Monitoring in Logic Pro 9

[flyingace]

Please forgive me, I have searched the forum looking for this answer, probably not asking it right but here goes:

I have a M-Audio Fast Track C600 with built in DSP. iMac i3 with 12gb ram, 10.7.2. Just started using Logic Pro 9.

I am recording an acoustic guitar via Blue Spark mic plugged into the C600. I have the headphone mix via C600 supplying me with reverb for recording with 0 latency. But I wanted to also hear the Metronome/Click track in Logic. The logic Help said to just turn down the fader on that track (the listening level not tracking level). So I did and was able to get a good first take.

I then wanted to record a backing acoustic guitar track. I want to be able to hear the click plus the previously recorded track as recorded but still use the C600 DSP and get a little latency as possible.

How do I do that? Create a headphone mix? Can anyone point me in the right direction to learn what I should be setting up to make that happen?

Thank you and sorry if this doesn't make sense or it's something many NOOBs like me have asked before. The last time I was in the recording business it was all analog. I see many come to this forum with that same affliction!

Bless you all for helping. I hope to be able to return the favor as much as I can!

 

[guitarplayr82]

You'll have to record on a new track because you can't play back and record on the same track at the same time. Just make a new track, mute it (or pull down the fader), and bring back up the fader on the first track you recorded. This should play back the first track, the click, and should allow you to use your DSP settings while you record on your new track as well.

 

[flyingace]

Thanks! I got it to work. Still a little confused about creating headphone mixes but the more I spend with it (and reading books/watching dvds my local library has on Logic) the better I'm getting. Thanks for the help!

 

[Dags]

Thanks! I got it to work. Still a little confused about creating headphone mixes but the more I spend with it (and reading books/watching dvds my local library has on Logic) the better I'm getting. Thanks for the help!

Greetings
There's no real trick, as such, to creating a good headphone mix. Its whatever gives your artist (or yourself) a good blend of whatever he/she/you require to follow when you're tracking.

But here's some hopefully useful info that I adopt for creating good headphone mixes for artists I work with.

What I do in Logic is to dedicate an Aux (buss) channel as my 'headphone' channel. This allows me to send varying levels of instruments to it using Aux sends from individual channels, including the track being recorded.
I recommend you use pre fade sends, by the way, and vary the amount of send to the headphone buss from the aux send insert dial.

This gives you the ability of having the entire mix being sent to the headphones PLUS some extra level given to those key elements (usually kick, snare and bass - maybe pads) which will help the artist keep time & pitch.

Using an Aux channel as the headphone send channel also allows you to add compression and EQ to reduce dynamics and lower fatiguing frequencies for lengthy tracking sessions.

Hope this has given you some assistance, and inspires you to delve deeper into how audio can be routed through your system inside Logic.

Regards,
Dags