Update on " Help an Old Guy Out".

[arlum]

Hi friends. As suggested by other members in my prior thread I've pushed off selecting a Computer DAW. My Mac has Garage Band on it and I've now been convinced to use it as a learning tool. To get a handle on DAWs. What I like. What I dislike like. What this or that name or term actually means when going back and forth between the DAW to English languages. I've decided to purchase all the other components I'll need for home recording. I used to own them all but, over the last 20 years while not recording, many were given away to guitar playing friends and a few seem to have grown legs and walked away.
I still have most of my mics, three Shure SM57, a Beta 58 and Electro-Voice RE20 dynamic mic and a AKG Perception P420 condenser mic. I still have my first two Fender dynamic mics from a long time ago but they only come out from hibernation when extra folks are in the room to provide harmonies or whatever.
As stated in the earlier thread I've purchased an Audient ID24 to serve as my audio interface. It's still in the box so I can't say anything other than it seems to receive good reviews online. It was a bit pricey but I didn't want to go back and forth. I wanted the first one to work out fine.
I still own a few pair of headphones but, again, wanted to get something special for my last ditch effort to record in digital project and finally settled on a pair of headphones from a company called Focal. I've never heard of them but they too get good reviews. I bought a Pair of Lensys Professional closed back. I chose them because most every recording site said you need closed back for performance and open back for mixing and mastering. I didn't want to buy two sets of headphones. When I searched for the best alternative that would handle both duties the cheapest were the Lensys Professional and they still cost more than any headphones I've ever owned.
I already own a pair of 5" and a pair of 8" M-Audio Studio monitors. They're not the best but I'm used to them.
Today I purchased the MIDI controller keyboard I'll be using. My first pick, the Auturia Keylab 61 MK3, had minimum computer specs I couldn't quite meet so ........ I went back to the first one that impressed me a few days ago. Up front it's $200.00 less to purchase so I guess that's a win. The one I purchased is made by Novation and it's called the Launchkey 61 MK4. I've never owned anything by Novation but again ..... online reviews and youtube seem to like them.
I've also ordered a two tier recording desk with a pull out drawer sized to handle a 61 Keyboard + everything else. I'm ready to start working with Garage Band as soon as everything arrives.
The next few months, or more, will be spent trying to climb out of the analog tape format I grew to love over more than 30 years of use and arrive upon the plateau of modern digital recording. I'm saying that with a straight face. I swore I'd never go to the dark side but it's either that or let all the songs I've written over the last twenty relegated to local performances and family gatherings.
On the DAW front ...... Garage Band ...... which will probably lead to Logic Pro. Since I've tried Logic Pro years ago and failed I've looked at where I might go if I still can't handle it. Cubase, Cakewalk, Digital Performer, Reason, Nuendo and Pro Tools are off the chart. I'm to old to take them on. Reaper looked interesting until they started talking about writing / coding it to make it your own. The last code I understood was pig latin. I'm not going there. Presonus Studio One, Bitwig Studio, Tracktion Waveform, Abelton Live and FL Studio are the only possibilities I'm considering if I fail at Logic Pro. If I had to choose tomorrow I'd probably pick Abeltone Live but that changes from day to day. On the downside it's not linear. It's verticle. It's favorited more for beats over songwriting, mixing and mastering. Yet ..... I've found so many guitarists on youtube claiming you can forget all that and plow into some excellent guitar / audio performance recording. Also, the Novation keyboard I've purchased claims to integrate perfectly with Abelton Live.
So ............. that's where I am today. I've spent the bucks to give whatever DAW the best chance at succeeding. Any thoughts on this endeavor?

 

[loudboy]

You can use Reaper right out of the box, with no problem and it will do everything you will probably ever need.

The fact that it allows you to customize it extensively, unlike any other program, doesn't mean you have to.

 

[getbent]

sounds good. hook up your stuff, get a basic track going in garageband and write back with any issues... once you get going in garageband, the daw will be secondary to songs... songs are the thing... start working on a song and the learning will follow....

 

[guitarsophist]

I use Reaper and I don't code. With Reaper, an audio interface, a midi keyboard, and a mic, you can make lots of tracks. Lots of people like Garage Band, but I find Reaper easier. There are lots of instructional vids on the site if something confuses and the community is stellar in helpfulness. I have had questions answered by Justin himself.

 

[Peegoo]

Getting into recording is like setting up a workshop with tools and storage: it helps greatly (and saves you buckets of money) if you start small and learn how you like to work before you buy everything you *think* you need.

The idea is to begin with the basics. A desk for your laptop/tablet and a notebook, a small audio interface with one or two channels, a modeler or amp, and a microphone and stand. Make some recordings and get familiar with how to get sound from your instruments and voice into your DAW--familiar enough that you don't have to read the instructions.

Then you can add a drum machine, outboard effects, and all the bells and whistles you need, as you need them. This establishes your own particular work patterns and prevents you from buying stuff you think you need.

I recommend you don't get into plugins and IRs until you're able to consistently get nice clean recordings with everything in the mix sounding clear. All that extra stuff is an entire world unto itself; it adds cost and is another big learning curve. You do not need any of that stuff to make great sounding recordings, despite a whole bunch of marketing that says you do.

 

[arlum]

Thank you all.

 

[ClashCityTele]

I've used Reaper for years and I've hardly scratched the surface of what it can do. I just stick to the basics and it works fine for me.
I simply use it as a multi track recorder for song demos. Drum machine, bass, 2 guitars, done.

 

[sadfield]

I recommend you don't get into plugins and IRs until you're able to consistently get nice clean recordings with everything in the mix sounding clear. All that extra stuff is an entire world unto itself; it adds cost and is another big learning curve.

