Let's talk recording

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by AndyC

I'm using Cubase 4 now. Love it. I've been with Cubase for several iterations and it keeps getting better. I also use a Presonus Firepod (now call the FP10). 10 inputs, and you can daisy chain them up to 3 or 4 units. I'm on the hunt for another one so that I can have up to 20 simultaneous inputs live, and get rid of the analog mixing board altogether.

What do you do for drum tracks? I eventually will have one of my drummers in to record basic tracks, but for demos, etc. I want to use some kind of MIDI drums. I tried using drum loops, but for some reason, it won't work. It is fine initially when I paste in the first loop as an audio file, buthen things must get corrupted as every other loop I paste sounds muddled and distorted. No other volumes are up and it all worked initially. Everything else works fine. I was trying to see if there was some way I could use one of the plug ins in Cubase to add drum tracks. It appears that is possible, but only if you have MIDI controller, but maybe I am just missing something.

Mark

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by toneguy86

What do you do for drum tracks? I eventually will have one of my drummers in to record basic tracks, but for demos, etc. I want to use some kind of MIDI drums. I tried using drum loops, but for some reason, it won't work. It is fine initially when I paste in the first loop as an audio file, buthen things must get corrupted as every other loop I paste sounds muddled and distorted. No other volumes are up and it all worked initially. Everything else works fine. I was trying to see if there was some way I could use one of the plug ins in Cubase to add drum tracks. It appears that is possible, but only if you have MIDI controller, but maybe I am just missing something.

Mark

Get EZ Drummer by Toontracks. No MIDI controller needed, no hardware. Just runs as a VSTi inside Cubase.

I've tried everything. I've used drum machines, Jamstix (cool!), DrumSite (okay). I bought DFHS - GREAT drum sounds. Needs lots of drive space, and CPU horsepower - and doesn't come with patterns or grooves. It's just the drum samples and an interface. So if you have MIDI drum tracks DFHS works great. Or if you love programming drums one hit at a time (I don't). Then I got EZ Drummer. Lots of patterns, more available aftermarket. Couple of cool kits. Great sounds. Very simple and easy.

The next stage I'm moving to is an actual drummer . I'm building a home studio with enough space for a drum kit. I'll get virtual drums, so I don't have to mic an acoustic kit, and so I can record the drums as MIDI. I'll use DFHS as the samples.

Anyway, try EZ Drummer in Cubase. It'll have you up and making tunes quickly.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Get EZ Drummer by Toontracks. No MIDI controller needed, no hardware. Just runs as a VSTi inside Cubase.

I've tried everything. I've used drum machines, Jamstix (cool!), DrumSite (okay). I bought DFHS - GREAT drum sounds. Needs lots of drive space, and CPU horsepower - and doesn't come with patterns or grooves. It's just the drum samples and an interface. So if you have MIDI drum tracks DFHS works great. Or if you love programming drums one hit at a time (I don't). Then I got EZ Drummer. Lots of patterns, more available aftermarket. Couple of cool kits. Great sounds. Very simple and easy.

The next stage I'm moving to is an actual drummer . I'm building a home studio with enough space for a drum kit. I'll get virtual drums, so I don't have to mic an acoustic kit, and so I can record the drums as MIDI. I'll use DFHS as the samples.

Anyway, try EZ Drummer in Cubase. It'll have you up and making tunes quickly.

Ya I looked at that, but it's not the cheapest program out there. That may have to wait.

Mark

[AndyC]

Yeah, it's $ 150. The good stuff isn't cheap I guess. Amazon has a copy used for $ 112.

Hey is that a Marauder in your avatar photo? I got a Marauder, new, in 1976. My first Gibson. Mine is wine red. Still have it.

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Yeah, it's $ 150. The good stuff isn't cheap I guess. Amazon has a copy used for $ 112.

Hey is that a Marauder in your avatar photo? I got a Marauder, new, in 1976. My first Gibson. Mine is wine red. Still have it.

So true...I have gigs coming up though so a good chance I will be able to buy soon.

