Pro Tools Tips & Tutorials: Busses and Aux Sends

[@hummzummer]

1 year of audio engineering schooling and I have always had some confusion with sends/routing signals ETC. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PERFECT EXPLANATION !

[@traingangsta]

Man thank you. I've been looking for simple tutorials for busses and sends forever.

[@MyAFDA]

Normally I hate the way some people explain elements of a Pro Tools setup. They leave stuff out, jump around, no focus etc. This video is perfect for a barebones understanding of something really quite complex. Thank you

[@Cremabbrboyz]

thank you very much for taking the time to create this video!!

[@themusicaspect]

Yikes! Such an excellent video! Thank you ten times over, Jonathan. As Ross said, I too was stumped about routing, and am thankful for your PERFECT EXPLANATION! God bless.

[@DukeSaragono]

Wow you explain this perfectly, i watched many others and still couldnt get it until i found your video. thanks again im new to pro tools, teaching myself how to use it!

[@mikeslickmix8840]

Thanks a million! I just started using pro tools heavy and I'm tired of using AUX presets to save ram space. This video taught me how to mix and organize from a blank session. AWESOME TUTORIAL.

[@Str8SlapRec]

This actually Taught me how to use mix bus.I’ve been looking for a good tutorials all day. Thank you so much I’m subscribed

[@hamidahmed8076]

wow those buses and sends make a lot of sense now, never really understood them well before, thanks man.

[@brucehathcockmusic]

Dude this was the best explanation I have ever seen

[@Aroyalz122]

definitely, I must say this, yes, this is the best tutorial I've ever seen .this is exactly what I'm looking for.

[@benjaminjimenez7420]

I've been trying to understand this concept for years and it's finally making sense. Thank you!

[@mybrotherssisters5449]

Logical, Great Flow, Very Concise & Thorough!! Keep It UP!!

[@sarah-annecarney3019]

This was such a fantastic and clear explanation of how to Buss and use AUX sends and most importantly WHY this is done. Really great for beginners, thank you so much.

[@BiggestBulliescom]

a seemingly complicated process that is simply explained and now super understandable! Thank you!

[@ceebland]

You been the most helpful so far after a ton of youtube vids. #1 THUMBS UP. Thanks.

[@jeffreyw.6749]

Awesome,you break it down and explain step by step…cannot thank you enough!

[@MusicComplimentsSex]

Wow! Now your gonna make me re-edited all my songs! Thanks! It sounds much FULLER NOW! I've been trying to figure this out for awhile. Not everyone understands all that FANCY TECH TALK. That's why I never understood it. Until you came along and broke it down in small dummy terms. Your the best! :-)

[@g-legahcyrecordsltd]

i can't tell you how much i am thankful for this video, thanks alot man

[@kourtneykilpatrick8028]

By far the best simplest easiest way to understand!

[@mrjasontopping]

Super helpful thanks. Your method of teaching makes this easy to understand.

[@davidlevene5727]

The best explanation yet , very easy to understand, thank you so much.

[@nathanbankheadmusic]

Dude, your very good at explaining this stuff! thanks! God bless!

[@chrisparas4618]

THANK YOU JOHN! U REALLY HELPED ME. I WISH THE BEST. CHRIS FROM GREECE.

[@adkisy4412]

I have to give you a tombs up. Clear explanation...straight to the point

[@MorisoniProductions]

Thanks Jon for a simple and clear explanation of buses!

[@tomlewis2477]

I like the way you present this. There's a lot of little cocky geeks out there that try to do it, but they are so hyped up on their ego, that they lose focus of what they are presenting.

[@quentin5837]

Absolutely fantastic. Thank You Sir.

[@allstonian13]

Thanks, Jon! I am finally learning PT for my band's recording. You have cleared up my confusion in trying to translate my analog studio experience to the digital world. It is all very simple but sometimes one can over-think (or under-think) the process.

[@evtheproducer8773]

This is much a simpler explanation than that FX Returns video from Lynda. Thanks

[@ricardoayala2023]

Thanks from this Pro Tools "newbie". Very clear and informative.

[@wowowowow233]

you explain very simple and easy but effective you the MVP

[@CoffeeConversationMusicGear]

Thank you for the video. It was very clear and to the point. I appreciate the step by step and the KISS principle. Thank you again.

[@Andrew_Edwards122]

Awesome and clear cut video. But what's the importance of the pre/post option or whatever it's called..like which one is better to use and why?

[@DJAlboogie55]

Great instructions, clear, concise and to the point!!!!!

[@fcruzdj2]

John this was EXCELLENT! Thanks for explaining this!

[@jasonborenmusic]

Extremely well done. Thanks!

[@giantessmaria]

thanks john, very useful and well explained!

