Auxilary and Sub-Mix Busses in Reaper

Summery: I explain the differences between auxiliary buses and sub-mix buses. When and why you would use them. Then I show how to implement them in Reaper. As an alternative to sub-mix buses I cover track folders in Reaper.

I thought the best way to convey the info was through videos. There is one on Reaper and track folders, one on Reaper and traditional sub-mix and auxiliary bus set ups, and one just on the theoretical differences between the two bus types.

Background: I was talking to a long time musician friend and he asked me what an auxiliary buss was. He wasn’t new to music, or even recording, but mixing was never his focus. Since I was already doing some video on busing in Reaper I decided to pull back and cover buses from the beginning.

Here I point out the fundamental differences between the two bus types and how they are typically used. I don’t cover how to implement them up in Reaper. That’s the next two videos.

Here I set up aux and sub-mix busses in Reaper. I use a traditional approach where a track is routed to behave like a bus.

Here I show another perhaps better way to create sub-mix busses; folder tracks.