Ableton Live Sends & Returns EXPLAINED!

[@marcllamas8910]

You explain things so clearly and clean

[@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!! 😁

[@myriad860]

this was super helpful!!!! thank you Matt!!!

[@jayandy154]

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

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@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! 😁

[@chrisronan]

DUUUUDE! Just gotta say... very well done. I've been an ableton suite user for more than a decade and this taught me so much. Really appreciate it!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome!! Thank you so much for watching and for commenting, I'm glad you found the video useful! :D

[@rafiikimuziki]

This is the BEST tutorial I've watched on Sends and Return tracks! So clear and simple! Thank you so so much!!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@laufer1975]

FANTASTIC MAN ALL CLEAR NOW 10/10 FOR THE CHANNEL

[@matttinklermusic]

Thanks for watching! :D

[@palovibes]

Love that you gave examples on how each technique could be useful. Helps you see the bigger picture. Thanks 🦄

[@matttinklermusic]

You're very welcome! It's always important to have examples for everything I feel. Thank you for watching. :)

[@Ferdi9nd]

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

[@ortalsabanmusic]

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

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you for watching! 😁

[@AaezZzze]

Bro you are the best teacher ever thank you so much

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!!

[@ohelyse]

wow, you've changed my game ❤ thank you so much

[@matttinklermusic]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching. :)

[@PeterTorr]

Thanks Matt! Good video it’s great to go back to basics sometimes to refresh our memories on return tracks, post and pre always catches me out and you explained that really well!😊

[@matttinklermusic]

Thanks for watching! I'm really glad you found this one useful. :)

[@f1xzor]

Great video! Your channel is so underrated. ❤

[@matttinklermusic]

Ahh thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. :)

[@jaken7098]

So easy to follow!

[@matttinklermusic]

Glad you think so! Thanks 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!

[@mayaefraim1249]

amazing video ! really well explained !!

[@matttinklermusic]

Glad you liked it! Thank you for watching. :)

[@luminal6576]

Fantastic video, thanks for making it

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@Jack458111]

just subbed yesterday and have watched so many of your vids. thank you!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're so welcome! Thanks so much for the sub and I'm glad you enjoy the videos. :)

[@marcochadliprivat]

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

[@matttinklermusic]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for watching. :)

[@Bensonvideos44]

That's a lot to absorb Matt, but I particularly like the way you described 'Reverb' as being space/room. An 'aha!' moment for me.

[@matttinklermusic]

I'm glad you liked it and that reverb clicked for you! Yeah, I tried to pack a lot into one video so that everyone from beginners to advanced could get something from it, but that meant there was a lot to absorb... 😅

[@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. ☺️

[@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! :)

[@chrisbrennan9173]

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

[@matttinklermusic]

Thanks for the kind words! :)

[@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. :)

[@PermissionToMeow]

Perfect tutorial. Subbed!

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!! :D

[@TheCosmicFluke]

Thanks!

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you so much for the Super Thanks!

[@viruscerbero]

Best explanation ever!

[@cerebrumexcrement]

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

[@matttinklermusic]

Automation on Live is fantastic!

[@imdm_ofc]

amazing thank you so much

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@EmonHassan]

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

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you and thanks for watching! :)

[@friedrichvanberkel4760]

thanks so much for the thorough explanation.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@djxoul]

DOPENESS MY BROTHA'!!!! TY MAN

[@petrag5514]

Thank you! That was so good explained!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching. :)

[@JimOG_]

Thanks

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! :)

[@ModuSpaSm]

Great explanation and thanks for sharing your insights.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@jaywinterbrook]

Back at ya 🤗

[@DavidRFIT]

Best explanation on youtube.

[@matttinklermusic]

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

[@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

[@simonesilveira117]

Excellent video! Thank you

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! 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. :)

[@nicolaswexler2122]

amazing

[@fredrway]

Thanks for this.

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome!

[@GravityMusicZmk]

Very informative❤

[@matttinklermusic]

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

[@TDC10000]

Excellent, thank you!

[@matttinklermusic]

You're so welcome!

[@reenmusic]

saved me !!! well done! Big thanks

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@olufemiabolurin]

thanks a lot for this detailed tutorial, want to aks how do we get buses on ableton as opposed to the normal group tracks?

