Audio Interface through guitar pedals

[paulpereira]

Hi guys, i'm interested to know, is it possible to hook up my scarlett 2i2 audio out (from ableton etc) through guitar pedals for outboard effects processing? the end chain might be to a tape deck or some external recording device. i know there are frequency considerations but maybe someone can dumb it down for me? Thanks!

 

[blueprintstudios]

latency and stability issues maybe?

so what are you trying to achieve? guitar > pedals > Audio interface > DAW (ableton) for recording?
or Audio interface > DAW > playing some sound sample , live efx > pedals > and record it with another recording device , but tapedeck ?? to playback?

I might be reading it wrong at 2am. but you lost me at the end there.

 

[paulpereira]

Ableton, play samples, to audio interface, to guitar pedals, to tape deck to record output. so essentially effecting all the sounds coming from my computer using pedals.

 

[blueprintstudios]

What tape deck / recording device are you using?

You can try route one big round like this,
you : play samples in DAW (Ableton) > Audio Interface (Focusrite Scarlett) output 1,2> G.Pedals > Audio Interface Inputs 1,2 > DAW (Ableton) and record it without buying another tape deck
BUT BUT BUT, make sure your Ableton's MONITOR of Recording is disabled when you're doing that otherwise it's going to loop/feedback and that can be unpleasant.
so your speakers (output 1,2 usually) are going to play what you're playing and play what you're recording at the same time.

if you had the 2i4 instead,
http://c804221.r21.cf2.rackcdn.com/...d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/o/foc-scarlett2i4_3.jpg
you can have your samples isolated played output 3,4 and record into your inputs 1,2 and your speakers will safely play output 1,2

for now your situation is, if lets say you had something like a Zoom H4n recorder with 2 inputs as a "Tape Deck"
you : play samples in DAW (Ableton) > Audio Interface (Focusrite Scarlett) > G.Pedals > Zoom H4n to record your pedals's output .

 

[paulpereira]

your first routing could be interesting, just that with output 1,2 going back into 2i2 i wont be able to monitor with speakers, only headphones, but that's fine. I don't have an idea of a tape deck yet, was thinking of something old and clunky so i can have the whole lo fi thing going, i don't know yet, i wa sjust concerned with difference in signal frequency or whatever, since i assume guitar pedals are mono and samples going in are stereo. Great reminder on the rec monitoring in ableton. Thanks a million man, something to consider!

 

[blueprintstudios]

You won't be able to monitor with both speakers and headphones because main outputs = 1,2!
so when you're doing "recording" you can't monitor what you're recording , UNLESS @ G-Pedals has a separate headphone output, then you can "intercept" and monitor.

Difference in signal frequencies wise, apart from the unbalanced TS/balanced TRS stuff would be all "impedance" talk and that is another can of worms similar to "Reamping". You can try first. if it's not working then you might need to purchase something.

The other concern like I said earlier - Latency. So even when the time comes you're able to monitor what your "tapedeck" recorder is recording, you're going to get that. depends on how fast your CPU / ram and how intensive your samples etc is. you will face this problem after.
in case you don't know what that is.
at 0:00:00.000 your samples PLAY. by the time it reaches your tapedeck / your headphones, it might be 0:00:00.014 later. So if you're using this for a live performance, make sure you have your gear well tested otherwise you're going to look foolish on stage.
(btw until now I still don't know what you're intending to do. whether in studio or on stage. but I'm pretty sure of the things I've highlighted. faced those issues before.)

 

[paulpereira]

thanks for all your replies man, really appreciate it. This is mostly studio recording for now, i'm just thinking of possibilities, i don't even have any g-pedals yet, might get some 2nd hand just to try out. this is all largely for sonic experiments. again thanks!

 

[blueprintstudios]

you're welcome. simply said for possibilities - "For every IN, there's an OUT, and for every OUT, there's an IN" (Last Stop : In > Human Ear) and it's not just limited to 1/4" jack or XLR cables hardware, do consider software as well. if you don't even have any guitarpedals yet, then actually you can do all ITB (In-The-Box) a.k.a within your laptop if it is powerful enough by getting guitar pedal/cab simulation vst plugins like Guitar Rig / Amplitube for your Ableton. so the samples play thru the plugin. then output. works that way as well. and you won't even have to "record" it. just edit and play it out "live" as you like. welcome to 2014 haha.

just remember the latency issues after that. it's a pain in the ass.

 

[paulpereira]

yeah man, i am using maschine with ableton and guitar rig and all that. But you know la, gear slut, itchy backside, want to mess around with hardware too hahah, will deeply consider all my options. Thannks! If you wanna check out my stuff, i got a bunch of them here with everything else i do. Take care now! http://xoltinuum.wordpress.com/category/current-work/

 

[blueprintstudios]

I just listened a few. It's quite interesting , although I'm not too familiar with the specific categorizing of the electronic genre but you using Ableton is a suitable choice cos a few guys I knew in the past who did this kind of music all used Ableton. Sorry I can't comment much about the music as it requires a "deeper" / "higher" level of appreciation (I only listen to drumnbass/trance personally). But choice of samples, arrangement and mixing wise it sounds pretty good from an audio mixing perspective.

All the best and have fun experimenting

 

[paulpereira]

Thanks for the feedback man, always reassuring coming from a peer. and yes, will keep experimenting and evolving my mixing style. Thanks again for all your help!