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quarterpound wrote:synthezatory: Yeah, to plug in pedals you need a soundcard. You can use the line in on the inbuilt soundcard on most PCs; it will be noisy but it can be good enough. USB soundcards are cheap as peanuts these days and some of the cheap ones are even quite excellent (Mackie Blackjack, etc...)!

Yep, I've got the interface (focusrite forte).. but never experiment with the outboard fx before. How do we plug the pedals for the send&return in ableton?

Oh, sorry, man, umm... you have to use separate channels, since the forte doesn't have "fx send" channels. And with the forte this is tricky since I think it only has two outs. You'd have to disconnect the monitors and plug the FX to the outs end the returns to your line ins. Not an ideal setup for outboard sends. I think you would be better off geting a cheap used mackie mixer; I got mine for less than $75. This will give you a lot more flexibility in general, although you'll still be limited as far as routing in ableton. The best (but most expensive) solution is using that spdif i/o to expand your routing possibilities. EDIT: oh shit, the forte lacks expandability. So umm... get a new interface :P Like I said, it is still possible to do FX sends, but it is not going to be very efficient.

this might help u dude. explains how to route outboard fx to ableton send/returns.

http://blog.dubspot.com/how-to-route-external-hardware-audio-effects/

thank you brohams! Yeah I don't really like the forte that much though, the display/screen control is kinda laggy and slow.. takes a bit of time to access switching between parameters, especially I feel like the vu meter is almost gimmicky. But the preamps and ad/da converter is amazing. I've had the blackjack and quad-capture before, while those two worked great.. the forte is a lot quieter and better in overall sound quality. I've never imagine I'd know the difference between interfaces until now. But yeah, not 100% happy though.

Any of you guys tried the Motu Track 16?

nope, but i have an 896mk3. it's a little cheap, buildwise, but, not any cheaper than a cheap focusrite not to be snobby ofc. I'm just saying what do we expect for such low prices. But it works great. Pretty low latency, good sound, would like to pick up a tc as expansion and better ad/da someday but the motu does what's advertised!

havent been in here for a minute.

to sum up my noobness: i have no idea wtf sidechain is, or how to use a compressor in a production capacity. a compressor pedal, barely.

you should hit up the youtube. it is full of quality howtos on things like setting up sidechains in ableton etc. But in brief -- sidechaining is controlling the compression (or expansion) of one track with the amplitude (loudness) of another track. So if you want the kick to come through the bass line, you use the kick drum as a sidechain in a sidechain-capable compressor. Ableton's stock compressor is capable of this, and makes it extra easy for you. Then you adjust the compression so that it kicks in only when the kick gets loud enough to pump through. This is how most dance tracks keep a solid kick punching through a fat bass sound.

quarterpound wrote:you should hit up the youtube. it is full of quality howtos on things like setting up sidechains in ableton etc. But in brief -- sidechaining is controlling the compression (or expansion) of one track with the amplitude (loudness) of another track. So if you want the kick to come through the bass line, you use the kick drum as a sidechain in a sidechain-capable compressor. Ableton's stock compressor is capable of this, and makes it extra easy for you. Then you adjust the compression so that it kicks in only when the kick gets loud enough to pump through. This is how most dance tracks keep a solid kick punching through a fat bass sound.

you kinda just blew my mind.

XD Wild isn't it? It's soooo easy in digital, this and much, much, much, more. What blows my mind is that all those engineer dudes thought of all this stuff -- and implemented it -- back in the days of all-analog. You should mess around with stuff like that if you're interested, you can get a lot of interesting effects done that can be a real pain in the ass to set up in analog. these days, most of what I do is basically experimenting along those lines in both digital and modular synthesis -- it's not for everyone though -- a fair amount of grating noise and panic-inducing pumping effects. ^^;

abusing the side chain is FUN

Man oh man...I am going to have Ableton 9 soonish. I had 8 on Windows, going to have 9 on a Mac. I really don't know too much about Ableton. Tons of vids for me to watch...

Hey, I got the copy of Live 9, installing later today...

I would have 9 right now if the internet at my house would stay constantly connected for the ten minutes it would take to get the one file I need

I have been messing with Live more and more. I think I have a clue about how powerful Drum racks can be. Tonight I am going to try and make a complete composition in drum racks only.

echo d via live is something i need to hear.
i just got live recently too, but i am (was) using it with an MPC1000. (i'm using a maschine now. haven't quite gotten around to figuring out how i'll use the two together yet though.)
anyway, awesome!