To Buss or, Not to Buss?

[elbandito]

I had somebody ask me the other day whether they should be mixing from a buss strip, or whether they should just drop the effects on the individual tracks and mix from there. I had no answer for them... I realized that I do both, with almost no idea why I do this. Since then, I've been looking around online and I keep seeing posts and videos with folks saying that one should always mix from a buss track.

My question: Why is this? Thinking in analog terms, this makes sense but in Digital, I cannot think of a reason why this must necessarily be. Any ideas? What do you folks do, and why?

 

[Paschalis I.]

I had somebody ask me the other day whether they should be mixing from a buss strip, or whether they should just drop the effects on the individual tracks and mix from there. I had no answer for them... I realized that I do both, with almost no idea why I do this. Since then, I've been looking around online and I keep seeing posts and videos with folks saying that one should always mix from a buss track.

My question: Why is this? Thinking in analog terms, this makes sense but in Digital, I cannot think of a reason why this must necessarily be. Any ideas? What do you folks do, and why?

In the digital world you use less CPU. Well you can always invest on a fantastic pc and CPU and RAM might not be a problem though..

The best reason to buss the tracks is for the ease of use, quicker movements and of course... the sound!

For example I use around 3 tracks that I blend to create a bass sound that I like.
Then I send all 3 tracks to a buss and I treat these 3 tracks as 1 sound/track.

The buss is the track that I use for my EQ, Compressors, etc (as far as we talk about the bass guitar).

In general terms, dynamics/frequency processors that take less CPU are used as Inserts and Time-Based effects like Reverbs and Delays are used as sends/returns in busses.

Hope I helped.

 

[ashcat_lt]

I started to say that if you don't know why you're doing it, then you should maybe stop until you've figured it out. Then I tried to put it into words and realized that it's just kind of so intuitively simple that it can be tough to explain.

It comes down to the simple idea that things you want to do to just one track, you put on one track. Things that you want to do on more than one track you put on the bus. I know that's not a particularly satisfying answer, but I think it really is that simple.

 

[Bobbsy]

If you want to apply the same effect(s) to several tracks then a bus is a great way to do it without making your CPU break into a sweat.

Or, if you have a LOT of tracks, sometimes it can also be useful to group, say, all the backing vocals onto a bus so you can combine them with the rest of the mix using a single fader. You can always go back and tweak the balance going to the bus as necessary. It's not really applicable here, but careful use of buses or VCAs can be a lifesaver when mixing live on a large (or digital) console.

So, yeah, it's all down to what you're doing and what works for you in a particular situation.

 

[joel77]

..........

It comes down to the simple idea that things you want to do to just one track, you put on one track. Things that you want to do on more than one track you put on the bus. I know that's not a particularly satisfying answer, but I think it really is that simple.

That's how I use buses verses tracks.