Ableton Live Sends & Returns EXPLAINED!

Want to learn more about music production? Check out my online course here ➡️ courses.matttinklermusic.com
Hey friends! Today we're going to go through and explain everything there is to know about sends & returns in Ableton Live!
☕️ Buy Me A Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/matttinklerm...
Hey, my name's Matt, AKA Martiln, and I'm an electronic music producer, educator and Ableton Certified Trainer from Australia. I love making music and crazy sounds, and I love helping other people learn how to do both of those things too! I also am the creator of a crazy sci-fantasy world and musical storytelling universe call REALMS. If you like what I do, you can support me in all the usual ways or by shouting me a coffee over on my Buy Me A Coffee page.
Much love! 🥰
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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:20 Signal Flow
3:26 What is a Return Track?
6:37 Setting Up A Return Track
10:55 Returns vs. Inserts
12:07 Delay Throws
16:37 Adding Effects
19:31 Sending Returns to Returns
20:50 Parallel Compression
22:20 Pre vs. Post Fader
26:19 “Sends Only”
27:44 Solo In Place
#abletonlive #tutorial ****
🔗 Follow me:
Website: www.matttinklermusic.com
Instagram: / matttinklermusic

[@TheCosmicFluke]

I just started using Ableton Suite a couple weeks ago and have a couple good instructional books and I've been watching a few other teachers here on KZbin and just discovered your channel. You are, easily and by far the best Ableton instructor here. Your videos are clear and direct and move right along. Couldn't be better, IMO. Well done. Thank you so much! Enjoy your coffee.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you so much!! This really means a lot and I'm so glad that you're finding the videos useful and easy to follow! 😁

[@thegoldenseed]

This is the best explanation on Live sends and return. Great work! And thank you!

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you! Really glad you found this useful!! 😁

[@marcllamas8910]

You explain things so clearly and clean

[@jayandy154]

Finally somebody explains it pure and simple, Thank you Mart!!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@marcochadliprivat]

really good explanatíon! Now I understand it a lot better!

[@matttinklermusic]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching. :)

[@derekfairley]

This is exactly what I needed in terms of explanation and demonstration of use. Thank you very much!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're very welcome! Thank you for watching and I'm glad it was useful. ☺️

[@ortalsabanmusic]

Great explanation! Very clean, very clear. Thank you!

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you for watching! 😁

[@anthonybrady3540]

Absolutely fantastic explanation. Thanks so much. The fact you used visuals is a game changer. Sooo much easier to understand. I wish people would use these kind of visuals more often to explain themselves. Great job!

[@matttinklermusic]

Definitely easier to understand this concept with visuals! I wish I was better at motion graphics to make them look a bit sleeker, but I'll improve over time. :) Thanks for watching!

[@PermissionToMeow]

Perfect tutorial. Subbed!

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!! :D

[@viruscerbero]

Best explanation ever!

[@xoulmusic6870]

DOPENESS MY BROTHA'!!!! TY MAN

[@Sourav_Ojha]

u donno how underrated u r in youtube. ppl like u shud have all the shout outs in the world. so in point and precise. love bruh.. heres a sub for u..

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you very much! :D

[@nicolaswexler2122]

amazing

[@AmabileAwesome]

Nailed it! I get it! You're an awesome teacher... TYSM! 🤩

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!! Glad you understood what can be a fairly complicated topic! :D

[@petrag5514]

Thank you! That was so good explained!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@friedrichvanberkel4760]

thanks so much for the thorough explanation.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@patriciokarlen1147]

Very very good!

[@matttinklermusic]

Glad you enjoyed! :)

[@TDC10000]

Excellent, thank you!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're so welcome!

[@ModuSpaSm]

Great explanation and thanks for sharing your insights.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@haro82]

Thanks for this clear and easy to understand video! Ive avoided them forever but now finally get it.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome, thanks for watching! :)

[@REENMUSIC]

saved me !!! well done! Big thanks

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@fredrway]

Thanks for this.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome!

