Newc's Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

[MichaelMadeja]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginn

Alrighty thanks, I do not need something to amp the mic though?

Thanks!

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginn

For vocals, I'd recommend a flat EQ and tweak it in the computer so you can get a hotter signal into the card without overloading a given frequency due to the mixer's EQ.
Or you could try cutting EQ freqs instead of boosting them in the mixer. That way you can get more gain with less chance of high or low peaking.

I see no problem with using an SM-57 as a vocal mic, and the POD should do just fine. Just pick a warm, clean tube sound with or without a cabinet and go with it. My ex-singer once sang through an Ampeg tube guitar head and a 1x12 cabinet and it sounded warmer than going through a P.A.
Your best bet is to record several takes using several different setups - no EQ, full EQ, POD with various cabinets/amps and listen to the different results for about a week. You'll find the sound you want that way.

I do recommend a pop-filter or a Peak Limiter like the Alesis 3630 for vocals, though. One thing goes wrong and the entire vocal track is toast.

[MichaelMadeja]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginn

Whats mixer with EQ settings would you recomend?

And could I record using a Shure 57 striaght to my POD 2.0?

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

No problem.

MIDI confused me for a while as well, and I thought it was only good for hearing cheesy Nintendo versions of good songs.
Then I found these things called SoundFonts for Soundblaster-type sound cards, and saw (heard) the true potential of MIDI.

And YES! You DO have a MIDI Instrument - it's your soundcard! [img]/images/graemlins/idea2.gif[/img]

Search Yahoo/Google for SoundFonts and you'll end up with tons of links to various places - whenever I go looking for them and find a decent site something goes wrong with my computer and I have to reboot before I can tell if the page is good enough to add to my Favorites (like a spontaneous Windows update or something) [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Anyway, you don't necessarily need a keyboard, and you probably won't need an external synth like the Alesis QSR if your soundcard has a lot of RAM on it. You can get by just fine with a good SoundFont and a lot of RAM.

Check your card's specs by going into Control Panel, AudioHQ, and then SoundFont. This will show you how big of a SoundFont your card has loaded into it, and how much RAM is being used. My SB Live 5.1 came with 2 SoundFont files - a 2MB and a 4MB - but there are other, larger SFs out there, and the larger the SoundFont, the better the samples.
You can also find instrument-specific SoundFonts (Piano, Guitars, Drums, etc) that take up all of the sound card's RAM for just that one instrument (and whatever variations the author put in, such as Clean Guitar, Jazz Guitar, Distorted, Grunge, Metal, Rock, etc etc).

They're easy to load into the SoundCard, however, once you load a single-instrument soundfont, that's all you get out of it until you load another one, even though you can still select different instrument names in a MIDI editor (i.e. if you've got a Guitar-only soundfont loaded, you can select any instrument in the list of MIDI instruments and still only have Guitar sounds).

You can't record vocals with MIDI, however. There was/is a program for the Mac that can do a very good (IMO) synthesized singing voice, but they have yet to put it on PC [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Another thing MIDI can do is connect your PC to and sometimes operate remotely external devices, such as a digital recorder, keyboard, rack synth, drum machine, etc etc. Anything that has MIDI In/Out can be controlled by your computer (via USB MIDI devices or older Joystick-port MIDI cables). Some units even have specific software interfaces for controlling those devices via MIDI.

IIRC, Cakewalk's stuff comes with a huge library of MIDI-based controllers for various well-known synths like Korg, Yamaha, Alesis, and such. More recent versions may also include rack preamp controllers, but I haven't used a Cakewalk product in almost 10 years [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Back when I first started looking for serious info on MIDI, all I found were "geek sites" that told me what the technical/mathematical specs were, and places to find MIDI editors to make my own music. Nothing about how to actually use it. So, I had to learn that by myself. Little by little I'd find useful info such as the SoundFont thing.

It always amazed me how the people that put up the sites for a given subject assumed that all visitors already knew everything about the subject, so they didn't offer any "real" info.
This was also waaaaay before Message Boards like this one, so the most you could do was email and hope for a reply. A lot of times I got responses telling me to go buy this book or that book - $200 in books on something that I just told you in 20 minutes, all because no one was willing to help [img]/images/graemlins/brow.gif[/img]

[donf]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Newc
I'm new to the digital recording world and got a few questions. I just bought Cakewalk HomeStudio2, along with a US-122 TASCAM interface, A brand new Dell, SoundBlaster 24 with enough to handle Cakewalks requirements.

