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New DAW
Aug 10, 2020 16:45:51 GMT -5
Post by FlyonNylon on Aug 10, 2020 16:45:51 GMT -5
Home recording is a bit of a rabbit hole.
It started as a tiny unused room near our attic that was well insulated so I could play loud at night without disturbing anyone. Then bought a cheap USB mic, then gradually learned to use Audacity (free DAW). Then did some basic acoustic treatment and upped the microphone, got an interface, etc etc. Somewhere in there a Martin D-18 so I could have something that "sounded better.."
Finally decided I was spending too much time on it not to have an up-to-date piece of software and yesterday before work bought and started downloading Presonus Studio One.
Had some serious frustrations yesterday evening getting used to the workflow since it's totally different but learning to use melodyne (which was included) has alleviated all of that and I'm feeling pretty excited about all the new features available, despite the editing frustrations.
Of course my $200 laptop in the studio won't run the new DAW so a new computer is on the way..
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New DAW
Aug 11, 2020 6:57:03 GMT -5
Post by ninworks on Aug 11, 2020 6:57:03 GMT -5
My first recording setup was two stereo reel to reel tape recorders. I could record on 2 tracks, then I could copy those 2 tracks to a tape on the other machine and add another part. By the time I did that a couple times the fidelity was shot but I could get ideads down.
Then I got a 4 track reel to reel. Then I could record 4 tracks then mix that to 2 tracks on another tape machine. Then I could take that tape, put it on the 4 track machine and add 2 more tracks. Then mix those to 2 tracks etc.
In about 1079 I got a 1/2" tape, 8 track, Otari, reel to reel multi-track machine. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I could record 4 or 5 tracks and pong them down to 2 and do it all on the same machine. Then add more tracks etc. With the advent of MIDI and computers I could write a SMPTE track on 1 track of the Otari and sync the computer to the tape. That made it to where I didn't need to use tape tracks to record anything that was MIDI capable. Synths, drum machines, etc. I could do all the MIDI sequencing (recording) on the computer and record guitars, voices, bass, etc. on the tape tracks. The MIDI track limitations were only limited to how many MIDI modules and mixer channels I had.
By the time I had gotten to that point I had already begun buying nice microphones, instruments, acoustic treatments etc.
Audacity is a good entry level DAW. My first DAW was Cool Edit Pro. It was amazing compared to what I was used to with just 8 tracks and a sequencer. It would record 128 stereo tracks if you had the computer with enough power to allow it. Adobe bought that company years ago and updated the program. That's what turned into Audacity. I ended up with Pro Tools. It is entirely different than Cool Edit Pro/Audacity. It took me a good year to feel comfortable with it.
Now my purchases are geared more toward upgrading converters and plugins. I have about all the nice mics I need (not that I want). I will always want more guitars. That's a function of me breathing. Realistically I have enough to do just about anything but there are a few more colors I would like to add to my selections.
Studio One is a great choice. A friend of mine uses it and it is very powerful. He does some amazing music with it.
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TBird
Wholenote
Posts: 298
Formerly Known As: greg1948
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New DAW
Aug 11, 2020 7:00:22 GMT -5
Post by TBird on Aug 11, 2020 7:00:22 GMT -5
Congrats on getting a new DAW. Audacity is fine for some things but for multi-track recording, it didn't work for me. I now use Logic Pro X. Still learning some of the features, but it is a "pro" level recording app. I'm sure the PResonus app will work out fine - if your computer can handle the amount of memory needed.
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New DAW
Aug 11, 2020 7:47:12 GMT -5
Post by Duke on Aug 11, 2020 7:47:12 GMT -5
I've been using Reaper. Congrats on your new DAW.
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New DAW
Aug 11, 2020 7:51:39 GMT -5
Post by FlyonNylon on Aug 11, 2020 7:51:39 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm actually really impressed with everything Audacity can do as a free program. I kind of assumed Studio One would have all the features and more (since it cost $400) and was a little disappointed at the lack of a spectral editing tool. I guess their argument for not including it was saving CPU speed while inside the DAW but would still have been nice to have. Audacity has a basic spectrogram and editing function. Obviously Studio One has all the great other editing tools of a professional DAW like audio bend, quantify, great stock mixing/mastering plugins, and melodyne, which is amazing.
My 3 year old gaming desktop (i5 6402P with 8gb DDR4) runs Studio One very well. It seems to be a much more efficient program than audacity with almost no latency/lag time. However the fan and HD are way too loud to use in the studio. I have an older cheap laptop that's very quiet that worked ok for audacity but at 4gb ram I don't think it would work well with Studio One. I ordered an HP mini business desktop with i7 CPU and 16gb DDR4 with 1tb SSD that is SUPPOSED to be very quiet based on internet reviews. We'll see, it's a bit of a gamble since it if makes too much noise will have to send it back but we'll see..
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New DAW
Aug 11, 2020 12:20:15 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Auf Kiltre on Aug 11, 2020 12:20:15 GMT -5
I'm on a creative break but face an inevitable dilemma someday if/when my muse circles back. I'm still functional in Win 7/Pro Tools 10 and have a lot invested in this obsolete environment, both time and supporting plugins. I hope my laptop can hang in there. I'm pretty sure I'll change DAWs if required as I have a big problem with subscription software.
