How to Use Aux Sends While Mixing - Into The Lair #41

GRAMMY Award-winning Mixing Engineer Dave Pensado shows you his favorite methods of using Aux Sends while mixing.

[@bradszyperski3350]

You are my hero man. Ive been bedroom engineer for around 15 years now and you have taught me incredible things just with these videos. Thank you for the service you provide.

[@starsandguitars2050]

Still as valid today as it was 7 years ago! Thank you Dave Pensado!

[@adrianzag]

Dave you are a complete legend. Love your shows, thanks tons for all the time and effort you and Will take to bring them to us. Respect from the UK

[@GhostOfMeOfficial]

your videos have been incredibly informative for me so far. thanks man! i hope you keep making these videos for years to come. cheers.

[@samtheman233]

thanks dave, oldie but goodie. invaluable wisdom at the end of the video.

[@TonyMoment]

Awesome ITL Dave, you always have a way of taking what I might already know and do myself, and putting a tighter grip around it for me.

[@walterearl6456]

happy new year to you Dave I'm learning a lot I finish college and Engineering sound design and the whole classes watch you all the time and said nothing but amazing things about you .I'm a producers of music productions,a jazz keyboardist and a band leader in San Francisco getting into engineer all my life as a musician hanging out with great engineer and now I"m loving it .. thanks for the knowledge always watching

[@Reggmail]

Good info. thanks Dave, I love what you where saying at the end about the changing music sound and what dictates the change, how we need to do both. On point. Peace & blessings.

[@wonekawa]

I really thought what you had to say in the last minute was extremely insightful and honest in terms of an overall observation of the music industry. Thanks for another great video sir!

[@jeff7775]

Grand Daddy Aux - one badass OG rapper. Very technical dude...

[@ralphmartin3963]

Thank you...thank you...thank you Dave , I've learned a huge amount from your videos. all the best (from sunny South Africa)

[@danm1413]

Into the lair is so heavenly i love this so much is so helpful.Thanks Dave you are one of my idols.

[@KenFoxmusic]

Wow thats amazing! thank you for being so transparent. Especially at the end where the reality sets in

[@dmv_p]

Dave. Sir, you are quite the professional. Your insight is always appreciated. Thanks brother!

[@garnetbey7400]

Pensado is a amazing true gift from the gods, thanks bro...

[@BrianBuckalew]

Another GREAT video by one of the BEST! Thanks Dave.

[@nekkomelodialetal]

I always LIKE the video even before watching it. I already know the info coming towards me is going to be AMAZING!

[@norbertm121]

Ah-ha! So you get the glueing effect on every stage: on the individual tracks, the auxes and the master bus. Very interesting! I guess this helps keeping the levels the same throughout the track and it's all dynamic based on the audio content considering the attack/release times at all stages. I think this is what my mixes lack the most at the moment. Thanks a lot, Dave!

[@DumitriJon]

Great ITL Dave! Thank You for your time!

[@DavidCastoExperience]

The rundown at the end 🔥🔥🔥💯

[@ChristelloNervio]

I've learned a lot from this video!!! Thank you so much Dave!!!!!!

[@alexanderewing3779]

Magic, as always. Just wondering, should the tape emulation be at the end of the chain?CheersAlex

[@derekrushe]

Yeah, what he's doing, if you relate it to the live world, is creating sub groups. These are great for changing the dynamic of a song, especially if you automate the volume control of the sub groups.

[@danbriggs90]

"its better to sound new than good !..." dynamic is an art form"....dave is this y i been looking for a video on how to mix dynamics on your page for a whole month and couldnt find anything explaining basics?...so you really want me to focus on the creative mixing rather than stress over how much space my drums and instruments r taking up....cool..thank you i was tired of feeling rules all my whole year of learning to mix.

[@henryrogers4382]

Those all called subgroups to most people. Avid calls the type of track an aux and you use the buss assignments to route the audio tracks to them.

[@HitMenProductionGroup]

That’s a good sounding mix! 🤘🏾

[@DaleTaylorMusic]

Best ITL so far!, nice one Dave!

[@KO-iq2kv]

really makes things come to LIFE!!

[@basskunst]

Great. What you said at the end about culture demanding loud mixes is something that a lot of us seem to look at a bit snobbish. I appreciate your realistic but rooted in art point of view.