[@matttinklermusic]

You're welcome! Great question. You can do this simply by routing audio tracks to one another. I have a video that goes through audio track routing here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/noqWZ3duZr94iZo Just the first part of that video should hopefully be enough to understand. :)

[@olufemiabolurin]

@@matttinklermusic thanks very much I am grateful

[@patokarlen1]

Very very good!

[@matttinklermusic]

Glad you enjoyed! :)

[@taoonthebeat287]

From facebook. Great work.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thank you!

[@BernardoRamosRivas]

Hi, how can i use send and return with a real effects, connecting with a mixer ?

[@matttinklermusic]

You can place the External Audio Effect device on the return track and set up its inputs and outputs to route audio from Live, out to an effect, and back into Live. :)

[@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!

[@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.

[@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 🙏

[@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! ☺️

[@Damieufo]

Is there a way to bus my return tracks?

[@matttinklermusic]

Yep! You can create an audio track and simply route the return tracks you want to that audio track. Just be sure to disable the sends on that audio track, as otherwise Live won't compensate properly for latency.

[@theunconciousmind7314]

but i have a huge problem with the sends. The dry/Wet is too sattle. you mostly dont even hear the reverb unless you almost turn it all the way up. Is there a solution to that? I was just thinking of putting an utility on the return track to make the reverb louder, but i dont know how this will effect the signal.

[@matttinklermusic]

Yes this can be the case sometimes! I definitely recommend just putting a utility after the reverb on the Return track and bumping up the level as needed. This should be totally fine to do. :)

[@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. :)

[@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. :)

[@donkinshaun]

I do apologise if this question was explained in the video but my brain has just exploded trying to get my head around this. Can the reverb with which is receiving multiple signals have different settings for each signal it receives? Or do they all have to have the exact same settings?

[@matttinklermusic]

Good question! It is just a single reverb that is receiving the sum of the multiple signals, so it can only have one setting. You're not applying multiple reverbs to multiple sounds, you're applying the exact same reverb to multiple sounds. If you wanted to have different sounds with different reverbs, you would be best to just put the reverb on the individual sounds as an insert. :) I hope that made sense!

[@donkinshaun]

Yes makes perfect sense thankyou, the same “virtual space” description you used in the video helped but just needed to ask the question to understand. So I’m right in thinking the only control you do have is the amount of reverb?

[@matttinklermusic]

Yep, that's correct! Once you have your reverb settings, all you need to do is control the level. :)

[@JVJF7]

But shouldn't the compressor be at the beginning of the chain?

[@matttinklermusic]

For parallel compression? Not necessarily, it just depends on what you're trying to do!

[@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!

[@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 🤣🤣🤣

[@unc1589]

The reason why students struggle and comments say things like “finally” is because instructors rarely explain the “why”. They start with the what and the how. Which puts most humans to sleep because if we don’t fulfill purpose first, we’re bored. If we understand the why, and agree with it, we’ll be hungry for the what and the how afterwards! If I were interested in having an Ableton channel I’d go straight to the “Why’s” Why Ableton? Why do so many people pick this daw? Why are all these devices in it. 20 seconds or less, every video, I’d have people hyped! Then I’d slay em with the what’s and the how’s. The other way you have to sit there and listen to a guy spew technical knowledge. Getting his rocks off on what he knows. And maybe (if you’re still awake) you may learn something. That’s how most videos are treated. The guys that instantly get it? 15% max. The guys who don’t will never say it. They’d just keep clicking on videos. We’ve lost the wisdom to teach because we don’t understand the needs of the clicker.

[@matttinklermusic]

Thanks for commenting. :) I can't tell if this means you liked the video or not, but I hope you learned something. :)

[@LoRdeShellz-ff4vi]

BleSSingZz

[@tunedeaf7841]

Not everything we want to know about sends. What about drum rack sends?

[@matttinklermusic]

Drum rack sends/returns are specific to drum rack, so I didn't feel like it was something that was to be covered in this video. Instead, I covered them in my video on drum rack, which you can check out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqXMhIqlfZKeircsi=H4kFGLlzLRNbu0s6

[@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?

[@theoperatripleaxel5417]

My head hurts...

[@matttinklermusic]

It can be a confusing topic! Make sure to apply what you've learned so that you can get it to stick. :)

[@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 🎶