How and when to use a BUS or FOLDER in Reaper 🎵

[@joyachanatry]

Thank you, you explain this a hell of a lot better than Mr. Goya. While I love Reaper Mania he didn't explain this as well as you have. Just subscribed! Keep explaining things better than the next guy!

[@Y05H420]

You covered the subtle nuances of reaper... That's what people want workflow tips hacks and exploits

[@tonypike8774]

Thanks Ricky. I couldn't get any sound out of my busses. watched loads of other vids.... I dunno, maybe I was being dumb but couldn't work it out. Then I watched your video. Presto. Clarity arrived. One box ticked and I can move on. Brilliant. Thanks again mate. Tickin' one more box now. The subscribed box. ;-)

[@emach07]

This is by far the best video on Buses vs Folders I have seen. I finally get it!! Thanks so much 🤩

[@DavidSmith-ne1zp]

Thanks for getting me started using buses in Reaper!

[@starflek]

MAN ! This is very well explained, I learned something very valuable just now. Thank you !

[@mustardviking5943]

This is fantastic. I've been trying to understand this and this video explains it all so simply. And I learned WAY more than just folders vs busses. Thank you!

[@dustins4022]

Nice Video, Man. 3 years later, it doesn't matter, right? It still holds value. I was confused but now I see the light. Also, props to the NIN-style beats in the end. Cheers

[@Emlizardo]

Thanks for this fantastic video! I needed a good way to do the old school type of panning, where the instrument and the reverb for it are panned to opposite sides for a more spacious sound. The bus is definitely the way to do it - now I've got a dry guitar on the left and the 100% wet reverb on the right, and it sounds great.

[@teatime6414]

Good explanation but I think there are three confusing things about the way Reaper does its thing compared with what else you read and hear about from other videos and I'm pretty sure this is what generally most people get confused about. Firstly, the way in which you refer to "folders" (where you're essentially allocating a fader to control that group) is generally referred to as a bus in most other programs / DAWS, if I'm not mistaken. Secondly, what you refer to as a bus in this video is what other programs refer to as an auxiliary or send / return track. Thirdly, it is confusing in Reaper when using folders as the routing shows the tracks within that folder as having an output to the Master track as well as the parent / folder track (inferring that two signals are sent to the master) which is incidentally what you're saying a bus does. I have a question though (and this confuses me the most) - How do you set the tracks up when you want to do parallel processing i.e. reverb or compression but keep it all in one group? Does the parallel track within the same group send to the Master in parallel and then also to the folder and thereby duplicating the signal to the master or do you have to keep the parallel track separate from the folder?

[@RasShango]

Right

[@sleepmachine7522]

I keep the parallel track out of the folder because of you have processing on your parent folder track, your parallel track is now passing through that processing as well. So I keep aux/send/returns outside of the folder unless I want them to get that additional processing. I’m still confused as well. It’ll click for me eventually I hope haha

[@TiagoCarneiro_oficial]

Great video ❤ I have a question through: some folders routed to buses just make the buses not to sound anymore. It looks like no signal is allowed to be conveyed. Some other folders can be send without problems to buses and work perfectly. I can’t tell what might be different… any thoughts?

[@mikeh3128]

Great overview mate, many thanks for taking the time

[@GoFlyYourselves]

Excellent video

[@CJLloyd]

Awesome, thank so much man. That was really helpful. I'm a teacher myself (like IRL, I stand in classrooms and try to educate children... though not at the moment...), and I know full well that many angles are essential for getting more people to understand a topic. You provide a different angle than other people - and may I add, you are very good at presenting information in a simple way, relatable way. Good show. So, if I understand correctly, a folder is like a predefined bus the Cockos have put into Reaper, which automatically disables Master Send and can't re-enable it. Otherwise, you can use them in much the same ways, and any trick you can do in a folder can be done in a bus too, but it may take a little more fiddling. I can imagine busses being really handy for having a single sample or midi run some of its signal through an effect and some of it at a louder volume without the effect, or with a different effect, or with an one effect on the primary track and bypassing it to the bus which processes it a different way and plays the two together and... yeah, there's a lot to experiment with here. Also, yeah, Kenny Gioa has been really helpful in getting me up to speed on some of the aspects of Reaper, Reaper Mania is a great channel.

