What are some of your favorite effects chains via sends and aux outs on your mixer?

The Lounge Other Gear
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What are some of your favorite effects chains via sends and aux outs on your mixer? Would you like to share some of your tips and tricks when creating effect chains?

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I’m using the new Allen & Heath CQ-18T mixer, with its six aux outputs assigned as three stereo pairs:

  • L/R to send any inputs I choose to Octatrack (OT has its dedicated L/R input)
  • L/R to Echo Fix tape delay (which has its own return via XLR to an input)
  • L/R send to:
    Strymon Zelzah
    Strymon Volante
    Chase Bliss/Meris CXM 1978

That last FX send returns via the auxiliary stereo input pair. If I wish, I can resend the FX chain out to OT, or Echo Fix as well (if I wanted to sample just the effects, or add real tape delay to a reverb from the CXM for example.)

I mapped one of the three configurable soft keys to a mute function for the FX, making it easy to kill any inputs to the FX (without muting the effect chain itself.)

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I’ve got an SSL big six, an H90 and an MPC - I usually run the H90 for both of my two aux sends, but then return on to mixer channels so I can send them back into each other, EQ etc.

I’ve got my MPC on the extra B bus output (mixers like this and a lot of Mackies are great cause you can avoid having to repatch stuff.)

Lately I’ve been sampling 100% wet FX back into my MPC and create drum programs that let me play back the tails/delays and original sounds in various combinations/treatments.

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Using the MPC as a send target, that’s a great idea I hadn’t considered! Thank you for sharing your configuration!

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Just wanted to share a recent experiment with the CQ-18T. I took the Echo Fix, routed its output to the FX sends, routed the FX inputs back into the Echo Fix to create a tweak-able feedback loop. One fader is all I need to ride the levels, keeping it just on the safe edge of getting out of control.

Sending any instrument(s) to Echo Fix, then, creates a fun swell and pitch-shifted cloud–using in this case the CXM 1978 and Strymon Zelzah.

(Inspired by old school Daniel Lanois / Brian Eno techniques.)

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Awesome, thanks for sharing this technique! I’d love to hear some examples in action it you’d like to share.

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Certainly! Always happy to share. I recorded a quick sketch showing the color it adds to a short passage played on an Osmose. Effects are all hardware, like I described here in your topic.

Cheers!

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Wow, that’s a huge sound! Thank you for sharing!

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