Reaper: Setting up Auxiliary and Sub-Mix buses

[@funkcrewbandonly1]

I can really appreciate the way that you explained how to set up the "Auxiliary and Sub-Mix Buss" Mr. Chris Porro. Most people explain so fast that its very hard for some viewer's to catch on. Your explaining wasn't fast or slow but perfect for even a beginner to understand which sets you on top of anybody who is trying to explain reaper to anyone. obviously i use reaper and i thank you for showing me just what i needed to know.

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

funkcrewband thanks man. that's what i'm aiming for. : )

[@Rhythmandosyche]

+Chris Porro great video! Is there a shortcut to view the faders elongated like you have in this video? My fader window is very small. Many thanks!

[@guitarguy10000]

Finally ... so well explained. Easy to listen to, not complicated. Thanks!

[@davidjenson4512]

I had searched the Reaper documentation and found little real help. The more I read about setting up an aux. buss, the more confusing it became. The video did the trick. BTW to "zero" a slider in Reaper (Mac) double click it.

[@VictorRoibu]

Wow, thanks a lot Chris! I finally understand the difference between a Bus and Aux. And especially in Reaper, that's cool because that's what I'm using it. I've read some articles but didn't get it how this stuff works. But a image (or video here) worth 1000 words!

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

great to hear. i gave it some thought when i put this together. : )

[@OutLoudOutLoud]

Ah! Thank you! I suppose I could have found this in the Reaper documentation but this was so clear!

[@espr7564]

Top video very clear and concise thankyou

[@credenza1]

Thanks. A whole lot of really useful concepts clearly explained.

[@TomBauer1984]

Thank you so much! Super helpful for a novice/hobbyist.

[@avegetableplot]

Thank you so much....this is the clearest explanation I have seen (and I've watched a lot)

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

great to hear that. i often search a long time before i find a decent instruction video. so i make these with that in mind. : )

[@AjayNewar]

Nic explain tnx☺️🤘

[@poetic34]

Thanks dude just what I needed.

[@WBCStudio.]

This is a very instructive video.

[@lodougherty]

This was an amazing video. Thank you.

[@guitar_nerd]

Very good explanation!

[@VictorRoibu]

For those of you that are trying to have the whole track colored go to Preferences -> Appearance >> and check this "Tint track panel backgrounds"

[@TheCHRISCaPWN]

Thanks. I'm going to have to check that on mine.

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

what you want is track: set to custom color. search for that in actions. actions is shift + ? this might be dependent on your theme. i don't know how all themes behave. i am using reaper 4's default. try that.

[@WBCStudio.]

Very instructive.

[@nndsmc]

For those who want a faster easier way that automatically does routing for you, check his other video ''Track Folders as Sub-Mix Buses'' .

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

thanks!

[@wenglish1968]

Why not just route the Sub-Mix buss to the Auxiliary bus, since they're both going to the master?

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

you could. but i don't know why. typically the aux bus does some type of parallel processing like reverb. so for drums if you did what you are describing all your drums would get the same amount of reverb. probably not what you want to do. try and think of sub-mix buses as grouping like items (drums, many guitar tracks, doubled vox) and think of aux buses as doing parallel time domain processing (typically done via send levels from tracks, and that same track's direct signal to the master) like reverbs, and delays. In practice it's apparent why these are common and useful ways to route. but, like i said, you can do all kinds of routing. it just might not be that useful. : ) the benefits: sub mixes can be automated changing the levels of whole groups across a song. compression can be used to "glue" these groups together. aux buses can be used to add just the right amount of reverb to any track in the whole mix. these days i use folders in reaper for sub mix buses. they work better for organization and visualizing.

[@darrensmusicstudio]

Excellent tutorial. Thank you!

[@SticksNkicks]

Very useful info! Thanks a lot!

[@SphereSide]

Thanks Chris, good stuff, very helpful..

[@anantwashere]

MANY THANKS.

[@KeithSudano]

Excellent video. But I miss the "Wow, that's not subtle" comment from, the other video. Thanks man.

[@chrismeyersproductions]

Dude, excellent tutorial! Quick question if you don't mind.. Routing with the Aux (you said typically used for reverb), when you open the routing window, and adjust the receive levels from each track, are you adjusting the volume of that track that's coming into that aux track, or are you adjusting the amount reverb for each track separately? Also with the sub-mix bus - i.e with a compressor - since that track isn't going through the master out anymore, would turning the slider up/down on the I/O screen only effect the amount of compression on that track, or the volume of the track coming into that bus? I hope that makes sense... I'm still learning a bit about all of this channel routing and all that. Thanks again! Great tutorial!

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

+Chris Meyers good questions. : ) i'm trying to distill this down. for reverb. you are adjusting both. the reverb for a send is proportional to the send level. the KEY is the reverb plugin has to be set to "wet" so it's output is only reverb and none of the dry signal. this is very easy to hear. for a compressor it's a bit more complicated. in both buss types all the incoming tracks are summed...combined before they hit the plugins. reverb has no threshold setting so you can think of the sends are reverb level controls. compression is dependent on a threshold and some other settings. it is possible to effect the other tracks on the sub bus by just changing the receive from one track. for example. lets say you have a sub bus for drums. the summed level for that buss does not engage the compressor so nothing is being compressed. then you increase the snare level so that the compressor is working very hard. also lets say the release time on the compressor is long (200ms). so the compressor brings down the snare at first and then stays engaged after the snare is gone (below the threshold) for another 150ms...dropping the level of everything else. so changing that one level (the snare) can effect the other drum levels. this is different from the reverb example. in practice though i don't think you need to compress each drum separately. in fact one of the points of a sub mix for drums is to compress them together so they sound more cohesive. hope that's clear.

