This section covers some common use cases for the 18i20 4th Gen. Often your use case is a variant of these and how you use your 18i20 4th Gen probably reuses some principles.
Your Scarlett 18i20 has eight analogue inputs, allowing you to record full bands in a single performance.
Recording a band live captures the energy and connection musicians feel when they're rehearsing or performing. After recording the main tracks, you can re-record elements like vocals, guitar solos, or double-track instruments to make the final mix sound fuller.
The diagram shows the recording setup for a band with a guitarist, bassist, drummer, keyboard player, and singer. While band setups may vary, the principles remain the same.
This is a list of the Equipment you'll need to record the 'band' shown in the diagram above.
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Guitar - a 6.35 mm (¼”) TS jack cable.
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Bass guitar - a 6.35 mm (¼”) TS jack cable.
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Drum kit - four microphones and four XLR cables.
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Keyboard or synthesiser - a 6.35 mm (¼”) TRS jack cable.
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A microphone and XLR cable, for the singer.
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Some headphones.
Setup
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Guitar - We’ve connected a guitar to input 1 using the Inst input. You can also use a guitar amp with a microphone for a different sound.
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Bass - We’ve connected a bass guitar to input 2 using the Inst input, similar to using a DI box for recording. You can also use a bass amp with a microphone or the DI out from the amp for a different sound.
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Kick/Bass Drum - We've connected a microphone to input 3 for the kick drum. Recording the kick drum on its own channel allows you to apply compression and EQ without affecting the rest of the drum kit.
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Snare Drum - Again, using a microphone just for the snare drum, connected to input 4. Recording the snare on its own channel allows you to apply compression and EQ without affecting the rest of the drum kit.
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Overheads Left - When you're recording a drum kit with limited channels once you have the most important elements covered, kick and snare, you can use two microphones as overheads to capture the rest of the kit.
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Overhead Right
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Keyboard - In this case we have a keyboard connected to a line input on the back of the Scarlett 18i20, but if you don't have a keyboard player you could use this input for another instrument.
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Vocal microphone - This microphone is for the vocalist. If the vocalist is in the same room as the band, use a dynamic microphone for better rejection of other instruments. If the vocalist is separated or recording later, use a condenser microphone for more detail.
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Headphones - You can send a mix to headphones for a musician or yourself to monitor. If you don’t have enough headphone outputs, give a set to those who need it, like the singer or drummer, and use the line or secondary headphone output to send a mix to a headphone amplifier.
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Secondary headphones.
In this section, we'll cover how you might use the eight mic preamps on your Scarlett 18i20 to mic up a drum kit. We'll also go into a bit of detail in how to make the most of the inputs you have.
This diagram shows which drums you might want to record to each of your Scarlett 18i20's inputs:
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Kick
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Snare
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Tom 1
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Tom 2
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Overhead Left
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Overhead Right
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Engineer's headphones
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Drummer's headphones.
Note
Make sure your first Overhead mic is in an odd-numbered channel so you can link the channels. This makes sure the settings for both overheads are identical. For more information, see Linking Preamps.
You'll notice you have two spare channels. If you wanted more control over your drum kit in the mix you could mic up some more elements, you could even add a mic preamp via ADAT to get up to 16 mic inputs. Other elements of the kit you could mic include:
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A pair of room microphones if your room has a good sound.
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A mic on the hi-hats, if your drummer has a lot of intricate hi-hat work.
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A spot-mic on the drummer's cymbal(s).
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Extra tom mic(s) if your drummer has lots of toms.
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Two mics on the snare, e.g. top and bottom (but remember to invert the polarity of one mic!)
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Two mics on the kick.
Tip
When you're recording a drum kit, there are many ways to place your overhead microphones that suit different styles of music.
In most modern recording we'd use a stereo mic setup, but for a more vintage/retro/compact sound, you can use a single mono overhead microphone.
If you'd like to find out more, we recommend looking up the following drum overhead mic techniques:
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Spaced pair (A/B).
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XY pair.
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Near coincident pair.
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The Glyn Johns method.
Using your Scarlett 18i20's line inputs, you can make it the central hub for recording in an electronic music setup. Most electronic music gear—synthesisers, drum machines, groove boxes, mixers, and effects—use line outputs, so with 6.35mm (1/4”) TRS jack cables, you can record and perform with your entire setup simultaneously.
