Worked for my vocals, used the chain group on mu grouop of processed vocals for reverb, then made another group chain of delay on the same bus after the delay and it sounds fantastic, this way my vocals dont lose any clarity and punch
This video is amazing! I had a hard time reasoning why I would use return tracks vs an effects rack. It jusg seemed so messy as you said. Though there may be specific times to use them. Well done!
I've been using Ableton for 10 years and I still dont find the return tracks useful at all, youre right theyre messy and complicated, I prefer to add my effects and automations on each channel, its kind of a no brainer
Great video! Is there a way to solo a track that has an FX send on it and hear just that track AND the effect that has been applied to it through send/return? Seems the effect return gets cut off when you solo a track or group.
Hello! Thanks for the video! I have one question: You are about to record some vocals and you have some vocal tracks (lead vocals and vocal layers) that require the same default plugins to get started. For example, you might have a standardized plugin chain like EQ, DeEsser, Compressor, Saturator, Reverb and Delay with default settings for every vocal track you produce. To save CPU, instead of inserting this plugin chain in each vocal track, people usually suggest using a Return track and inserting the plugin chain there. Then, it's advised to increase the Send level of the vocal tracks to let the audio pass through the Return track and then to the Master. However, unless the output of the vocal tracks changes from Master to Send Only, you will have double audio going through the master (the audio from the vocal tracks and the return track). You could also group the vocals and send them to the return track, which leads to the same issue but with less flexibility in the individual tracks. My question is what is the best practice in the above example, considering the need for further effects per track down the road, as well as gain staging and mixing overall? Thank you!
Currently switching from protools to ableton. It's more complicated than ableton, but since ableton is so simplified it almost seems less intuitive than ProTools.🤔
It makes sense to me that you would increase the reverb to 100% and then adjust in the track from there, but what about the decay, just a common setting and then just adjust individually in the tracks from there? And can you still do automations? It's just pulling from the "reverb" track?
Thanks for a good and informative video. In general struggle a bit to get on term with return tracks. Say I have a vocal and I want some reverb. Where do I return that reverb? On the master? Well, I tend to put some effects on there. Also, I tend to side chain my instruments with the vocals, so should the return then be to a separate bus mix with the vocals and the bus then being the sidechain signal, or just leave the reverb out of it? And if I blend it in a bus, way mess up the workflow with an additional bus track using a return track instead of adding it directly to the vocal track? I can see the benefit in having a collective reverb for som instruments, but don't you want different reverb according to where you want them in your bus? I have been experimenting with 3 reverb channels, for near, far and mid-placed instruments, and this is one of the few real benefit I find from the return tracks. For the rest I often find individual settings overriding the general needs, e.g. compressors, saturations etc. It would be very useful to have a guide on what general returns is useful in a mix and when.
Is there a way to prevent return tracks from being "stickied". As in, if I have a lot of tracks and I want to scroll through them, I don't want the return tracks to stick, especially if I start having a lot of return tracks. What is the best way to.. hide them?
@@samsmyers That's unfortunate because Logic makes it super easy to have a hundred return tracks because they're hidden out of view. I suppose with a large enough monitor this isn't as big of a problem.
Sometimes, you may have multiple vocal tracks. Applying return tracks to power multiple vocal or instrumental tracks not only makes the CPU work more efficiently but also enables parallel processing. This means that other effects and plug-ins you plan to add after the reverb, which were originally added on the individual tracks, can now be isolated or processed in parallel without being affected by the reverb. This is beneficial because chain effects after reverb or delay can sometimes result in a muddy sound. Parallel buses are commonly used for applying reverb and delay effects in order to avoid the chain effects on individual tracks and to have better control over the overall mix. By routing multiple tracks to a parallel bus and applying reverb or delay effects on that bus, you can maintain clarity and prevent muddiness caused by excessive or overlapping effects. This technique allows you to adjust the level of the affected signal and blend it with the dry signal to achieve the desired balance and spatial depth while avoiding any unwanted buildup of reverb or delay on individual tracks. It provides more control over the wet/dry mix and helps in maintaining a clean and well-defined sound.