[@RickySummer]

Thanks for saying so, Charlie 💜 I don't know if you know this, but I also teach: guitar, keys and singing to primary school kids and I volunteer for a youth theatre group as their musical director :) Yeah, that's right. That's a good way to think about it, like a predefined bus that you can't change. Yeah, you've got it! It's almost like a little bit of light programming within Reaper. Keep in mind, you can put a track in a folder and still bus it out to a bus. So, the dry signal still goes through the folder :P It's endless! And I love the way he speaks, he's got me hooked haha.

[@CJLloyd]

@@RickySummer Oh cool! I did not know that, but it makes perfect sense. I can totally imagine it. I used to try teaching guitar, but I'm a much better ESL teacher than music teacher: I just understand the topic much better for one. Awesome, now it makes sense why I couldn't see the difference between them: they overlap in a lot of ways. 😁

[@davegrice3423]

Nicely broken down, you did a good job of making this concept simple. Thank you.

[@russangel]

I subscribed,you made it fun and interesting and easy to understand.Your personality really shows with your videos well done.

[@metaldreams3595]

Thanks Bro! From now on, all guitars and vocals in their own folders. Im sure pros use folders too perhaps but for us beginner intermediates it seems like folders are the way to start from and then busses as we get better. THanks again this wsd very helpful. Subbed.

[@fretbuzz4983]

Awesome. what are you using for the drums and synth?

[@stnhndg]

Video starts at 1:18

[@IsmaelAngelus]

Amazing video, bro! Thanks for sharing your knowledge #Peace

[@maplefoxx6285]

do you know how to use Vocal rider with Reaper? like how to get it to side chain properly to the mix.. i have it on a vocal track as the last plugin and then side chain a submix folder of my whole mix into the plugin? sorry, you may not know what i'm talking about lol. Maybe i already have it working, i can't tell if i'm doing it right in Reaper tho. the only videos that show how to sidechain it are using Pro Tools. Some people just throw it on their tracks as the first plugin too to sort of work like a dynamic compressor thingy, but it is really meant for this sidechain trick to set the vocals to fader ride automatically to the mix. It would be neat to see someone set it up in Reaper on a video.

[@delamotta]

great content

[@rautshsale1948]

is there a way to adjust the sensitivity for the send knobs on the mixer? feels like i have to physically move my hand way too much, compared to any other parameter in reaper

[@Welmi05]

Ok folders are buses and buses are Sends👌 noted

[@compoundaudio]

There's been some instances where I've set up a folder moved the selected channels to the folder but it behaved like a buss. Moving the fader or adding plugins to the folder track made no effect Why do u think this is happening?

[@benlogan100]

Much appreciated

[@sammythebull116]

So whats the diffefence now busses and folders? In other daw its just called group tracks How to make in a easy was a group track? Group my drum tracks to 1 track and add a buss compressor on it And the compressor reacts on all the drum tracks How to set this up in reaper?? Please help!?💪

[@BFesch]

Great video! I just dont get why on earth cant you have a drum folder and send from the snare into a verb without it being pre fader. its ridiculous. Logic does it... for me its just a big no no. Whats the point of having folders and everything being nice and tidy, plus saving screen real estate, and then you cant send anything post fader unless you do it from the folder master. Any ideas?

[@sasatakac7825]

Yeah ! Repaer lacks some basic routing functions. It doesn't work for me.

[@cerebralcoma4850]

Reaper let's save presets in his own system....

[@BadMusicCovers]

Kenny gioia really be talking like that though