aux bus send levels

[Rock Star 87]

as i said b4, i'm knew to professional recording, and aux busses also, although they seem fascinating and very practical at the same time. i'm using soundstage for a score i'm doing and i was wondering what the send level should be. i know the return level should be 100% (-INF db.), right. but what is the send level, or does it depend on the piece.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by Rock Star 87

as i said b4, i'm knew to professional recording, and aux busses also, although they seem fascinating and very practical at the same time. i'm using soundstage for a score i'm doing and i was wondering what the send level should be. i know the return level should be 100% (-INF db.), right. but what is the send level, or does it depend on the piece.

The answer is... it depends.

Assuming you have a reverb plugin patched onto the Bus, the (track) send level will determine how wet or dry the final signal will be. If you are sending multiple signals to the Bus, you are going to probably want to vary the send level for each signal.

For example, let's say you are sending a lead vocal and 2 BGV's to the Bus. It is common for the lead vocal to be "dryer" than the BGV's. This helps to bring the lead vocal a bit more forward in the mix (i.e., the wetter the sound, the further back it will be perceived). So in this case, the send level for the lead vox will be lower than the send level for the BGV's.

Obviously, the material itself, the sound you are looking for, and a million other things will also determine the final send setting.

As in all things musicial, USE YOUR EARS to reach the final answer.

[Rock Star 87]

what do u mean by sending to the aux bus. isn't every track on the song sent to the bus automatically?

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by Rock Star 87

what do u mean by sending to the aux bus. isn't every track on the song sent to the bus automatically?

No!!!

What version of Sonar are you using? This is accomplished differently in different versions of Sonar; however regardless of the version NO tracks are sent to the Aux Bus unless you direct them to do so.

[Rock Star 87]

i'm using Pro Audio 9, and i never saw anything about sending to an aux bus.

[minofifa]

i like to think of aux buses as a way to group some of your common tracks. Like dach said, you can send all of your vocals to one aux bus ans call it vocal bus or something. This way you can add the same reverb and volume to all of the vocal tracks. The amount of 'send' you use will determine how much of the track "signal" for lack of a better word, will go to that bus.

Usually you will want to route all of your tracks and aux buses to another bus called the master (maybe that is what you are referring to). This is handy if you want to apply a change to the whole project.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by minofifa

Usually you will want to route all of your tracks and aux buses to another bus called the master (maybe that is what you are referring to).

Bus routing options such as this are really only available in Sonar 3. PA9 is fairly limited in its "grouping" and "routing" options.

Rock Star - to enable an Aux Bus in PA9, you need to click on a button in the Aux Bus area of the track(s) you wish to enable. Once you do, the button will light up indicating that the track has been assigned to that Aux Bus.

I don't have a copy of PA9 anymore, so I am trying to descibe from memory. It's probably easiest to see this in Console View. Look at the top of each track and you will find the Aux Bus areas. Each one has a button (next to the Send Control if I remember correctly). Click that button so that it "lights up." Once you do that, a portion of the track signal will be sent to the Bus. How much will depend on how you set the Send Control.

[Rock Star 87]

i'm with you, i can activate now. in fact, i think i figured that out b4, but like b4, i'm still hazy with the send controls. the return is the wet mix, correct? but is the send the dry mix? if thats the case, i can figure it out. but 2 questions remain.

1. -INF is more of that mix that 0 dbs, right.
2. Is the send volume on the aux settings on the track for the wet mix. why would there be 2, 1 on the bus itself, and one on the track. this is considering i was right about the above.

[moskus]

Originally Posted by Rock Star 87

1. -INF is more of that mix that 0 dbs, right.

-INF is minimum, no level at all. 0 dB is maximum...


The digital scale is from -96dB (for 16 bit systems) to 0 dB.