Henry So I also kind of donāt have a clue, but Iāll try to stumble through this for you. And Iāll apologize in advance for the length.
The model 12 is just barely enough for what I need. I have it completely maxed out and donāt have my drumbrute or tb3 connected at the moment (forget that the drumbrute can output each track individually). I actually have the dt outputs running into the a4, then into one of the stereo inputs to save a channel. I have two other mono channels eaten up by the returns from the space echo pedal. If I had the budget and was looking for another mixer, Iād probably look at a much larger analog desk with more aux sends and all stereo inputs.
As for workflow, tracking to ableton is my least favorite part of the process. Iāve come to terms with it, but itās so bloody tedious. I usually record dry individual tracks one at a time and will record a wet version if the fx are integral to the sound design. If I have a reverb across several DT tracks for instance, I really just use that reverb as a reference for the sound Iām looking for and use a vest reverb in ableton to make it cohesive. I just find that easier. Another thing I really like to do with chords is to get the kick/bass/hat pattern going in ableton, then just record a long jam of the dub chords (wet with the space echo). Sometimes Iāll take long sections of that for an arrangement and other times Iāll chop it up and resample hits to create different textures, repitch for ear candy, add variation, etc.
The whole this is a bit of a pain in the ass, but thatās the charm of hardware. I really donāt worry much about timing or imperfections anymore. Iāve learned to embrace the messiness of it and I think it helps me to come up with grooves and textures I wouldnāt otherwise. Itās also really great for layering sounds and gluing them together. Whether thatās several tracks from one box or layering multiple synths for sound design.
Sorry, that was a lot. Did that even come close to helping?
