What are the basics of audio routing?

Audio routing refers to the signal flow in your audio configuration, whether it is a hardware platform or production software like a DAW.

In any musical context, a kind of “signal” (whether sound waves, electric signal or digital and zeros) must travel from one place to another.

When you play the electric guitar, the signal starts at the strings of your ax, where it is captured by the microphones on the body of the guitar. This signal (which is now an electrical voltage) could then be transported to effects that modify the signal. He then goes to an amplifier before being pushed into the air.

In electronic music creation configurations, the signal flow can become more complicated. You might think of the disorderly patchbays found in a well -equipped studio, or the cable forest that exceeds a modular synth. But audio routing is not only relevant in the material field. It is just as crucial in software production, where it is easy to set up intelligent and complex DAW signal roads.

What is routing in a DAW?

The audio routing in a DAW refers to the path by which a signal takes when generated when you hear it. The DAW signal routing usually starts with a sound source such as an audio file or a synthesizer. Finally, it reaches the release of your DAW, where it can be sent to your speakers or helmet, or plump on an audio file for subsequent listening.

Many things can happen between these two points. The signal could be sent through effects that transform it in a creative way. It can be grouped with other signals, or duplicated and sent several tracks.

Modern DAWs allow almost unlimited audio routing configurations. Indeed, the power to manage complex signal flows is one of the forces of software production. Learn to master this complexity will extend the scope of your music.

To better understand audio routing in a DAW, we must learn certain key terms, starting with “bus”.

What is a bus?

A bus, or mixing bus, is a channel that takes the signal of several channels and groups them in a single signal.