Some of the question I have in regards to recording is Audio/ MIDI. I bought several books to go along with the tutorials that are in Cakewalk, so I've been busy reading and doodling a lot. I've recorded audio tracks. I haven't got to record MIDI tracks yet cause I don't have a MIDI instrument yet.

I'm not too sure what the MIDI interface does, other than allow me to record vocals (microphone) and guitar to Audio tracks.


I'm brand new at this, so excuse my ignorance until I get caught up.

One of my questions is why use MIDI files. I understand the concept behind MIDI, being 'instructions' given to MIDI instruments. I know MIDI takes less space than Audio, but it seem easier to just make audio files. I haven't found a way to record voice to MIDI, unless you convert the MIDI to Audio, then lay down a vocal track.

But why, for example would there be a need for it. Playing out live, by yourself? Accompanying say my guitar and singing with MIDI tracks of drums, bass, wind instruments, etc? I could do the same with Audio, right?

Like I said, I know the basic knowledge of MIDI, but can't grasp it's efficient purpose other than saving bytes.

Another, off the wall question,.....a workstation,in conjunction (with/without) MIDI. Does it simulate having MIDI instruments if it's connected to Cakewalk? So instead of me buying a keyboard, which may be limited to the number of instruments (sounds) it makes, would a workstation be a better investment?

I hope I made some kind of sense, cause I'm confusing the hell out of myself.

I joined some other sites, Home Studio forum, MIDI forum, for learning, so I'm sure one day (bouncing my palm off my forehead) I'll look back at this message and whince cause it'll be obvious, what the answers to my questions are.

But, until then, I'll just be picking brains.

[Chuckracer]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

What are some of the better free recording software names I should consider?
Gonna get me a used POD and a limiter and start recording soon! Got a Soundblaster Live! in my new 'puter, and I am terrified to use it!

[Bob From Accounting]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

TOAST!! [img]/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] Yauuuza glad i didn't try that [img]/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

I'm gonna be lookin for som XLR cables now, would be great to record with this sound i have now [img]/images/graemlins/band.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

You can get XLR to 1/4" cables - my H3000 Harmonizer has XLR ins and outs - not a 1/4" on the thing.

As for the headphone out, whther or not you can run it into your card's Line Input is related to the Headphone output impedance and the Line In impedance - a mismatch means one or the other (or both) will be toast. Definitely ask Line6 about that one before you try it.

[Bob From Accounting]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Hmm

XLR "gives you the perfect pair of direct connections for live performance and studio recording sessions"

I guess I need a mixer to be able to record to the computer with this then. unless you can plug the headphone jack to soundcard's line in, but it doesn't say anything about that.

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Hmmm. I'd wager the XLR outputs or the headphone out, but I'd read the manual first to see if they mention it, or ask over at the Line6 Forum (if they have one, if not, start one and be a King of your own Domain [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] )

[Bob From Accounting]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Yeah that cable looks alittle better, not as big. gotta get one of those!

The HD147 looks like this on the back

HD147 back

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-HOS-YRA154.html

AMS has one by Hosa

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Yeah I have that trouble sometimes - the 1/8" adaptor + 1/4" cable weighs too much, and over time will pull down and screw up the connection. All I can say is keep checking Radio Shack for the elusive 2xRCA to 1/8" stereo Y adaptor cable, or find something you can stack under the adaptor/cable to support the weight.

As for the HD147, I don't know - what kind of connections does it have on the back?

[Bob From Accounting]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Great post!!

What I'm always having trouble with is the connection to the computer. when i connect my v-amp to the line in of my soundblaster live card, it's something wrong with connection on the soundcard and you can wiggle the cable up and down but it either only sounds from the left or the right speaker, after some wiggeling it usually works but last time after 10 mins i gave up. it only connects to one side of the "receiver" inside.

There must be som better cables for this ?
a guitar cable + the 1/8 addaptor is too long and weighs too much, it screws up the soundcard connectors inside

Ps does anyone know how you direct record to the computer with a HD147 ?

[Newc]

Re: Newc\'s Home Recording Handbook - Lvl 1- Beginners

Thankyuh - Thankyuh verah much [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]