[@danpepper3238]

Excellant, simple and straightforward

[@JACKDAVY]

I learnt so much in those 8 minutes! Thank you John! :)

[@ExposedAudio]

Why not just put the Reverb plugin on the first bus channel you made? I don't understand the necessity of having both bus channels. You can control the wet/dry mix through the plugin. Thoughts?

[@Akashsama]

This was very simple and easy to understand. Thanks!

[@claymoremotionpic]

Best tutorial ever THUMBS WAY UP!!!!!!!

[@PhilsHarmony]

Excellent tutorial, thank you so much.

[@sergiobaena4113]

Thank you so much, the way you explain is so clear . Regards!!

[@lionroots11]

Thank you so much maybe you should make a video on it for other people who having the same problems! I use an Apollo qaud with protocols 10 software Mac pro. One love Jon u are very helpful!

[@owens311]

Thanks! I try to explain it in a way so people can understand the concept of bussing and aux sends. Anyone can learn how to set up a track in Pro Tools. But once they understand the meaning and concepts, then they can start using the technique to its full potential, and even create their own ways of using it.

[@343-43]

Exactly what I needed, man. Thank you!!

[@THATGUY4474]

This video was very helpful, thank you

[@dirtminer11]

Thanks for a really good simple and no bullshit explanation

[@JaMal-ps1zh]

thanks John. appreciate the straight forward approach

[@devimuzik8450]

Well put together video straight to the point Thank You keep up the great work

[@jimc1499]

Great and straight to the point

[@preciseaudioblog]

Such a great and clear explanation. Thank you!

[@RickGtr271]

Excellent tutorial. It has helped me very much.

[@QUANTUMMUSIC101]

Thank you for great video - simple and VERY useful!

[@DoverDanny]

AWESOME lesson Jon, eggxatly what I needed man. I appreciate your effort and this video. Blessings

[@magician3026]

This is the first time i really learned something abour pro tools LOL. Thanks

[@owens311]

the main thing I use Pre Fader for is headphone mixes. I put a pre fader send across all tracks and can make a separate mix for the artist's headphones. pre fader can also be used if you want to mult the track to another place for processing. Post Fader is usually used for efx because when you adjust the fader on the track it also adjusts the efx. Although its personal preference and can be done anyway. Just play around and find your style.

[@owens311]

you can do it that way if you wish, but only if you are certain you will be using that reverb only on the tracks being sent to the bus. In the professional world it is bad form to put reverbs directly on the tracks or busses. This is because there are usually more than one type of track being sent to a reverb, for example drums and guitar. if you placed the reverb only on the drum bus, then you would have to create another instance to put on the guitars.

[@jonpileggi2621]

That's the way to explain things! Great job! Thanks!

[@owens311]

continued: so if you are using structure there should be an option in the routing panels to route from the individual channels. for example, you create an audio track, then in the Input menu u can choose, insert, then structure, then the individual channel. you do that for each MIDI channel and then press record to convert the MIDI to Audio. Then you can apply EQ to the individual audio tracks and treat them as you would any other track.

[@meganhunsaker7807]

This was so helpful. THANK YOU!

[@xXDrOPdEAdJo3yXx]

Very simple explanation, thank you!

[@theindiandoctor4520]

Excellent video... very very helpful. Thank you!!

[@vicchavill]

Awesome video , amazing simple explanation , thanks.

[@DrummaMan75]

FANTASTIC video! Clear, simple and to the point. This also works well for creating drum buses. You could do a bus for SD/BD/HH and a bus for toms. THANK YOU!!

[@owens311]

aux tracks in pro tools are most commonly used for effects like reverb and delay. You put the reverb on the aux and then use a Send to route each track to it that you want the reverb on. Sure you can put a reverb on each track, but it's not good practice and can eat up your CPU processing. Aux tracks dont actually hold audio but are used for routing. It gives you an extra fader so you can do some creative routing and mixing.

[@helgedolgener8522]

Very good explanation, thank you for this!!

[@aaronon]

Hey Owen. This video was very helpful! I was wondering if you could do a video on recording several buses to a main audio track. I can send audio from bus to bus. . .but if I have a master fader (with say "Dialogue" on it - and it contains all my dialogue tracks mixed into one fader) - I can never send that to an audio track to record it :(

[@TeflonDon_45]

Easy and to the point, thank you so much

[@ThadJameson]

Very informative and easy to follow!!

[@owens311]

Thanks. For this particular track I used a Rode NT1a on the body of the guitar about 6in away. then a Rode NT5 on the 12th fret about 4 in away. those two were then blended together.

[@TheFazzleDazzle]

what mics and type of setup did you use for recording the guitar? it sounds amazing!