@@j36skk my thoughts exactly I process all my vocals with effects, then export them, put them in a group and then use the chains, one for reverb first and then the delay one and you just automate to taste, that way the vocals dont lose ay clarity or punch cause you are in full controll of the dry/wet and automations
I really don't understand this 100% thing. If I set the wet knob to 100%, but the decay is something specific, then I go to the track and change the percentage that gets sent to the return track, won't it change the percentage of both of those settings, not to mention all the other settings on the reverb filter? Why wouldn't everything be at 100%? Or why wouldn't you set the return track to the precise settings you like, and then raise the blue bar to 100?
question - with delay on a return track i can delay a word in the middle of a phrase and it will tail over the rest of the phrase. example: “this is a test” i can delay the word “is” with automation and the delay tail will bleed over “a test”. when i set up the send inside of a rack this doesn’t happen it just cuts the tail of the delay off when automating the chain volume. is there a way to set the delay send inside of a rack and have the middle word bleed over the phrase like you can using it on a regular return track?
if i record guitar and put distortion on my return, i can still hear the original clean recording underneath the distortion (if that makes sense). is there a way to have the clean/direct input muted so I only head the return distortion?
Hello, do you have any idea how we can use the same trick not on a track but on a group of tracks? I would like the same audio effect rack on my drum group and being able to send snare and hi hat separately
do you know why suddenly my return FX isn't working anymore on Live11? I've been using them forever and tried to find possible mistakes, but I have no clue. Is it maybe a Live11 bug? Any solution?
so for a while now ive had problems with routing returns, what im essentially trying to do is set return to Post so that it will follow the effects i have on the send channel, for instance i have a low pass filter on a audio track , i send that channel to a return with reverb and set to Post, now when i turn down the low pass filter on the audio track i can still hear the return channel mostly unaffected by the filter. ive used many daws and ableton is great only except for this
Wouldn’t you just copy and paste the effects used on a channel and add to the other channels if you wanted to use that same effect on something else? That’s usually what I do
I just gotta say. I spent 3 hours today trying to figure this out and your video did it in 9 minutes. Thank you so much!
Hey, this is the first video I have found with a simple description of sends and returns in ableton live. Thanks so much!
Worked for my vocals, used the chain group on mu grouop of processed vocals for reverb, then made another group chain of delay on the same bus after the delay and it sounds fantastic, this way my vocals dont lose any clarity and punch
Thank you, Sam, it was extremely helpful and straight to the point!
Simple and very informative. 🙌
Now it's so easy when You explained it to me 😆 Thx 🙏🏻
This video is amazing! I had a hard time reasoning why I would use return tracks vs an effects rack. It jusg seemed so messy as you said. Though there may be specific times to use them. Well done!
Great video thanks iv been wondering what they do for a while 😅
Thanks so much!!!
Thank u my man perfect explanation
This makes sense now thank you 🙏🏽
Now this guy knows how to teach!
Thanks Sam. Nice simple video
so helpful thank you so much!
nice. How does the Send know which Return track to receive from? It looks like it automagically happened.
This is a awesome video, thanks man!
Glad you liked it!
I've been using Ableton for 10 years and I still dont find the return tracks useful at all, youre right theyre messy and complicated, I prefer to add my effects and automations on each channel, its kind of a no brainer
How do you pan effects when doing it like that?
@@HARTYNMUGHES creating a group on the effect
Thank you!
Amazing video
Great video! Is there a way to solo a track that has an FX send on it and hear just that track AND the effect that has been applied to it through send/return? Seems the effect return gets cut off when you solo a track or group.
thanks man
Thanks Sam
yes no problem!
Hello! Thanks for the video! I have one question:
You are about to record some vocals and you have some vocal tracks (lead vocals and vocal layers) that require the same default plugins to get started. For example, you might have a standardized plugin chain like EQ, DeEsser, Compressor, Saturator, Reverb and Delay with default settings for every vocal track you produce.
To save CPU, instead of inserting this plugin chain in each vocal track, people usually suggest using a Return track and inserting the plugin chain there. Then, it's advised to increase the Send level of the vocal tracks to let the audio pass through the Return track and then to the Master.
However, unless the output of the vocal tracks changes from Master to Send Only, you will have double audio going through the master (the audio from the vocal tracks and the return track).
You could also group the vocals and send them to the return track, which leads to the same issue but with less flexibility in the individual tracks.
My question is what is the best practice in the above example, considering the need for further effects per track down the road, as well as gain staging and mixing overall?
Thank you!
Currently switching from protools to ableton. It's more complicated than ableton, but since ableton is so simplified it almost seems less intuitive than ProTools.🤔
It makes sense to me that you would increase the reverb to 100% and then adjust in the track from there, but what about the decay, just a common setting and then just adjust individually in the tracks from there? And can you still do automations? It's just pulling from the "reverb" track?
Thanks for a good and informative video.
In general struggle a bit to get on term with return tracks. Say I have a vocal and I want some reverb. Where do I return that reverb? On the master? Well, I tend to put some effects on there. Also, I tend to side chain my instruments with the vocals, so should the return then be to a separate bus mix with the vocals and the bus then being the sidechain signal, or just leave the reverb out of it? And if I blend it in a bus, way mess up the workflow with an additional bus track using a return track instead of adding it directly to the vocal track?