[@benthemiester]

In the old analogue days, auxe's were used for F/X, and insert points were used for compression and limiting etc. How times have changed.

[@Sasketchejuana_man]

When he says "Aux" he's really meaning bus i think. thats just the way PT labels it for some reason. Aux are used to send effects. Bus is what groups the tracks.

[@MasSergio]

Great stuff glad to see he's still making the web show! :D

[@MikeHeebz]

Thank you Dave!

[@AGOnTheBeat]

mannnnnnn this was some serious knowledge especially the end!!!!

[@Studio201]

You give away too many secrets Dave. I love/hate you for it! lol Keep it up!

[@jttama]

When sending instruments to the aux's, are you sending all of the signal or does parallel mean the instruments will be sent to the main mix and the aux send for effect and the aux send will also be sent to the main mix?

[@screendrem]

Much love! Thank you!

[@TheJayKellz]

whats that piece of gear to the bottom right of his computer screen?

[@djxman505]

Amazing stuff! THANKS!

[@ItsThe1300]

You inspire me to mix!!

[@snapascrew]

dave wouldn't it be optimal for the tweeters on your ns10s to be on the inside?? cuz you sit so close?

[@dloverise]

By how much do you bus the instruments to the aux compressor? The whole thing, or half?

[@jasondamico1037]

this is brilliant

[@2622benttrailok]

depends on what you hear not what you see in the red.... sometimes clipping in the digital realm... you will get saturation/distortion...however when clipping in analog you get more harmonics which can be a nice touch to any mix

[@3LoveBuzz]

Hi Dave, wanted to know what the purpose of the master aux was...and why dont you send your busses straight to the master? thanks in advance for your time.

[@AndrewTullosMusic]

Can someone explain to me the purpose of the "Print" tracks like on the kick or master print?

[@robbarooo]

Awesome. One question :Can you elaborate on what you mean by "lose".. By routing groups of instruments thru auxes?

[@WorldofFood]

I think it's really cool he uses the Massey Limiter. Even the pros like Massey

[@Thai2900]

Wats that thing called under ur screen. It looks like it reads the eq n frequencies.

[@brentinjapan]

I mix with the master bus compressor on. Any sense in mixing with an aux (subgroup) compressor on too, if you know roughly the setting you usually use?

[@duncankeary997]

many of the mastering services I've came across request that there be no master bus compressor over the mixdowns.

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

speaking of phase always check it. if your using 2 mics on a amp or drum, and don't notice a differece in tone, or one mic soloed sounds better than both, then you have a phase issue. you should try to reverse phase of one of those tracks in order to achieve the big tone you wanted to create. also use spectrum and phase analyzers in order to find out where the instruments body is.

[@IkedaDogbo]

Can someone explain his technique of a master print track and the benefits of using it? To my understand it's an aux that is recording the master fader and has a limiter or some type of processing that is fed by the master fader to push more or less into it...? I'll experiment with this but would like to know some of the advantages to using this method.One would be to see the final waveform as a form of reference and also I've heard of 48 bit on hd systems but I am not on pro tools hd only le. Thanks

You got different concepts here. A print track is an audio track where you route everything and record it instead of bouncing. They do it to save time when making changes to the bounce. For example you want to change the first verse of your bounce just record that part and consolidate, then export it. Usually you set your compression and final fx in the stereo bus and then route it to this print track.

[@sbechristos11]

are you using compression and limiting on the master bus during mixdowns ? I though leaving the master bus totally clear before sending it to the mastering lab is the way to go? Help me out here Dave

[@muchixl2427]

Very well explained. Thankyou btw I appreciate the smart comment!

[@IMf410]

What type of track is his master print track? It has no pan, or any outputs. And is he recording he printing in mono?

[@madam_im_adam]

live drum kit my arse

[@shadowsymphony1]

I hear ya

[@hollifiel18]

One question Sir '' ... is it Bad if the track is clipping for example a Kick track ? , or how loud should be the kick drum ?

[@c.harrison]

Thank you

[@JaneWillowMusic]

what's the name of the tape he puts on the master?

[@MrJazzeman]

That's an "Audio Control RTA" (real time spectrum analyzer). SA-3050A? Great little unit to have if you can find one... and much better then running a plug-in, as it doesn't compete for monitor real-estate.

