Logic Pro X - Busses vs. VCAs vs. Groups vs. Track Stacks | What's the difference?

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[@newguy6935]

This video is absolutely THE BEST video on KZbin explaining all the different types of routing in Logic Pro X. Apple should hire this guy.

[@SorenAraujo]

Couldn't agree more.

[@MusicFed]

I agree completely

[@MrMatisyahu]

The BEST video ever!!! Thank you so much. I'm honestly near tears here. Thumbs up

[@gautammalhotramd]

Agreed!

[@cloudriftermusic]

I just learned so much

[@alanhayes8051]

One other feature of VCAs is when muted will silence all sends going to other buses that are not under the control of whatever the assigned bus is. I use three VCAs for muting Vocals, Music, Beat, and if they are sharing FX sends such as Reverb or Delay, just muting the bus you will still hear the FX sends, whereas muting a VCA will totally silence everything assigned to the VCA.

[@tobiaskagstrom]

Exactly! And if you solo a BUS (let's say the BUS sums 8 drum tracks) you can't hear the individual sends (say you send just the snare to a plate reverb for example). The sound with the BUS soloed will be bone dry (well, if you've put reverbs as inserts on a ch it will be heard). BUT if the drum tracks are in the same VCA group and you solo that VCA you get to hear all individual sends. AND this is where I think Logic's "in between" solution is both genius and confusing is that if you create a track stack (summing stack!) it passes audio as a BUS...AND...the solo funkction will act like if it was a VCA... got me?

[@DavidDiMuzio]

So nice to finally understand this stuff. Thank you!

[@bangpow00]

Ah! In Logic Pro X, a folder track is a VCA, and a Summing Stack is a buss. That clicked my bulb. Thank you!

[@wadball]

The phrase, "clicked my bulb" really clicked _my_ bulb if ya know whada mean

[@TynaKeelan]

Ahhh Yess -- well spotted my friend :D

[@cassionmoura]

Being a teacher myself, I can make this statement: You Are an amazing teacher! Thank you so much for let us learn so much from you!

[@ttrystt9413]

I wish every video explaining things in Logic was like this one. 10/10 concise, easy to listen to and understand. No wasted time talking about unrelated BS or reiterating things that have already been stated. Thank you

[@EmbersAu]

This explanation is amazing. Definitely keeping up to date with your vids. Thank you for the detail you have gone to in this one.

[@jeffmarc1846]

All that agree, please let me & MTHG kno: I think all of MTHG’s vids are best in class, and there is a lot of great posters out there! He’s certainly the Beatles of explaining Logic. Its an art form he’s mastered. It’s him, I bold underscored line, everyone else follows. Thank you, so very much, for all you do, and don’t let Yoko be a disruption:)

[@jakenelson3350]

Absolutely, no doubt, the best video i’ve seen on this topic. I have literally never understood it fully in five years

[@NevBe100]

Thank you Sean for making that so much easier to understand. It has baffled me for quite some time. Now I have a much better understanding, thanks to you. :)

[@rodrigolaporte274]

I didn't know all the details of these. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll start using them accordingly from now on. SUPER USEFUL

[@TMTSYSTEMSATL]

Thank You. I've been an audio engineer for 15 years and you just taught me something new ! :D

[@feedbackbro]

Superb!! Thanks so much for this. One other thing that is handy with VCA’s is using them to control the overall mix volume for tracks that have volume automation. So much better than editing the automation parameters.

[@PrateekGuptaOfficial]

Weird compliment but yeah, Your voice is the most pleasing to ears compared to any of the tutors I've heard over youtube! I can listen to your voice and watch tutorials for hours and not get irritated lol

[@rahulnero2813]

Really cleared a lot of doubts of routing in Logic Pro X. Thanks for making this video.

[@13adLucEnt]

Spectacular video...The new stacks update in logic threw me off a bit but now I have no questions left, thank you

[@dzogten]

well done. i like your way of explaining this stuff. in particular your "in terms of signal flow, there is no difference between X and Y"

[@Furox]

That was the best, most concise and straightforward explanation of this topic that I've ever seen. Way better than what's in the Logic manual. Thanks!

[@johnhall2009]

That was AWESOME!!! Thank you brother. You are helping to lift the veil of ignorance and unfounded fear of recording one video at a time. May you live to see the marriages of your children’s,children’s children! ✌️

[@TheVisitor247]

Nice video, thanks. Another important aspect about Busses and VCAs is that if you have Sends on single tracks within a Bus-Group and you change the Volume of the Bus, then Sends will not be affected. So if you have a Reverb on the Sends and lower the Volume of the Bus, the Reverb will be louder in comparison the Bus Mix (if the Reverb Track is not part of the Bus). If you use a VCA that will not happen.

