Sends & Returns EXPLAINED (Ableton Tutorial)

[@SXINT]

• I went and rewatched your older videos, the old puppet was creepy..... glad you glo’d up man •

[@rosscogiordano1796]

People change over time. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that Stefan's heart is made of felt. But what they do not feel, is that his heart is real, and it is always Felt in his audio/visual productions. As the modern day philosopher R. Zombie once said, "More Human than a Human." Something I don't see a lot of people giving him credit for, and I think this is very important: how long he has kept those jellyfish alive. That is not a very easy thing to do. He really doesn't get enough credit for that, at all. I'd like people to respect him more for his aquatic expertise, because literally no one mentions it. All they do is say, "oh, what new audio technique can I get from him today?" or "What does this Glue Compressor do, anyhow?" They don't say, "Wow, this man just keeps giving and giving, from the center of his heart, over and over again... is he eligible for marriage?" (Though we know all the ladies think it) I'm just irate, sorry. I wish that more people would do what Stefan has, and Get Real... because this holographic-simulation that we experience through such a subjective lens has already occurred- in another point of space/time- and has yet to, at still, another. We take people like Stefan for granted, we don't ask him simple things like, "you work so hard, have you eaten anything today?" ... "I'm noticing a little water in your eyes at the X:XX mark, are you sad, or is it just allergies?" We don't take the time to Get Real like Stefan. The question I must leave you all with, is simply this: is The Puppet imitating The Man, or is The Man imitating "The Puppet"? Don't do drugs. Stay in school. And, for The Love of God, go to church! Don't burn them down like those black metal weirdos. Promise me you will do this. Sincerely, Mark Twain

[@Jacrispy777]

@@rosscogiordano1796 wow. Just wow

[@chrisanthony5501]

@@rosscogiordano1796 I think you need to cancel your Audible subscription

[@Aguynamed_Kage]

Rossco Giordano W

[@travione333chambers2]

😂😂😂👌🏿

[@DoYouDJ]

If your a noob and not subscribed this guy is the go to for Ableton users so much bad info out their but this channel is always on point. TY whole loops lol, Reid. you cool

[@kolyovanchev8214]

I've primarily been mixing in Pro Tools and arranging/making instrumentals in Ableton, but I have been considering using Ableton for everything. This was really useful, especially the idea about using effects racks instead of return tracks

[@nightzzmixx]

What a great tutorial! I’ve always wondered how to make and use busses, now I’m a bussin master! I’m bussin everywhere now! Even as I write this, I’m boutta bus! Thank you!!

[@mikewallace1270]

Much needed video for Ableton users. Thanks.

[@dbruce581]

Yep.....I still don't understand what Sends and Returns are. One day.

[@johnjulian3590]

I’m halfway through this video to practice in the morning and have no idea what’s going on. I feel like towlie from South Park.

[@welowee7610]

Thank you Brandon, you saved my life

[@80pedacito]

@Brandon Blinx ty Brandon .. Finally someone explaining it straight forward. Simple and direct.

[@gamer4allofficial]

I have no clue what to fucking do as a new Ableton user 😂😂

[@foljs5858]

Well, I understend them, and feel like the explanation in the video was crap.

[@jamesangell6027]

Been watching for years and the "AYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT'SS" gets me every time haha

[@SuperDFAMILY]

Wow. Been waiting for a video like this for sometime now. Can't wait.

[@emeca33_amulatoaztek]

7:54 thank you sir, this is what i came for. i wanted to route "SEND A" to channel, but i forgot about this idea, thanks you are gold material

[@nickonator9398]

thank you for explaining the significance of a premaster, I understand now.

[@Colin_Lawlor_Audio]

There is literally a puppet teaching music production theory.... What a time to be alive!

[@ReidStefanMusic]

Welcome to the future 🚀

[@jadenxox7771]

The parrallel compression on a return track is gold right there🥦

[@SinceApr08]

Watching Reid’s videos in public gets you weird stares hahahahaha but hands down, best tutorial channel out here 🤯🔥🔥🔥

[@OhddMusic]

Oh thank god i found this video God bless this channel

[@claudioteran7229]

You're too awsome Reid, love you!

[@fightinggamesforever3364]

Thanks Reid, yet another explanation of something I've been struggling with that I now completely understand. Yah! Realist puppet, you sir, are awesome.

[@noahvandenabeele]

Thanks for your video. However you forgot to mention something very important, when you route your return channels to your premaster audio in, you shouldn't forget to disable the sends of the premaster, because otherwise there is no delay compensation from the sends and you can have combfiltering (ableton instored this to avoid infinite loops). I experienced it myself and the difference is quite important.

