7 Tips: How To Use Sends! (For A Cohesive Production)

7 Tips: How To Use Sends! (For A Cohesive Production)

Sends are an essential feature in digital audio workstations (DAWs) and mixing, used to route audio from one or more tracks to an auxiliary track or bus (often called an auxiliary send or effects bus) for processing. Sends allow you to apply effects like reverb, delay, compression, and EQ to multiple tracks without inserting the effect directly on each track. This can save processing power and give you greater flexibility in mixing.

Here's how to use sends effectively in music production:

1. Setting Up a Send in Your DAW

The basic process of setting up a send is similar across most DAWs (e.g., Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, Cubase), though the interface may look different.

  • Find the Send Control: On each track, there’s usually a section labeled "Sends" (or "Sends/Returns" in some DAWs). This is where you can add a send to route the track’s signal to a bus.

  • Create an Auxiliary Track:

    • The send will route the signal to an auxiliary track or bus, which will house the effects or processing you want to apply. In some DAWs, this is created automatically when you set up the send; in others, you might need to manually create an auxiliary track.
  • Select the Bus/Return Channel: In the send control, select an empty bus (e.g., Bus 1, Aux 1, etc.) or a specific return channel that you want the signal to be routed to.

2. Sending Signal to the Bus

Once you’ve set up the send, you can control how much of the signal is sent to the effects bus. This is controlled by the send level:

  • Send Level/Amount: The send control often has a fader or knob that adjusts how much of the track’s signal is sent to the auxiliary bus. Setting this to 100% will send the full signal; lower values will send less.

  • Pre-Fader vs. Post-Fader Sends:

    • Post-fader: The send is affected by the track’s volume fader. If you lower the track's volume, the send level decreases accordingly.
    • Pre-fader: The send is unaffected by the track’s volume fader. This is useful if you want to maintain a consistent level of effect regardless of the track’s volume changes.
  • Send to Multiple Tracks: You can route multiple tracks to the same bus, which is common when you want to apply the same effect (like reverb) to multiple elements (e.g., vocals, guitars, and drums).

3. Add Effects to the Bus/Return Channel

The auxiliary bus that receives the signal from the send will usually have an effects chain or processing chain. Here’s where you can add your desired effects, such as:

  • Reverb: Often used for creating space or depth in a mix. Applying reverb to an aux bus is common for vocals or drums.
  • Delay: A delay effect on a bus can be sent from several tracks to create rhythmic or ambient delays.
  • EQ and Compression: You might use EQ or compression on the bus to shape the sound of all the tracks being sent to it.

4. Balancing the Send

Once you've set up your send and applied the desired effects, you need to balance the level of the effect in the mix:

  • Return Track Level: Adjust the fader of the return bus (the auxiliary track) to control how much of the processed signal is brought back into the mix. This allows you to mix the dry (original) signal with the wet (effected) signal.

  • Wet vs. Dry: A common technique is to use wet/dry balance on the return bus to mix the processed sound back into the original mix. This allows you to control how much of the effect you want relative to the dry signal.

5. Use of Multiple Sends

For more advanced control, you can have multiple sends on a track, each routing to different effects:

  • For example, a track might have one send for reverb, another for delay, and a third for a chorus effect. Each send will be routed to its own bus with its own set of effects, allowing for more intricate sound design.

Example Workflow:

  1. Track 1 (Lead Vocal): Set up a send to Bus 1 (with 50% send level), routed to an auxiliary channel where a reverbplugin is inserted.
  2. Track 2 (Guitar): Set up another send to Bus 1 (with 30% send level), so the guitar gets a bit of reverb too, but at a lower level than the vocals.
  3. Track 3 (Drums): Set up a send to Bus 2 (with 70% send level), routed to another auxiliary channel where a delayeffect is inserted, applying a rhythmic echo to the drums.

You can then adjust the return channels (bus faders) to control how much reverb and delay come through in the mix.

6. Creative Use of Sends

Sends are not just for reverb and delay—they can be used for various creative effects:

  • Parallel Compression: Send a track (e.g., drums) to a bus with heavy compression, and blend it with the dry signal to add punch without squashing the dynamic range.

  • Creative Effects Chains: You can send tracks to a bus with complex effects chains, including distortion, modulation, and EQ, for unique, otherworldly sounds.

  • Sidechain Compression: You can send a signal (like a kick drum) to control the compression on another track (e.g., bass or pads), creating the classic "pumping" effect.

7. Automation

Once you’re comfortable with how sends and effects work, you can automate the send levels or the return bus levels to create dynamic changes throughout the track. For example:

  • Increasing Reverb on a Chorus: Increase the send level to the reverb bus during a chorus section to make the vocals sound more expansive.

  • Changing Delay on a Bridge: Increase the send level to a delay bus during a bridge or breakdown for a more dramatic effect.

Summary of How to Use Sends:

  1. Create an auxiliary bus or effects track for processing.
  2. Send audio from individual tracks to the bus using the send controls.
  3. Apply effects on the auxiliary bus (reverb, delay, etc.).
  4. Adjust send levels to control how much audio is sent to the bus.
  5. Adjust return levels to mix the wet (effected) signal back into the track.
  6. Experiment with multiple sends for complex effects.

Sends provide flexibility and efficiency in your mix, allowing you to apply shared effects to multiple tracks while conserving CPU resources and maintaining control over the sound.

By the Stealify Team! 

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