[@delphinajames1885]

PERFECT! Clear explanations....so, thank you

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

Hi, Great job, really helped. How did you get the little fader on the Channel strip? I saw how you removed it, but I like the idea of it just being there. Thank you, Steve

[@owens311]

click View>Expanded Sends, then select which send slot you want to show the little fader for. This is also how you disable the little fader too. You can expand multiple sends if you want too

[@pianovoix]

hey ! thanks for the video, why don't you put the reverb directly on the AUX track in insert ? i dont get the point

[@owens311]

The idea in a professional mix is to limit how many temporal processors (delays, reverbs) you are using as it can add a lot of muddy frequencies to the mix that make it hard to manage. So by placing the reverb on it's own Aux track and Sending instruments to it, you get more control over how much pre and post (dry instrument, vs wet instrument) you are hearing. You cna also EQ and compress the Reverb (wet signal) independently from the dry signal to improve clarity. You can also use that same reverb for other instruments without needing to copy and paste the reverb plugin on multiple tracks. And you can also do creative things like pan the reverb to the left with the dry track to the right. It's all about keeping the session organized to maximize gain control, and EQ/track processing to keep things clear.

[@pianovoix]

@@owens311 many thanks for the reply it's super clear !

[@HarmonicaJamz]

Thanks, helpful.

[@paests]

Thanks for this heloful vid! Whats the advantage of the aux send method vs adding reverb as an insert on the bus?

[@owens311]

The difference is how you intend to use the reverb. For example: if you’ve created a bus for all your drum tracks and just want to apply a reverb for the drums only. Then you can certainly pout the reverb as an insert on the bus and adjust the amount using the wet/dry slider in the plugin. But if you intend to use that reverb for other instruments, then using an aux send is the best way so you can send other things to it. In a more advanced mix using aux sends also allows you to chain effects together and get more control. So you can send a short delay, into a long delay, and into a reverb to build a custom effect. And using aux sends to chain them together gives you more control in terms of gain and EQing so the final effect isn’t muddy.

[@owens311]

Hi, to put the reverb on track one, just send track1 to the reverb aux track. then to put compressor on just track 2, simply place the compressor directly in the insert section for track 2. hope this helps

[@owens311]

I prefer my effects in stereo. Even if the vocal track is mono, putting the effect send in stereo is a good idea to give a sense of space. And to run multiple tracks through an effect, just follow the steps in the video but send each vocal track to that same effect. So if you have one reverb set up on an Aux Track, send each vocal track to that reverb as shown in the video. Hope this helps.

[@hampo321]

instead of sending the guitar tracks to the aux input to control the level of both the guitar tracks, you can also group the guitars and create a VCA master track and assign the guitar group to the VCA track, this does the same thing thats is in the video, but requires less routing, and it also keep the level of the guitars, to the relevant DB that you have set the levels at prior to assigning the VCA master

[@castanorubiomaggritevelazq6781]

Muchas gracias Jonathan ! :D Have a nice day bro!

[@flythakidd]

Thanks bro! You're a boss!

[@HitWaveMusic]

Super job super John!

[@J6faize]

Great explanation! Way to be specific about it all.

[@kaypea6626]

Thank you so much for this!

[@brucehathcockmusic]

Any tips for hardware inserts?

[@leonmadara3903]

very helpful video...thanks a lot man

[@TheZapota]

all the information I needed to know, thank you

[@babycoqui_]

Thank you so much! This video really cleared but my confusion about routing

[@chandanrocky7532]

Great tutorial loved it ! Thanks

[@pyannaguy]

Wow, It's great that people can understand this stuff. Must be cool! I have to keep looking for one I can follow. I don't record enough to get real good - I just put plug-ins on each track.

[@theindiandoctor4520]

Yeah thats what I do… sometimes. BUT if your real serious about recording a song (you want to sound at it's best ) then this is a better method because you have a LOT MORE control and it WILL sound better. Putting plugins on each track is convenient and fast, but you CAN load up your CPU at some point. Once you start using this method, there's no turning back!

[@lionroots11]

So your fader work even if low latancy is Checked? Do u get volume from your fader in low latency checked? And also thank you for trying to help me figure this out. I am just making sure if thats a protool thing so I can stop reaching for a solution.

[@owens311]

+Desmond Albert Ah i think I get the issue now. When Low Latency Monitoring is checked PT will only monitor the direct input signal. So you will not get more volume when you raise the fader. PT does this as to remove the latency caused by the audio processing inside the DAW and interface.

[@perrybaconpb]

Thanks, clear and to the point.

[@harley12-j6m]

Hi I've enjoyed your tutorial, I've set up the aux track and busses the signals correctly but still don't have any reverb effect coming through the reverb aux, does this have anything to do with the I/O settings?

[@dedicatedtomusic8442]

Thanks 4 your help, everything is clear to me now :)

[@HKACHANNEL]

very helpful thank you for this vid.)

[@djbslowmoney]

this is such an easy video thx for doing this video...........

[@owens311]

yes, I am aware of that method. However, that is a feature only available in Pro Tools HD. My tutorials are using Pro Tools LE. The majority of the people who watch these online tutorials do not have Pro Tools HD, hence why I do not mention those methods.