[@AydnOzer]

this is the first video i watched of yours.. became an instant fan. amazing düde :D

[@proaudionajia]

Love your tutorial videos (all of them). Would be great to have you implement your Ableton moves in traditional DAW like pro tools or studio one. Keep up the good work.

[@lightbeatz3709]

thanks for all cool tutorials now i have also ableton

[@joaooqueiroz]

if you press A to show the automation lines you can see the name of the return channel! x

[@DEEECKED]

Hi Reid, I have a question about your mastering process: Spotify and other streaming services advise certain LUFS and True Peak values for masters (typically -14LUFS and -1.0db True Peak), but in your videos where you cover mastering, Insight is usually reporting values much higher than that (-8.0db LUFS and 17.9db True Peak in this one). Do you ever worry about inter-sample peaking with your masters, or that streaming services will turn your tracks down to match the average loudness of others? I'm also interested to hear your thoughts about the "loudness war", as your tracks tend be mastered very loud (or disrespectful haha). You have easily the best electronic production channel on youtube, keep up the great work. Thanks!

[@enohelehen]

i would like to know this too! especially for beats that are being sold online without vocals

[@jelly8594]

So the question got a heart but no answer? 😔

[@jelly8594]

Have found an answer yourself?

[@typarkertv]

The general rule of thumb is that Spotify masters should be louder as Spotify does normalize audio. Uploading louder tracks will help improve the quality for streamers. From their site: negative gain is applied to louder masters so the loudness level is at ca - 14 dB LUFS. This process only decreases the volume in comparison to the master; no additional distortion occurs. Positive gain is applied to softer masters so that the loudness level is at ca - 14 dB LUFS. A limiter is also applied, set to engage at -1 dB (sample values), with a 5 ms attack time and a 100 ms decay time. This will prevent any distortion or clipping from soft but dynamic tracks.

[@nudirt1274]

Thank you ried. This one was a massive confidence booster for me for many reasons. Hope I stay as real as you.

[@evighvitveis]

great video as always! 😇 I usually have the reference track set to external out, so it avoids the master chain. Doesn't work if you want the metering, but saves you from having to reroute everything.

[@itsmistera]

Me too, btw you can put another instance of analyzer on the reference track itself

[@aaronbazil]

This is why it's always useful to know another DAW, because this subject is easier handled in either Logic or Pro Tools. Their mixer process is so much easier to use than doing this with return and sends. It's kind of a struggle for me every day when I produce, to switch between multiple DAWs sometimes when I produce because they all have their pros and cons. Although that new Satellite Sessions free plugin has been a godsend for working between multiple DAWs better than REWIRE ever did! Anyways thank you for this tutorial! I still didn't know how to do this in the arrangement window of Ableton. I knew you could always switch to session viewer to see exactly which returns and sends you're using.

[@DarrenMcPhee]

Great tutorial. Loved the ending lol

[@jimmydim2212]

Great topic, I always get confused with what to do with sends and returns!!

[@kranx2690]

Of course this guy comes up when i look this up

[@ReidStefanMusic]

I’m everywhere

[@ProfessorSaibertin]

Thx for the tips man.

[@ektopia]

Fantastic tutorial. Thanks, dude

[@guitarded927]

Bruh... that song is FIIIIIIREEEE

[@lexel007]

Very very useful vid, thanks 👍🏻

[@saddamali666]

this is the coolest thing I have ever seen

[@samthousand]

This is a great video!...also you can reference the help bar at the bottom left of the screen when hovering over sends.

[@ayushmannmusic6778]

I'm new in production and this video helped alot! Thanks man.🤘🏻😎

[@alexpurdymusic]

thank you reid

[@amadeusg9546]

Great video! Thanks for that one 🙏🏼

[@dmn2273]

Aye we need this!!!

[@GuyYaronMusic]

sounds great man! thanks!

[@kevinbranson2918]

Very helpful and so many ideas I'm going to try! Thank you so much! First time checking out this channel but I will be back!

[@ReidStefanMusic]

Thanks for watching 🥰

[@danielflury4012]

I swear every time Reid drops a video it's always right when I clock into work at 2 😂😂😂😢

[@ReidStefanMusic]

It will be here waiting for you!! thank you for watching my friend

[@SunnyLicious]

Great video and very helpful. Your CPU usage giving me anxiety.

