I am at my wits end and to be honest, close to taking a large financial hit and selling all my gear. In a last and very desperate attempt to resolve my query I am hoping that you might please help!
I have spent literally weeks worth of time over the past two years trolling the internet and searching help pages to no avail. Okay, I realise that I must the very thick so, if it helps, let me prey upon your instincts of pity if nothing else!
I have a bunch of gear that I want to use to record both sound files and midi in a home studio multi-track situation for my own amusement. I want to be able to make multi-track recordings with vocals. My equipment list is as follows:
• Yamaha S90 ES (with three extra expansion boards)
• Yamaha MW12 CX Mixer
• Roland JV1010 Sound Module
• Alesis SR16 Drum Machine
• Cubase Elements 12 CX (running on a well specified Windows 7 PC)
• Rode NT1A and Sure SM58 Microphones
• Yamaha WX5 Wind Controller
• Yamaha VL70m Sound Module
• Yamaha HS80M x 2 Monitors
• Yamaha HS10W Sub Woofer
• Motu 828MkII USB 2.0 Sound Card
Please (and in the most simple way as I am totally naive and don’t understand jargon such as busses and channels etc), can you tell me how to set everything up so it works? I am at a total loss.
I have loaded the MOTU driver in Cubase and selected it over the default “ASIO” one. I need your very clear advice on what to connect to what in both sound terms and in USB terms and in MIDI terms please.
Please don’t direct me to websites of manufacturers help files. I’ve looked at and read them all but I need simple language that reflects my exact setup. SORRY! I know that this is indulgent of me to ask but I really am tearing my hair out and considering selling all this hardly used gear. I’ve spent a fortune and have no money left (thanks divorce lawyer for nowt).
I live in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands so I’m not close to any stores ro suchlike for more personal help! Thanks for your considerations
That’s a nice gearlist, lots of fun stuff can be had with that .
Now it’s not really clear to me where you are getting stuck. I suggest we go through things one at the time.
How do you have your gear hooked up currently? For instance your Microphone, do you plug it in the mixer, or in the MOTU? If it’s in the mixer, how are you routing the signal to your MOTU?
Typically in Cubase, if you set the driver up right like it seems you did, you can hit F4 and see all the available in and outputs on the MOTU.
It’s just a matter of creating a mono audio track, selecting the input you are sending the mic signal to, hit record and enjoy.
Does the above work for you? Where do you get stuck?
We’ll get on to the other hardware later, like I said, one at the time to keep it simple.
Not positive but will Cubase Elements let you record multi-track? I know it’s one of it’s “elementary” platforms and may be so limited as to only allow single-track audio recording.
Do you know how to set up a standard analog mixer? Do you have ANY music/sound experience or just NO DAW experience?
My advise would be to focus on getting a single-track setup going. From there…start adding stuff
In Cubase, under “Devices”, do you see your MOTU interface? You will have some basic controls there. I am not at my DAW at the moment so I cant help much more than that but its definitely your start to making this work, making sure Cubase and the MOTU are “talking”.
Hello
Strphoid and JLiRD808, thank you both for the courtesy of your replies. Yes, it is a nice bunch of gear and actually I have a huge amount more plus over 30 acoustic instruments. I am very much more musician than technical guru! I described the list I did because if I can get every element of that list working fine I will have learnt enough to incorporate teh rest of my gear. It was tehrefore a case of keeping it (fairly) simple so that I got multitrack working with midi and with sound lines as well as the extra complications/simplifications of the Yamahe SE90ES usb connect and the MX12 CX mixer capabilities.
JLiRD808, yes Elements 6 can multitrack (that’s it’s fundamental purpose).
Strphoid, let me try to explain a little better where things are going wrong for me. I have both the SE90 and teh Mixer USB linked to my PC (but I don’t think I am benefiting from that; I reckon I am just seeing teh Cubase/Motu connection in Cubase). I can see the Motu in Cubase and I can see that the driver is selected and all the outpouts/inputs are showing as “live” in the “Device” drop down menu thingy. I have figured out how to creat and arm sound tracks but I can’t get any sound to be heard by Cubase when I hit record (Clearly I can hear lost of sound via my monitors from the direct mixer outputs). So there’s one issue (and perhaps more than that if the Yammmy USB’s should be giving me some functionality).
The second area of issues is MIDI. I have linked my outs to various ins but am really in the dark. How do I get to record MIDI such at all and the how do I play back MIDI tracks whilst changing the sounds on teh Roland or the Yammy as I listen to them?
I know - all very basic - as I say, I’m far from technical and just want to make music! I have read lost and searched lots to little avail so I am apealing for a human intervention that might buddy me through this process. Thanks again all for your kind considerations.
Cheers! (Sorry for my lousy typing)
Turn off or disconnect the mixers outputs to the monitors…to avoid confusion. Also, I would focus on audio first, then MIDI maybe. One at a time regardless, since ur starting from the beginning.
U should have an instruments plugged into your mixer, and your mixer plugged into ur MOTU. Better yet, bypass the mixer for now. Go straight from the stereo out of the Alesis drum machine, for example, straight into a MOTU stereo input. The MOTU’s inputs should then route to Cubase. Does the MOTU have a virtual interface/mixer? If so, u should see some kind of signal incoming. Then, in Cubase, if u click the “monitor” button (next to record) on a track that is synced to the MOTU, then u should hear it.
This is really DAW set up/recording 101. Did you even try reading the manual? I dont see that ur setup is so different from anyone else’s that you can’t follow the manual. English doesn’t seem to be ur native language and discussing it here in English is kind of a struggle I’m sure.
There are lots of Cubase “getting started” tutorials/books/videos out there.
Here’s one more thing u can do. DRAW ur routing setup and post a pic here. U may have done something very wrong. It shouldn’t be very difficult
If CuBase is seeing your MOTU, then plug an instrument (non-MIDI) into the MOTU with no other piece of equipment in the picture. Do as JLiRD808 said with regards to monitoring. Be very systematic and do one thing at a time. If there is a headphones output on the MOTU, use it. See if you can hear anything. If your MOTU is not working properly (it’s the “gate” into CuBase), everything else will be meaningless (still very valuable and intriguing, but useless if the MOTU is a problem). If the MOTU works, that will be huge because now you add on with each piece from there. Eventually, introduce the MIDI, but it’s one thing at a time. Again, since CuBase is seeing the MOTU and if you confirm it works, then I think you should dig deeper in learning CuBase; as well as, adding your other pieces of equipment. You have a “healthy” collection there for some fun recording and studio work. Don’t be frustrated, you’ll get there!
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