I thank God for @Johnny_Moneto bringing up this idea to me with regard to being able to duplicate busses!
My initial request was to be able to duplicate my 2 Bus in the event that I want to try out different processing chains to hear what works well. In Pro Tools, I can simply duplicate the track, and then mute one of them, and then select them both, and hit Shift M to toggle the Mute in real time, thus, hearing the differences in real time.
He suggested Direct Outs. I didn’t get it at first, but then I came across a video on Youtube from Lanewood Studios, and he talked about Direct Outs. He demonstrated how you can select the Direct Out that you want and you’ll hear whichever one you choose (which is what @Johnny_Moneto actually demonstrated as well, but I didn’t get it at the time). Thank the Lord a light bulb came on! haha
A little background; in Pro Tools, I would usually have what I called a “2 MSTR” which essentially showed me what the input of my 2 BUS was, and if it was getting hot, it would be a great way to trim back the audio into the 2 BUS.
Well, if I create a Group Track called 2 MSTR and then send that to my 2 BUS, this essentially allows me to have the same kind of visual setup as I did in Pro Tools where the 2 MSTR shows the signal, and if it’s hitting too hot, I can trim it down with the gain and visually see where everything is living, which is great! The bonus is that I can now use Direct Out on my 2 MSTR track to actually send that to a 2 BUS duplicate in the event that I want to try another 2 BUS chain for a mix, and switch between them in real time to audition them with just a simple click! What a blessing!
Further, I just learned that I can use Direct Outs to send to my Sidechain gates on my drums as to not use up any Sends! FURTHER, when I need to have a gate on two different Kick tracks (Kick In and Kick Out), I can use the direct outs and have them both work at the same time by right clicking the Direct Out tab for the Key Spike track and choose “Summing Mode”.
What’s even better, is that you can choose “Summing Mode” on a track by track basis, which leaves the 2 MSTR and 2 BUS auditioning as one single click to toggle!
Super amazing!
I’m not sure how this may affect bouncing Stems in the event you want the sidechain information printed, but if there are any cons to what I am understanding with sidechains and Direct Outs, I would love to hear it!
Thanks again for the info @Johnny_Moneto !