Using The M/X32 Console With AutoMate & Reaper For Mixing

Support forum for the AutoMate family of console automation specifically designed for Behringer/Midas consoles by Patrick Gilles-Maillot.

This forum is also for support with Reaper and the X-Live expansion card with respect to AutoMate.

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MJKlein
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Using The M/X32 Console With AutoMate & Reaper For Mixing

Post by MJKlein »

There is some confusion about using the '32 in the studio with AutoMate and Reaper (the same can be said about using the WING too).

I've seen countless videos on YouTube that all claim to teach how to "properly" use the '32 in the studio. Every one of those videos that I have seen say the same thing: use console channels 1 and 2 to play back the L/R output of the master bus. Then the videos proceed to show how to setup and use the DCA layer as DAW controllers.

There certainly is nothing wrong with doing it that way, and indeed until AutoMate came along there wasn't a viable way to do automation for mixing on the console, other than having a console with its own automation system, like an API Vision or Tascam DM series.

Let me describe the setup with Reaper and an M/X32.
  • All tracks are normally recorded in mono. Stereo tracking is possible if you take certain things into consideration (see below).
  • Tracks 1 - 32 are routed 1:1 with the console channels, in the mono section of the Routing Matrix.
  • Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise (see below), Reaper tracks are set at unity and the pan pots centered.
  • Monitoring is done using the X32 Control Room section.
  • Mixdowns are recorded in Reaper on stereo tracks, and the Mix Monitor function of AutoMate is used to playback the mixdown tracks for editing and Mastering (I will write about Mastering with AutoMate later).
Special Considerations When Working With Stereo Tracks
It is possible to use stereo tracks in Reaper as long as you realize that doing so will require 2 console channels for mixing (but not on the WING!). If all the tracks in Reaper were stereo there would be a maximum of 16 tracks, with a total of 32 channels of audio.

In the Routing Matrix, one would use the stereo section and route those stereo tracks in pairs to the appropriate linked channels on the console.

One reason that you may want to do this is to utilize a plugin, which normally are stereo. If you have 2 guitar tracks, L + R, one channel each on 2 tracks, using a single instance of a plugin on one of those tracks would make the routing and channel sends more complicated than necessary. Simply create a stereo track out of the 2 mono channels and use a single instance of the plugin on that new stereo track, but route it's output across 2 console channels as described above.

More Complicated Capability Through Routing and Busing in Reaper

Some have expressed the thought that they felt limited by using AutoMate with 32 console channels and that having larger track counts is impossible with this type of setup. That is not the case! It will, however, require you to use some of the same in-the-box methods that you may currently employ to achieve higher track counts. This would be a hybrid mixing solution that is extremely powerful. That being said, 32 tracks is a lot! But, sometimes you will need more. You can do submixes using the console and then move the storage tracks outside of the main tracks in the project, or you may do a submix in Reaper and leave them in place. Let's elaborate:

Remember, that while the console has 32 channels, that does not limit one to only 32 channels of audio, since the routing matrix allows multiple track outputs to be routed to the same channels. This means that you can use Reaper's folder system of organization and also use Reaper buses too. You could do a complex submix right in Reaper, to a bus, and just send the output of the bus to the console on 2 channels. Use your normal workflow on those buses.

As a solo artist, I do a ton of double tracking. Sometimes I will do 6 tracks of acoustic guitar to really thicken it up. But, do I really want to take up 6 channels on the mixing desk? Probably not. So, I make a folder of those tracks and I route them all to 2 console channels and pan/assign them in Reaper. I may also make level adjustments in Reaper so that everything comes to those 2 console channels just how I want them.

Once you become accustomed to this workflow you will appreciate the simplicity of mixing on the console and using the audio engines.

But, how do you use the console as an audio interface for recording? How do you monitor the tracks? I will discuss using the X/M32 in the studio for production next time.
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Behringer X32/Dante + Soundcraft Ghost + X32ReaperAutoMate
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