[@user-km6eh3ox9h]

Bro you are the best teacher ever thank you so much

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!!

[@iamdavidmofc]

amazing thank you so much

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@GravityMusicZmk]

Very informative❤

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@simonesilveira9759]

Excellent video! Thank you

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. ☺️

[@viruscerbero]

I hadn't finished watching the video when I realized that this was the best explanation ever, and after I watched the section about the Post and Pre functions I had to come back to say that you're the best🤘

[@matttinklermusic]

Thanks so much! Really glad you found it useful. :)

[@chrisbrennan9173]

that actually was pretty gret you explained everything about sends/returns without over stating the obvious.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thanks for the kind words! :)

[@TheCosmicFluke]

Thanks!

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you so much for the Super Thanks!

[@jaywinterbrook]

Back at ya 🤗

[@cerebrumexcrement]

im learning ableton. im impressed by the automation tool. so much easier than my old daw.

[@matttinklermusic]

Automation on Live is fantastic!

[@DavidRFIT]

Best explanation on youtube.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you! Really glad you found it useful. :)

[@EmonHassan]

The best explanation of Sends & Returns I've come across! Subscribed.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you and thanks for watching! :)

[@r2.lighting]

Just stumbled across your videos and they are by far the best on Ableton across the entire internet. Gotta hop over to your buy me a coffee page next. Quick question: Fan you elaborate on why one would use glue compression on drum tracks?

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you very much! :) For sure. Compression on a drum track as a whole is a really nice way to do a couple of things: reduce the level of the transients of the drums (such as the snare and kick drums) relative to the sustained or 'body' portions of the drums, which can help to bring up the level of elements like cymbals; or to create more of a 'groove' and movement in the drum track by helping lighter percussion and cymbals move and 'pulsate' in time with the louder drum hits like kick and snare drums. The glue compressor in Ableton Live is just a style of compression that is nicely tailored to this specific type of compression because of its envelope, knee, and the way it interacts with different frequencies. It's lack of precise controls also makes it a little more user-friendly to use in most scenarios. :)

[@JimOG_]

Thanks

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! :)

[@taoonthebeat287]

From facebook. Great work.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!

[@bobrobertsNotUrBob]

I wish returns had a grouping option, or even a send returns to "x channel" option, there are runabout ways of doing it but could be easier.

[@matttinklermusic]

Agreed! I think it's time that returns were handled more like auxes in other DAWs, but we'll have to wait and see!

[@LoRdeShellz-ff4vi]

BleSSingZz

[@EdmundLabito]

Great! My question is, how do you rearrange the order of sends on a particular track?

[@matttinklermusic]

Great question! It's not possible to do this on a track by track basis, and rearranging return tracks is only available in Live 12. That said, if you have Live 12, all you need to do is just click and drag the return tracks into the order you want much like you would any other track. :)

[@EdmundLabito]

Thanks for the reply.

[@dny1548]

Thank u for the video! I would like to ask about when to not send a track 100% ? What if i have multiple tracks going to to say the reverb, if i adjust the level of the reverb returb using the fader other tracks being sent to it will also be affected, in that situation is it a good idea to send a signal partially instead of fully like you recommend in this video? Thanks in advance!

[@matttinklermusic]

If you're sending only one track at 100% to a reverb, you may as well be using an insert instead of a return track. The beauty of using a return track is that you can apply the same reverb at differing amounts to different tracks, and then you can control the overall level of the reverb using the fader of the return track. I hope that answers your question, but let me know if it doesn't! ☺️

[@ericp7129]

The panel at the extreme right displaying i/o, R and M is not showing on my Ableton Live 12. Please advise.

