Live tracking/monitoring drums w/ Clarett interface

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Shadow1psc

New member
Hey all,

Hope this is the right area for this. I practice and track my drums by using Focusrite's Control software to just hear the live mics (and mix accordingly), but what can I do if I want to hear the post processed sound? I'm mostly focused on the kick sound, as I play prog/metal and hearing that really defined/punchy (post eq/comp) kick drum would be helpful. I don't have any outboard gear, my signal is mic > Clarett. Is it worth it for me to get a hardware mixer with EQ/Comp/Gate built in to sit between my drums and my interface, or should I just set up my DAW to do this, nix the live feed and practice with my DAW open? Is there any sort of other software I can run to apply VST stuff to my drums/Focusrite Control the way you might use a standalone guitar sim like Bias/Amplitube, or am I over complicating this?

Thanks in advance!
 
I know the UA Apollo interfaces and some others offer DSP effects than can be used live with near zero latency. I don't think Focusrite MixControl can do that. Anything that does the effects processing in the computer (rather than in the interface's DSP) adds more latency, but it still may be acceptable using the DAW for effects. That might be your best bet if you don't want to spend on a hardware option.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
I know the UA Apollo interfaces and some others offer DSP effects than can be used live with near zero latency. I don't think Focusrite MixControl can do that. Anything that does the effects processing in the computer (rather than in the interface's DSP) adds more latency, but it still may be acceptable using the DAW for effects. That might be your best bet if you don't want to spend on a hardware option.
Click to expand...

Yeah, latency was my main concern, though I guess I should clarify - I'm running on the 8PreX via Thunderbolt on a 2017 iMac w/ i7-7700. I probably have the headroom to run a fully post processed live tracking session (at least for practice). I can suck it up for the actual recording part. But I'm also not opposed to spending money - a hardware mixer that sits next to me where I can control eq/comp/gate and levels in real time would let me re-arrange my studio a little bit for the better (I currently have a monitor mounted to my drum rack on a 25' DP cable to control my mix), as long as the price isn't outrageous just for that purpose (and it wouldn't make my gain staging too complicated).

Thoughts?

-edit-

I just realized MainStage might do the trick, does anyone know if I can use it for this purpose? Multiple analog inputs with separate EQ/Comp to each?
 
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The T-bolt Clarett has such low latency, I'd just add the FX in your DAW and monitor from there. Those things do like 1ms in each direction, don't they? 2ms isn't going to be enough to throw off your timing...heck twice that would still be exceptional for a round-trip in and out of the computer. You experience more latency than that when listening to your bass player from 6 feet away!
 
Latency in the 3-4ms range would be about like hearing the sound from your kick acoustically. If that's doable through the DAW then I say do it.
 
Turns out MainStage works for this - it definitely wasn't designed for my use case, but I definitely can use it that way without having to open up and keep track of another Logic template/project. Thanks guys!
 
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