I can see the benefit in having a collective reverb for som instruments, but don't you want different reverb according to where you want them in your bus? I have been experimenting with 3 reverb channels, for near, far and mid-placed instruments, and this is one of the few real benefit I find from the return tracks. For the rest I often find individual settings overriding the general needs, e.g. compressors, saturations etc.
It would be very useful to have a guide on what general returns is useful in a mix and when.
The panel at the extreme right displaying i/o, R and M
is not showing on my Ableton Live 12. Please advise.
Is there a way to prevent return tracks from being "stickied". As in, if I have a lot of tracks and I want to scroll through them, I don't want the return tracks to stick, especially if I start having a lot of return tracks. What is the best way to.. hide them?
no...that's why I don't really use return tracks because it makes my sessions too messy.
@@samsmyers That's unfortunate because Logic makes it super easy to have a hundred return tracks because they're hidden out of view. I suppose with a large enough monitor this isn't as big of a problem.
What's the advantage of using a return track instead of just adding the audio effects directly to the vocal track?
Sometimes, you may have multiple vocal tracks. Applying return tracks to power multiple vocal or instrumental tracks not only makes the CPU work more efficiently but also enables parallel processing. This means that other effects and plug-ins you plan to add after the reverb, which were originally added on the individual tracks, can now be isolated or processed in parallel without being affected by the reverb. This is beneficial because chain effects after reverb or delay can sometimes result in a muddy sound. Parallel buses are commonly used for applying reverb and delay effects in order to avoid the chain effects on individual tracks and to have better control over the overall mix. By routing multiple tracks to a parallel bus and applying reverb or delay effects on that bus, you can maintain clarity and prevent muddiness caused by excessive or overlapping effects. This technique allows you to adjust the level of the affected signal and blend it with the dry signal to achieve the desired balance and spatial depth while avoiding any unwanted buildup of reverb or delay on individual tracks. It provides more control over the wet/dry mix and helps in maintaining a clean and well-defined sound.
@@j36skk my thoughts exactly I process all my vocals with effects, then export them, put them in a group and then use the chains, one for reverb first and then the delay one and you just automate to taste, that way the vocals dont lose ay clarity or punch cause you are in full controll of the dry/wet and automations
woah what song is this
I really don't understand this 100% thing. If I set the wet knob to 100%, but the decay is something specific, then I go to the track and change the percentage that gets sent to the return track, won't it change the percentage of both of those settings, not to mention all the other settings on the reverb filter? Why wouldn't everything be at 100%? Or why wouldn't you set the return track to the precise settings you like, and then raise the blue bar to 100?
question - with delay on a return track i can delay a word in the middle of a phrase and it will tail over the rest of the phrase. example: “this is a test” i can delay the word “is” with automation and the delay tail will bleed over “a test”. when i set up the send inside of a rack this doesn’t happen it just cuts the tail of the delay off when automating the chain volume. is there a way to set the delay send inside of a rack and have the middle word bleed over the phrase like you can using it on a regular return track?
can you send a return to another return please?
Useful!👍
Glad it was helpful!
if i record guitar and put distortion on my return, i can still hear the original clean recording underneath the distortion (if that makes sense). is there a way to have the clean/direct input muted so I only head the return distortion?
There will be a dropdown with a "Sends only" option on your guitar track
Hello, do you have any idea how we can use the same trick not on a track but on a group of tracks? I would like the same audio effect rack on my drum group and being able to send snare and hi hat separately
do you know why suddenly my return FX isn't working anymore on Live11? I've been using them forever and tried to find possible mistakes, but I have no clue. Is it maybe a Live11 bug? Any solution?
but in master there is two signals..........i only want weight signal from the return track ........🥺
so for a while now ive had problems with routing returns, what im essentially trying to do is set return to Post so that it will follow the effects i have on the send channel, for instance i have a low pass filter on a audio track , i send that channel to a return with reverb and set to Post, now when i turn down the low pass filter on the audio track i can still hear the return channel mostly unaffected by the filter. ive used many daws and ableton is great only except for this
hey can i know the track name please i couldnt find it and thanks for the tutorial
yes! Delove, Sam Smyers, Sonika Vaid - Choose You
Wouldn’t you just copy and paste the effects used on a channel and add to the other channels if you wanted to use that same effect on something else? That’s usually what I do
Exactly
You going to burn through cpu power doing that
ok this time has come......
Thank you!
Thank you!