Get on the Right Bus and Improve Recording Efficiency

Proper bus routing and submixing techniques will increase your efficiency in the studio and raise your DAW’s tracking power.Nothing can make you sweat quicker than having computer-related issues when tracking an artist or a band: millisecond delays in headphone mixes, plugins lagging, glitchy performance from your DAW. Even if you’re tracking only yourself, it is frustrating and breaks your creative flow. For this Dojo, I want to give you some tips for staying in the flow and keeping your cool.Harnessing the Power of Buses and Submixes.For the modern guitarist venturing into home recording, your computer’s power and your DAW can be both a blessing or a bottleneck. As creative possibilities expand, so does the strain on your computer’s CPU. Fortunately, one of the most powerful tools for optimizing your recording workflow and CPU usage comes from the tried-and-true, old-school, analog domain: proper bus routing and submixing techniques.Efficient Signal FlowIn the world of digital recording, a bus is essentially a virtual pathway that allows multiple audio tracks to be routed to a single auxiliary (aux) track. This aux track can then be processed with effects like reverb, delay, EQ, or compression, applying the same settings to all routed tracks simultaneously. For guitarists, this is particularly useful when layering rhythm tracks, harmonies, or ambient textures that all benefit from similar effects.Why Use Buses?CPU Efficiency: Instead of inserting the same reverb plugin on five different guitar tracks, route all of them to a bus with a single reverb instance.Consistent Sound: Buses help glue multiple guitar tracks together, ensuring a cohesive tone.Simplified Mixing: Adjusting levels or automation on a single bus affects all associated tracks, saving time and effort.Submixes: Organizing Your Sonic PaletteSubmixes are essentially buses with a specific organizational role. In larger sessions, creating submixes for instrument families (e.g., drums, guitars, vocals) helps maintain clarity and control. For home-recording guitarists, a common approach is to create submixes for:Clean guitarsOverdriven/distorted guitarsAmbient or effects-heavy guitarsEach submix can have tailored processing chains appropriate to the tone and role of those particular guitar parts. For instance, you might apply light compression and stereo widening on clean guitars, while distorted parts could benefit from dynamic EQ and multiband compression.“Another great trick if you’re running low on CPU power with a large track count is to bounce or ‘render in place’ any finalized parts.”Practical Setup ExampleLet’s say you’ve recorded:three rhythm guitar tracks (L, R, center)two lead parts with delayone ambient swell trackThen set up three stereo buses and route rhythm guitars (three tracks) into stereo bus one, leads (two tracks) into stereo bus two, and finally the ambient guitar to a more generic stereo bus that will be used by other tracks in your mix and to bring some cohesion. Lightening the CPU LoadModern plugins can be CPU-intensive, especially convolution reverbs, amp simulators, or complex modulation effects. Routing similar instruments through buses allows you to:Use one amp sim plugin on a bus during the writing/mixing phasePrint or freeze tracks with final effects before the mastering stageAutomate bus bypassing when a group isn’t active in a section to reduce processingAnother great trick if you’re running low on CPU power with a large track count is to bounce or “render in place” any finalized parts. Once you’re happy with a guitar tone, turn it into a static audio file, removing the need for real-time plugin processing.Classic TechniquesFinally, in classic pop production—think the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, or Michael Jackson—engineers relied on submixes even in the analog domain. Drums, guitars, vocals, and backing vocals were often premixed to stereo stems to facilitate real-time mixing without modern automation.Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound famously involved routing dozens of instrumental layers into a single bus and feeding that into a reverb chamber. The result was a lush, unified soundscape. This same idea applies today: Guitar tracks layered for harmonic richness can be routed into a reverb bus to achieve that enveloping texture.Smart Routing, Better ResultsCreating buses and submixes may seem like advanced engineering, but it’s simply smart organization. For the home-recording guitarist, this practice not only streamlines workflow but also ensures a more professional-sounding mix. By mimicking tried-and-true studio practices as well as optimizing for CPU load, you can focus less on troubleshooting and more on making music.So, whether you're recording your next EP or collaborating online, harness the power of bus routing to bring clarity, control, and character to your guitar tracks. Until next month, namaste.