It is a Marauder...Sunburst w/ the binding on the neck. I got mine in 74 or 75. It's all torn apart right now. A couple of years ago I routed the pickguard and put in a humbucker (Rio Grande). I never used the original single coil so I wanted something that would give me a bit more versatility. I recently pulled that pickup out and put in my LP. I like it better there. I used it on a couple of the clips I have posted here. I still have the original neck pickup though. I have always liked that Bill Lawrence tone from that one. Used it for a lot of recording and it sounds great. I have have some other humbuckers laying around so I may have the big M up and running soon again I actually really like the guitar.

Mark

[st.bede]

mic Sennheiser 421 (and maybe a 57 at the same time)

quote from above..."The first mic you should get is the venerable SM57. You can use it to record with, and it doubles as a hammer in a pinch"

DO NOT HIT YOUR MIC.....I have mishandeled a 57 and loss some of the high end, sure it kept on working but still it was damaged and I got rid of it

REAPER is a free (more or less) DAW and it kicks a**....take a look at the sound on sound review

[goldencd]

Hey, figured I would chime in on what i use.

Mac G5 dual 2.0 PowerPC 4gigs ram and 2 TB of HD
Protools HD 1
Apogee Rosetta 200 AD/DA converter
Event Monitor
Rockit Sub
Mackie Big Knob monitoring system
Neumann TLM149 Large Diaphram Condenser Mic
API lunchbox with 2 Great River Pre-amps a
1 sm58
1 sm57
Beta 87
Mogami Cables
Akai MPC1000 with jj0s 2
remote 49 midi controller
Yamaha motif es6
Abelton Live
Reason 3.0
Waves Gold Bundle
Sonnox eq
Soundtoys
Melodyne
and a ton of other plugins
Linndrum
tech 1200 record player and a gangpile of records
Marhsall dsl401 w/di
Epiphone elitist Les Paul

I mainly record hiphop and pop music, produce beats and track vocals.
In addition I do a lot of mixing for local Twin Cities artists. There is a reason why protools is an industry standard, so my suggestion to anyone thinking about getting into recording DAW is to get Protools.

Anyway, here is a quick pic of some of stuff

[shal1234]

I always start my songs by developing the main riffs with a unplugged acoustic or a electric going into a practice amp like roland's microcube, while simultaneously creating the drum track in fruity loops and Drumkit From Hell 2 samples. I can even add bass and ambience with fruity loops, however it's quite limited. By doing guitars and drums simultaneaously i can get somewhat of a "groove" going. I usually just start off with something that i've been working on and expand on that.

I spend many hours working on song structure, ie. intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro. After i have a decent rough draft, I save the fruityloops file and open up Pro Tools LE and the Digi 002 rack.

Import the drum track into pro tools and now i'm ready to lay down guitars and vocals. I like the sound of an amp miked, so if it's too late to use the amp then i won't even bother. I have a POD XT live but it don't cut it for me. Make me an offer and ti's yours.

So i mic the amp with a Shure KSM27 condenser and usually get a pretty good sound. As a rule i always pan my first rhythm track to the mid-left and then record a second rhythm track and pan it mid-right. I just like the thicker sound that way. then i do any ambience panned in the center with my Korg Triton Extreme (make me an offer and it's yours), or lead guitar also goes in the center usually. Same with vocals and bass.

I always use a little delay and some reverb on the vocals, as well as some eq, where i always roll off a little low end to make my voice fit in the mix better. Sometimes i double up on the vocals for power, or for harmony. Just like guitar harnomization.

Once i'm done i export the file out of pro tools and into adobe audition so i can change it into a mp3. Then i listen to it with windows media player (that's the litmus test).

In conclusion: For every 5 songs i create, usually only 1 of them is a keeper. To get something really good i have to produce TONS of material. You get what you put in is my motto. Work hard and you will see the results. Everytime i record a new song i learn a few things, sometimes minor things, other times pricless.

some tips (my opinion):

I never need as much gain as i think i do, nor reverb. alway use one of your recording channels for guitar, another for vocals, and so on, so you don't have to constanly make adjustments to the gain and other controls of that channel.

I would recommend getting some monitors to listen to your song as you are creating it, as opposed to headphones. there's no substitute for hearing sound pass through the air.

