Ok I know I'm going to sound like a super noob but can someone please just explain Sends, Returns and Busses on a mixing board or in programs. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fundamentals. Thanks in advance.
Send: is an output on a mixer used to feed an fx (or fx chain)
Return: is an input where the (processed) send signal can "return" to the mixer
Bus: im not sure in this one but i think it used to make sub-mixes eg. you can send all of your separated drum elements to bus1 instead of directly to the master then you can adjust the entire drum track's level by adjusting bus1 level.
A bus is like a path where you can route audio to. Some typical cases are the stereo mix bus and aux send busses. You can take the audio back out of the path at another point so you can e.g. feed the stereo mix to an external output connected to your speakers, and an aux send to an internal effects plugin.
You also have a number of generic busses which you can route wherever you want to. For example you can route all your drums channels to bus 1 and 2, and then make a new audio track called 'drums' with these busses at the input, and you can control the level of the entire drumkit with one fader, and put effects and dynamics on the entire drumkit.
All this stuff is typically set up in the I/O section of your channels. You can pick an input, and route audio to aux send busses, generic busses and the stereo mix bus.
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