[@chrismeyersproductions]

+Chris Porro Thanks! I THINK I understand a little more! Lol, I'm a visual learner, so bear with me and see if I can visualize what you're saying.. Lets say I have three tracks... Cello, Violin, and Piano. I want all three of these instruments to sound like they are in the same room, but I don't want as much reverb to get to the piano, as I do for the Cello and Violin... Should I create a new aux channel with the same reverb and only send the piano there and adjust the levels on it that way? Or can I have the same aux channel, with one reverb, and adjust how much reverb is hitting each instrument separately, but have it on one track? I'm sorry, I hope this makes sense. Haha! Thank you again!

[@chrismeyersproductions]

+Chris Porro Also, when you're looking at the sends/receives, and it has post-fader, and pre-fader. Is that just for monitoring the inputs/outputs? Or is there a difference for the inputs/outputs on the sends/receives?

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

+Chris Meyers you got it. "same aux channel, with one reverb, and adjust how much reverb is hitting each instrument separately, but have it on one track"

[@chrismeyersproductions]

+Chris Porro Thank you, sir!

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

ha. yeah. if i do more videos i'll try and work some more humor into them. thx.

[@terrygilliam8374]

great video thanks for the help

[@ViniAndradeMusic]

Hows that different from having It sending especifically tô each 1 and 2 and 3 channels?

[@MichaelGrandGaming]

Alt+Click to mute the master send is a great tip! Thanks :)

[@atommachine]

great!

[@funkcrewbandonly1]

Hey there Mr.Chris Porro!, I just got through looking at your video again and i was wondering could you make a video that explains how to get the most Bass Boom!! out of a track that has a 808 kick on it at -3db?

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

funkcrewband i'd probably have to hear it. doesn't it already have a lot of boom? there are lot of tricks that might work but i'd really have to hear what you have and what you are going for. you could compress it with a long release time. add a reverb (probably have to tune that). switch samples. add another instrument like a bass pad on it. lot of ways to try. use certain sampling techniques to lengthen it (probably need to keep the attack though ).

[@funkcrewbandonly1]

Hello there Mr. Chris Porro Heyyyy! I just wanted to thank you very much for helping me out with this 808 bass kick issue i had. I tried the compression on it and it worked out just fine😊 I will use it every time when i need that extra BOOM🔊💥 So.. Thanks again Chris!! you're a cool guy.

[@Ghaleon15]

If I can apply the FX directly into my vocal track, why would I create an aux-track to apply the effects? When should you do this ?

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

the answer, strangely enough, is in another one of my videos. : ) at about 3:20 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX68naCaf6-CgKc if i were to give a main reason it would be so you can manage all your reverb sends and overall level in one place but there are others.

[@Ghaleon15]

Got ya. Thanks !!

[@ulfrohdin]

Hi, I have the same issue as Elvis Leon, regardless of which theme I use?

[@skk6811]

They really need a UX designer. Reaper's user experience is way more complicated than it should be. I've tried out all DAWs and so far had to watch the most tutorials for reaper for basically anything. Maybe zooming is intuitive.

[@Jozelo]

Very good tutorial! Thanks

[@JinJer-np7rf]

How does the sub bus work if you are panning one track to the left and one to the right but then you are routing it to a track that is panned center ( sub mix bus ) ...doesn’t this defeat the purpose of panning the two tracks ???

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

i can't speak for all daws but in reaper all tracks are stereo by default. so your panning stays as is. try it.

[@daniellong4188]

I followed the "send and receive" portion and the levels still went through to the master... don't know what's wrong

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

+Daniel Long see the part where i talk about turning off master routing. probably mid way through. did this video a few years ago. : )

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

go into preferences and do a search for color. i'm not exactly sure what you are seeing unless i have a picture. check out peaks/waveforms custom colors in preferences. that might be it.

[@warheadz]

Thanks, subbed :D

[@lex1872]

Is it normal to hear an echo when you use this setup?

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

no. ☺

[@lex1872]

Chris Porro What could I do to fix it? Plz help.

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

i'd really have to be there. it could be lots of things. compression settings, lag in processing...if you want to take a video so i can see what's on the track, the settings, and hear what's happening i'll take a look. other wise it's guessing. : )

[@jackmakackov7077]

This mess is why pro tools is the industry standard. It's a lot more simple to just have different kind of tracks. It's a much easier thing to grasp and organize in PT

[@tjmitch57]

My thoughts exactly the designers of this DAW put 'to much though & options into the DAW. I know for some that may sound better but sometimes less is more. If Pro tools wasn't ripping off everyone with their subscription plan I would never had left.

[@yung532]

noobie to this i dont understand the difference between an aux and submix bus. based on his demonstration they are the same all he did was change the submix track into an aux track. why didnt he create to different tracks, one for aux and one for submix

[@Chris_Porro_Land_o_Naps]

+Yung try this:kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX68naCaf6-CgKc anotehr video i did explaining the difference in some detail.