[@OzifyTutorials]

This is probably a basic Pro Tools question, but I'd appreciate it if someone could help me. When I try to solo my tracks in pro tools, I can't hear anything, and I think its because I have my tracks all routed to different busses and outputs, but I was wondering if there is a way I can solo the track and hear it with all the busses, kind of like the soloing in Logic Pro. Thanks!

[@runehagen5373]

+OBOYTUTS Have you Solo-safe'd the bus/aux, that the channel you're soloing are routed to? If not, you must do that i think.

[@WillieMCruz]

Solo the track, Solo the busses and whatever other you have your tracks routed to , you welcome friend

[@KevinStCroix]

Love my NS-10's too.

[@gordiangaper]

The Master

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

speakers and sources, and try mixing in mono and walk around the room, while listening to a mix in order to check for phase, and try to cut eq whenever possible, and also try LCR panning were you either pan 100% left, right in center, keeping important things in the center like bass,kick,vocals,snares then spread the rest 100% out of the way, since most listeners can't differentiate panning, unless you have real good headphones.

[@MajestoMusic]

I am a little confused..let me see if i get this straight with the aux and bus. I am on Ableton Live. I have a kickdrum channel..i have a send/return channel with a compressor..and i also have a Group channel where the Kick channel is placed within with a compressor as well (just as an example). In my case my send/return channel is his "Aux" and my Group is his "Bus"? In other words..my kickdrum would basically be paralell compressed from use of my send/return and then get further processed in the Group (his Bus)!?

[@randybrown5899]

Majesto Music This is a question I have as well in regards to Ableton. If i have a kick and a snare in a Group labeled Drums, and I create 2 return tracks to do the parallel compression on each instrument. How do I get the audio going from the return tracks to feed back into the drum Group?

[@bigdap100]

***** You can parallel process directly on the channel by grouping the effects themselves on the channel. You don't have to use sends in ableton to parallel process, just split the signal on the the channel itself by grouping the effect directly.

[@LewisRhymes]

What is that visual analizer you are using below your monitor?

[@youngceoz]

dave you are a fucking mixing god i love your tips keep em coming

[@johnnygarcia8525]

if a kick and snare are usually mono, will they stay mono if your sending them to an aux or stereo bus??

[@kye903]

+Johnny Garcia Yes they will.

[@3LoveBuzz]

and should I always buss everything to a stereo aux/buss before going to the master?

[@nonamemusic1932]

Only if you like the sound you get from it.

[@dudzb2517]

@@nonamemusic1932 on time👍🏻👍🏻

[@anthonylusk-simone8462]

what's up with all the double triggering?

[@AdamWoodhams]

King of Intangible Moments

[@milanthedrummer]

Could somebody help me to understand the routing? I use Sonar and I'm not familiar w ProTools. As far as I understood he had e.g. drum bus which was sent to the drum aux and from there to the master bus. He applied compression on every stage a bit. What I didn't get he mentioned that he had a paralell drum bus as well. What does he mean? Other question: is it an option in ProTools to control all effects with one fader? How is it accomplished?

[@duncankeary997]

Look at it like a group function. Once we're happy with the balance of each drum track we send them to one stereo fader so we can control the whole signal. I'm not sure about all effects with one fader, but Aux sends can be set up with things like reverb to help create a space in a mix...and to save processing power ;)

[@WaxingRadiance]

I am a long time REAPER user and I understand this perfectly so it should translate across all DAW's, instead of sending everything to the master fader things are grouped together as you know, think of it like a 'root' system of a plant leading to the master fader, the plants stem. Mr. P didn't say anything about a parallel drum Bus, he did mention parallel compression on things like the kick and snare, which would be sent to the same bus as the kick and snare. Same with Mr Ps effects returns, they all go to the efx bus. Mr P always talks about doing compression in little bites, instead of taking 3dB off with one, use 3 to take 1dB each. And switch to REAPER, the routing is brilliant ! ;)

[@caspermaster-com]

Power is an emotion. 2 db is loudness, 800 hz is an frequency. So he raises the freq. 800 to give him the emotion he wants

[@louismelancon79]

is the aux parrallel or replacing the signals?

[@skeletonrowdie1768]

parallel! the nice thing about making layers like these, is that you can create the sound you want to add to your mix and thén fade it in to you mix nicely :)

[@j2dae2doublef]

I wish there'd be such lessons on Cubase.

