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Using your Scarlett 18i16 4th Gen

Updated

This section covers some common use cases for the 18i16 4th Gen. Often your use case is a variant of these and how you use your 18i16 4th Gen probably reuses some principles.

Recording a hardware electronic music setup

Using your Scarlett 18i16'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.

A diagram showing how you could connect an electronic music setup to the Scarlett 18i16.

  1. A stereo synth connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.

  2. A stereo drum machine connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.

  3. A mono synth connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.

  4. A second mono synth, connected using two 6.35mm (1/4") TRS jack cables.

  5. Headphones for you to monitor your performance.

  6. 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 18i16 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.

Recording a drum kit

In this section, we'll cover how you might use the four mic preamps on your Scarlett 18i16 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 18i16's inputs:

A diagram showing how you could connect a drum kit to the Scarlett 18i16.

  1. Kick

  2. Snare

  3. Overhead Left

  4. Overhead Right

  5. Engineer's headphones

  6. 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.

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:

  • Spaced pair (A/B).

  • XY pair.

  • Near coincident pair.

  • The Glyn Johns method.

Recording an acoustic session

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 18i16.

A diagram showing how you could record an acoustic sessionw ith the Scarlett 18i16.

  1. 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:

    • Stereo microphones on a singer-songwriter's guitar.

    • Stereo microphones on a piano.

    • Stereo microphones in front of the whole band.

  2. Individual instrument microphone - You could use this to mic up a single instrument, voice, or amplifier.

  3. Vocal microphones - a microphone for your main vocalist.

  4. 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.

  5. Engineer's headphones - Use these headphones to monitor what you're recording.

  6. 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.

Standalone Mode

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:

  • Increasing the number of preamps on another interface or mixer that has run out of microphone preamps, for example:

    • Using any spare line inputs on the other interface.

      For example, by routing the Scarlett's microphone inputs to its line outputs.

    • Using S/PDIF inputs/outputs

    • Using your ADAT inputs

  • 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:

  1. Connect your Scarlett's power socket to mains power.

  2. 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.

  3. Disconnect your Scarlett from your computer and it continues to pass audio in standalone mode.

  4. Connect your inputs and outputs to your interface as usual (see Using your Scarlett 18i16 4th Gen).

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