Mixer: 1 reverb for 4 tracks? How?

[creativeforge]

Hi, Ok, time for me to be a bit more professional on how I use the mixer. Usually I assign an effect for each track (i.e. reverb, but by so doing I can end up with different reverbs type and settings.

The idea is to have 4 tracks of the vocals and going through them to pick the best parts of each before putting all the resulting stems on one track.

Is there an easy to understand tutorial that would show me (video or pics) how to have one instance of reverb for multiple tracks? I assume it would be done via the mixer screen. Right?

Thanks!

Andre

[Mark Bliss]

Your going to want to use a send track for that.

There's some old info on using sends here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbobt1C ... ature=plcp
(Starting at 2:58)

And some more info here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/ ... slide=id.p


Both were based on old versions of Mixcraft, so there are some minor differences in MX9, but the basic concepts are the same, and it should get you started.
There's also some tutorial videos on v9: https://forums.acoustica.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26020
These are new, being created and added to, but I am not certain sends have been addressed there yet.

There is also information on this in the users guide, accessible from within the program, or downloadable in PDF format here: https://acoustica.com/mixcraft/support/manual

[TrevsAudio]

Two words: Send Tracks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rutk1Tq-ui0

[Mark Bliss]

2 answers at once, cant beat that!

[TrevsAudio]

2 answers at once, cant beat that!

Snap!

[creativeforge]

Thank you!! Awesome!

1- I'm using v8. I never saw the need to move beyond v8 in the middle of a critical project.

2- I'll check all this material and see if I can manage.

3. Extra points for the quick responses!

Cheers!

Andre

[aj113]

Send tracks are outdated and unnecessary.

Just put your tracks into a submix and put the reverb on the submix.

[creativeforge]

Could you explain how you would do that? I have zero clue.

Thanks!

[aj113]

Select all the tracks.
Right click on them, anywhere on the left hand side where there is a blank space.
Inert Track/Submix Track

Now your tracks are in a submix. Insert a reverb in the submix, job done.

[guitfnky]

Send tracks are outdated and unnecessary.

Just put your tracks into a submix and put the reverb on the submix.

in what way are sends “outdated”? busses/submixes and sends are different tools that serve different purposes.

using a buss is useful when you want a fader to control the overall levels of a group of tracks, and/or when you want to use an effect over the submix. using sends is better when your processing doesn’t have wet/dry controls (many excellent effects still don’t).

granted, most reverbs do have wet/dry mix knobs, so sure, using a buss instead of a send is a perfectly viable way of working, but to suggest sends have outlived their usefulness is a bit of a stretch.

[aj113]

Send tracks are outdated and unnecessary.

Just put your tracks into a submix and put the reverb on the submix.

in what way are sends “outdated”? busses/submixes and sends are different tools that serve different purposes.

using a buss is useful when you want a fader to control the overall levels of a group of tracks, and/or when you want to use an effect over the submix. using sends is better when your processing doesn’t have wet/dry controls (many excellent effects still don’t).

granted, most reverbs do have wet/dry mix knobs, so sure, using a buss instead of a send is a perfectly viable way of working, but to suggest sends have outlived their usefulness is a bit of a stretch.

Sends are a relic of old studios, when there were only a few items of hardware because they were so expensive. Sends allowed multiple tracks to use the same piece of hardware. You can now insert multiple effects on each individual channel - or at worst on a submix. There is no need for send tracks. I've used Mixcraft for over ten years in a professional studio and never once used a send track.

[LeeUK]

Hi

I've only been recording for a year or so and I've always wondered the difference between submix/send tracks

[Drdish007]

Hi,
Using Send Tracks gives you ability to send different levels to the reverb, or any effect. The Submix Track will send the same level to the reverb, or effect, of all child tracks in the submix.
I use Submix Track to control the levels of certain instrument groups. Example; I will put my 8 drum tracks in a submit so I can control their levels with one volume control. I would mix the the individual tracks to balance the drum kit sound. Using the submix volume control doesn't mess up the drum kit mix, just adjusts the volume of the drum kit mix.

Hope this helps.
- Myran

[guitfnky]

Send tracks are outdated and unnecessary.

Just put your tracks into a submix and put the reverb on the submix.

in what way are sends “outdated”? busses/submixes and sends are different tools that serve different purposes.

using a buss is useful when you want a fader to control the overall levels of a group of tracks, and/or when you want to use an effect over the submix. using sends is better when your processing doesn’t have wet/dry controls (many excellent effects still don’t).

granted, most reverbs do have wet/dry mix knobs, so sure, using a buss instead of a send is a perfectly viable way of working, but to suggest sends have outlived their usefulness is a bit of a stretch.

Sends are a relic of old studios, when there were only a few items of hardware because they were so expensive. Sends allowed multiple tracks to use the same piece of hardware. You can now insert multiple effects on each individual channel - or at worst on a submix. There is no need for send tracks. I've used Mixcraft for over ten years in a professional studio and never once used a send track.

I know what sends are. I learned and interned at a professional studio.

just because you’ve never used a send track doesn’t mean they’re not useful, or that they’re outdated. as I said before, the two tools do very different things.

to the last poster’s point, if you want to send different amounts of each track through an effect (i.e. you want more reverb on the snare and less on the kick) you can do that with sends. you can’t do that if you’re using a submix buss. if you’re using a buss, you can adjust the volume of the kick and snare going into the buss, but they’ll both have the same amount of reverb (e.g. 50% wet/dry ratio in the reverb you have attached to the buss).

and of course you could say, “just add the same effect to the separate tracks”, but, well, I hope you can see the issues there... it’s not efficient, having to either manually set them all up, or having to copy and paste settings. and if you want to use the same reverb on four tracks, it means you’re quadrupling the CPU hit, if you use that method. and if the plugin you want to use doesn’t have a wet/dry setting, adding the plugin directly to the tracks doesn’t necessarily make sense.

[jwarv]

Plus with send tracks you are not putting as heavy a load on the CPU which could otherwise happen, even with sub-mixes. With all those individual instances of fx on multiple tracks it requires more power. Not necessarily a deal breaker on all projects, but I've found it helpful in optimizing my PC as a rule.