The following diagram shows an electronic music set up with some mono and stereo synths, and a drum machine. Your setup might look a little different, but the principles are the same.
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A stereo synth connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.
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A stereo drum machine connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.
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A mono synth connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.
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A second mono synth, connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.
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Headphones for you to monitor your performance.
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A second set of headphones if you need them, or you could use this second headphone output for recording, see the Tip below.
Tip
Your Scarlett 18i20 can work in standalone. For a completely DAW-less setup you can disconnect your computer and use the line outputs, or spare headphones output, to send a stereo output to a portable recorder, or mixing console for live performance. See Standalone Mode.
In this section, we're covering how you might record an acoustic session, a stripped-back performance or live session with acoustic instruments.
This diagram shows the sort of instruments you might want to record in this type of recording scenario and how you can make use of the inputs on your Scarlett 18i20.
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Stereo mic setup - when you're recording a more intimate session to create a sense of space, you might want to begin with a stereo microphone setup, for example:
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Stereo microphones on a singer-songwriter's guitar.
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Stereo microphones on a piano.
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Stereo microphones in front of the whole band.
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Individual instrument microphone - You could use this to mic up a single instrument, voice, or amplifier.
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Vocal microphones - a microphone for your main vocalist.
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Line inputs - Use the line inputs for any other instruments that aren't strictly acoustic, such as a 'line output' of a bass amp, or line outputs of an electric keyboard.
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Engineer's headphones - Use these headphones to monitor what you're recording.
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Artist headphones - often if the band is performing live, you won't need to give them headphones. However, if anyone wants to play to a backing track, metronome, or needs monitoring, you could use the second headphone output for the artist.
The Scarlett has a standalone mode; this mode allows your interface to pass audio when it's not connected to a computer. This can be useful for:
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Increasing the number of preamps on another interface or mixer that has run out of microphone preamps, for example:
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Using any spare line inputs on the other interface.
For example, by routing the Scarlett's microphone inputs to its line outputs.
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Using S/PDIF inputs/outputs
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Using your ADAT inputs
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To use your studio setup without having your computer turned on or plugged in, for example, to use your guitar through your speakers, or any electronic music equipment connected.
To setup Standalone mode:
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Connect your Scarlett's power socket to mains power.
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Connect your Scarlett to a computer running Focusrite Control 2. In Focusrite Control 2 's mixer page route the Scarlett's inputs to the outputs you'd like to use. See Using the Focusrite Control 2 Mixer tab.
For example, you could route your microphone inputs to your ADAT outputs to use your Scarlett as a standalone mic preamp to expand another interface with ADAT inputs. See Interface Mode to do this automatically.
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Disconnect your Scarlett from your computer and it continues to pass audio in standalone mode.
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Connect your inputs and outputs to your interface as usual (see Using your 18i20 4th Gen).
The loopback feature on your 18i20 4th Gen allows you to send the sound produced by your computer and route it back into your Scarlett for recording or streaming, without using physical cables. This can be particularly useful in various scenarios, such as sampling, podcasting, live-streaming, or recording screen tutorials:
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Sampling: You can record sounds back into your software to use as samples in your music.
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Podcasting: You can use loopback to record online interviews or discussions, where you want to capture both your voice and the voices of remote participants.
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Live Streaming: It's useful for streaming content with accompanying audio from your computer, such as gameplay, presentations, or tutorials.
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Screen Recording: When creating video tutorials or screencasts, loopback allows you to include the sound produced by your computer along with your narration.
To use Loopback, with your Scarlett:
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Open your DAW or recording software.
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Create a new recording channel in your DAW and either mute, or set the output to 'none' for this channel. It's important to do this so you don't cause a feedback loop.
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Set your recording input of the muted channel to the Loopback channels of your 18i20 4th Gen, channels 9-10.
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Start recording.
The channels in your recording software receive the output of your Scarlett. You can use other channels in your recording software to record anything connected to the inputs on your Scarlett alongside the Loopback feed.
You can also use Loopback to create a mix of any audio sources on your Scarlett, instruments connected to the preamps or audio from your computer. With Loopback, you can mix instruments and backing tracks for your online concerts or balance your microphone and game audio for your live stream. See Using the Focusrite Control 2 Mixer tab.
Important
When you're using Loopback, mute the channels in your recording software so you don't cause a feedback loop.