[@blankspace1242]

Also try putting a compressor side chain on your delay from the main vocal :) I love doin that. Love your videos Reid!

[@ReidStefanMusic]

Blank Space that’s exactly what the “ducking” knob does that I adjusted! 👍🏻

[@blankspace1242]

@@ReidStefanMusic god I'm an idiot. For real though, for your reference tracks, send audio to 1/2 to bypass creating premaster.

[@JDNicoll]

Mad respect man. What may not be obvious to people is that the puppet is speaking WHILE all the Manipulation and Ableton is happening on screen. Think about what you have to do to reproduce that. That being said, my hunt for send return info continues…

[@ES2990]

All he really had to do was do the screen recording then match the puppet with the screen recording

[@easterntwin9919]

Curious about how do you handle CUP usetage and never cracking? Btw good tips & good drums sause

[@hhotrimusic]

Very helpful!

[@mitchellshier2025]

If your send/return tracks are going towards to the pre-master, i heard on another channel it may cause lag or unwanted time delays, is this true?

[@alexc9278]

thanksss.I didn't know how to use them

[@Allan-et5ig]

reid stefan - very useful. i have a problem - either my install of suite 10 is buggy in which case the dreadfully time-consuming "we suggest you reinstall live," - OR i'm simply forgetting something basic. i hoped maybe you'd take a stab at it. my workflow is to create massive scenes which i then record into arrangement and then, using live's BEST feature "consolidate time into new scene," send at some point - back to session view. for YEARS, I've assigned lower case letters to label things for ease: the metronome, stop button each and ever scene launch button. also, i'll label samples that i'm recording from session into arrangement. so, on the fly i can hit a keyboard letter and say - whatever, a dog barks. that's 'printed' live as i record a scene from session into arrangement. i also love group tracks. so, i'm a guitarist. say i have 5 acoustic guitar parts. since last night i can neither create a return effect OR assign an effect to a group channel. say my guitar group is called guitar group, lol. i insert a wah-wah pedal, on the group channel and assign the letter j to it. as i record a scene into arrangement i want to switch the wah-wah on and off so all 5 guitars get the wah-wah effect. you can here it working. but it stopped printing to the guitars last night. it worked twice and died. then, more clumsily, i created a return effect called spacious wah. it was return track c. i'd record a scene into arrangement view and crank up the control on return track c and you could here it wahing the guitars but it too was not printed. (nor would i choose to do it this way.) as i say it worked briefly but stopped. i simply want to do what i thought i'd done for years. insert an effect on the group master and then assign a letter to it and as a scene is recorded into arrangement click it on and of so it prints. either i'm way too tired or my install is buggy and i have to reinstall. any help you can provide is fantastic if not, i understand that too! thanks either way.

[@hendrickvalera]

for those who experience feedback when using a track as a premaster u just have to disable the sends for that track

[@DF-wl6lk]

Hey man, I have a question, whenever I route the return tracks to the premaster group/buss, I always get delay. Is there any way to fix this? Thanks in advance for your help!

[@lukesherrell]

Make sure you disable the send knob on the group your sending to (it will grey out)

[@hotzemusic]

@@lukesherrell holy crap thank you lol. I've been trying to figure this out for a hot minute and you just solved my problem (sorry for necro'ing your comment)

[@GabeWilliams]

7:03 the faster speed you play this at this funnier it gets

[@chrispysaid]

So Reid, why are you comfortable with the master levels blasting at red the entire time you're playing a song? Is there something I'm missing here, or is red bad?

[@TriplicateTrey]

You are my favorite puppet.

[@KRAIZDJ]

Return tracks as general reverbs/delays/kick compressions should be sent or not trough the stereo bus? I usually send them directly to the Master (if they go trough Stereo Bus I hear double effects, ex. 2 kicks)

[@alexzehnmusik]

That track is dope yo

[@JaysDomain777]

Love this

[@OhddMusic]

Say I use a Return Channel for Reverb. Technically when I do parallel compression on Audio tracks, would I also do a parallel compression for the reverb effect in the Return track as well? or would it be applied automatically with a sidechain compression to the vocal tracks?

[@jaewanpark6125]

hey Reid, which one do you prefer when you are mixing? Pro Tools or Ableton? is there any difference in Audio Quality?

[@lewchootrain]

I noticed you have Insight 2 on the master. Is there a difference with looking at Ozone's metering and Insight 2's? I'm thinking of buying Insight 2 but don't know why I should if I can see the same info on Ozone. Thanks as always!

