Side Chaining 1 Effect to Multiple Tracks? (SONAR)

K

K9SaVeLLi

New member
How exactly do i go about assinging a certain real-time effect to multiple tracks at once?

I select the real-time effect in the "FX" area...then what? Do I use an AUX bus or group the effects and/or tracks...if so...how in the hell do that? lol...

I'll just shut up now and let the guru's speak on it. Thanks in advance!
 
Yes, you use an Aux Bus.

Patch the effect onto the Aux 1 track in Track View (or if you are using Console View, onto the Aux 1 channel strip (terminology?)).

Go to the track that you wish to have the effect applied to. Enable the Aux 1 Send by clicking in the square box next to it so that it "lights up." Determine whether you want the effect pre or post fader (suggest you start with post), and toggle the pre/post box accordingly.

The Send Level control will determine how much effect is applied to that track. Set it to taste.

Repeat for any other tracks using the same effect.

(BTW, this is for FX where you plan to mix a wet and dry signal - e.g., reverb. You would not use this approach for FX that you want applied to the entire signal - e.g., eq).
 
The problem is, I see three tracks at the bottom in track view. One says Master, one says "sub group one", and the other says "effects send" What do these mean, and are they busses? Why can't they call the damn things A, B, bus, and so on?

Jeff




dachay2tnr said:
Yes, you use an Aux Bus.

Patch the effect onto the Aux 1 track in Track View (or if you are using Console View, onto the Aux 1 channel strip (terminology?)).

Go to the track that you wish to have the effect applied to. Enable the Aux 1 Send by clicking in the square box next to it so that it "lights up." Determine whether you want the effect pre or post fader (suggest you start with post), and toggle the pre/post box accordingly.

The Send Level control will determine how much effect is applied to that track. Set it to taste.

Repeat for any other tracks using the same effect.

(BTW, this is for FX where you plan to mix a wet and dry signal - e.g., reverb. You would not use this approach for FX that you want applied to the entire signal - e.g., eq).
Click to expand...
 
jeff0633 said:
The problem is, I see three tracks at the bottom in track view. One says Master, one says "sub group one", and the other says "effects send" What do these mean, and are they busses? Why can't they call the damn things A, B, bus, and so on?

Jeff
Click to expand...
You are obviously using Sonar 3.

The universal bus routing in S3 allows for "naming" of the busses, a bunch more routing options, and (obviously) some confusion.

The labels you are getting are from the template you are using. I think if you use a different template, you'll find different set-ups with different names. However, based on the names - the bus labeled "Effects Send" would be the equivalent to the Aux Bux.

I'm at work, and don't have a copy of S3 with me. Unless someone comes along in the meantime, I'll get back to you later to tell you how to distinguish between a Send (Aux Bux) and a Main Bus.
 
jeff0633 said:
Why can't they call the damn things A, B, bus, and so on?

Jeff
Click to expand...
OK, back home now.

First off, you can name the busses anything you want. Therefore, it you prefer A, B, bus, then go ahead and name them that way.

Next, a Bus can either be Send (Aux Bus in Sonar 2 terminology) or a Main or a Subgroup. There is not much difference between a Main and a Subgroup, so let's start there.

A Main is essentially where all of your tracks are going to summed together. If you had a 10 track mix, and everything was routed to one Main, what comes out of the main is essentially your stereo mixdown. In the template you are using, it has been named Master - and that's a pretty good name for it. It's where everything comes together.

However, you might want to create a submix from your drums. Let's say you have 4 drum tracks (snare, kick, and 2 overheads). Instead of routing each track directly to your Master bus, you instead create a new bus called "drums" and you route your 4 drum tracks to this new bus. Then you route the output of the drums bus to Master. So everything is still going to Master, but the drums are first going through a subgroup Bus. This give you the advantage of having a single fader to control the entire drum kit (rather than 4 faders). It also allows you to patch a single effect that will work on a 4 drums (rather than having to patch the same effect 4 times).