[@billyfolchi]

Very helpful!! Thank you! I love the idea at the end of using bus grouping in combo with VCA subsets of the bussed tracks. Very thorough, clear and quick instructional vid!! Great work!!

[@moneyormonkeys]

Came here to find out the best way to buss tracks and ending up learning about VCAs too. Thanks!!

[@adammillsmusic]

Great video, never really saw the need to use the separate VCAs but great example with the close vs cymbal mics!

[@pachesmusic2892]

You don’t stop to make our lives easier! Thanks so much. Do you have a video on how to screencast with the pc’s audio like you do?

[@MarkusSommerOfficial]

Amazingly helpful explanation! On point, no blah, just sound information! Having a memory like a sieve, I came here two or three times already. Thank you!

[@JoeDillingham]

This is the best explanation I've seen. Nice to have you back making videos.

[@jeremiahfingsheets]

Good video. I come from those large format analog console days. I miss them sometimes! A couple of additional notes for this: Adjusting levels as "groups" vs VCAs becomes very different when you start using automation. You can adjust the individual channel levels with the VCA without worrying about your automation being affected. Also, with Aux Busses vs VCAs, if you have post-fade sends on your individual channels for effects (or any other output routing), bringing down the VCA will also bring down the send just the same as if you were to bring the channel fader down. Whereas if you just bring down the Aux Bus channel they are routed to, those aux sends will still continue to send. Could be a cool effect I suppose, but if I want that effect I'll set that individual send to pre-fade instead so it isn't all or nothing. For my workflow with large track counts I never use the Summing stack, always the Folder stack. This way I can preserve all of that routing in my tracks and just manually send individual tracks to separate output busses. Maybe all the drums go on one, or maybe I'll group kicks and snares out to a bus and route that bus out to a drum bus or parallel bus. Keeps things very clean while still allowing total control. It's almost necessary in my setup as I have multiple preset busses, one full of different compressors, another one with different EQs, another one with helpers, then another with reverbs, etc. But that's a whole different conversation. ;)

[@TheSonnylily]

You Da Man! Such a valuable lesson that saves me time to learn thru books or class about this thing in Logic pro, thanks again and cheers!

[@alexandrealexandrov6967]

The best way to explain the topic. Thank you Tech Guy!

[@memeboosted3807]

Best video in logic I’ve seen. Really helped me understand the daw to the next level, which I needed. Thank you

[@dekemartin]

Very helpful, thanks. I used sub-groups all the time on an analogue desk 30 years ago, but have struggled to find out how to do it effectively in LPX.

[@kenwiltshire7834]

Outstanding, you deserve a standing ovation. Thanks sooooooo Much

[@stevebass8352]

Fantastic - very well presented. Even I understand the difference between Busses, VCAs and Groups now. ( and track stacks ). Thanks very much.

[@faededreality]

thanks for every video!!! we are releasing our album soon and we recorded it ourselves and i learned logic from your tutorials... so a huge thanks goes to you!! 🤩

[@skillzmcgavern]

This video answered a few questions I've had about controlling volumes of groups of tracks easily, without summing them. I've been trying to set that up easily so that I can quickly bring a single mix element/track a few dB above the rest of the mix to hear it in context, but a little more clearly, for adjustment. Now that'll be extremely quick and simple to toggle! Thanks for all your videos - they've helped me get to the music faster.

[@jrpjazz]

This was very informative. I'm loving the summing track stacks!

[@000aleph]

Your explanations couldn't be clearer. Thanks for all your great work.

[@anmolchandratre9724]

Best video on KZbin! Please make more of these type of doubt clearing videos of logic pro X!

[@photonomist6345]

Your videos are absolutely the best in terms of clarity and I always use them as my first (and often) only port of call when I want to learn a new feature in Logic Pro. I always recommend them to my high school students too, and invariably they agree with me. Many thanks for the excellent service you provide!!

[@Fallagainstfatejake]

Thanks, I definitely feel I understand VCAs and groups more now. Giving logics convenience with summing stacks I don't really feel the need for groups and VCAs but I know that when it comes time to work on a desk it will be valuable to know. Thanks!

[@revolution9oh9]

Literally invaluable to a new Logic user in 2020; thanks Josh! 🙏🏻

[@o.b.v.i.u.s]

Thanks, MTHG! Much appreciated...