[@jovbrza1749]

hey man, love the videos, would still be good without the puppet ftr thanks bro!

[@Nonpartisanmusic]

We are all puppets in the very face of the Majors... Great vid. Ta

[@herrfair545]

The Problem is, when you reference a track, the Returns still sends in the Master too!, even the Instruments go in the PreMaster. Also, when you try to route the Returns in any other direction, than the actual Master, you can't Solo them any more (only all Returns at ones) and it's creates a little Delay It's a Routing Hell :D

[@JoelLinus]

Yep, that's what confused me the whole time, and this comment pretty much explains it. This explanation doesn't make any sense and you can hear that there was no change as soon as he linked everything into the premaster.

[@tialeqs9978]

It’s awesome how fast I learn with a puppet lol

[@mi2kami2ka67]

Yo man , wats up , i was wondering what is that small monitor in the middle of your desk

[@ReidStefanMusic]

www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ClarityMST--tc-electronic-clarity-m-stereo-loudness-meter

[@ragilen6266]

Once you’re done with the pre master do you have to reroute everything to the master channel or?

[@ReidStefanMusic]

Yes the premaster outputs to the final masyer

[@athinagorask]

Hello! Thanks for the video! I have one question: You are about to record some vocals and you have some vocal tracks (lead vocals and vocal layers) that require the same default plugins to get started. For example, you might have a standardized plugin chain like EQ, DeEsser, Compressor, Saturator, Reverb and Delay with default settings for every vocal track you produce. To save CPU, instead of inserting this plugin chain in each vocal track, people usually suggest using a Return track and inserting the plugin chain there. Then, it's advised to increase the Send level of the vocal tracks to let the audio pass through the Return track and then to the Master. However, unless the output of the vocal tracks changes from Master to Send Only, you will have double audio going through the master (the audio from the vocal tracks and the return track). You could also group the vocals and send them to the return track, which leads to the same issue but with less flexibility in the individual tracks. My question is what is the best practice in the above example, considering the need for further effects per track down the road, as well as gain staging and mixing overall? Thank you!

[@Swandson]

Sends usually used when different instr./sounds should be proccesed by same heavy plugins, mostly related with space effects or based on heavy calculations; better to check your DAW workflow and how you may reorganized routings in order, e.g. you may just create groups and mix them; or resample tracks through buss with plugin chain and delete plugins after that; mixing in sends is not common practice but you may route tracks to "dummy output" (no direct output) and work with sends/auxes channel only; or set sends as pre-fader and put track fader at zero

[@saviosuhett8689]

When I put my return to PRE MASTER, I noticed that the signal was delayed. How to solve ?

[@Le__dim]

Hey ! That's a great video thank you ! The good info in the right time, thanks !! There's something i think i didn't hear in this video which has been really annoying for me : Let's say you have a guitar and a key. You send them in a reverb one by one because you want more or less depending on the track. Then you have them both in a group. Well, if you put a Filter on the group (for example), it won't take the reverb of your returns. The group is pré FX, and you can't change that, right ?

[@ayyleeway]

Hey Reid! What about new audio tracks with IN/AUTO inside a vocal group for parallel comp only for vocals instead of return tracks? Is there any difference there? I want to have it saved for later as a mixing vocal template :))

[@muhruki]

why was the shorty from the whole loops ad so fine

[@mauriciotorrelio9612]

okay so say i have all the vocals in a group, and one of the tracks in the group has a delay send... does it go through the send before going through whatever is on the group track? Or does the track go through the group chain before going to its own specific send??? this is so confusing bc the group track has sends too!

[@mikaelholmstrom2513]

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttsss production time, you need to release that as a sample !!! 🤪

[@krumpcakes]

I like your funny words magic man

[@albanyrebelion]

audio effect rack ftw!

[@ithinkmynameismoo5e]

Hi Reid, Quick Question. Any recommendations for good earplugs that lower the sound equally across the spectrum?

[@ReidStefanMusic]

i recommend using custom molded earplugs! Ask your local ear doctor if they offer ear molds for musicians!

[@trapOrdoom]

Lmfao that outro, godlike.

[@enohelehen]

what are other good compressors for mix bus appications?? what do you look for?

[@dsinned9992]

What song is this? I need to hear the full version!

[@jovbrza1749]

dude where are you producing its frkn gorgeous

[@JunoWho2]

Your voice and commentary reminds me so much of Chrisfix. Is it just me?

