Sonar Tip for August 37

This is not nearly the quality of an Anderton tip which is why it got bumped to the 27th of August.  I am certainly not an expert and don't pretend to be, but I found this helpful and it may work for you.
 
**Send everything to buses.** For example, here are the buses in the project currently on my screen:
 
Master
Lead Vocals
Harmonies
Bass <<Even though there is only one bass
Drums
Guitars
Keyboards <<Sometimes one and sometimes several.  If I have a pad, I put it here.
Strings << Sometimes this is orchestra or other sweetening
Sound Effects
Vocal Reverb
Drum Reverb
Instrument Reverb
 
Except for the master and the reverbs, there are track folders corresponding the the buses and in the same order.
 
I do the various fades and changes within the individual tracks.  If I need to raise or lower the overall level, I just adjust one node for each bus.  I can also put an effect on a bus instead of on every track.
 
In the case of the bass, I could have slight fader movements to bring out a line, but even if I don't, it is easier to have everything in buses so I'm not jumping around when adjusting levels.
 
By the way, sometimes Metronome shows up as a bus and sometimes it doesn't.  I don't care, but I am curious why.
 
Regarding the order:  It doesn't matter but I usually put the bass folder right above the drums with the kick in the top of the drum folder.  That way they are right next to each other since the first thing I do in a mix is work on the kick and bass together.
 
 

  I was embarrassed to write this considering the quality of Craig's work, so I'm glad it was helpful!

...and BTW, one of the reasons I posted that thread was to encourage others to post tips, as you have done...not intimidate anyone!!

Konrad,
 
Do you have the template of this setup?
 
Also, I'd like to see an area where people upload project templates and such so that people can try different ways of to record/configure a session. Same with FX chains.

Thanks for the encouragement.  I have not created a template but I could look into that.
 
***Only barely related thought:***
One sort of mini-template I do have (extremely specific) is a set of controllers and text comments I paste in for RealGuitar (which I use on almost everything).  That way I can easily set up chords v solo, chord positions, etc. without trying to remember which controller is which, what controller values do what, etc.

Same here Konrad. A tip is a tip and I'm grateful for any I can get. So thanks.

I have been doing something similar. The reason I started doing it was I would open older projects, look at it and ask myself "WTF was I doing?" Nothing made sense. It would take a considerable amount of time to figure it out. So I realized I needed some type of organization. And came up with something close to what you do Konradh.