How to mute mic during playback

Resoman

New member
I've been away from recording for a while but would like to get back to it.
My current issue is this:
I'm recording acoustic guitar with a condenser mic into a Scarlett 18i20 into GarageBand 10.1.6 - (my iMac is too old to update).
After recording a track, I'd like to mute the mic to avoid feedback when listening to playback through my monitors, and I haven't come up with a way to do this. I don't want to physically disconnect the mic, and I could turn off the 48V phantom power, but it makes a popping sound that I don't care for. I don't really think that sound is hurting my monitors, but the sound is off-putting.
I guess I could turn the gain down all the way on the Scarlett, but that doesn't completely mute the mic and I don't like messing with my gain setting after I've adjusted it.
Part of my purpose in recording is to create backup tracks for practice purposes, and I really don't care to do this with headphones on.
I feel like this is a regular recording studio issue and that the answer is right in front of me, but I can't find it.
Any ideas will be appreciated!
 
I've been away from recording for a while but would like to get back to it.
My current issue is this:
I'm recording acoustic guitar with a condenser mic into a Scarlett 18i20 into GarageBand 10.1.6 - (my iMac is too old to update).
After recording a track, I'd like to mute the mic to avoid feedback when listening to playback through my monitors, and I haven't come up with a way to do this. I don't want to physically disconnect the mic, and I could turn off the 48V phantom power, but it makes a popping sound that I don't care for. I don't really think that sound is hurting my monitors, but the sound is off-putting.
I guess I could turn the gain down all the way on the Scarlett, but that doesn't completely mute the mic and I don't like messing with my gain setting after I've adjusted it.
Part of my purpose in recording is to create backup tracks for practice purposes, and I really don't care to do this with headphones on.
I feel like this is a regular recording studio issue and that the answer is right in front of me, but I can't find it.
Any ideas will be appreciated!


are you sure you cant mute from the software?
i see a mute light on the front so is that just decoration or what?

else
i would turn off the power
pull the mike out
turn on power

or buy another interface with a mute button

why did you choose that box?
specs say total of 8 inputs but really no control over each of them
8 mikes plus line is a lot of inputs and it has 8 channels
but no real channel strips to control each of them

and you seem to only be using 1 channel input so why all the extras ?
 
"are you sure you cant mute from the software?"
I wish I could, I haven't found such a feature.
"i see a mute light on the front so is that just decoration or what?"
The mute button mutes the monitor speakers.
 
"are you sure you cant mute from the software?"
I wish I could, I haven't found such a feature.
"i see a mute light on the front so is that just decoration or what?"
The mute button mutes the monitor speakers.

i guess we are back to pull the plug of the mike
buy a different interface
or mark where the volume control was and reset it there hoping it will be close enough to the last time
 
I've been away from recording for a while but would like to get back to it.
My current issue is this:
I'm recording acoustic guitar with a condenser mic into a Scarlett 18i20 into GarageBand 10.1.6 - (my iMac is too old to update).
After recording a track, I'd like to mute the mic to avoid feedback when listening to playback through my monitors, and I haven't come up with a way to do this. I don't want to physically disconnect the mic, and I could turn off the 48V phantom power, but it makes a popping sound that I don't care for. I don't really think that sound is hurting my monitors, but the sound is off-putting.
I guess I could turn the gain down all the way on the Scarlett, but that doesn't completely mute the mic and I don't like messing with my gain setting after I've adjusted it.
Part of my purpose in recording is to create backup tracks for practice purposes, and I really don't care to do this with headphones on.
I feel like this is a regular recording studio issue and that the answer is right in front of me, but I can't find it.
Any ideas will be appreciated!

Once more a question that can be solved with a very simple switch in a box with XLR in and out but these days very few people seem capable of making such simple devices. Said it before, those old guys at Abbey Rd were not called recording ENGINEERS for nothing.

Have scanner, can do diagrams if you can drill metal and solder.

Dave.
 
Having a mute button on the inputs would be great.

It was one of the advantages when I used a mixer when I only had line-level inputs.

Most interfaces these days have either a physical knob or software to vary between input and playback, and with the Presonus, i just turn the knob to playback. However, if I am mostly doing single mike stuff, I just leave that mix knob halfway and turn the gain down.
 
If you're monitoring your mic through your DAW, then you just need to disarm the track(s) that the mic is being sent to.

If you're monitoring through hardware (direct monitor), then switch that off when listening to playback.

I think that between those 2, you should be able to do what you're wanting.
 
If you're monitoring your mic through your DAW, then you just need to disarm the track(s) that the mic is being sent to.

If you're monitoring through hardware (direct monitor), then switch that off when listening to playback.

I think that between those 2, you should be able to do what you're wanting.


he said he could not do it with software
like you suggested i think it should be possible
 
I must be missing something, here. Or else there is a technical issue.:confused:
 

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If you're monitoring through hardware (direct monitor), then switch that off when listening to playback.

Certainly sounds like direct monitoring.
You should be able to disable it in the Focusrite Control software.

That would mean you are only hearing audio input when a track is record-armed, or set for input monitoring, in your daw.
 
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