Now, let's talk about the Send (Aux Bus). Unlike the other busses discussed, the send is like a tap off the side of the track. The main signal goes directly through the track and is sent to the Master (or subgroup). However, the Send diverts "some" of the signal to another Bus. It is primarily used for FX like reverb or delay.

A Bus can serve as either a Send or a Master/Subgroup - but not both. You assign it as a Send by going to the FX tab and in the large area to the left of the FX bin, right click and choose insert Send (if it doesn't already appear there). Then choose the Bus you want to use as the Send. Once you do that, you will notice that you no longer see that Bus as a choice among the Track output selections.



This post got much longer than I was expecting - and I'm not sure I'm making anything clearer. So I'm gonna stop now. However, if you have any specific questions, c'mon back and try 'em on us.
 
Keep'm coming Dach'. After a while all this stuff sinks in. Great info, great reference.
:cool:
Wayne
 
I'm still having trouble figuring out how to send the effect to multiple tracks. Let's see if i'm on the right track.

I set my effect in the FX area. Then I arm the aux send (A1) on the same track. Then I change the output of the other tracks that I want to have the effect on.

It seems that I cannot change the out put to the Aux Bus (A1). If that is all I need to do, then I don't know what the problem is. Let me know if I'm on the right direction or if i'm completely off.

I am using Sonar 2.0XL.

Thanks again for the info!
 
K9SaVeLLi said:

I set my effect in the FX area. Then I arm the aux send (A1) on the same track.
Click to expand...
You put the plugin on the AUX BUS, not on the individual track(s).

Then you enable the sends for all of the tracks that you want to "send" to the effect.

If you put the effect on a specific track, it will only affect THAT track. You have to put it on a bus to affect multiple tracks.
 
Wow. you need to be writing the help files for Sonar. That was a nice explanation. So, I can run the track outputs through a bus, and then to the master. This will not be tapping the signal like a loop effect, and I would do this by simply changing the output of the track, steering it away from the master outs for an alternate route, then finally back to the master.

If I want to set an effect for multiple tracks to use as a loop effect, I setup the bus and load my reverb or delay on that bus, and tap the signal off the tracks by using insert send, then I route that bus to the mains. That way, I have a portion of my dry signal going to the mains, and a portion of the wet signal from the bus going to the mains. I need to setup a template that is just the way I want it to be when I start a new project.

I think I got it now!!!

Thanks much.

Jeff






dachay2tnr said:
OK, back home now.

First off, you can name the busses anything you want. Therefore, it you prefer A, B, bus, then go ahead and name them that way.

Next, a Bus can either be Send (Aux Bus in Sonar 2 terminology) or a Main or a Subgroup. There is not much difference between a Main and a Subgroup, so let's start there.

A Main is essentially where all of your tracks are going to summed together. If you had a 10 track mix, and everything was routed to one Main, what comes out of the main is essentially your stereo mixdown. In the template you are using, it has been named Master - and that's a pretty good name for it. It's where everything comes together.

However, you might want to create a submix from your drums. Let's say you have 4 drum tracks (snare, kick, and 2 overheads). Instead of routing each track directly to your Master bus, you instead create a new bus called "drums" and you route your 4 drum tracks to this new bus. Then you route the output of the drums bus to Master. So everything is still going to Master, but the drums are first going through a subgroup Bus. This give you the advantage of having a single fader to control the entire drum kit (rather than 4 faders). It also allows you to patch a single effect that will work on a 4 drums (rather than having to patch the same effect 4 times).

Now, let's talk about the Send (Aux Bus). Unlike the other busses discussed, the send is like a tap off the side of the track. The main signal goes directly through the track and is sent to the Master (or subgroup). However, the Send diverts "some" of the signal to another Bus. It is primarily used for FX like reverb or delay.

A Bus can serve as either a Send or a Master/Subgroup - but not both. You assign it as a Send by going to the FX tab and in the large area to the left of the FX bin, right click and choose insert Send (if it doesn't already appear there). Then choose the Bus you want to use as the Send. Once you do that, you will notice that you no longer see that Bus as a choice among the Track output selections.



