Submixes

Submixes

Submixes, sometimes referred to a " stems ," are useful for several different reasons. If you are running out of available tracks for your project, performing a submix of a group of similar tracks can create some breathing room for you. You might decide to mix the drums to a stereo pair, the rhythm guitars to a stereo pair, and the background vocals to a stereo pair, and then use these submixes to construct your final mix. Let's look at three ways to create a submix on the VS-2480.

Submixes on the AUX Busses

One very common way to create a submix is using an AUX bus. Every time you send more than one track to a loop effect, you are creating a submix on an AUX bus. The AUX busses may be routed to recording tracks for printing. Linked pairs of AUX busses can be used to create stereo submixes and can be routed to linked pairs of recording tracks.

You can set up the VS-2480 in such a way that you can create AUX mixes using the faders. This feature makes creating a mix on an AUX bus as intuitive as normal mixing, complete with flying faders .

The trick is the VS-2480's Knob/Fader Assign feature. When invoked, it allows either the Pan knobs or the track faders themselves to be used to control any of the eight AUX mixes or a single user -selected parameter across all tracks. I prefer to use the faders instead of the knobs, and I will refer to faders in the rest of this discussion. Make your selection in the UTILITY GLOBAL PARAMETERS menu.

To invoke the Knob/Fader Assign mode, press the KNOB/FDR ASSIGN button, located along the right side of the Locator/Marker/Scene area. The button flashes to remind you that the faders no longer represent your current main mix. The numeric buttons now become AUX select buttons. Press numeric buttons 1 - 8 to access the corresponding AUX bus mixes. For each AUX bus mix, you can select any of the four input and track fader groups to view and adjust.

This can all get pretty confusing at first, but with a little practice, you can create and modify AUX mixes with ease.

Submixes via Routing

Using the Routing screen, you can create either a mono or a stereo submix. To create a stereo submix, the destination must be a linked pair of tracks. If you are creating a stereo submix, the standard channel Pan knobs on the individual source tracks will control their stereo placement within the submix.

In the Routing screen's Track Assign area, connect all the source tracks from the Track Mixer to the destination recording track (or track pair).

The Quick Routing feature of the VS-2480 can help you set up your routing in a hurry, using only the TRACK STATUS and CH EDIT buttons. Let's set up a submix using Quick Routing. For our example, we'll set up a mono submix on recording track 9.

Press and hold track 9's TRACK STATUS button. All the TRACK STATUS and CH EDIT buttons except track 9 will start blinking, and the Quick Routing screen, as shown in Figure 18.1, will be presented.

Figure 18.1. The Quick Routing screen

In Quick Routing, the TRACK STATUS buttons represent the destination recording track, and the CH EDIT buttons represent the sources. The Fader Assign buttons also flash, indicating that you may select sources and destinations from all four fader groups.

Track 9's TRACK STATUS button is solid green, indicating that Track 9 is the destination track. Let's submix tracks 10 - 13 to track 9. Press each of these four tracks' CH EDIT buttons to select them. As you press each one, a line appears on the Quick Routing screen indicating a connection from the source track to the destination track. Figure 18.2 shows the Quick Routing screen after the four source tracks have been selected

Figure 18.2. A mono submix routing

Now that the submix is routed, you must arm the destination track to record in order to monitor the submix. The individual fader and channel strip settings of the source tracks will determine the actual content of the submix. The destination track's fader and channel strip settings will determine how the submix is presented to the Master bus. One advantage of setting up a submix via routing is that you can hear the submix within the context of the entire mix.

Submixes via Mastering

Submixes achieved via the mastering room are always stereo submixes. The process is quite simple. Set up a mix exactly the way you want your submix to sound, all by itself. Invoke the mastering room, but leave the CDR button off. This will create a stereo pair of tracks in the native recording mode of the project. After recording the submix, you may select the V-Tracks 23/24 that contain the submix and phrase move the submix to another set of linked tracks, if desired.

One advantage of creating submixes via the mastering room is the fact that the process is intuitive. What you hear is what you get, including any effects. The main disadvantage is that you cannot hear the rest of the mix. This may be viewed as a distraction by some, but it does allow you to fully concentrate on the submix itself, knowing that the submixed track may be further processed in the final mix.