To add to that, the stock, pre-installed plugins, in most DAWs are more than good enough. As are many free ones.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

My only thoughts are: 1) Heck yeah; and 2) Even for a (relatively) simple DAW like Garageband, it still takes a while to learn and get good at it, so I encourage you to use this forum for help along the way. I brought a hundred dumb questions/mistakes here, and it helped me a ton.

 

[telekaster1999]

You're well on your way. Btw, If a dummy like me can figure out Reaper I'm sure you can. You don't have to use all the fancy stuff. Quick tip for Reaper, create your own template and save it. That way every time you start a session you're looking at the same thing. Helped me a lot.

 

[Ben Harmless]

Congrats! This is going to be a fun journey! Get that interface out of the box and start pointing mics at things!

Oh, and for some reason, people love to talk about how customizable Reaper is. That's true, but in my mind, the more you fiddle with your tools, the more susceptible you are to things breaking when the next version comes around. Luckily, I love it as-is, and you can try it for free if and when you get curious!

 

[loudboy]

Getting into recording is like setting up a workshop with tools and storage: it helps greatly (and saves you buckets of money) if you start small and learn how you like to work before you buy everything you *think* you need.

The idea is to begin with the basics. A desk for your laptop/tablet and a notebook, a small audio interface with one or two channels, a modeler or amp, and a microphone and stand. Make some recordings and get familiar with how to get sound from your instruments and voice into your DAW--familiar enough that you don't have to read the instructions.

Then you can add a drum machine, outboard effects, and all the bells and whistles you need, as you need them. This establishes your own particular work patterns and prevents you from buying stuff you think you need.

I recommend you don't get into plugins and IRs until you're able to consistently get nice clean recordings with everything in the mix sounding clear. All that extra stuff is an entire world unto itself; it adds cost and is another big learning curve. You do not need any of that stuff to make great sounding recordings, despite a whole bunch of marketing that says you do.

I'll agree with all of this, except the drum machine.

You can get the free version of the Stephen Slate SSD5 VSTi, and it will run circles around any hardware drum machine. Fantastic sounds, tons of realistic patterns, easy to edit.

 

[Swirling Snow]

If you figure out what to do with the Novation, please let me know. I also fell for the "it makes it easier" advertising.

 

[arlum]

I believe I've become fully invested in this endeavor. I'm currently trying to find places around our mobile home to relocate a few amps, guitars and guitar cases, (18 cases tale up a lot of room). I'm beginning to think my lack of being able to record led me to the binge buying that led to this collection. It's also woke me up to the value of all of these instruments and the fact that I should buy some insurance. Without having to go into specifics there must be over 50 grand in guitars, 30 grand in amps and at least 10 grand in effect pedals. Throw in all the mic's, monitors, PA equipment, guitar tech tools, well over 100 NOS tubes waiting to be used, etc. etc. my guitar room is worth at least three times the home it's housed in is worth.
I'm going to try to select my four favorite amplifiers, 8 favorite guitars and 15 favorite effect pedals. Everything else will be moved into another room. Yet ..... I look around. I may need to rent one of those fancy storage room jobber-dos. Then that may require more insurance. Yep. I'm totally invested!
One mention of note ....... I've decided that my older Apple Mac Mini with the intel chip just won't cut it. I've talked it over with my wife and she's given the OK for me to move the New Mac Mini with the M4 chip to the music room and use the old Mac Mini in the family room. Tomorrow the last of my items are scheduled to arrive. If anyone notices me missing from the forum you'll know where I am.

 

[arlum]

The new studio workstation desk showed up today and the MIDI keyboard yesterday. It's now time to start moving existing clutter, assembling the new desk and connecting up all the new equipment to create a home recording platform. Sadly, the timing is messed up because I have to work seven 12 hour PM shifts starting tomorrow. 5 PM to 5 AM. My schedule is work my a** of for seven days and then pretend to be retired for seven days. It's gonna be hard getting through this week with so much I want to finish up waiting in the wings.
The more I've watched the instructional DAW videos available on YouTube the more I'm favoring Ableton. I've got Garage Band on my Mac but the new keyboard came with an included copy of Ableton Lite including the ability to upgrade to the full version at a discounted price. Ableton's reputation started with beats and midi instruments and live performance but over the years it's really grown into a full service DAW with the ability to do a proper mix included and specific mastering software from other brands available that works perfectly with it.

 

[tintag27]

Well good luck - that's a lot of new gear and software to get to grips with, interested to hear how you get on!

 

[jpmist]

So ............. that's where I am today. I've spent the bucks to give whatever DAW the best chance at succeeding. Any thoughts on this endeavor?

I can't help but want to ask, what are you figuring to record? Are you going to work out an entire band worth of tracks, drums, bass, rhythm, keyboard, lead vocal, harmony etc or just simple singer/songwriter stuff? What level of quality will be your final track?

I ask as a lead to point out that with my meager 15 years of GB doing singer songwriter acoustic with maybe at most 8 mic tracks that GB will be more than sufficient unless you want to get deep in the weeds with mixing and mastering. That last part is still a weakness for me as it really does take time to train one's ear to take in all one needs to, to make a perfectly produced track. Which then leads to what will you do with the tracks when you're finished?

And if I can offer a bit of unasked for advice. My main frustration with GB is that thanks to Apple using us all as beta testers, there are OS glitches with signal paths that you have to stay on top of so be sure to familiarize yourself with the System sound prefs, the Garageband sound prefs, the Audio MIDI utility as well as the utility that comes with your DAW. Best of luck!