Greetings

I was wondering what exactly dose the word " Bus " means in music production?

I have been checking on a lot of Tutorials, Education material and YouTube Guides but unfortunately didn't find a specific video that explains it very well and what's the difference if I let's say grouped my Drum's "Kick,Snare,Clap..." in one Group? can't I do all the things that can be done in the Bus?

I'm just trying to build my knowledge and whenever I don't really understand the words it really bothers me because I think that it really matters in making Amazing music most of the intros and videos from professionals in the field mention them.

Thank you for reading and helping

 

Bus is a channel, when you transfer signal from one (or more) channel directly to another, its a bus!
For example you have have 3 tracks and send all three of them to another channel, that channel is a bus.
Thats it !
Anyone seeing this, If i'm missing something feel free to correct me !!!

 

Wrong approach (those millennials ).

Startpage -> 'mix bus' -> first hit:
https://mackie.com/blog/what-mix-bus

 

That grouping together and sending is called bussing (with a double ss). Desks can have dedicated busses that all you needed to do on the channel that you were sending was to push the correct button already in the channel or use patch cables to patch or over. Auxiliary sends can work the same way.

 

As Mister Grimm said, a bus/subgroup is a group channel to which you can send other tracks to. A bus holds a lot of people/channels (and cars and trucks). The good thing is you can bus busses to a bus (sums of grouped tracks, to busses, further to a bus). The final bus is usually called "mixbus", which then goes to the master.

 

Riff Clichard.

 

 

Last edited: Dec 23, 2019

Greetings all Thank you all for your input!

I see, but what dose it do exactly? I mean what are the benefits of it and is it any difference than just Grouping the tracks? I'm using Ableton Live 10 and some websites that I visited say that before when DAW's were a bit more simple didn't have the option to group tracks correctly, now most DAW's have Grouping and it isn't as necessary to make a Buss's as before. maybe I have understood it wrong..

Noted! Thank you for sharing! But did't understand "wrong approach" am I doing something wrong? I'm just doing as many members here suggested and check a lot of Tutorials and Guides. How can I learn then?

Noted! but I think you referring to live sets and hardware that's associated with it, my question is basically Bussing in DAW's and the benefits of it.

Noted! I'm a bit confused about " The good thing is you can bus busses to a bus (sums of grouped tracks, to busses, further to a bus). The final bus is usually called "mixbus" " maybe you can elaborate on that a bit more ?

Awesome Material Noted! Thank you for sharing!

Appreciate all the help

 

I just meant that busses can be routed into busses, and further into busses (like streams of water).

 

One thing even an amateur like me might do a lot is to use busses as a way to solo or mute groups easily, so you can hear various parts together.
Of course those who know what they are doing will process grouped channels, but that only complicates it for me at my level

 

drums mostly always on a bus
-
bus also for glue'ing
-
on slutz they say 2bus is master but 2bus is last bus before master bus , am i wrong ?
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/mastering-for-beginners/133150-what-2bus.html

 

So lets just say you want reverb on 3 tracks. You can put 3 reverberation on the individual tracks, or send all 3 tracks to a bus, and put reverberation on the bus. SO you save 66% CPU, and it's easier to manage the settings.

 

R

Rather than give you a long explanation from my point of reference, I included a link to follow that should more precisely explain.

Some common types:
AC Electrical Distribution Bus
DC Electrical Distribution Bus
Audio Distribution Bus (DC voltage/current)

Mix Bus 101: Why, When, and How to Group Tracks into a Bus

 

LOL- I liked your comment, then read the "Mix Bus 101".
In my very humble opinion, that explanations SUCKS!
And i know it because i NEED "Mix Bus 101"!
Well, maybe it's not so bad, but the story about kids and colored T-shirts kinda triggered me somehow
But seriously, about half of the extra words cut out would make it pretty clear.
( I do like iZotope stuff and understand routing pretty well, but maybe I am just touchy today)

 

Guess what's at the bottom of that page:

"Here is a video explaining how to use Subgroup (or bus) on a DL Series mixer." -> YouTube Guide ,

 

Wikipedia: Audio Bus

 

Well, you didn't get any useful result, right?
Just use a search engine type in 'mix bus' and read the articles. You know, there're still some people out there who share their knowledge written not shot.

 

Or you use an individually adjusted send for the three tracks (and of course a send return track).

 

Who cares about the bottom?