Home recording

[CHAZ2]

I woinder if anyone can give some advice ? i realise this has probably been asked more than a few times before......i want to do some uncomplicated home recording if there is such a thing i hear the Mac system is good, Garage Band? i have a roland set up and to be honest i never got my head around it...or at least i should say i never had time to learn about it..

I dont want anything fancy...i have a computer but people tell me the Mac is the way to go? i dont want to devote too much time to it, i gig a lot and work during the day i just want to be able to lay down some basics without having a degree in recording....

[emiller45]

PCs work well also. I use Sonar 7 Producers edition with an audio interface. it works well for the simple stuff I do.

[CHAZ2]

Originally Posted by emiller45

PCs work well also. I use Sonar 7 Producers edition with an audio interface. it works well for the simple stuff I do.

Thanks i will look into that ..

[beep.click]

If you have a PC, try using that first. You'll probably be buying an audio interface, and that will probably come with Windows software -- but the interface itself will likely work with Windows OR Mac, if you go that route in the future.

The mistake I see most people make when they're first starting is, they feel they need to understand EVERY button and EVERY feature of the software, before they even start. I find it a lot easier to learn by doing a project: record ONE track; OK; done. Now, how do I add a second track? OK; done. How do I add a third? I don't get confused, because I'm never filling my head with more information than I need at any one moment.

FWIW, I like Cakewalk recording software (like Sonar). It seems very straightforward to me.

[byrdbrain]

I'm in the very same situation, and GarageBand seems to be
a good start for a complete moron like me. If you're more
comfortable on a PC, I'm sure you can find people who will help you.
I've been checking out different interfaces, and I really would like
an Apogee Duet, as a a Mac buddy of mine swears by it, but I'm
not so sure that the highest fidelity is the most flattering to my music,
but what the heck ...

[StuH]

You don't need a Mac to record to computer. PC works fine.

I like emiller's suggestion of Sonar 7 pe but it's like hunting with a howitzer. It was discontinued by Cakewalk about 7 months ago when Sonar 8 pe was released at a cost of $619 clams. Sonar Home Studio 7 $139 or Sonar Home Studio 7xl $209 would be the better choices for beginners wanting to use Cakewalk software. Sonar 8 pe would be a great choice farther down the road.

It doesn't have to be expensive. Here's a quote from another link:

Originally Posted by cwcowell

Line 6 TonePort GX into a PC running Reaper with the Line 6 PodFarm plug-in.

The whole setup (excluding the PC) cost $170 and the results are fantastic.

[electricbody]

A PC is fine. If you skimped on memory when you bought your PC, buy some more. You can never have too much memory. It's easy to install.

[CHAZ2]

Thanks for all your imput.....i will have a look and see if i can find one of those programs......my best mate is a computer wizzard so pc based stuff is not hard for me to sort.

[KCKC]

I just record for fun and have kept my expenses to a minimum.

Downloaded Kristal - freeware - max's out at 16 tracks but accepts vsts. I go from guitar/mic to art preamp to behringer $28 usb interface to a PC with just under a gig of ram.

I only use the PC (found it at the dump) for recording.

kc

[shadowfan]

Hi

Does anyone know of a simple DIY outboard phase inverter circuit fo a dynamic mic?

[ce24]

no need to spend any real money on a recording software just google Reaper and download it it's fantastic if you want to pay 40.00 you can but the download has no blocks on it and it's a full package.

Cheers
ce24

[tboy]

No doubt PC's work well. Macs are just easier to use. I've found that they crash less often when taxed hard, and the features programmed in to most software that only work on Mac are usually very nice additions, designed to foster user friendliness. They are much more "plug and play" oriented in my experience.

[StuH]

Originally Posted by tboy

No doubt PC's work well. Macs are just easier to use. I've found that they crash less often when taxed hard, and the features programmed in to most software that only work on Mac are usually very nice additions, designed to foster user friendliness. They are much more "plug and play" oriented in my experience.

[tboy]

Originally Posted by StuH

Specific example. I can run 32 tracks of DP at 24/48 on my G5, offload 5 or 6 files to desktop, open Melodyne and process/save all tracks, open T-Racks to compress there, drop all back to DP and continue mixing (with T-Racks and Melodyne still running in the background). No crash.
My buddy runs DP on a monster PC, and always encounters OS problems when he tries to do something like that. I'm not a tech guy, but he is, and he just rolls with re-booting when needed. I hate re-booting. In all fairness, this could be something specific to his computer, but that's been my experience.

True, not all people push it that hard, and if you don't you'll probably never notice a difference in performance. But over the past 15 years, I've noted it in audio and video editing software, although the field has certainly leveled quite a bit.

[StuH]

Glad to hear you are experiencing this type of performance from your computer. Continued recording success. Impressive example. Too bad about the random crashing your freind is experiencing that sure sucks.

How are you enjoying Digital Performer?

[thwdude]

A good software for simple home recording on a PC is M-Audio Session. It is very similar to Mac's garage band (I've used both). Its a drag-and-drop type interface (like garage band), and it's also pretty self explainatory. I never read the manual or anything, I just went right into it. Its only 49.99, and it comes with an audio interface, though it's not a very good one. It usb but you plug into it with 1/8" plug, and I'm not sure of the it's quality cause I've never used it.

Here is the link

[tboy]

Originally Posted by StuH

Glad to hear you are experiencing this type of performance from your computer. Continued recording success. Impressive example. Too bad about the random crashing your freind is experiencing that sure sucks.

How are you enjoying Digital Performer?

I really like DP, StuH. I chose it because of the MOTU 828 interface, but when I re-tool I'm probably going over to Pro Tools. MOTU felt like more bang for the buck at the time.
I'm currently developing a small recording arts track for a university, and the 003 Factory looks perfect. I want the students to recognize the software in the real world, and Pro tools is an industry standard. Also, the Pro Tools interface feels more intuitive to me.

Regarding Mac/PC, a tech told me this...

Traditionally, Mac exercises an iron grip on their OS. Developers have to adhere to a variety of strict parameters. Windows is much more open, giving software developers great access to the OS, which brings up six things...
1. Large amount and low cost of PC software compared to Mac.
2. Long boot and shutdown times of the PC.
3. Greater instability of Windows, because developers can go for deep control of the OS.
4. Decreased efficiency of Windows based software because of modular programming instead of proprietary coding.
5. Increased susceptibility to viruses (mostly because of widespread PC use)
6. Introduction of Intel and cross Microsoft programs to MAC have leveled the field somewhat, but it's essentially the OS and programming that make the difference.

This could be BS for all I know, but it sounded logical to me, and real-world use has supported these theories for me.
Seems like if you get a dedicated PC for your studio, and don't introduce cheap software, a Windows PC should function very well. I suspect my bud has his PC loaded with 10 dollar funware.

Sorry to get off track, but I guess this could be useful info for someone just diving in.

[tboy]

Originally Posted by shadowfan

Hi

Does anyone know of a simple DIY outboard phase inverter circuit fo a dynamic mic?

Check this out...
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...eInverter.html

Like 25 bucks. Stuffing and soldering already done.

[shadowfan]

Originally Posted by tboy

Check this out...
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...eInverter.html

Like 25 bucks. Stuffing and soldering already done.

Wow that's great! Thank you much.