I use a pop filter with vocals, it is extremely usefull because it really does a good job of smoothing out the mix if i accidentally say a "P" too loud or something. I rarely sing directly into the mic, most of the time i sing at an angle to it. i think it's because it's a sensitive mic and if i speak directly at it the monitor will immediately peak into the red.

For song structures, I take notes from my favorite bands. If you like the way a particular song goes, then steal the structure and replace it with your own riffs. after a while you will figure out what sounds best to you and develop your own style, and no longer need to bite off other songs.

To me the strength of a song usually (not always) lies in the transitions. A sweet riff is cool, but the next transition can make or break it. spend time working on transitions, and ask yourself if it keeps the feet tapping, or does it murder the groove? Anybody can write a riff, but it takes time and dedication to master transition, and it will show. people will be impresed. Thanks for reading my rant. Peace!

[hate90]

Hello all,, I Hope this thread is still alive.. hehe

i'm kind of new to this Home studio stuff but is my real passion,, the thing is that i requested for a M-audio midi controller 49key, line6 toneport x2 interface. to start with my recording stuff,, i already have some software (fruity lopps, cakewalk sonar and plan to get in the future waves mercury)

im not very good with the software yet, but as soon as i get the gear i will improve on them,,, so i want to get some monitors and condenser microfones, is there any advice you guys wanna tell me??' im running on a low budget at the moment.. maybe any other gear i will need?

[racerratt]

Great topic.

I've been doing the home PC recording thing for awhile and I love it.

What my goal was to see how far I could go recording with a DAW (digital audio workstation) and no mic's. What a journey its been.

I use Sonar Producer and it is one of the best. For drums I use FXpansion BFD. Killer sampled drums and for bass I use Broomstick Bass along with IK Multimedia AmpegSVX software. Waves makes some of the best effects software out there and I went overboard and got the Mercury bundle.

For mixing down and mastering I use Soundforge and Harbal.

Little did I know when I started doing this, how addicted to it I would get. I've done numerous commercials for radio and TV as well as fixing bad mixes for some local bands.

This stuff goes deep as you want to go. There is lots to learn in PC recording and I can't tell you how many times I was pulling my hair out in frustration at learning this (I can trouble shoot just about anything) but it has been well worth it.

For the audio card I use M-Audio Delta 10/10LT

[racerratt]

.

[jerryo]

Im gonna try that Line 6 toneport device

it comes with Audacity (?) and people speak well of it.

Laptop and headphones

[hate90]

Hey i got the line 6 toneport ux2,, is there any way i can get it work without monitor speakrs?? i mean get it work with my computer speakers?


and a,, my ableton lite,, doesnt workk, is there any other good software out there easy to use?

[hillbilly]

One thing I'd like to suggest is to record/save to a separate hard drive; audio files can fragment & wreak havoc on your computer's main drive.

I use a PreSonus 8-input FireWire rigged up at rehearsal; snare & kick mic'd, 2 overheads, bass direct, 1 vocal mic, with a MacBook & GarageBand. Record everything to the stand-alone 250gig hard-drive right next to the laptop...

Get good levels & tones first---you won't have to tweak them later (unless you want to).

[vladmaximus]

HELLO THERE...
IM DOIN RECORDING STUFF AT MY ROOM TOO..
WELL,MY SETUP IS A MINIMAL SET UP ONE..
I GOT --->

- PC - AMD 2600+ ATHLON XP
- RAM - 1 GIG
- 500GIG HARD DISK
- M-AUDIO DELTA 1010Lt SOUNDCARD
- M-AUDIO RADIUM 49 KEYBOARD CONTROLLER
- ESI NEAR 06 ACTIVE MONITOR SPEAKERS
- RODE NT-1 CONDENSER MIC
- M-AUDIO NOVA CONDENSER MIC
- SHURE SM58 CONDENSER MIC
- LINE 6 POD XT LIVE
- PRO TOOLS M 7.4
- SONAR 7
- ACID PRO 6

IF YOU GUYS WANNA LISTEN TO ALL MY RECORDING WORKS...
CLICK THIS & LISTEN TO ALL MY WORKS IN THIS PAGE OK --->

www.myspace.com/maximusmuzik

THATS MY BAND & MY WORKS...
DONT FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON MY WORKS OK...