[@KatherX]

Best explanation/demonstration on this topic I've seen thus far. MTHG videos on Logic Pro X are the best. Thank you for everything!

[@jamiedavies1305]

My day 1 on Logic and this was one of the first videos I found, so glad I did!!

[@markgoslett6334]

Thanks Josh! I had been struggling with this over the last month or so. All clear now. I oh you a career!

[@milkyway8353]

Great explanation, trying to learn logic pro for ipad, and this one came very handy, thank you

[@CraigAddy]

Thanks. I'm relatively new to this and have found these issues you have addressed mysterious and confusing. This is great.

[@miguelash886]

Guys like this make youtube a better place

[@johnfkiii]

Great video-never really understood what VCA and groups did before-you explained these concepts very clearly

[@rishabhbose29]

Great explanation. Especially regarding the VCA

[@NoCoverCharge]

I’m new to MacBook and logic all on the same day been a week now this really helps

[@bydrewelliott]

Incredible. Thank you for this, I can't wait to dive into your other videos. Subscribed!

[@joeypereira1592]

Hey Josh I miss the analog days sometimes...great tip for those using DAW's and the younger generation....Joe from Staten Island

[@massivebeatzz]

Excellent excellent tutorial - nicely said - spoken clearly, and well structured!

[@BPMusic06]

Thanks for clearing up a concept that had clouded my mind for so long! You’re videos are great.

[@jaysauerbass]

Excellent vid, I knew some of this stuff but hadn’t heard it all explained so concisely. I need to utilize more of these tricks to streamline my workflow.

[@ridgero]

This is video absolutely staggering, very well explained and you have a very good sense to repeat things at the right time.

Thanks so much. Ideal balance between speed of explanation and completeness!

[@RyanBHamilton]

Love your videos! Really appreciate all you do. Thanks. Oh yeah, I just realized that your talking voice is scary similar to "Justin Bartha's"!

[@KaneLono]

watched this one about a dozen times and I think I've almost got it!😃👍

[@MrDonaldgooch2000]

Man, you are just the best. I am so freaking grateful for you and your work

[@walkinbird]

Love your voice! If there are several videos covering one same topic, I'm definitely gonna pick your to watch.

[@jefftravilla]

I never knew what the groups feature did. This explanation was great. Lately I’ve been processing my sub-groups on a bus, but leaving it at unity volume and sending those same tracks to a VCA for volume adjustment. I’ve found this helps me not have to fuss around as much with my effects sends on the individual tracks cause doing group volume on the bus messes with dry/wet of post-fader/pan effects on the individual tracks sends. If I have to automate a group, it definitely gets automated on the VCA so those sends maintain their relative levels. I wish you could create a VCA of a VCA cause I like having static “final” faders. If I have to automate a VCA, I’ll do the static adjustment on bus, keeping in mind I’ll have to be aware of my effects’ wetness. Ultimately I like to get my mix grouped down to like 5ish non-automated group faders so that I can tweak the balance of the instrument groups without dealing with the automation curves. I like to close my eyes and set the levels on my control surface so that I’m not getting influenced by the meters or other visual cues.

[@fonzybrookestone727]

A lot of stuff sounds like Chinese to me, but your videos are very helpful!!!! I'm definitely learning/understanding because of them. Keep up the good work.

[@markgoslett6334]

It's actually Cantonese, but surround yourself with the language and it will start to make sense! Joshua is a really good guy to follow and learn from

[@TorbenFugger]

Thanks for explaining all these different paths in such a level of detail. This is extremely helpful.

[@graffic-applications]

Seriously dude, awesome content here. Subscribing because you helped me understand what I consider to be a CORE concept of mixing. Much love, keep up the great work.

[@AndreHansen96]

This is so useful. I knew all of it except the VCA stuff so thank you for clearing it up for me. Now I feel like I have complete control of the mixer :)

[@guitarcookbook]

Thanks a ton ! cheers from France !

[@cagdasozdemir4753]

Oh my god, did I start to solve the most difficult mathematics in the world and even create art using it 😳 I am grateful to you brother🙏

[@Ariel-sz6xz]

Fantastic video, such a clear and precise description/contrast

[@mikeolson7588]

Nice job as always. This really helps to put these features into a context. Thanks.

[@thetej2000]

Thank you so much for this .it almost saved my life .

[@muzicmn166]

Super clear and helpful explanation of these. Thanks a bunch!

