doubling up the output. But then of course if i want to use the Return channel to automate volume it doesnt work as the original stuff is still going through to the matser.
I've read up on other ways to bus tracks in Ableton, using Audio Tracks(with whatever effects on them) and routing whatever you want to them. So i've tried that and yeh cool it works, but i compare it to my previous approach and like i've said the first method is alot punchier and has more presence.
So yeah im not really sure at the moment what to do.
Any tips? Advice? How do people go about using busses here?
Busses - mixing down - best approach
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mrboombastic
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Kinda lost me a bit there but, with me, say I had drums and percussion on mixer channels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and I wanted to treat them all to a bit of compression or whatever, I could simply route all of those channels to say, mixer channel 6 and insert a compressor. This would then be the 'drum buss' and its output would be going to the master. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!
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Phase Ghost
- mnml maxi
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Got a little lost there, but here's how I do my mixes.
Kick and bass are sent to their own aux channel. However, they are eq'd prior to being sent to the aux. I just find it easier to have those two channels grouped.
The rest of the drums are sent to their own aux channel. High hats and cymbols are sent to a different aux channel prior to the main drum aux channel as I like to work with them separately.
Synths and samplers are handled individually and sent to the master channel.
That's pretty much my template. Synthetic drums generally don't need any compression at all. I usually just high pass and sometimes overdrive them for some subtle distortion. I do find myself compressing sampled drums since there are usually some wild transients that need tamed. A lot of times, volume adjustment is needed instead of compression.
Just remember that every track is different and needs mixed down differently.
Kick and bass are sent to their own aux channel. However, they are eq'd prior to being sent to the aux. I just find it easier to have those two channels grouped.
The rest of the drums are sent to their own aux channel. High hats and cymbols are sent to a different aux channel prior to the main drum aux channel as I like to work with them separately.
Synths and samplers are handled individually and sent to the master channel.
That's pretty much my template. Synthetic drums generally don't need any compression at all. I usually just high pass and sometimes overdrive them for some subtle distortion. I do find myself compressing sampled drums since there are usually some wild transients that need tamed. A lot of times, volume adjustment is needed instead of compression.
Just remember that every track is different and needs mixed down differently.
do both...
return channel : squash compression - extreme settings
route the channels to a seperate kick, hihat, snare, clap, low perc, mid perc, high perc, busses.... (Yes i layer quite alot so this is how i organise my stuff)
Fx this by taste (Here i use more gentle settings)
After that i buss the 'main' drums (kick, hat, snare/clap) again to a drumbuss. I fx this again gentle..
It gives me nice punchy drums.
Tho a trick is also using short verbs if you wanna get a certain element straight in the face.
Another thing i do is when everything is bussed... i buss all the busses to 3 end busses. Low, mid and high.. Fx that again gently instead of using a multibandcompressor that'll fx your whole band instead the busses you buss'd in the end busses....
Yep those are lot's of busses, but the result is there :-)!
return channel : squash compression - extreme settings
route the channels to a seperate kick, hihat, snare, clap, low perc, mid perc, high perc, busses.... (Yes i layer quite alot so this is how i organise my stuff)
Fx this by taste (Here i use more gentle settings)
After that i buss the 'main' drums (kick, hat, snare/clap) again to a drumbuss. I fx this again gentle..
It gives me nice punchy drums.
Tho a trick is also using short verbs if you wanna get a certain element straight in the face.
Another thing i do is when everything is bussed... i buss all the busses to 3 end busses. Low, mid and high.. Fx that again gently instead of using a multibandcompressor that'll fx your whole band instead the busses you buss'd in the end busses....
Yep those are lot's of busses, but the result is there :-)!
for glueing you just send the tracks you want to glue to the return bus without sending it to the master. you need also a good compressor that can handle complex material nicely and give you that glue effect.
for me the api2500 does the job very well.
there is also the "glue" vsti which is ok too. you have to test what fits your material also test the settings. for glueing you dont use extreme settings.
the other thing is parrallel compression. for example setting up a return bus with a compressor with settings threshold all the way down (for example -45db). attack as fast as possible and short release time. ratio 2:1 is enough.
and sending the track to the master and as needed through the comp.
but the most compressors have a wet/dry knob so you can do that effect also in the track. but sending different signal to the returntrack for parallel compression can also have a nice effect.
@kdgh: you 3 buss method is dangerous for phasing problems of the frequencies you cutoff or overlap by separating.
for me the api2500 does the job very well.
there is also the "glue" vsti which is ok too. you have to test what fits your material also test the settings. for glueing you dont use extreme settings.
the other thing is parrallel compression. for example setting up a return bus with a compressor with settings threshold all the way down (for example -45db). attack as fast as possible and short release time. ratio 2:1 is enough.
and sending the track to the master and as needed through the comp.
but the most compressors have a wet/dry knob so you can do that effect also in the track. but sending different signal to the returntrack for parallel compression can also have a nice effect.
@kdgh: you 3 buss method is dangerous for phasing problems of the frequencies you cutoff or overlap by separating.
techno made me do it
