Best Way to Multitrack/Monitor - 002R

[Soliton]

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[LoZion]

Hi Tom, hope this can help...

Yes, the lo latency option does work well if you dont insert plugs on the record-ready track. If you do need to compress or eq then assign the track you're recording on to a bus, insert your desired plug on that bus, then assign the bus to your outputs. That way you can control your various levels for playback. This brings us to routing which is quite complex and versatile in the Protools world.

Basically, you should use the aux sends primarily as FX sends. What you could do is assign all your drum tracks to a stereo bus (not a aux) by changing the outputs of the tracks to say, bus 1-2 (stereo so you can pan) then create a stereo aux input (just like when you create a new audio track) and then change that aux track inputs to, you guessed it, bus 1-2 (by default, that aux track will have its outputs set to 1&2 for playback).

I usually create at least 4 stereo busses for drums, guitares, keyboards and vocals. You can use up to 16 busses with protools so the other busses could be used as aux inputs on which you can insert reverbs.
For example, create an aux input, change its input to bus 9-10 and its output to your drum bus (1-2). Insert a reverb on it.
Now go to your snare track and open an aux send. Assign this aux to bus 9-10. Use the fader to determine the right amount to send to your reverb input and balance your reverb return fader (aux input) to your taste. Now insert a comp on your drum bus and get that snare cracking! BTW, with this set-up your snare reverb will be compressed as well, right?

This combination is just one in a million and whats fun with protools is experimenting with routing. I'm sure other engineers will have a thousand schemes to propose... Lets see if any will pick up the flag!

Cheers,

PS: the shortcut to assign either busses or auxes is option-shift click.