The Recording Thread

[chadjwil]

So can somebody give me an explanation of why I would want a mixing board in the loop of my DAW? I Use Studio1, mostly single tracking, almost 100% guitar and vocals, both direct and clean. I don't have any intention of re-amping, but that might just be because I don't fully understand it's usefulness. Please educate a brother.

 

[ricksteruk]

Hmm why use a mixing board?

I would say the main reason is so you can easily set up monitor mixes for live performers without getting any nasty latency from the whole AD/DA conversion and computer processing.

If you get a mixer with a built in reverb then you can send that to the vocal monitor mix (which helps vocalists pitch).

The other reason is that mixers can be useful for selecting between different monitor speakers, nearfields, mid fields etc...

Some audio interfaces (like the MOTU stuff) has built in hardware mixer with reverb and fx so you can set up a monitor mix as I described above from your computer without troubling your DAW and without Latency.

 

[johnfv]

Slow progress: this is a live in the garage recording with overdubs (vocals, some guitar). I probably have posted a version before, I think I may be getting close to finished finally Recorded and mixed "in the box" with a Focusrite interface
http://johnviehweg.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GoodDay16-05-04_mix1.mp3

 

[Frodebro]

Slow progress: this is a live in the garage recording with overdubs (vocals, some guitar). I probably have posted a version before, I think I may be getting close to finished finally Recorded and mixed "in the box" with a Focusrite interface
http://johnviehweg.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GoodDay16-05-04_mix1.mp3

Nice! That song wouldn't be out of place at all on The Who's Tommy. The arrangement is even stylistically in the same vein.

 

[johnfv]

Nice! That song wouldn't be out of place at all on The Who's Tommy. The arrangement is even stylistically in the same vein.

Wow, that's a hell of a compliment. I had not thought about the resemblance being so direct but I see it now; certainly classic Who is a big influence. Thanks!

 

[Frodebro]

Wow, that's a hell of a compliment. I had not thought about the resemblance being so direct but I see it now; certainly classic Who is a big influence. Thanks!

The funny thing is that it doesn't sound like you were trying to deliberately copy them in any way, but the influence does come through in the arrangement. And Townshend's arrangements were great.

 

[minerman]

After a few painful days of not being able to record, I've got a new pc on the way, it'll be here sometime tomorrow. I'm actually stoked as hell because it's basically the machine I wanted 6 years ago, but settled for something else because of cost. It should be able to handle about anything I throw at it, the only thing I dread is re-installing all of my software, but that's life...

Specs for the new pc:

Intel i7-4790
16gb ram
2 tb 7200 rpm hdd (OS & other programs)
1 tb 7200 rpm hdd (dedicated audio drive)

I also got an enclosure with usb 3.0 to transfer my files from my old hdd's that were in the pc that died (as long as the hdd's haven't been damaged.....hopefully they're ok)...

Pretty excited to say the least...

 

[minerman]

New computer just got here, I'm actually using it to post this....now to start installing the 1,000,000 software programs to get my daw running....

So far, so good, seems like a zippy machine, but won't be able to tell until I test it with one of my projects....

 

[blues_n_cues]

New computer just got here, ....now to start installing the 1,000,000 software programs to get my daw running....

....

it's going to be a long wkend.....lol

 

[Dogs of Doom]

New computer just got here, I'm actually using it to post this....now to start installing the 1,000,000 software programs to get my daw running....

So far, so good, seems like a zippy machine, but won't be able to tell until I test it with one of my projects....

it's going to be a long wkend.....lol

good time to streamline...

A while back, I lost my main hard drive & had to start all over. Since my last purchase, I have been using Adobe Audition, since before it bought out Cool Edit Pro. When I was using AA, they had it so that at any time, you could download & install the version you bought & they had your serial #'s all listed on your account, so all you had to do was download, copy your serials, add your email, etc. Well, in the meantime, they went to "the cloud" based system, so now, you do not own a copy, but using their product is a perpetual subscription. In that, they no longer support the hard copy versions of old, so no more download.

So, I found the last version that was not a cloud version. The version is CC, but not cloud enabled, nor upgradeable. The problem? It didn't support any of my 16 bit plugins that I bought over the years. So, now, I had to decide what I really needed & what I could live without. For the most part, many of the plugins I had were just noise. Eating up resources as every time you fire up the DAW, all those plugins have to load. There were some cool ones, but, looking things up, I don't think the cost is worth what I was getting out of them to re-up. Plus, I haven't been recording much lately anyway.

 

[minerman]

good time to streamline...

Already ahead of ya man, first thing I did was make a backup disc of my OS (W7...I didn't want W10 until I have to use it), then started installing "bare bones" software for my setup. I've got it all installed & running, the thing that took the longest was my drum vsti discs, mostly Toontrack. Superior alone (just the installer & stock kit) is a 5-dvd set, plus all the others. But it really didn't take as long as I thought it would. And I didn't install a lot of plug-ins I had on the previous machine, so it's good...

