Ableton Forum

HIgh,

i recently aquired a behringer 32in 8 bus mixer...do you have any tips on how to hook this up to my set up .....im a bit confused. do you dedicate fx and processors to buses......how would you do it...i have couple o roland synths, vp9000, Mpc2000 MIDIed straight to Live thru a Delta 1010.

is it better to route synths n samplrs straight into audio interface when rec into Live, i hooked a subout to a delta in and recorded to live but i have to turn it up real loud to get a decent hot signal ..not sure what to do ..thanks for the help..peace

so, uou go out and buy an 8 buss mixer and have no clue how to use it eh::::. I guess this is the new breed of musician/enginerr.

Anyway I suggest you plug all your hardware into your console (ie outputs from your boxes to the inputs of your mixer DONT plug these in to your busses.

Then plug all the outputs from your Soundcard in to the mixer just as you did with your outboard synths.

OK now for the busses. An 8 buss console means that you can record 8 seperate signals to 8 seperate or the same track if you like. OK, so plug as follows

Buss 1 to input 1 on your soundcard
Buss 2 to input 2 on your soundcards
Buss 3 to input 3 on your soundcard

..................Keep doiing this until all your buss (OUTPUTS) are connected to the INPUTS of your soundcard.

If you look at each channel on the mixer you will see Buss Assignment buttons.(Im not familiar with your desk so they may be paired like this

1-2
3-4
5-6
7-8

I am assuming there isnt a seperate switch for each buss assignment. If there is the procedure is still the same.

OK, what all this means is lets say you have a kik drum playing on channel 1 of your mixer, a hi hat on channel 2 and a bassline on channel 3. You would assign the switches on each mixer channel to whatever buss you liked. For simplicity we will keep them corresponding, but you could send (assign) these signal to any buss you like.

Ok, press assign button 1 on your mixer to buss 1. PRESS the button 1-2 (or if it has a button for each buss it will simply be buss 1. Then start moving the buss 1 fader up and the signal should get louder. You have in effect just split the signal from the channel to the buss. However for the most part you dont want to hear the channel and the buss signal at the same time so look for a button on the mixer that could be ST or CH, or it may be something else. What you are looking to do is find the button that silences the signal of the channel so that you are only listening to the buss signal. The buss channels may also have a st or ch button as well. To monitor the buss signal this button will need to be ON. (Remember you are not looking to turn off the channel you are only looking to bypass the stereo signal from the channel so that you can monitor the buss signal only.

Now once you have done that you can go to live get a track record ready and in this case you would be looking for input 1 from your soundcard. The buss fader will now control the level for recording in to Live. You should easily get a hot signal. Repeat for the other channels and assign them to different busses which will correspond with the inputs of your soundcard and voila you have a proper recording setup.

As for how you will monitor all this is up to you. But plug all the outputs from your soundcard in to the mixer for full versatility. Of course if you also monitor through the software you will again be doubling up the signal except this time you will probabl hear latency caused by the souncard.not the mixer.

Having your setup this way will be much better than you currently have and is much more versatile. I also suspetc you will ultimatley get a better sound..although Behringer mixers are not the best in the world but can give good results.

Another use for Busses is to assign multiple channels. EG you can assign all the drums to buss 1 + 2. insert a compressor over the buss (inserrts) to beef up the sound. Even using a cheapo Behringer comp will give you a far better result than you woul dget with Lives compressor.

Also remember that you can assign up toten sperate tracks from Live back in to your mixer for further processing (ie gouping tracks to a busses for compressing as mentioned above) If you have outboard FX they can also be used for treating sounds..but this way is doe with AUX SENDS.

It maybe sunds ore complicated than it actually is. Butthis is pretty much how records have been made since day one and are still made this way.

If you get stuck tryand find someone local who has a little bit of knowledge just to show you how it all plugs in. Once you see it working you will realise how useful this all is

good luck

thanks for your help mannnnn.......my bro bought the mixer so i dont have a choice....i have to use it or else hes gonna fuck me up...peace

No Problem. If you get stuck post back here and I could assist you more.

All said and done I dont think you will regret the setup.

Good Luck

question:

i want to use the inputs of my motu828 as send returns from my mackie 1202. the problem is, in live i can onyl choose input 1-2, 3-4,5-6, 7-8. so i like to use the input 1 as send return1. now i have the problem, that the sound in live is only left how can i choose in live a monoinput track ?

thanxs for help