144 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
144 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
+++
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title = "Using sends"
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description = "Using sends in Ardour"
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chapter = false
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weight = 5
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+++
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A _Send_ is just an extra output for a track or bus with its own separate
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fader that can be used to route the signal to other points in Ardour.
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Also known as _auxiliary sends_, they tap the signal at a specific point in
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the signal flow (pre-fader, post-fader, before or after EQs and other plugins,
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etc.) and send a copy of that signal somewhere else, without affecting the
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normal signal flow downwards to the channel fader.
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In Ardour, you can easily add _sends_ to tracks and busses through the mixer
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strip. Sends are processors, just like plugins.
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## When is a Send Useful?
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In earlier chapters, we built a drum kit pattern with four separate tracks:
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kick, snare, hihat, and clap. Let's say now you'd like to add a reverb to the
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drums. You could of course add a separate plugin for each individual track,
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and tweak their settings separately, but this method unnecessarily increases
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the amount of work. Every time you want to change a reverb setting across the
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board for all drums, you'd have to open all four reverb plugins and change
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them in the same way.
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This is where sends come in handy: you can use them to add a particular
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effect to a set of tracks without creating multiple instances of the same
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plugin.
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Here's the overview of how we will do this:
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1. Create a single bus with the desired plugin.
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2. Add a send to each drum track to which you want to apply the effect.
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3. Route these sends to the bus.
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## Creating the Bus and adding a Plugin
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Create a bus (`Track > Add Track, Bus, or VCA...` in the menu), name it
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appropriately, and add a plugin in the pre-fader region (right-click just
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above the fader's blue rectangle in the processor box), as discussed in the
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previous chapter, _Using Plugins_.
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In this example, we have created a mono bus called _Drums_, and added the
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_ACE Reverb_ plugin to the bus.
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### Bus inputs
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The "-" display in the bus input button indicates that nothing is routed to
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this bus yet. We will take care of this later.
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### Bus output
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Before routing a send to this bus, first make sure that the bus outputs are
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routed to the _Master_ bus, as shown below (button at bottom reads "*master*").
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{{< figure alt="sends2" src="en/Ardour4_Sends_2.png" >}}
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Also, open the plugin window (double click on the _ACE Reverb_ rectangle) and
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set the plugin's signal mix to 1.0 _Blend_ value.
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This ensures that the bus carries all of the processed signal from the plugin,
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and none of the unprocessed signal to the _Master_ bus. Remember, the
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unprocessed, 'clean' signals are still available from their original tracks,
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so there is no need to duplicate them in this bus.
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## Creating and Routing Sends
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Now we can create sends in the other tracks and route them to the bus inputs.
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Like plugins, sends are also created in the processor box. Go to each of your
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drum tracks, right-click in empty space of the processor box, and create a
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_New Aux Send..._ directed to the appropriate bus (in our case, named _Drums_).
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{{% notice tip %}}
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If you do *not* see the _New Aux Sends..._ option in the menu, it's probably
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because you did not create any bus yet. Go back to the previous step to create
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the bus.
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{{% /notice %}}
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You should now see the send displayed in the processor box:
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The little _Send_ slider you see just below the green rectangle is the send
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fader, which controls how much sound will be sent from this track to the bus.
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### Post-Fader vs Pre-Fader Sends
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Notice that the image above shows a post-fader send (it sits _after_ the fader
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rectangle). In post-fader sends, the send level is controlled _first_ by both
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the track/Bus Fader and _second_ by the send fader.
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In a _pre_-fader send, on the other hand, the send level is controlled only by
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the send fader, independently of the track/bus fader. A pre-fader send would
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look like this:
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You can drag the send rectangle up and down the processor box to make it pre-
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or post-fader as needed.
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{{% notice tip %}}
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The choice of pre- or post-fader depending on the type of effect plugin used and
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the desired result. For this exercise, either one will work.
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{{% /notice %}}
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A send behaves just like any other plugin in the processor box. You can
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deactivate it temporarily by clicking on the small LED, and you can right click
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on the rectangle to access other options, including _Delete_.
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### Send Fader
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To control the level of each send, simply click and drag the send fader to
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increase or decrease its volume.
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{{< figure alt="sendfader" src="en/Ardour4_Send_Fader.png" >}}
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The _Drums_ bus is now receiving the sum of all tracks, and applying the effect
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to it. A single plugin applied to the bus controls the effect for the mix of all
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drum sounds routed there. This way, you have independent control over the "dry"
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sound of the original tracks, and the "wet" sound of coming out of the bus.
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Because sends are very useful for this kind of work with effect plugins, they
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are also commonly called "Effect Sends".
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## Continuing
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Now that you know how to add plugins to a track, as well as how to add sends
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to tracks to create plugin busses usable by any number of tracks, it might be
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helpful to learn about a few other plugins useful in the mixing process.
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Please continue on to the following chapters covering _dynamics_ and
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_equalizing_.
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Next: [DYNAMICS](../dynamics)
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