I can tell quite a difference between this i7 & the AMD Phenom II x4 810 I had, but the new machine has 16gb ram, where the old one had only 8. That might be the difference between 'em...This is my first Intel machine too, I've always had to compromise because of the price difference (IE: the AMD that just died was about $1000 new, this new Intel with an extra 1tb hdd & external case with usb 3.0 was about $800 shipped)...

So far, I like it, a lot, & I'm very happy with my new toys...

 

[minerman]

I can highly recommend an Intel machine if you can afford it guys. The AMD quad-core I had was pretty good, but it just can't hold a light to the Intel i7-4790 at all. I'm sure the 16gb of ram (which is twice as much as the AMD pc had) helps a lot too, but this thing smokes!!! I opened a project that ran about 40-50% CPU on the AMD, & on the new Intel, it barely goes above 5%, which is just astonishing to me!!!

Something else I highly recommend is an external case for hard drives. Simply stick one of your hdd's in it, hook up the power, USB 3.0, & away you go. I've copied projects that were over 8gb in size in just a couple of minutes. Highly recommended...

Here's a link:
Mediasonic ProBox K32-SU3 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Enclosure


Using this little toy, I've also found my audio hdd from my old pc was dying, as it makes all kinds of strange noises when it's in use. Not sure there's anything I can do for it, but I do have everything I wanted to save copied over to another drive...

Pretty damn happy with my new pc so far!!!

 

[Dogs of Doom]

I personally recommend SSD drives w/ SATA3.

The performance is really a no brainer for me. The bad rap that SSD drives get is that they "don't last as long" as HDD, but, the expected life of an SSD drive is about 5 years. I think SSD drives, you're lucky to get 5 years, so it's almost a wash. An SSD is basically like the CF or SD card you put in your camera.

 

[DirtySteve]

Hey guys, are any of these monitors worth a crap? I only have limited funds for this so I need to keep it under $200 and I don't want to wait to order something online. I'm going to set up my interface this long weekend and play with it.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Studio-...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD

 

[Ghostman]

I love the sound of the JBL's and the Yamaha's.

 

[PU239]

Hey guys, are any of these monitors worth a crap? I only have limited funds for this so I need to keep it under $200 and I don't want to wait to order something online. I'm going to set up my interface this long weekend and play with it.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Studio-...profileCountryCode=US&profileCurrencyCode=USD

Of those in that link (assuming you want to be under $500 a pair) the Tannoy 502's are going to be the most accurate for the money. I have to LMAO when guys spend so much on recording gear only to mix on shit monitors. Getting good monitors is only half the battle, your room and where you place them matter equally to get a good mix. For Professional recordings your AD converter and your studio monitors is where you need to spend your money.

 

[DirtySteve]

Well, I did say I was trying to keep it under $200 if possible. I'm just trying to get some decent recording of my amp to post and just learn some basics at this point. I'm certainly not trying to build a studio, I'm just testing the water so to speak and see if I can figure this out.

Right or wrong, I got these...http://www.guitarcenter.com/M-Audio/AV42-Studio-Monitor-Pair.gc and this... http://www.guitarcenter.com/Electro-Voice/CO4-Cobalt-Dynamic-Mic.gc on sale for $40. Several guys that were there swore it's a better mic than the SM57 that I went in for. When the sales guy started his spiel about a better mic I was sure he was going to suggest something more expensive, but to my surprise he suggested this one and another sales guy and 2 customers backed him up so I went for it. It's definitely a more solid build than the SM57.

$211.00 (and some change) out the door. I'm happy about that for sure.

 

[PU239]

Those will be fine Steve. If you put the recording in your car or on disk and don't like the mix just redo it.

Be careful now, once you get hooked on how fun recording is there is no end to the damage to your wallet.

 

[DirtySteve]

Btw, I have a Presonus AudioBox that I bought a couple of years ago, but never got the mic and monitors. I do have a good set of headphones, but HPs make my ears ring really bad so I wanted the monitors. I have Reaper downloaded also. Back then a couple of guys were trying to help me understand how to use it, but my heart wasn't in it at the time (as much as I wanted it to be) and I hope those guys understand. I don't know if I'm going to remember what they told me back then so I may have some questions coming soon.

 

[blues_n_cues]

Well, I did say I was trying to keep it under $200 if possible. I'm just trying to get some decent recording of my amp to post and just learn some basics at this point. I'm certainly not trying to build a studio, I'm just testing the water so to speak and see if I can figure this out.

Right or wrong, I got these...http://www.guitarcenter.com/M-Audio/AV42-Studio-Monitor-Pair.gc

$211.00 (and some change) out the door. I'm happy about that for sure.

not bad but 4" might leave you a bit light & overcompensating the bass in the mix.
just keep making mixes & referencing in the vehicle or wherever. no matter the monitors they all take some getting used to.