[@svenikea8428]

Just found you and am so glad! Clear, concise and above all, intelligent. Thenks a million (from France).

[@garrettlajoiemusic3577]

Thank you so much!! Best teacher on KZbin!

[@craigaycock505]

Great Video MTHG!!

[@angrybuzzy]

Fantastic video, Music Tech Help Guy.

[@tonyadams6985]

Well explained! Refreshing to have someone that gets to the point.

[@Songwriting]

You explain everything so good. I appreciate your great channel.

[@DrJoshGuitar]

Great video! A weird thing happens in Logic when I try to create a summing stack. When I create the track stack it names the stack "Mix" and uses my Mix bus as the bus for the track stack (I have all tracks in my projects routed to a main bus called "Mix", which I also have as a track so I can apply effects and automation, which then goes to Stereo Output). Any idea why it is doing that? The only way I can create the track stack to work correctly without "stealing" my Mix bus track is to change the output on all my desired tracks to Stereo Output, then make the stack, then route the Track Stack to the Mix bus.

[@NikroozHosseini]

Docmansound Music same here, summing stack seems to take precedence on bus assignment regardless of what is currently in use, whichnis why I’m not using them, as I mix on my own template with all my routings in place. I think I have seen a option somewhere that sets which bus number would Logic start from when auto-assigning, perhaps it works for stack bus assignment too?

[@karrot101]

You really explain things so well, thank you

[@jonycruz2430]

Amazing teaching, Seriously!!! would love a video on the last stuff you said, multiple outputs and the master fader. Would love to see an application on multiple outputs and why you would do them and how it looks like. It has always confused me. You are awesome. Im a fan forever!

[@cleverdood]

Great video, I learned these differences the hard way! I use summing stacks for more or less everything to group drums, vocals and guitars and put different effect plugins on busses so I can use them anywhere.

[@garytodd8132]

That has helped to understand alot. Been asking about VCA's and what there for , for a while :) thx that was creative.

[@trashmacann3846]

Yeah me too, I was confused about VCA? Your videos have really helped so big thanks...

[@luge98]

Such a good video. Impeccable explanation!

[@robertsimpson5801]

Great video! I was wondering about this but I was too lazy to look up the difference! Thanks for the great explanation!

[@philippmindrin3202]

yeah i was searching for that explanation for almost a year, so you got like and subscribe ! THANX

[@miditata]

Thank you so much for all your videos. They are much appreciated. Great job!

[@Alex-zp9qj]

As always clear, concise and very helpful explanations. Please keep up the truly great work. Many thanks

[@danielpicard3994]

Thank you for the clear and precise explanations you provide.

[@CygnusTCC]

Excellent Explanation! Apple should hire you to do official tutorials and have them linked right in Logic

[@izziOnBass]

Thank you for all the videos! You produce the best of Logic tutorials! I learned a lot by watching your videos! Cheers

[@calebcampbell5951]

Thank you, this is the only tutorial that actually helped me understand what buses do.

[@raularaujostrw]

This is perfect, Ungodly amounts of thanks to you, Sir! ✨

[@magick1969]

The difference between a group and a VCA is a visual flow that shows the relative changes not visible in the VCA. I'll take the added complexity of Shift-G/Shift-G to get those output control for each member of the group relative to their levels.

[@ryansmith3111]

Great videos, is there a way to do parallel compression with logic? Or essentially, is there a way to have the bus sends make a duplicate of a track like in pro tools? I can set a send up post pan/fader, and then copy the fader to the send... that gives me something pretty close, but you're limited into how much louder you can push the send with the fader based on whatever setting you initially had it at when you copied it. It'll give you a little extra, but not much. So, to simplify my question, Is there a way to have the fader completely control the level of the send so it is an identical duplicate of the track instead of just copying the levels to the fader and being limited to whatever those levels were? Because if you had to go back and adjust things later, the relative volume could be off on quieter tracks in the parallel compression unless you go back and re-copy the fader to the send all over, which, is doable, but kind of a pain. They finally got independent pans for cue mixes... hoping there's a setting somewhere I'm missing.

[@handoromper7987]

Awesome video and thank you for the ABC explanation.

[@71Corvette454]

As everybody else is saying - you explained this sooo well! Thanks a lot, man!

[@noahfletcher20]

say I wanted to compress the full signal of a group of tracks that I send to one bus, is there a way that I can also send some of the individual tracks to another bus that will also have an effect on the full signal, or will I only be able to adjust the signal partially, because the output is already designated to another bus? Hope that made sense. Thanks👍🏼