[@matttinklermusic]

This panel has been removed in Live 12, however if you want to access the options for the session view you can do so with the mixer menu in the bottom right corner of the window, or for arrangement view it's under the view menu. :)

[@NjupBglry]

How can I use Autotune in Return Track ? It doesn't have dry wet nobe. I can't seem to fix the phase issue

[@matttinklermusic]

By default, if an effect doesn't have a wet/dry control, it will always output the 100% wet signal (generally speaking). Auto-tune isn't really an effect you'd use in a return track, because it's supposed to be used to change the characteristic of a sound, rather than blend in with the original sound. Because of the type of effect that auto-tune applies, you're very rarely going to be able to mitigate phase issues, unless you also do some more alteration to the signal like maybe shifting the formant, the pitch, or applying some other kind of more drastic effect. Auto-tune is typically used as an "insert" effect. Hope that helps! :)

[@NjupBglry]

@@matttinklermusicGot it 👍 and Thanks I never really understood abelton return tracks before ,Your video definitely helped 🙏

[@beatzclinic2043]

How do u get your video edits to follow your mouse like that? That’s dope.

[@matttinklermusic]

I manually zoom in when I edit the videos, it's a very long process 😂 But I think it helps so much! Thanks for watching. 😊

[@beatzclinic2043]

@@matttinklermusic 🤣🤣🤣

[@singingmermaid4338]

Hey, if I only have 2 tracks where I need an effect for just one of those track is it also better to make a retur track or not?

[@matttinklermusic]

Generally speaking, if you only need to apply an effect to one track, it's best NOT to use a return track. Check out my video on parallel processing for options on how to achieve the same style of processing but all in the one track. :)

[@Gutz-po9xf]

how show and hide return tracks in the arrangement window in live 12 ?

[@matttinklermusic]

In the 'View' menu, there should be an option for Arrangement Track Controls or something similar and it is in there. In 12.0.5 (currently in beta) the alt + ctrl + r key command now works again when Arrangement view is in focus. :)

[@Gutz-po9xf]

@@matttinklermusic thankss !

[@endritfusha]

is it possible to have VCA faders in Ableton ?

[@matttinklermusic]

Unfortunately not, I really hope they add it in a future update!

[@chintimin]

your bit at 7 minutes in about doubling the signal when you don't have it set to 100% is incorrect.

[@matttinklermusic]

Could you elaborate?

[@NoSurrenderMuzik]

I already know this but I subbed because the one of the best explanation I heard. I wish someone explainded to me like this 15 years ago.😂

[@hadihrekespercussions5512]

Syrian ableton live user here , a percussionist so i record more organic sounds to process the sounds , i just practicing the mixing in another way by making buses (Group tracks ) so i was little bit confused with send & return the tracks , because i got lost 😂 but i wanna ask you if you don't mind .. is it necessary to use send and return tracks ? Cuz to be honest my mixes went soooo much better than ever .i was using another DAW , My question is as i do music production and i have good ears with eq and compression etc .. on a vocal , whenever so i have complements on especially with the (vocal mixing ) , so i have a client that is a little girl that won a first place on competition , so her parents told me to make some covers for her ..and u saved my life because i didn't mixed any vocals for ( little kids ) why not much of producer community talking about this topic , if you can make it i will be happy .. cuz the biggest channels are failing to get to the point step by step like you did . Sorry about this paragraph 🤣 and the bad english i live in (aleppo_ syria middle East )😭🎶 Merry Christmas 🎄 this underrated tool's underrated channel !! Wow 😳 . Nice video broski 🤞 😁 you made me happy to feel safer than ever by this tutorials on ableton live thank you so much . If we can talk more about mixing vocals i will be more than happy . 😊🤝 SUBSCRIBED and following you on ig too . Hadi Hrekes

[@matttinklermusic]

Hey Hadi! Thanks for watching and I'm really glad you enjoyed the video. :) It's not necessary to use send/return tracks when mixing at all, but they can help when you want to apply the same effect to multiple sounds. I can definitely look into doing a video on mixing vocals! I'll put it on the list. :D

[@hadihrekespercussions5512]

@@matttinklermusic 🎶