Home Studio Setup, Advice re setting up Options

[communics]

Hi there

Help!

I am new to hard disk recording (and extremely confused). I urgently need some advice about my setup for recording audio.

I have an ibook500, with an M-Audio Audiophile USB soundcard, and a Yamaha MG12/4 mixer.

I have a number of questions:

First, I would like to monitor recording through the mixer to avoid latency, but how should I route the ins and outs? When I'm adding a bass track, for example, how can I listen to the bass along with the tracks I've already recorded? If I route the soundcard's output back to a regular channel of the mixer, I guess I will be re-recording my existing tracks along with the bass.

Second, someone told me it's a good idea to send the soundcard output back into the mixer to 'polish' the mix. How do I do that, which ins/outs should I use, and what is the purpose? Does this mean you should re-record everything again?

Then I have a question about the relationship between recording software and the mixer. To achieve a good stereo mix with instruments panned, is this something you do at the mixer stage or the software stage?

Any help greatly appreciated.