The Art and Science of Mixing and Producing Music

The Art and Science of Mixing and Producing Music

The Template Of Doom...Part 2

Effects and Main Stereo Bus

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Mike Butler
Feb 09, 2024
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In my last newsletter I laid out the basics of my mix template and some of the ways I route things. This time I’ll cover my effects layout and stereo bus processing. For those of you who read this and don’t actually mix in a computer, I apologize in advance. This is some serious nerd shit.

Effects

Part of my system includes a detailed I/O matrix that has everything labeled specifically for my template. So, I not only have bus outputs setup for all of my folders (Drums A, Drums B, etc), but also all of my effects are listed by name. That way I’m not fiddling around trying to remember if Bus 13-14 is the Stereo Spring Reverb or the Doubler. I always know at a glance what is going where because it’s clearly labeled and I don’t deviate from that. Part of making that work is to be sure I have pretty much everything I might need in a mix available to me at all times. Which means I have lots of effects busses set up. Of course I don’t use them all every mix, but I tried to set it up so I don’…

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