Using Effects "Sends"

This is how the reverbs from Module 2 actually reached the drums and vocals. Coming from a DAW (Logic, Pro Tools, Ableton), you’re used to inserting a plugin right on a channel. Pros instead send to a shared effect — and here’s why it’s better.

Why send instead of insert

If you put a reverb directly on the vocal channel, it lives only on that channel and eats processing power — you can’t afford one on every channel. Instead, set up one reverb and share it: every channel that wants reverb taps a little of its signal off to it. One effect, many users, resources freed.

How a send works (water-pipe, continued)

The vocal comes down its pipe and you still hear it — but you tee off a little and send it to the vocal reverb. On this console these taps are mix sends (your board may call them aux sends). You set one up, label it “vocal reverb,” and raise the send on each channel to control how much of that channel goes to the reverb.

The fader-flip (“send mode”)

When you press a send (e.g. the vocal-reverb send), the faders stop controlling house volume and temporarily become send-amount controls for that destination — exactly like building a monitor wedge mix. Raise a channel’s fader in this mode and you’re adding that channel’s level into the reverb, not into the house. Press out and the faders go back to normal volume control.

Behind the scenes you also tell the effects rack to receive its input from that mix/aux — some one-time programming, then it just works. (Consult your console’s manual.)

Add here, control there

There’s a balancing act:

• Send amount (in send mode): how much of each channel feeds the reverb.
• Return level (the reverb’s own fader): the overall amount of reverb in the mix.

Adjust an individual channel’s reverb in send mode; adjust the overall reverb on the return. If you’ve got too much reverb overall, pull it back at the send end, not by dragging the return way down — because you want to keep your faders up near unity (0).

Faders are logarithmic — keep them up near 0 for the most natural, intuitive control. If a fader ends up way down at the bottom, fix the level upstream (at the send or the gain) instead.

Application

• Build one shared reverb on a mix/aux send and feed several channels into it instead of inserting per-channel.
• Practice flipping into send mode and back so you always know whether your faders are riding house or sends.
• Check your fader positions — anything pinned near the bottom means you should rebalance upstream.