Does Waveform 13 Offer Buss Creation?
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- KVRer
- 4 posts since 11 Aug, 2024
On my Luna DAW using my Apollo Twin X I can easily create a "Buss" to allow for sending say reverb over to the buss controlling the levels of it independently from any track if desired, and even bypass it printing if so. I haven't dived into the details on Waveform in this regard yet but wondered if anyone is able to our is using this method? I didn't see it obviously noted.
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- KVRAF
- 4891 posts since 3 Jan, 2003 from Vancouver
Waveform doesn't conform to hardware ideas, since it's not hardware and doesn't need to limit itself. What Waveform has is Aux Send and Aux Return plugins. Add an Aux Send plugin to a track anywhere in the chain of effects and then add an Aux Return plugin to another track.
Each Aux Send and Aux Return plugin can choose one of 32 busses to send to / receive from.
I can't say if it works the same or worse or better than Luna since I have never used Luna or even seen it. I have to say I'm a bit confused by your description of its workflow. Most DAWs I have seen will add an Aux Send on a track that sends audio to an Aux Bus and that Aux Bus will hold the reverb plugin. it sounds like your reverb plugin is on the initial track and only its audio is being routed to the Aux Bus. I think that could be replicated in Waveform using a Rack, but I'm not sure why you would want to.
Each Aux Send and Aux Return plugin can choose one of 32 busses to send to / receive from.
I can't say if it works the same or worse or better than Luna since I have never used Luna or even seen it. I have to say I'm a bit confused by your description of its workflow. Most DAWs I have seen will add an Aux Send on a track that sends audio to an Aux Bus and that Aux Bus will hold the reverb plugin. it sounds like your reverb plugin is on the initial track and only its audio is being routed to the Aux Bus. I think that could be replicated in Waveform using a Rack, but I'm not sure why you would want to.
Surely there must be consensus by now...
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- KVRian
- 524 posts since 16 Mar, 2017
There are a few ways to do the equivalent of this (or similar things) in Waveform, depending on the exact requirements and the goal.
Aux Send & Return Method
As @pough noted, there are Aux Send and Aux Return plugins which let you effectively treat an ordinary track as a bus. Not only can you have multiple copies of Aux Send sending signals into the same bus, but this approach also allows you to have multiple copies of Aux Return bringing the signal out of the bus, so you could theoretically have multiple tracks receiving the same bus signal and running different plugin chains in parallel, each one fed the same levels of the same signals. This is the most direct equivalent to what you are asking for.
You can choose where to tap the signal from a track by where you place the Aux Send plugin - place it at the beginning of the plugin chan for a pre-FX send, just before the "fader" plugin for a post-FX pre-fader send, after the "fader" plugin for a post-fader send, or in any other appropriate place in the chain.
One disadvantage of this approach is that there is a fixed number of busses to work with - if you need more than 32, you will need to take a different approach for some of them. I would expect 32 busses to be far more than enough for most users, however.
Plugin Rack
With the Pro version of Waveform you can also use plugin racks. When you "copy" a rack from one track to another, it is actually adding the same rack to each track, and when you open the rack, you can "wire" the various inputs and outputs arbitrarily. You can bury effect plugins inside the rack and send different signal chains through various plugins, combining them in numerous ways - it is very flexible, and with a bit of practice, you can do things with this that cannot be done using the other options.
This is not limited to a fixed number of busses, and allows arbitrary placement on each track, along with parallel processing, and reusing an effect for multiple tracks. If you are not familiar with them, it can have a bit of a learning curve for many users, and takes a bit more effort to set up and maintain.
If you run out of busses, or you want more sophisticated plugin routing capabilities, this is the next option to turn to (if you have the Pro version) when the options below do not apply (as they often will not).
Track Output Destination
A somewhat related feature for doing something a bit different is that you can route the output of a track into another track directly using the menu that shows up if you click the speaker icon at the right side of the output section. This does not process the sound in parallel, however, so it works more like a subgroup than an FX send - you can pick *one* destination for the track that way, and it always comes at the very end of the plugin chain. It does have the advantage of not being limited by the fixed number of busses, and of not requiring any plugins to be inserted.
Rather than for use with effects, this option is more often helpful for subgroup operation if you don't want to take the "folder" approach, and for working with external "analog summing" hardware (for those who are so inclined).
Dry/Wet Levels
When using any 3rd-party effect plugin (not available with all of the internal Waveform plugins), there are Dry Level and Wet Level controls under "Parameters" in the panel at the bottom of the window (when it is expanded into what many have taken to calling "useful mode"). These can be used to mix the plugin's output inline with the original audio, but that mix takes place within the track and immediately after the processing of that one plugin, so this is only useful in a handful of special cases, and does not allow plugins to be shared across tracks. Some plugins already have this feature built-in, but this can help in some cases where they do not.
