Hi everyone, I need help with recording my live performance in DAW in order to turn it into a real track.
For that, I want to be able to multitrack record from OT, DT, DN, ST. My current setup is: DN -> ST -> DT -> OT -> Audio Interface
This means I have 2 stereo or 4 mono outs from OT into the Audio Interface. So I can’t record and process the tracks from DT, ST, DN separately in the DAW. Obviously, to be able to mix and finish a quality track that’s really important.
Do you have any suggestions to make this workflow easier and more feasible from a producer’s point of view?
I’m using Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 Audio Interface. Using Ableton Live on a macbook.
I’m using Overbridge but since OT is acting as a mixer in this setup, to the best of my knowledge, using Overbridge would mean I’d have to take OT out of the equation.
Are you wanting to record live jams or are you more thinking about treating things a bit more “studio” and recording stems/instruments individually and then arranging/mixing in the DAW?
What I want is to record my live jam, then turn it into a professional track in the DAW. To accomplish that, I need to be able record most of the tracks separately.
But that means, I wouldn’t be able to process one of these devices’ sounds via OT, no? For example, DT or ST sounds wouldn’t be affected if I used the OT’s fader during the recording.
Yeah, I thought this would be the ultimate crux of the problem.
If you’re using the OT for its performance/mixer/FX capabilities, then it’s very difficult to make multitrack recordings of those jams.
If performing using the OT as a mixer/FX is integral to your workflow (and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be, it’s the best in the business for that sort of thing) then you’ll probably just have to settle for just recording the stereo track and doing all your mixing/arranging on the gear before you record, meaning all that’s left at the end is to process/master the stereo recording.
You’d be surprised how much professionally released music is still done this way.
4 stereo/8 mono outs would make it a lot easier to perform and multitrack stuff to be polished and possibly re-arranged a bit in the DAW later on.
The way you described your workflow it sounds very similar to mine.
I don’t usually know the structure of the track well enough beforehand to settle with two stereo tracks with lots of elements mixed together, but instead I’d like the option to perform, then evaluate and make changes as I see fit.
I send percussive elements through the OT mains and tonal elements through the cue outs. Helps retain all the performance aspects of the OT while having some reasonable control over the final product. A second OT is a fun idea though…
While you’re doing that, you may as well also record the individual tracks via Overbridge.
They won’t be exactly what you perform with, but it would give you more material to work with and might help you mix or adjust things in a pinch. You could also then reprocess those separate tracks with just the OT after the fact, either for another layer of complexity or to make corrections.
the setup is minimal and HD space is abundant, so there unless you really find it a hassle, it’s probably worth it.
Then you have two stereo tracks to record. So you can mix all the tonal elements (synths, bass) as one element and percussion as another track. Which really helps me because I process them so differently in the box. I usually use T1-T4 as percussive tracks, sent to main, and T5-T7 as tonal tracks, sent to cue.