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

also use a limiter on the master track, so that the track itself is not clipping.

[@hermanmern]

how many aux/send did he go through?? so confusing....

[@kellcoleStyleEnt]

hermanmern I said the same thing

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

so when your cutting eq, think of where is the body of a instrument, for ex guitar root is around 400hz, while snare is around 500, this is why they almost always clash, you need to get the 500hz out of the guitar on cut this up to -6db any more and you may have phase problems,and also cut the 400hz out of the snare.

[@hermantoribio7257]

0:05 when you don't remember what episode it is

[@rubenseydler1790]

NY COMP??

[@kellcoleStyleEnt]

That’s good to do

[@danfuerthgillis4483]

Thank god I switched to Reaper and god rid of all the crap Daw's out there, I tried them all and the routing of Reaper is second to none. All Aux, Bussing is a babywalk in Reaper. In Reaper any track can be anything so it is not limited like Protools or Logic or Performer. What Dave is doing here literally takes 5 minutes to learn in reaper BY YOURSELF. One thing I started doing is mixing in LEFT-RIGHT as this way you can hear issues such as phasing and how much dry vs wet reverb signals are actually going away vs Normal Left+Right

[@thewalrus1968]

Reaper blows pro tool into the water for ease of use and features imho .. every channel can be anything you want it to be .. with stereo and mono clips on the same channel

[@Mineiro426]

Someone please help me to understand what he says at 06:32: "...2 db...makes a big difference on the power of the track".

[@MatthewDovetail]

"And all i'm adding is 2db at 800 (hz), it makes some big difference in the power of the track"

[@AndrewRaines614]

then somewhere inside yourself you are too proud. share the wealth man :)

[@experiment0003]

I don't understand how or why you do it... I mean how you can give away so much so freely.

[@DubzCo]

not in 24 bit and above u get some xtra headroom

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

Clipping, generally is bad in most forms of music. Not to say there is some kicks, that are big and distorted, but you should be compressing the kick to were it is not clipping anymore, I am not saying destroy it just try a quick attack and medium release, maybe start with a kick preset and adjust the ratio until it is not clipping, or you can use a limiter at -4db or so. But clipping sucks, since most people listen on laptops and earbuds so it would be fuzzy, just test your tracks on many

[@PRSOne]

Sounds like Addictive Drums, though Dave would never tell. :) @wseeback: While it helps to have a fresh set of ears & POV, musicians can absolutely MIX their own music if they so choose. Typically, it's a time thing. As far as MASTERING goes, that (usually) should be handled by someone else, for a myriad of reasons.

[@nedrawtheworkingclasslefty3636]

With pop music it my be better to sound "new" than "good", but I would say just mix to make it sound good and forget the rest.

[@Alex-wl6oc]

Is AUX basically bus?

[@skeletonrowdie1768]

yep! In Pro Tools they call a bus an AUX, so that's why he uses that term.

[@DECIFERTHIS09]

if you need anymore help message me

[@Sasketchejuana_man]

sometimes I'm not sure if he evens knows what he means. he's confusing busses with auxes. I know PT labels them that way, but technically this isn't an "AUX send" Its grouping tracks into a bus. Aux send would be sending in your effects to each bus.

[@Stillblissstudios]

Who came here because of Dave's smile?

[@joshuavermillion]

Is it just me, or do the cymbals sound like junk? (Thin and too bright.)

[@mooners40]

i thought the plural of ox was oxen

[@HickoryPick]

Pokémon

[@cizzle4948]

There’s no one i trust more with my music than a guy that looks like trash 😂. Side Note: I too look like trash in real life

[@wolfchaman6367]

pensado u ma niga, aux sends really get the groupies too. i bet ur drowning in it hahahaha . and oh, yeah good advice!my only advice to anyone reading this is bump that shit and doesnt matter how u do it just MAKE IT SOUND GOOD! and to all the live sound ppl LOUDER is better gets everyone in the mood ya dig..

[@ViaticalTree]

"better to sound new than good" how incredibly sad. You try to do both and surely that sets you apart from lesser mixers. Like you said, there's give and take, so even your masterful tracks are probably not as awesome as they could be for the sake of loudness.

[@kendrickkim6107]

There's that guy Raz Klinghoffer , that has some really cool technics, he mixed on of my songs, so if you're looking for an engineer this is your guy