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Okay.. scuffing my original Idea I went to the rental shop and got myself a Mackie 1202 mixer an Alesis drum machine, a peavy AKG mic and a DI box... I have 4 amp cords, 1 mic cord, 1 1/8 to RCA cable.

I have Cubase SX for software and a SB live 16 bit card

Now my question is is how do I connect the drum machine up so A) I can hear it and decide a loop of choice. And how Do I hook up this mixer with the drum machine or Di box or mic so Im recording to Cubase?

Comments

KurtFoster Fri, 12/06/2002 - 11:43

Monitor system: What kind of speakers and amplifiers are you using? With only a mic input (mono) I would be thinking about a different sound card or perhaps some type of USB input device. The Tascam 424 USB is a grat box and you will get mic pres and faders control surface to boot. Retails street at about $400. ....................... Fats

anonymous Fri, 12/06/2002 - 13:38

how do I connect the drum machine up so A) I can hear it and decide a loop of choice. And how Do I hook up this mixer with the drum machine or Di box or mic so Im recording to Cubase??

For starters, you may need to get more cables. Let's see...

I would start by connecting the Alt 3/4 outs on the mixer to the line input on the sound card. That way, when you want to record, you can press the "mute/alt 3/4" button on the appropriate channel(s) to route the signal into the computer. This is where you may need to get another cable. You will need one that is stereo, 2 1/4" connectors to 1 1/8" connector.

You may want to also get a cable for midi. You can get one that connects to the "joystick" port on the sound card and has the midi input and output connectors on them. This way, you can create your own drum patterns in Cubase and sychronize the drum machine with your audio tracks.

Now, for monitoring... I assume that you have speakers connected to your computer. Ideally, you would want to use proper studio speakers (monitors) to listen to what you are recording. Unless you are prepared to spend a few hundred dollars on purchasing a set (or however much to rent) it is possible to make do with the computer speakers.

For the sake of flexibility, it would be best to have the speakers connected to the main outs on the board. You would have to connect the outputs of the computer to, say, channel 11/12 on the mackie. Note: if you do it this way, NEVER press the "mute/alt 3/4" button on this channel. It could cause you and/or your gear alot of pain.

Now just be sure that you have the "line in" activated in the "Creative Mixer" and you are ready to record.

I hope I didn't make this too complicated or skip anything important. Hopefully this should get you started.

dirtydog