[Ardour-Users] How to add an effect to a track

[Joseph Dell'Orfano]

I may be restating what's already been stated but here is my take.

I will use reverb as an example. I create a stereo bus and name it  
reverb. The output of course goes to the master out. I put a reverb  
plugin in the prefader box of the bus. (if I am using vst plugins in a  
host program I can always set this up as a prefader insert).

Now on the track I set up a prefader send to the inputs of the reverb  
bus. The end result is that I have totally dry signal on original  
track and totally wet signal on bus so I can change the mix. Plus,  
with fader automation on the reverb bus I can add the effect at  
selected times.

This is a pretty standard workflow. I learned this from a great book  
called "producing and recording in the home studio" by David Franz. It  
is available through Berklee online. They also offer some excellent  
online music courses.

Joe Dell'Orfano

On Mar 4, 2010, at 6:08 AM, Michael Neumeier <dennismail at gmx.net> wrote:

> First of all: Thanks for all replies. I will only write back to the  
> ones I have open questions left.
>
>> A track is mostly the same as a bus. Only one (big) difference: A  
>> track also
>> records to and plays from the harddisk. This recording/playback  
>> point is right
>> at the top (speaking in the mixer-channel), that is you audio is  
>> recorded as
>> plain as possible and all effects / routing are applied afterwards.
>> A bus doesn't have this recording possibility, its more like a  
>> mixer-channel
>> in the real world.
>
> Ah, that explains it in a good way - now I got that. Saying that it´ 
> s more like a mixer-channel in the real world gives me quite a good  
> and clear idea of it. And the other point that it´s like an "aux" al 
> so is a good thing
>>
>> Connecting the output of a track to the input of a bus and that  
>> output to the
>> input of the track again gives you a nice little feedback. And its  
>> a digital
>> feedback, so no nice sinus-wave...
>
> Ah, I should have thought of that. Well, I am going to avoid a  
> feedback... :)
>>
>> A bus is a multi-purpose thingie, you can use to to split your  
>> track into an
>> unmodified and a modified version and by that mix (and automate)  
>> the original
>> and for example the phasered version. You can also use it to act  
>> like a bus on
>> mixing consoles and connect several tracks to one bus and then have  
>> one fader
>> (and effect chain) for them all to go to the main-mix. But you can  
>> do all sorts
>> of things with this.
>
> Well, I guess, I am going to give the track to the bus and then  
> connect the output of the bus back to a track, as I see the  
> advantage that I can then check the result after having added a fx  
> to my original track.
>
> Now, for the fx: There is still the question how I can add a fx only  
> to a part of a track. Certainly, I could copy the part into a second  
> track and send the second track to the fx-bus, but I guess there is  
> a much more "elegant" solution - or is it true that this is really  
> not implemented yet?
>
> Michael
> _______________________________________________
> Ardour-Users mailing list
> ardour-users at lists.ardour.org
> http://lists.ardour.org/listinfo.cgi/ardour-users-ardour.org