I have a main question about monitoring, then a question about something that happened the other day.
I record a keys track, guitar track, drum and bass tracks. Then the vocalist. For the vocalist who wears headphones, why is the playback of the other tracks so extremely loud? I can’t figure what I’m supposed to do the get the volume down so she can hear the playback at a useable level and her vocal as she records. I’m overlooking something real simple, I’m sure.
Just a sideline question. I was moving the cursor up the screen across the tracks to do something above, I accidently pushed the mouse button and let it go. In doing so a track completely disappeared. I had heard that tracks can be “combined” or “folded” or “joined” or some such word. Wondering if that is what happened. It sure seems like I inadvertently dragged and dropped a track onto another track … or something.
I never found the lost track. Luckily I had just saved things and so I just closed and reopened the project. There was the track.
To get the volume down, you obviously need to turn the volume down - which one that is is hard to tell, since you´re not giving any info on what signal is routed in what way to her headphones which are connecteed to what interface.
I don’t understand all the “routing” stuff. I will give it a try.
Focusrite USB interface
Inputs: 8 “mono in”
Outputs: “stereo out” to powered speakers
Headphones are from the headphones out of the interface (with a volume control at the jack)
Artist 8.5. Five instrument tracks. 4 Audio tracks.
I record a drum track. I do not select the “monitor” button (next to the arm track button). I understand that to mean that I am monitoring the drum recording at the input instead of at the output.
I record a bass track. No monitor button. (I never use the monitor button.) As I record this track the drum track is at a perfect level with no level changes anywhere. The same for all the rest of the tracks I record. I never have to make any volume level changes. The recording track is at the same volume as the playback tracks (vst and audio). This is the case whether I use the speakers or headphones to monitor.
Then the mic recording. I turn the mic input (on interface) all the way up to get a good signal level. At this point, all the other tracks are far too loud, not just a little too loud. Lowering the headphones volume (on interface) lowers the mic too, so that is not the solution.
I either have to lower the faders on every other track or I found that lowering the main output fader (on the far right of the transport window) brings the volumes down for all tracks down to the level of the mic recording track. The mic track’s level is not changed by the main output fader, I suppose because it is being monitored at the input (so the output control does not affect it).
I also tried selecting the monitor button (next to the arm track) to see if monitoring at the track’s output changed anything (I’m assuming that button selects monitoring at the track’s output instead of input). No change.
My question is not really HOW to lower the track volumes, but rather WHY do I have to? This does not happen with any other track recording. Just the mic.
But if I do have to, then yes, which one? But since I have no such issue recording all other tracks … I just don’t get it.
If the main transport fader does not affect the mic level, then the mic is not monitored through Cubase but probably through the interface. With 8 mono inputs I suppose, the interfacer has a mixing / routing matrix of it´s own? If so, check the levele from the Mic input to headphone output on the Interface mixer. The Mic is recorded from a different input than the instrument (drums, bass…?)