fredclark wrote:I am using ableton 6 with the m-audio fast track pro. I am recording simple vocal with acoustic guitar demos. I am having trouble getting an acceptable volume level on the vocals. I am wanting to learn how to effectively use the fast track pro, because I don't really fully understand all the knobs, and learn how to use the different features on ableton. I need a mentor. Can you help? I really need to start with some basic stuff.
Thanks,
Fred
At work at the moment so can't offer too much though will say that from experience;
The best way to understand your Fast Tack Pro's controls quickly is to make sure you have it positioned at head height or at least at an angle so you can read the labels as they quite small, having it on a desk surface makes reading it proper hard!
Also-
make sure that you have the input ( 2 knobs on the left) to least at 70% to keep the signal hot (You have a built in pre amp so should be able to record at a decent level though to hot and you’ll get distortion).
There’s also a button that allows for a ‘standard’ or ‘bright’ signal (Ins / line) ‘Ins’ being something powered like a keyboard for instance and ‘line’ for things like microphones and guitars. Using the correct setting will help give you a fuller sound.
Familiarize yourself with the monitor (mix) knob as this can sometimes give you a false representation of the sound you are sending into live. (The monitor/mix lets you hear a flat, zero-latency version of your signal that does not go thru Live. If you have decent latency you may well never need to monitor).
Above all, learn Live, read the manual etc... You've at least got the lite version so not as much to learn!
The rest is basic sound engineering which is mostly text book stuff to do with EQ, compression etc...and can be found everywhere with many and various opinions that will take you a while to master.
And, when these fine Ableton forum users are not arguing they can be a wealth of information and you may even find that a quick search may answer questions for you without you having to ask!