Audio bus

In audio engineering, a bus[1] (alternate spelling buss, plural busses) is a signal path which can be used to combine (sum) individual audio signal paths together. It is used typically to group several individual audio tracks which can be then manipulated, as a group, like another track. This can be achieved by routing the signal physically by ways of switches and cable patches on a mixing console, or by manipulating software features on a digital audio workstation (DAW).

Using busses allow the engineer to work in a more efficient way and with better consistency, for instance to apply sound processing effects and adjust levels for several tracks at a time.