I want to add my own vocals (with the necessary effects) to add a nice layer to my ambient house.
I want to keep my setup as it is right now since I am far from getting everything out of the 2 Digi’s.
My question is; what is a cost-effective / space effective buy to allow me to add vocals to Ableton?
Current setup:
Digitakt Digitone via USB to Ableton (OB) and Digi OUT to my monitors.
I have considered the following
Add a small USB audio interface (someone recommended me one for recording the DIGI’s (DIGI USB > Ableton, Ableton > Interface > Monitors) Those small Behringer XENYX have an XLR so i could add a basic microphone. Not sure if the Audio interface is required since both Digi’s Are one.
Buy a field recorder like a entry level zoom, should allow me to record vocals but not sure if it allows me to record them LIVE. Added bonus is I can record stuff and make drums out of them like Dave Mech does.
Buy a mic that does not require a pre-amp and just plug it in one of the OB occupied USB slots after recording the Digi’s,
Any advice on this? I am a complete noob. I already have a pair of headphones.
I’ve used a Zoom H1n for live sampling straight into my digitakt, works great. I don’t use it much for vocals though but it would work
A small mixer or interface will work as well work, and having a small mixer can always come in handy. Another option is a small preamp like the FMR Really Nice Preamp into the digitone.
And then use the output of it straight into a Digitone input - the inputs can be recorded separately to the internal tracks. Record everything at the same time if you want!
I bought myself the Zoom V6 to add vocals to my music and I’m very happy with that. It comes with it’s own good quality microphone and can do all kinds of fx on the vocals. It’s also kind of cheap (around 300€ here in Finland) for what it offers in my opinion.
It acts as an audio interface too, so you can record straight to your computer.
Is a field recorder that bad for singing?
I am reading up on it and seeing some people use one for both ambient recordings (dave mech makes entire beats out of them, really inspiring) and for singing as well.
Its way cheaper… and since the Digi’s have their audio interface I struggle with getting a pre amp / interface.
Wondering: Do you every use your Elektron to jam without laptop? Do you just take the line out of the interface and put it in your elektron?
Or is there a way they are connected?
I have an 8 channel mixer that I use when jamming or when sketching songs, so I can work without laptop at this stage. The mixer has a USB connection, and it’s also useful to record jam sessions or rehearsals fast.
But when I want to record a multitrack song for editing/mixing I use overbridge for Elektron devices and the audio interface for vocals.
yeah so you have a mixer and an audio interface.
I got a mixer (mackie PRo Fx 6v3) to try and use it to record vocals. But I cannot seperate HEadphone and Monitor -_- so its useless for recording vocals.
Ill just start with an audio interface I guess. One with Line In so I dont need to plug it in and out all the time.
I got the mixer some years before any synth and before trying to record anything in a DAW. But when I asked about the best way to record vocals in this same forum some time ago, everybody agreed that an audio interface was better.
yeah Audio interface it is then. thanks for your help.
Super sad that you need to have your laptop open to use an audio interface but its whatever i guess.
I wouldn’t discount the using a mixer option entirely. Could you get both? Ie a small interface and small mixer? I’m guessing the consensus for the interface as the better mic recording option is that it’s assumed the mic pre’s in the interface will be better than the pre’s in a small cheap mixer (which is a decent rule of thumb) however there is some nice, good quality small hardware out there with good quality pre’s that rival those in mid range interfaces. I don’t know your budget but the SSL six gets some very good reviews.
A mixer, even a small one, is indispensable in the studio imo. Whether it’s summing a couple of instruments, using external FX across different channels via the aux busses or sending audio to several destinations, it just makes life easy. Plus you can still work with the laptop closed
Even if you can’t stretch to a mixer with a decent mic pre you can still go directly into the interface for mic recording. Line levels will be fine through a small mixer, just get your levels set correctly then why you go!
As far as mics go I’d be looking for a condenser mic (one that need a pre amp). They tend to be better than dynamic mics with bigger capsules. Bear in mind they need powering so whatever you get will need to have a 48v phantom power option. Which mic Is a whole other topic! I guess it depends what your happy with… An SM57/58 for example might be all the mic you need. On the other hand a U87 is prob all the mic anyone needs!
Hey thanks for the great reply. Question. I got the mixer now, not the best pre amps and the worst thing is it wont allow me to switch between headphone and monitor (essential when recording vocals). Would a small interface like the focusrite solo be an additoon? Together it would be as expensive as an audio interface with 4 inputs.
Which output on the desk have you got the monitors plugged into? Control room or your main L & R outputs? Yeah, a small interface like that would deffo work. You could route your desk outputs to the interface to get stuff in. You could then overdub your vocals by going straight into the interface as you won’t need to record the desk outputs. When funds allow you could get a dedicated mic pre to route into the desk if it annoys you to overdub stuff. Other than that you’ll need more inputs and use the aux sends or a subgroup to send anything more than a stereo pair into the computer.
First declaration…I don’t own a digitakt but I do have a Digitone. One option that would keep the desk in use would be to route DN L/R and DT L/R outs across 4 mixers input channels. You could then take an aux send from the desk back into the DT record input. That way you can send DN to the DT for sampling as well as anything else you’ve got plugged into the mixer like a mic or other synth/drum machine. Just don’t turn up the aux send on the DT mixer channel or else you’ll get feedback.
As I’ve said I’m a great advocate of having a desk. You don’t need to use one if you find a different workflow that works for you tho!
