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Inputs and Outputs by Marc Schonbrun

Another important aspect of working with a DAW is controlling the physical input and output of your connected hardware. You'll typically find inputs and outputs controlled in the mixer window (although some have it elsewhere). With USB and FireWire interfaces sporting 8 or more channels, you'll want to make sure that each track points to the right input. Figure 12-8 shows the input selector in Pro Tools.

Each track will have a selectable input. When tracks are created, they default to an available input based on the number of input tracks you have. For example, if your interface has 8 possible inputs and you add 8 tracks, the inputs will auto assign to inputs 1-8. You can change this at any time through the input selector. Remember, if you're recording into a stereo track, you will need to configure both inputs!

Figure 12-8: Input settings

Figure 12-9: Output settings

Outputs are typically much simpler. Most home recording and mixing is done with a pair of speakers plugged into outputs 1 and 2, so for the vast majority of users, as long as your speakers are plugged into the correct outputs, you're good to go since created tracks typically default to outputs 1 and 2. Figure 12-9 shows the output settings in Pro Tools.

Sends

Not all effects live happily as insert effects. Reverb is a great example of an effect that you typically don't put in a track insert. Instead, reverb is placed on a separate track, called an auxiliary track. To get your audio from your track onto the auxiliary, you have to send the audio to the auxiliary. Because you're sending a copy of the audio, you get a mix of dry uneffected audio and the reverberant sound.

To do this, you'll need to use a send on your track. Sends are typically under the insert effects. Most DAWs support sends as they're a basic way to route audio for mixing.

When you bring up a send, it won't show you effects. You have to think of a send as an invisible cable. If this were a real mixer, you'd have to connect the mixer to a piece of hardware with a patch cable. In a DAW, it's done invisibly, so it may be confusing if a DAW is your first mixer.

When you choose a send, you pick which path you're going to send the audio in. These are called buses. Buses let you move audio from place to place. In this case, you want to send your audio to the reverb auxiliary track. Pick an unused bus. On the auxiliary track, set that track's input to the same bus you just choose and insert the reverb effect. Now the two tracks are linked up. See Figure 12-10 for a shot of how this is done in Pro Tools.

Figure 12-10: Routing to a send