THANKS..
HAVE A NCE DAY OK

[SkyPilot]

Boss BR-600. The absolute easiest way to get reasonably professional sounding demo cds. $350

[goby]

I am confused about the soundcard the people mention.

I have an IBM Thinkpad. I assume I have a "business" soundcard. Do I need a decent sound card if I get a "box" (where I plug in my guitar and mic)?


Hope that made sense?

[coldsteal2]

There are some real nice plugin soundcards for laptops

http://us.creative.com/products/prod...WT.mc_id=17395

or you can get a USB digital sound unit like
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB.html

or

http://us.creative.com/products/prod...&product=15186

[Mayo5]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

There are some real nice plugin soundcards for laptops

Creative ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook SB0950 70SB095000004 Upgrade your notebook to Xtreme Fidelity and make your music, movies, and games

or you can get a USB digital sound unit like
M-AUDIO - Fast Track USB - Record Guitar and Vocals on Your Computer—Complete with Effects

or

E-MU / Creative Professional - Digital Audio Systems, USB MIDI Keyboard, MIDI USB Interface

Which would you recommend out of those coldsteal?

I'm running a desktop pc with a quadcore @ 2.8, 4 gigs memory, and an 896 MB graphics card, and Vista 64 bit.

[Bowhunterwt]

Well here my two cents on recording song:

Equipment list as follows:

Tascam DP02 Recorder
Art Tube Preamp
Audix I5 Mike (same as a Shure 57 sort of)
Zoom Electronic Drummer

I record the drum track on one channel as a foundation of the song I'm recording. Then I record the guitar rhythm track two different ways.

One track is an Line out direct, the other is a miked thru the Tube preamp.
Without a 15 or 30 band eq I blend the direct and mike tracks in stereo and with the bass and treble at different freq to give the guitar a fuller sound.

Direct EQ Freq Bass=500 High=1.7
Miked EQ Freq Bass= 400 High= 1.8 to 1.9

Then I record the bass from the post line out into the Tube Preamp and record it.

EQ setting varies depending onthe song and what type of bass sound I need to hear.

I love to try some computer recording software later on but they are so expensive right now I beleive I'll wait for for that~!!!!

[coldsteal2]

Originally Posted by Mayo5

Which would you recommend out of those coldsteal?

I'm running a desktop pc with a quadcore @ 2.8, 4 gigs memory, and an 896 MB graphics card, and Vista 64 bit.

Just depends on how many options you want
for inputs and outputs, i like them both, but the
usb's are probably the most versitile

[Mayo5]

Originally Posted by coldsteal2

Just depends on how many options you want
for inputs and outputs, i like them both, but the
usb's are probably the most versitile

Sorry to asking you questions, but if I was going with the M-audio that has USB.

Would it go like this:

Guitar -> Pedal Board -> Amp. / Mic'd Amp- M-Audio Device -> Computer

Basically, run the guitar and amp as I would normally, and just run the the mic'd amp cord to the M-audio device? Or is there another mixer,etc?

[toneguy86]

Originally Posted by Liam

Never tried a Blue Snowball, but I keep an SM57 in my kit bag just in case the one in the studio is broken, or the PA guy only has 58s.

For recording I actually like two SM57s at 45 degrees to each other, you have to move one of them about until the phase sounds right. (One straight on to the speaker, one at right angles.)

Don't want to drag this thread out, but anyone get the feeling the SM57 is a popular guitar recording mic? I aslo like them for vocals.

Liam

I'm just curious why you use SM57s instead of 58s? I have been using 58s mostly for recording actually. For guitar I have been setting a 58 on a boom stand and setting it a couple of feet away from the amp. It seems to sound pretty decent. I tried close micing my amp with a 57 and it just didn't seem to work that well. It seems fine for live sound, but not really in the studio. I'm curious about what you are doing. I like a sound that gives you a little more of the room which is why I am using the 58 set from a distance. It seems warmer somehow. Any other ideas, tips, hints appreciated.

Mark