HELIX Live Setup Help Needed

[Pompeysie]

Hi folks.

 

I am a HELIX newb, so please go gently! Can anyone advise me how best to achieve the following live rig/setup using Helix as my guitar amp/effects rack and as my audio interface between my DAW and PA/backline?

 

1. I need to use my DAW to play recorded synths/keys (I'll be using wavs from DAW not midi).

2. I will also need a click track on a separate audio output which will go through a mini mixer which the drummer can control (drummer will then be able to hear click and monitor mix in headphones).

3. I'll be using Helix for guitar with output to an FRFR speaker which I was thinking I'd use in front of me (wedge monitor).

4. Everything, including rest of band, goes to FoH PA and stage monitors.

 

My questions:

A) Can I use Helix as the audio interface with one stereo output for synths/keys and another to route click through to drummer's mixer (both from DAW)? If so, how?

B) Would you bother having a separate output for the guitar to its own speaker or would you just have a full-monitor mix of the whole band? (I'm nervous of the latter having only ever played with my guitar amp behind me. I'd also like to be able to control guitar feedback independently of monitor mix).

 

Advice very much welcomed. Any diagrams of how you'd set this up would also be super helpful.

 

Best wishes

 

Simon

[Lelik]

As to the monitor, my suggestion is to have your own monitor just for the guitar sound.

In any other case, I'm afraid you could find yourself in the difficult position of not hearing yourself enough, or anyway to look for a new volume balance on the stage when time is not enough and it's not practical at all. Anyway this means that you may need an additional monitor to hear the rest of the band.

When I play live, I use my own frfr monitor for my Helix/guitar, and then I rely on what the sound guy offers as a monitor for the whole band (that sometimes include my own guitar, too). 

 

As to the other point I have no experience, but it seems to me that to get what you want to do through the Helix (and I'd ask: why?) means to make specific patches sacrificing one path just for the input/ouput of the sounds different from your guitar. So that at the end a separate small and cheap mixer (or just a USB soundcard) would make more sense to handle all the other sounds.

[DunedinDragon]

Ideally if your DAW allows you to direct the click track separately to USB output 3/4 you could bring that in through the second signal chain specifying USB 3/4 as the input and direct that to a send for the drummer.  This would mean you would be limited to using only the first signal chain for your guitar and audio of the synths.  The normal audio coming in through USB 1/2 will automatically be processed by default through your normal signal chain, although you won't have any control over it's volume level other than what you set from the DAW.  That's all theoretical, but the info is covered in the Helix manual on pages 53 - 55.

 

I personally have my own guitar monitor (a Yamaha DXR12) which I connect to my Helix and have it positioned behind me as I would a traditional amp.  But there are quite a few people that happily operate with their guitar coming through the full band monitors.  I'm not comfortable with that and need a little bit more dedicated sound feed on stage from my guitar to better gauge how I'm mixing on stage with the rest of the band.  But everyone's different.  Best bet is to try both and see what works best for you.

 

Quite honestly I agree with Lelik on maybe using a small dedicated mixer to deal with the synths and click track rather than using the Helix and limiting your options of what you can do in your Helix signal chains.