Busses, Auxs ... help!

[cavanam]

Warning - insanely inane question about to appear. I've been merrily using Logic (7 then Studio - Logic v8) for some years. Everything I do is pretty basic - just me, my guitars, and whatever arrangements I can conjure up from available synths, samples and sound bytes. I tend to use the 'Song Writer' template a lot, but I've never got my head around using busses and auxs. I've skimmed over the relevant bits in the manuals, and get how you do it, but why would I? Is there somewhere someone can point me that explains the advantages, disadvantages, reason for being and #42 stuff? I suspect that my stuff is too simple for it to matter to me. Maximum tracks I get to is around 12, and they all tend to be pretty different things, with quite different settings. Many thanks guys.

cheers

MikeC

___________________________________________________________________

Logic Studio 8; MAC OS 10. whatever the last patch was. 2.2GHz Intel machine

[camillo jr]

For starters, if you've been using the sends on individual channels to send to reverb or other effects, you've been using buses. In L9 and I believe in L8 these buses automatically route to Auxes where typically your reverb and delays live. (Buses don't have to route to auxes but that's another discussion.)

 

Here's something you can do with Auxes.

 

Route all your tracks that have background vocals through a bus line. That bus can be assigned to any aux. On that aux, you could apply an inserted compressor to all your vocals at once. To do this routing you'll need to assign each vocal channel's output to a bus. Use the I/O menu, bottom field: Stereo Out>Bus>Bus #. You wouldn't be using the sends for this job because that will only send a portion of the signal. You'll need the whole signal which is directed via the I/O menu. (In/Out menu).

 

You could do similar things with any instruments you want to group together for processing. This is often done to drum submixes to "glue" the instruments together.

 

Using this technique doesn't negate any processing (EQ, compression, chorusing, etc) you may have done on individual tracks via the channel's inserts. The Aux at the end of the chain is just one more layer of processing that you're adding all at once.

 

Another thing to use auxes for is submixes. So you can have all vocals on one aux, all drums on another aux, all keys on a third and so on. This allows you to quickly make global tweaks to the overall balances in the mix.

 

Hope this gives you some ideas!

[cavanam]

Many thanks for prompt reply - and the great ideas. I'll definitely follow up on these. But my question was actually a bit more basic. I'm aware that in the templates I use there are buses - I just accept that they are there and do what I do - which has nothing to do with buses or auxs. I gather - but sometimes I feel like I'm trying to run through molasses - that using buses is good for doing the same thing to a number of diffferent tracks/ channels. As I said, I tend to have different tracks doing different things so maybe I just don't need to worry about buses? The aux thing ... well, it's sort of the same language - something between Navi and Klingon, although the manual is some sort of dictionary. Again, my basic question is - what are the good, best for? Why would I want to use them? Ah, look, I get that this is some pretty dumb donkey question, and comes down to all sorts of personal preferences, ultimate goals blah blah. I just hate the thought that I might not be getting the most out of the critter and that I'm stuck in a rut and don't even know it! I sort of thought however that there might be some basic mixing text, reference or the like that would explain what the purpose of these things is. It's OK - I'll go fish. Many thanks

cheers

MikeC

_______________________________________________________________

Logic Studio 8. Mac OS 10. whatever the last patch was. 2.2GHz Intel machine

[triplets]

One cool use for an aux or send:

Send part of a mono signal, like a guitar, to a stereo reverb.

Auxes are easier to blend in a mix.

Don't have to screw around with individual settings on channel strip plugins.

[camillo jr]

cavanam, your reply here makes me wonder - are you saying that you've never used the sends on a channel to send some signal to a reverb or a delay? If that's the case, you are missing out on the power of this DAW or any other for that matter.

 

Do some more research, definitely, until you have a firm grasp on what buses and auxes do. There are plenty of threads on this forum on the topic and there are books, videos etc. Maybe get a friend in to show you how these things work.

 

Maybe your are putting all your effects on each channel, which is workable but not efficient. I'm not sure how you are using effects. But getting to know buses and auxes is IMO a fundamental piece of knowledge that will up the number of creative possibilities available to you, even if your tracks are supposedly "simple".

 

What are they good for? I've already shown you a couple. You have to try it out and see how it works. There are lots of ways of using buses and auxes - you don't need to know all of them to benefit from their use. But you do have to dig in and experiment. Once you understand the signal flow, which is actually fairly straightforward, then some possibilities will open up for you.

 

Number 1: Buses are an invisible stereo line that can go anywhere. Typically they are used to send (notice that there are sends on each channel) some of the signal from a channel to another channel - an aux - that has a reverb on it. You can send from many different tracks down the same bus to the same aux which has a reverb on it.

 

Number 2: Auxes can receive a signal from any bus. And since auxes have their own sends, they can also send to other auxes which may also have effects inserted in them.

 

Number 3: Buses can be used more than once. You can use the same bus to send to several auxes, for instance. Why would you do this? Well, get started on the basics and at some point you might find a need for that. Or not.

 

Number 4: Get started working out how buses and auxes work!

[cavanam]

Thanks guys - much appreciated. I'll try some experiments and see how I go. I suspect though that for what I do, I probably have limited use for either as I seem to be able to achieve what I need by working directly with the channel strips for each track, without having to send them anywhere. Thanks for your patience and feedback.

cheers

MikeC

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

Parallel compression.

 

Beef up your sound without losing all dynamic content. Especially if you're using sampled drums.