How to Route Tracks in Reaper

To route tracks in Reaper, click a track’s I/O (routing) button to set where its audio goes, or use the routing matrix to wire many tracks at once. Reaper lets you send audio to other tracks, group tracks into folders, and feed everything to the master — all without a fixed mixer layout.

Understanding how to route tracks in Reaper is the key to building submixes, parallel processing and clean monitoring. Because Reaper has no fixed channel count, any track can become a bus, which is powerful once it clicks.

The routing button and the master

Every track has a routing/I/O button (the small button near the record arm and pan controls). Click it to open that track’s routing window. By default each track’s output goes to the Master/Parent, which sums to the master track and out to your speakers. The same window shows hardware outputs, receives (audio coming in) and sends (audio going out to other tracks).

Creating a send to another track

A send copies a track’s signal to another destination, which is how you build effects buses and submixes:

1. Open the source track’s routing window.
2. Under “Sends”, choose the destination track (for example a “Reverb” track).
3. Set the send level and whether it is pre- or post-fader. Pre-fader keeps the send level steady even if you move the channel fader; post-fader follows the fader.

This is exactly how aux/effects routing works in any DAW — our general guide to sends and returns explains the pre/post choice and why one reverb on a send beats ten separate reverbs.

Folder tracks: Reaper’s submix buses

Reaper uses folder tracks to group and submix. Create a track, name it “Drums Bus”, then make the individual drum tracks its children by clicking the folder indicator on the parent track. The children’s audio now flows through the parent, so one fader, EQ or compressor on the folder controls the whole group. This keeps big sessions manageable and is far tidier than processing each track individually.

The routing matrix for the big picture

Press the routing matrix shortcut (the Routing Matrix from the View menu) to see a grid of every track’s outputs against every possible destination. Click a cell to connect a source to a destination. This is the fastest way to wire complex routing — multiple sends, hardware outputs, or feeding several tracks to one bus — because you see all connections at once.

Practical routing setups

• Parallel compression: send a drum bus to a second track with heavy compression, then blend it under the dry signal.
• Headphone mix: create a separate send to a hardware output for the performer’s cue mix.
• Stems: route instrument groups to folders, then bounce each folder separately.

That last point connects directly to bouncing stems in a DAW. If routing-heavy projects start to feel cluttered, organising a DAW project will keep your folders and buses readable. For the wider mixing context, the mixing and mastering hub ties these techniques together.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a send and a folder in Reaper?

A send copies a track’s signal to another track (useful for effects buses and cue mixes) while leaving the original output intact. A folder track physically routes its child tracks through the parent, making it a true submix bus.

How do I create a reverb bus in Reaper?

Add a new track, load a reverb on it, and create a post-fader send from each source track to that reverb track. Set the reverb plugin to 100 percent wet so the dry/wet balance is controlled by the send levels.

Why is my track routing to the master twice?

You likely have both the default Master/Parent send active and an extra manual send to the master or a bus. Open the routing window and remove the duplicate so the signal is only summed once.