Harrison Mixbus Forum

Hi All

I'd love some input & discussion here. Especially from those of you who regularly track bands / ensembles in Mixbus.

 I have been tracking and editing / comping in Studio One and then exporting stems out to mix in glorious 32C.

However, it's tiresome exporting stems, especially when lots of overdubs at different points etc, and I'm now considering just tracking in Mixbus.

I've always found the Foldback channel rather cumbersome in use (I've never actually used it for that reason!) and suddenly realised - why not use Mixbus 12 (for example) as my Foldback to the studio?

So, here's my setup - on first tracking, my Foldback mix is going to the live room musicians via hardware (MIO Console, Metric Halo) so no latency, and mix balance adjustable from the MIO app independent of Mixbus. I should add I'm using a Soundtracs analogue Console, the direct outs straight into my interfaces and AD/DAs (I don't use the monitor sends from that because further down the line when overdubbing it gets too complicated)

Once rhythm tracks (or whatever) are down, then I'm sending a monitor mix back to the live room via channels 3/4 of the MH unit, and monitoring in the studio on the main outs. In Studio One it's super simple as there's an option to create a Cue Mix which follows the main faders / mutes, but goes to different physical outs.

I just did a quick trial using Mixbus 12 routed to outputs 3/4 for monitoring and recorded a quick bit of me playing guitar, then tracked some vocals to it, monitoring through 3/4 - MB12.

I can see no earthly reason for using the Foldback after my experiment ! For one thing, being able to set up the monitor mix with MB12 renamed FOLDBACK or whatever, so simple to send from each channel - versus - with the Foldback channel all the sends are in that strip - and if you're tracking a large ensemble that could get very unwieldy. 

Secondly - really easy to stick a reverb on any MB below 9, and route to MB 12, to be able to send to foldback if needed, loosen up the sound for the guys in the live room. Again, their foldback for whatever they're over-dubbing is coming via MIO and not through MB so no latency, and I can add some reverb directly to that for singers etc, from the MIO app, so again, no going through MB. 

So, I'm going to try and track a dummy band (guinea pigs have volunteered for a free session!) and find out just how good MB will perform in this scenario.

So as I started out - I'd love to hear your thoughts about tracking in Mixbus, dropping in on the fly, all the usual on the spot stuff (and stress!) when tracking 4 people in a studio.  Anything you've found awkward or cumbersome? Cos as we know, a smooth workflow is essential when you're sitting behind the desk with a bunch of musicians chomping at the bit to get things down!

If this experiment works I've just cut out the middle man. It's then only the midi stuff that simply cannot be done in MB that I would need to use Studio One, or Logic, or Cubase.....

Thanks

Well, your setup is a little more complicated than my brain can process,  but in other regards I can say that I mimic your workflow with S1 to MB1, and I just find (at this point) that my familiarity with S1 makes the nuts-and-bolts stuff quick and easy before creating stems, and that learning the MB "way" isn't really achieving anything. In fact, doing the fiddly stuff in S1 frees up my approach to mixing in MB.
Midi in particularly in MB makes my eyes water, and one day I've promised to try and recolour the midi GUI.
But then again, a lot of what I do suffers from this kind of knowledge-base "limbo" about MB where I'm constantly trying to apply S1 thinking to MB functions, rather than be truly familiar with MB (soon to be 32C).
I'll be interested in how your results reflect  your workflow (which is, after all, the point of your post) plus whether you get a disernable difference tracking into MB.

(02-24-2021, 07:08 PM)TheBassBagwhan Wrote: [ -> ]...S1 makes the nuts-and-bolts stuff quick and easy before creating stems, and that learning the MB "way" isn't really achieving anything. In fact, doing the fiddly stuff in S1 frees up my approach to mixing in MB.
Midi in particularly in MB makes my eyes water, and one day I've promised to try and recolour the midi GUI.

Yes it's the nuts and bolts, editing, comping, copying & pasting - re-arranging that is so easy in S1. But where it gets really tedious is in a development project, where several versions of the same song may be created, or cut down versions for video etc. And that's when, having completed a mix in Mixbus, it's necessary to go back to the original in S1 (I did do a save-as  "video-ed-#3C.SNG" didn't I??!!) and re-arrange and then re-export. 

For client projects though it'd just make a lot more sense to work in one DAW, and most of the bands I record are not doing any Midi, and not a huge amount of layered takes, just vocals and dreaded lead guitarists... (I'm one so can say that!).

The midi of course is the real stumbling block. Most of my own midi usage is fairly straightforward, just playing in parts and a bit of tidying and editing. But even that is ridiculously cumbersome in MB. A simple job like adjusting individual velocities on notes is - well, it just ain't worth the effort. I've got used to the offset weird automation tool in MB, and wherever I can use Faderport rather than draw automation, which is of course more analogous to an out of the box console, so probably a good impairment!

My next album is mostly all real instruments, so although I'm currently scoping out the writing and demos in S1, I think when I get down to the real recording I'll go for it in MB - I will miss that swipe comping in S1 though! It many yet still prove quicker and more creative to drop a stereo rough mix into S1 to do any midi creations and complex overdubs.....but the real aim of course is too be totally in MB and want for nothing. 

Hopefully others may join this discussion with their experiences.

@Scardanelli : "In Studio One it's super simple as there's an option to create a Cue Mix which follows the main faders / mutes, but goes to different physical outs."

Just FYI, you can use Mixbus's routing grid (Window->Audio Connections) to split your master-bus output to a second pair of outputs, if that helps.

(02-25-2021, 11:19 AM)Ben@Harrison Wrote: [ -> ]Just FYI,  you can use Mixbus's routing grid  (Window->Audio Connections) to split your master-bus output to a second pair of outputs, if that helps.

Ah now that is useful - I didn't know you could send to multiple outs. So in cases where there's no real need to do a "monitor mix" this'll be most helpful!

I just had a quick look, and the grid with Mixbus Busses on the left vertical - and destinations on the right lower, horizontal - defaults (I assume) to nothing showing on the Master Outs, but at the top of the page the Monitor Out is showing green dots routed to outs 1/2. And in the Mixer my Main Out strip is showing Monitor, as I'd expect. Then the Monitor strip shows out 1/2.

When I add outs 3/4 to the Master out, its changes in the Mixer strip Master, but still goes to Monitor as well as 3/4. Now I see that if I open routing from the Mixer strip itself, I get a simplified list, just hardware outputs.

I think this makes sense! I'll have to try it in session.
 
Thanks Ben