This post got much longer than I was expecting - and I'm not sure I'm making anything clearer. So I'm gonna stop now. However, if you have any specific questions, c'mon back and try 'em on us.
Click to expand...
 
jeff0633 said:
If I want to set an effect for multiple tracks to use as a loop effect, I setup the bus and load my reverb or delay on that bus, and tap the signal off the tracks by using insert send, then I route that bus to the mains. That way, I have a portion of my dry signal going to the mains, and a portion of the wet signal from the bus going to the mains. I need to setup a template that is just the way I want it to be when I start a new project.
Click to expand...
Bingo!! (Although I am not familiar with the term "loop effect").

The determination of how "wet" the final signal will be is a function of the Send Level control on the tracks, and the Send/Return controls on the Aux Bux (Sonar 2). (I think in Sonar 3 the Bus controls have been renamed Input Gain and Output Volume.)

Also make sure you enable the Track Send by clicking on the little square so it "lights up." And start by using the "post" (fader) setting. This will allow to use the track fader to do volume adjustments that control both the wet and dry signals.
 
dach, you should make it clear to the other people/members that are learning from this thread.....

...that K9SaVeLLi and jeff0633 are asking/doing two different things.

1. K9SaVeLLi wants to add effects to multiple tracks.

Example.....

You want to put compression on your drum tracks.

Instead of applying compression to each individual track (and adding to the workload of your computer) you can route the drum tracks to to a BUSS. Then, apply the compression to the buss. Therefore, you have your drums going to the buss (that has the compression) and then the buss goes to the MASTER OUTPUT.

2. jeff0633 wants to split the signal of his tracks on their route to the MASTER OUTPUT.

Example.....

You want to put a slight effect on a vocal.

Instead of routing the dry signal to the MASTER, you route a dry signal to the MASTER AND you route the same signal to a SEND. You then apply the proper amount of effect on the SEND signal. Then, what arrives at the MASTER OUTPUT is the original DRY signal AND the effected SEND signal.

;)

Peace...

spin
 
BTW....

I am by NO means saying that you (dachay2tnr) didn't make the differential between the two posters.

After I re-read my post, I noticed that it might seem as if I was implying that....

I am sure that you can explain the differences much better that I can.

I am sure that you will expound on my initial post.

Peace...

spin
 
Thanks Dach & Spin...much appreciated info.

My problem was that I wasn't in the console view to apply the effect to the Aux bus. I accidently dragged the "FX" that was on a track into the Aux buss area...and BAM! It works.

What you both had to say was on point...thanks again.
 
My wish for Sonar is that they could make a block diagram mixer section that would give you a visual representation of the mixing sections routing.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
 
K9SaVeLLi said:


My problem was that I wasn't in the console view to apply the effect to the Aux bus. I accidently dragged the "FX" that was on a track into the Aux buss area...and BAM! It works.

Click to expand...
You don't have to be in the Console View to see an Aux Bus (or to see any bus for that matter).

In Track View at the bottom of the screen you will see a little square with an arrowhead in it (just to the right of the All - Mix - FX - I/O tabs). That is the show/hide bus toggle. Click it and your busses will show. You can patch an FX right there, just as you would on a Track.

There is no need for Console View. Hear that, moskus? :D :D

Anyway, glad you got it worked out K9.
 
acidrock said:
My wish for Sonar is that they could make a block diagram mixer section that would give you a visual representation of the mixing sections routing.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Click to expand...

Like the one that LOGIC has?
 
acidrock said:
My wish for Sonar is that they could make a block diagram mixer section that would give you a visual representation of the mixing sections routing.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Click to expand...

There are flow diagrams in the manual, but now with the extra bussing it's in two or three parts. It's still a bit to get a handle on with so many options.
We wanted it all. Now we got it.:confused:
:D
 
There are flow diagrams in the manual, but now with the extra bussing it's in two or three parts. It's still a bit to get a handle on with so many options.
We wanted it all. Now we got it.
Click to expand...
Actually I want a software version that would show the routing per project.
It's not really that difficult,but when you've got a lot of other things going on it would make for a quick visual reference.
 
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