trying to record - bus to audio

Hi All,
 
I'm preparing to make an audio file of my piece - which has several audio tracks that feed into a bus (and a bunch of midi tracks).  How do I get the bus "output" to get recorded in the audio track that everything else is getting recorded on with no problem?  I suspect I am revealing my lack of knowledge of how all of this works
 
Thanks,
Eric

ericphilo
Thank you. So I just make bus output master, and record master?

No. You don't record anything. You bounce or export, depending on whether you want the audio to stay inside the project or exported for other uses (CD or so). And if everything is routed through Master Bus, as adviced, you set that as the source of the bounce/export.

 when I record I can't seem to pick up the audio I've recorded on audio tracks on the audio track I'm recording the synth on.

 
Sorry Eric, but this doesn't make any sense at all.
It sounds as though you are trying to bounce your synth track, along with all your other tracks to the same synth track.
It doesn't work like that.
 
As already stated, you can either bounce ALL of your tracks* (or any number of tracks) to a single, stereo track, OR Export to a separate file stored elsewhere on your hard drive.
 
*Tracks in this context are either audio tracks which you have recorded or as a result of a soft synth driven by Midi
 

So are you trying to record your guitar on the same audio track that you synth track is being recorded to?

Ok, I will try I hope I can help,
 
So your guitar tracks are already recorded. In your project are you ever able to hear the guitar tracks when you playback? If not, this is how I would try to solve this problem. I would create a bus in the bus pane named "master" while using the console view i would route the output of that named "master" bus to whatever your main output would be of your M audio fast track pro.  
now I assume all your guitar tracks are in you project so once again using the console view i would route each of the guitar tracks  to your "master" bus. you should be able to hear play back of your guitar tracks. if not then there is something else going on.
 
Ok now this is where I am unsure of what your are doing with midi tracks. same concept applies however. i assume your midi routing is correct because you say you can record and hear midi though your m audio fast track pro.  in your audio tracks that the midi is routed to, set the output to those audio tracks to "master" and theoretically you should be able to hear your midi and your guitar tracks,  if not then I am sorry I was of no help ;),
 
you should be able to adjust the volumes to your liking and then you can export your project to WAV, or what ever format you need. 

The method that is most similar to a multi-track tape being mixed onto a two-track master is this:
• Record all your tracks.
• Make sure they are all routed to master.
• Instead of being routed directly to master, tracks can be routed to various buses and those buses can be routed to master.
• Set the faders and pan where you want them, or use automation to move the faders and panning.
• Select All if you want everything in your mix.  Mute or deselect tracks you don't want in your mix.
• Choose File | Export and your mix will become a wav file on your computer (like the master tape on a 2-track machine). It may take a little reading to understand the Export options.  I always check Include Live Input if I have some synths that are programmed with MIDI but not recorded.
 
Some of the other responses above are saying you can put the whole mix onto a stereo track in Sonar (Bounce) instead of creating a wav file on your computer.  This would be like bouncing down to two available tracks on a multi-track machine instead of mixing to another tape machine.
 
I know the tape comparison may be archaic and may not help; but an analog console with a multi-track tape machine is kind of a good way to visualize what can be confusing in the virtual world.
 
When I was first using Sonar for audio and not just MIDI programming, I made a very short and simple recording of a couple of instruments and messed around until I figured out how to export.
 
TAPE          SONAR
--------------------------
BOUNCE    BOUNCE
MIX            EXPORT

Hey, I'm the idiot who used to open wave lab, set it to record "what you hear" and play the song in Sonar while Wave Lab recorded in real time. I did this for 2 years before some one on the forum mentioned "export audio" and the light bulb came on. 
OP- it take time to get your head around the way digital audio workstations are put together. 
 
Audio interface audio input= Audio track - master bus- Audio interface output
Pre recorded Audio= Audio track - master bus- Audio interface output
Midi input= Midi track-Soft synth-audio output - master buss- Audio interface output
Pre recorded MIDI= Midi track-Soft synth-audio output - master buss- Audio interface output
 
Audio interface output = to monitors 
Audio interface output can also be the source of an "Audio Export" found in the file menu. 
You can export as a Wave file or an MP3 if you have the proper encoder installed. 
 
 
 

Stick with it Eric - it WILL all make sense!