[Ardour-Users] Using a 'clean' bus to compare

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 13 Nov 2015 18:57:29 -0500, jonetsu at teksavvy.com wrote:
>Those sends have little horizontal volume faders associated to them.
>Right there, the volume mix will not be the same as the main faders for
>each track.  Is it possible to sync the send volume for each track to
>the main fader for that same track ?

What you want are likely post-fader aux. I haven't used Ardour for a
long time, but this is how it works for all analog studio mixing
consoles.

I used the startpage search engine with the serach terms
 ardour pre fader post fader send
and the first hit linkes to
http://manual.ardour.org/signal-routing/aux-sends/:

"Pre-fader and Post-fader Aux Sends

Depending on whether you context-click above or below the fader in the
processor box, the new aux send can be placed before or after the fader
in the channel strip. Post-fader aux sends are typically used when
using an aux for shared signal processing (FX), so that the amount of
effect is always proportional to the main mix fader. Pre-fader sends
ensure that the level sent to the bus is controlled only by the send,
not the main fader — this is typical when constructing headphone and
monitor wedge mixes." 

I guess you should read at least one Ardour manual and/or get some
theoretically knowledge about mixing in general. IMO, if possible,
learning by doing with analog gear is the best way, since the virtual
digital domain offers too many possible setups that make no sense. If
you don't have the opportunity to e.g. make a practicum in an recording
studio or to maintain a small home studio with a mixing console and
some external gear, I strongly recommend to get theoretical knowledge
before experimenting.
Learning by doing works good with static designed external studio gear,
but leads to nothing, if you start learning by doing with flexible
designed software. For learning by doing you need either a static
design that limits to common work-flows or basic knowledge.

2 Cents,
Ralf