Hello,
 
I am pretty new to the mixing side of things and have a general question.   I setup a reverb FX bus and sending a bunch of percussive instruments to them.  I notice that it raises the volume of the entire track (this is obvious as you still have your dry signal and your wet signal).  

I understand I can use the "pre fader" option and turn down the volume on the track, but then the effect is too wet.  I like the mix of them together (like a parallel mix).
 
Basically I am just turning down the gain of each track to make up for this (so this way it hits both the dry and the FX bus evenly).
 
Am I going about this properly?

Also, another side note question:  where do I route FX busses too?  I cant pipe them to the percussion buss because I have some other synths and stuff going there too.   Should FX just go right to the master bus?
 
Thank You!

If you have your reverb inserted in a bus it should be 100 percent wet. The send on your tracks should be post fader, not pre fader, for the most intuitive behavior. While increasing the send level will add some volume, it will be only reverb that is added.

It really should not add extra level if set up properly, at least that never happens for me. 
As said the effects in the Buss bin should be 100% wet. I leave the buss at unity and then it's a simple matter of turning up the track send until the desired amount of effect is heard. This is never much more than the send knob at 9-10 O'clock. 

hmmm.. does it matter if the FX is placed in the FX bin or the prochannel on the FX Bus?
 
How could it NOT add volume?   You have your dry signal say at -10db, but then if you add reverb, wouldnt it pile on top of the initial transient?

Totally agree with the above guys - make sure your Reverb is set to 100% or kill the dry element if there is one.
 
No, it makes no difference if the reverb is in the Fx bin or the Pro Channel.
 
Which reverb are you using? Some of them can be a little quirky and need setting up properly.
 
If it really is adding too much volume then it *sounds* like there's some dry signal getting into the path.
 
Where are the outputs of the percussion tracks routed to?

Reverb will itself obviously add volume to the total, but if set up properly it should add a sense of space, not an increased source.

I know a lot of folks swear by using reverb and other effects 100% wet (in conjunction with a send).
I don't, even on analog gear I never followed that rule. don't get me wrong there are times I do but I have never lived by the rule where "It should always be set to 100%".
Sometimes by pulling it back to 75-80% you can allow longer decay times and it wont be so over powering.
 

I'm not sure I get that. That should be the same as simply adding less send level (or reverb bus level) and more source level...?

where do you guys route FX busses too?  I cant pipe them to the percussion buss because I have some other synths and stuff going there too.   Should FX just go right to the master bus?

Yes, Fx to Master Buss
 
Tracks > Output > Sub Busses (Guitars, keys , Vox etc)
Sub Busses > Output > Master Buss
 
Track Sends > Fx busses
Fx busses > Output > Master buss
 
So everything ends up at the MB
Only sends get routed to Fx busses (for now )
All buss outputs > MB