In a limited number of cases this can be a useful alternative to routing to a bus if the purpose is simply to process the sound in parallel, and the plugin is only used in one place.
Aux Send & Return Method
As @pough noted, there are Aux Send and Aux Return plugins which let you effectively treat an ordinary track as a bus. Not only can you have multiple copies of Aux Send sending signals into the same bus, but this approach also allows you to have multiple copies of Aux Return bringing the signal out of the bus, so you could theoretically have multiple tracks receiving the same bus signal and running different plugin chains in parallel, each one fed the same levels of the same signals. This is the most direct equivalent to what you are asking for.
You can choose where to tap the signal from a track by where you place the Aux Send plugin - place it at the beginning of the plugin chan for a pre-FX send, just before the "fader" plugin for a post-FX pre-fader send, after the "fader" plugin for a post-fader send, or in any other appropriate place in the chain.
One disadvantage of this approach is that there is a fixed number of busses to work with - if you need more than 32, you will need to take a different approach for some of them. I would expect 32 busses to be far more than enough for most users, however.
Plugin Rack
With the Pro version of Waveform you can also use plugin racks. When you "copy" a rack from one track to another, it is actually adding the same rack to each track, and when you open the rack, you can "wire" the various inputs and outputs arbitrarily. You can bury effect plugins inside the rack and send different signal chains through various plugins, combining them in numerous ways - it is very flexible, and with a bit of practice, you can do things with this that cannot be done using the other options.
This is not limited to a fixed number of busses, and allows arbitrary placement on each track, along with parallel processing, and reusing an effect for multiple tracks. If you are not familiar with them, it can have a bit of a learning curve for many users, and takes a bit more effort to set up and maintain.
If you run out of busses, or you want more sophisticated plugin routing capabilities, this is the next option to turn to (if you have the Pro version) when the options below do not apply (as they often will not).
Track Output Destination
A somewhat related feature for doing something a bit different is that you can route the output of a track into another track directly using the menu that shows up if you click the speaker icon at the right side of the output section. This does not process the sound in parallel, however, so it works more like a subgroup than an FX send - you can pick *one* destination for the track that way, and it always comes at the very end of the plugin chain. It does have the advantage of not being limited by the fixed number of busses, and of not requiring any plugins to be inserted.
Rather than for use with effects, this option is more often helpful for subgroup operation if you don't want to take the "folder" approach, and for working with external "analog summing" hardware (for those who are so inclined).
Dry/Wet Levels
When using any 3rd-party effect plugin (not available with all of the internal Waveform plugins), there are Dry Level and Wet Level controls under "Parameters" in the panel at the bottom of the window (when it is expanded into what many have taken to calling "useful mode"). These can be used to mix the plugin's output inline with the original audio, but that mix takes place within the track and immediately after the processing of that one plugin, so this is only useful in a handful of special cases, and does not allow plugins to be shared across tracks. Some plugins already have this feature built-in, but this can help in some cases where they do not.
In a limited number of cases this can be a useful alternative to routing to a bus if the purpose is simply to process the sound in parallel, and the plugin is only used in one place.
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- KVRian
- 500 posts since 3 Dec, 2021
Inputs. Slightly off on a tangent, but part of the picture, you can set any tracks input to receive audio from another track. This will be captured by arming that input and recording. This is an online process, so the 'feeder' track stays active and you can tweak fx plugins in real time and capture your changes live.
Pough and fde have covered it pretty much, Waveform is extremely flexible in this department, but you have to use a bit of brain power and create your own signal path.
Important note: as to rendering stems there are some quirks/problems that come with the flexibility. You might try to render a track and get the annoying 'didn't find any audio to render' dialogue. Waveform in its current versions only seems to be able to capture the signal to render at the point where it outputs to the 'default audio out', and you need to actively select/solo/mute/enable/disable things or temporarily change track outputs to render a stem. This will either make sense to you immediately or it will soon, based on your original question. Come back and ask specific questions if you need to.
Pough and fde have covered it pretty much, Waveform is extremely flexible in this department, but you have to use a bit of brain power and create your own signal path.
Important note: as to rendering stems there are some quirks/problems that come with the flexibility. You might try to render a track and get the annoying 'didn't find any audio to render' dialogue. Waveform in its current versions only seems to be able to capture the signal to render at the point where it outputs to the 'default audio out', and you need to actively select/solo/mute/enable/disable things or temporarily change track outputs to render a stem. This will either make sense to you immediately or it will soon, based on your original question. Come back and ask specific questions if you need to.