KIDS AT PLAY
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Doug Eisengrein
Traditionally, aux sends and returns, as well as mixer buses, have played utilitarian roles in mixing. In the hardware world, aux sends are typically used for patching in effects and dynamics processors, while buses are used to group together multitrack elements, such as drums or a horn section, in the mix. Buses in software DAWs are generally similar in design to their hardware forefathers, while aux sends may be similar or designed a bit differently. An aux send in software is sometimes focused specifically around a certain effect, such as a “reverb send.” In-line effects such as TDM, Audio Units, VST and other plug-ins often take the place of the traditional send/return. In any case, in both the hardware and software worlds, the utilitarian role is not the only one aux sends and buses can play. In fact, much of the forward-thinking music throughout the times has been created through breaking the so-called laws of traditional production. And if breaking the law is a dangerous game, here are a few ways to win every time with aux sends and buses.
AUDIO TABLE TENNIS
In the world of hardware consoles, aux sends — paired with their returns — function globally. In other words, if you connect a mixer's send to a reverb processor's input and connect the processor's output to the mixer's aux return, when you raise any individual track's corresponding aux return control, you get reverb. A very basic upgrade you can make to this traditional system is to bypass the aux return entirely and instead return the signal processor directly to a track of its own. Then you have much more control as well as creative flexibility over the effect, such as being able to pan it, EQ it, send the effect through another aux send altogether or even send it back to itself, which can create all kinds of weird, spiraling effects. For example, imagine sending a ping-pong delay through itself. It “grows” exponentially; you can do things such as feed a snare through the loop in real time, allow it to build (while perhaps simultaneously raising the volume) until the repeating delay crescendos, and then cut the volume of the effect loop suddenly to add dramatic effect. Keep in mind that the dry (in this case the snare) track will remain in the mix even after the cacophony ends. If you are working on the computer desktop only, this type of routing is something you can also accomplish in the venerable rack-simulation program, Propellerhead Reason.
SONIC BOOMERANG
In the case of software-only systems, it's difficult to discuss aux sends independently of buses because they often intertwine. For example, in Apple Logic, the sends actually go to buses, yet the default names of the bus faders are Return 1, Return 2 and so on. So, sends and buses can almost be treated interchangeably within DAWs. As experimental engineers such as Alex Patterson and Bill Laswell are sure to have toyed with, try sending your chosen amount of signal to a bus, adding effects to the bus rather than the track and then fading the bus with the effects in and out of the mix (remember, you can still have the dry track anchored in the mix). This assumes your DAW of choice is not restricted to routing tracks entirely to buses, but that each track has access to an adjustable send fader. In the same way, but using track automation, you can do other interesting things, such as creative panning. For example, if you send a synth, guitar or Hammond organ track to a bus, add a dynamic effect such as flange or phase and then pan the bus in time with the effect's oscillation, you can achieve some whirlwind effects. That can be especially wild when applied to a surround environment. Another interesting but simpler example of the dry/wet stereo field idea is to keep your main (dry) track panned center and pan the bus track (with effects) hard left or hard right. Experiment with different effects and controls at your disposal; you'll discover all manner of slamming results.
KNOCK-OUT PUNCH
In both the software and hardware worlds, great tonal possibilities await if your buses include EQ. In the case of hardware, try setting up a nice full-range EQ on a track; drums work great for this example. Temporarily route the track to a bus and EQ the bus in a radically different way, for example by carving out all low and high frequencies. Leave only a narrow frequency range in the mix such that the tone sounds thin and tinny. Then reroute the track back to its original full-range destination. Now when mixing the song, during breakdown or a less busy moment, try punching in the bus routing button (assuming that will in turn mute the full-range track). Follow that by punching out the bus again (thus re-enabling the full-range signal), and do all of that in time with the beat. That works especially well just before a song is about to kick back into high gear, and is an old-school trick of the craftier DJs for revving up a crowd. If your software or hardware allows you to send tracks to buses while also retaining their original track routing, you can do the same thing, but try fading one in while you fade the other out, just like the “Sonic Boomerang” example described earlier does with effects. In this way, you can explore a strange mix or juxtapose organic sound (the fades) and artificial tonality (the thin EQ).
There are many other creative uses for aux sends/returns and buses; these are just a few to get your right brain twitching a little bit faster. Once you stop thinking about these tools as a one-way street for an audio signal path and more of a multilane Autobahn, your creative engine will be revving and ready to take off full throttle.
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