[@kalleosmusic8476]

Hey Reid ! Thanks for that excellent tutorial. However I'm new to Ableton and as a former FL user, I'm very confused with the bus management in Ableton. Like how do you deal with the situation when all your background vocals are linked to the same effect bus but there's no way to control the send level of each one ? The way I'm dealing with this is by copying the exact same effect chain to each track, however that quickly leads me to CPU overloads... Thanks for answering if you take the time to !

[@MARGINI2024]

Do you mean an other than the single tracks volume?

[@kalleosmusic8476]

@@MARGINI2024 yes exactly

[@lewchootrain]

Also, why are there some things you like to have as returns like the glue and CLA-76? Is it because they're more CPU intensive?

[@LaythOfficial]

Ik this is a year old but just incase someone wants the answer. One of the more common reasons someone would do something like this would be so that they can have the same feel for multiple sounds using that same return without having to use the same effects on multiple mixer tracks. Alternatively you could also automate the return so that you can intensify the effects you have on it at different portions of your track. Ex: having your drum bus or glue compressor automated to say 33% on the verses and ramping it up to 50% on the chorus. (The numbers I chose don't mean anything)

[@felixdorn21]

Hey my littal muppeteresk Friend, thx for the explanations. With the send & return channels i always run into the problem, that if i send for example the snare into one and later need to reduce the volume of that snare track, the amount of the volume of send & return fx changes also. Which i thought first is a good thing, that it matches to the track. But the amount of fx also changes. So i have to rearrange the reverb afterwards again. even if he was perfect with the first volume setting of the snare. Any way around this? can the send&return channel be independent from the volume of the original track? i hope that wasn´t too confusing. :D cheers

[@ppdlive]

with PREMASTER mix channel, I cant solo my aux channel, I always hear all others channels routed to PREMASTER . How we can solo AUX channel with this routing?

[@magneat]

Thanks 4 the tutorial! Please explain why “-sub”?

[@mk-os8gl]

somebody told me that you use a plugin to make the puppet move to the wave?

[@thisizavian3691]

Hey, I'm having an issue. I created a PREMASTER BUS exactly like you do here. I use sends for my time based processing(reverbs/delays etc) When I route my sends to the PREMASTER BUS it changes how the vocals sound. Also why aren't you using sends for your time based processing effects?

[@thisizavian3691]

Okay I commented before watching the part with sends/returns. But yea so basically when I route the return to my premaster like you did at the end...the processing sounds different on all vocal tracks and when I route the returns back to the master they sound normal again. I use my sends/returns for all my auxillary effects the way you use the effect rack.

[@swiftjayofficial]

love this puppet lmao

[@thezooportugalbanda]

Nice Video.Regards from Portugal. I Have a problem i need Help for this Can anyone explain me ? In Protools i bounce several tracks in a group track with all pan worked but i dont Bounce in Stereo, i Bounce in Multiple Mono. Than i Open a project in Ableton Live and import the 2 Mono tracks for 2 tracks in Ableton i assume the 2 tracks together its a Stereo File in ableton right ? in Ableton , the 2 tracks i put in Center ( C ) Than if i want export again the 2 tracks in Ableton but in Multiple mono ? In Ableton i only see ( Stereo ) or ( Mono ) if i export in mono one track than the other i need to change the Pan all to Left and the other track all to R ? Or i export the 2 tracks in Center ( C) Preserve the Stereo fild ? Ableton dont have Multiple Mono L and R Thanks !

[@natewilliams2426]

Any improvements on sends in ableton 11?

[@shubhamlad2102]

Nice

[@MarmittDJ]

Thanks

[@JRyMeRr]

That add was fuckin awesome organic sauce ohhh boi..... Whos that lady really in realation to you did you hire her i bet it was craigs list props so many props

[@Dt33335]

in my case when i send audio (which is grouped) through return track.. it creates 2 chain.. one is going through return track and one is going through group....so the eq on group track is working on 1 chain and the other chain is going without eq...which i don't want how to fix this

[@plusran]

hummingbird!

[@Windovaca]

I have a problem, i cannot send individual tracks from the group to the return channel only the group itself, does anyone know how to solve this?

[@ConalFlood]

lmao, only finding this channel

[@jeffreysalinas2242]

press tab button for better view of many returns

[@lo-dose]

This pre-master idea doesn't play too nicely with Returns. Normally you can solo a return effect, but you will notice that if you have any volume adjustments on your pre-master the returns are no longer a part of this (if you leave them routed to master by default).... If you decide to route the returns to the Pre-Master, then you can no longer solo the returns without hearing the entire mix.... sucks