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New DAW
Aug 14, 2020 1:57:18 GMT -5
Post by roly on Aug 14, 2020 1:57:18 GMT -5
Hi
Download the demo version of Samplitude Pro X 5.
It makes Pro Tools and Cubase look like toys.
It's not popular in North America, but is widely used in Europe.
Cheers
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New DAW
Aug 18, 2020 16:50:28 GMT -5
Post by Auf Kiltre on Aug 18, 2020 16:50:28 GMT -5
Hi Download the demo version of Samplitude Pro X 5. It makes Pro Tools and Cubase look like toys. It's not popular in North America, but is widely used in Europe. Cheers I see Samplitude is now owned by Magix, as is all the old Sonic Foundry/Sony stuff (Sound Forge, Acid, Vegas). Those 3 are where I jumped in to the digital recording world. I might have to give it a looksie. Thanks Roly. |
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GmanNJ
Wholenote
somewhere deep in the swamps of Joisey
Posts: 315
Formerly Known As: Your Friendly Neighborhood Gman
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New DAW
Aug 29, 2020 15:45:51 GMT -5
Post by GmanNJ on Aug 29, 2020 15:45:51 GMT -5
my issue is the complexity makes the learning curve too long. I dont have the time to learn all the nuances of these very capable pro-sumer DAWs. Using Audacity for multi tracking and its good to get ideas down. Looking at Reaper as a buddy of mine is really into it and he belongs to a couple message boards that help a lot. So I kinda have built in support  In a few years i will retire and then I can concentrate on music more. Now in work from home mode (although the last 1o years have been WFH) it seems like the right time to start to play around with recordings again. |
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New DAW
Aug 29, 2020 15:55:25 GMT -5
Post by FlyonNylon on Aug 29, 2020 15:55:25 GMT -5
It was a pretty steep learning curve with some frustration. I justified getting Studio One as a way to learn to mix/master songs since I had a bunch of songs I'd written/recorded but couldn't really mix/master in audacity and paying for that stuff is silly unless you really want to be professional, which I'm just playing around for fun. I'm used to it now though and have to say, very happy and it's a pretty impressive piece of software. Here's what I have so far: Album |
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New DAW
Aug 30, 2020 17:41:36 GMT -5
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Aug 30, 2020 17:41:36 GMT -5
That is true. The learning curve on software-based DAWs is pretty steep and difficult to navigate because there are no buttons and knobs to twiddle just to see what they do; you have to go find the function when you need it.
It's possible to get pretty good results with the cheap 'n' cheerful Garageband that comes loaded on Apple/iPad/iPhone contraptions.
Starting with backing tracks is a great way to get comfortable with any DAW because you can focus on the operation of the functions with less stress over playing all the parts perfectly.
Here's an example of a tune I did today over a backing track:
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TBird
Wholenote
Posts: 298
Formerly Known As: greg1948
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New DAW
Aug 31, 2020 7:18:38 GMT -5
Post by TBird on Aug 31, 2020 7:18:38 GMT -5
I have used Audacity for years. Most often, I use the tempo change effect to slow down tricky parts of a commercial recording when I'm learning a song, or to EQ or compress older recordings.
I tried to multi-track with it, but the latency was so bad it made it impossible. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but after laying down track 1, and playing it back while recording track 2, the two tracks were not in sync at all. Needless to say, I didn't try track 3.
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New DAW
Aug 31, 2020 9:11:36 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by FlyonNylon on Aug 31, 2020 9:11:36 GMT -5
TBird just fyi in audacity you have to manually set the latency correction. Basically you set it up for tracking, place the headphone speaker near your mic then make a sharp sound. The initial peak on your track is the original source and the smaller subsequent peak is the mic picking up the headphone speaker. The time difference between the peaks is your latency, so once you have that you go under preferences and set the latency correction.
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New DAW
Aug 31, 2020 9:35:37 GMT -5
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Aug 31, 2020 9:35:37 GMT -5
^^^ THIS!
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TBird
Wholenote
Posts: 298
Formerly Known As: greg1948
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New DAW
Sept 1, 2020 7:03:56 GMT -5
Post by TBird on Sept 1, 2020 7:03:56 GMT -5
TBird just fyi in audacity you have to manually set the latency correction. Basically you set it up for tracking, place the headphone speaker near your mic then make a sharp sound. The initial peak on your track is the original source and the smaller subsequent peak is the mic picking up the headphone speaker. The time difference between the peaks is your latency, so once you have that you go under preferences and set the latency correction. I did not know that. I'll have to try it out. |
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New DAW
Sept 1, 2020 19:08:34 GMT -5
Post by Duke on Sept 1, 2020 19:08:34 GMT -5
Here's an example of a tune I did today over a backing track: How do you get the backing track into an iPad/iPhone? |
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New DAW
Sept 1, 2020 20:25:52 GMT -5
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Sept 1, 2020 20:25:52 GMT -5
Here's an example of a tune I did today over a backing track: How do you get the backing track into an iPad/iPhone? Duke, There are a bunch of free sites that will convert audio or video format X to format Y. Here's how I do it: find the backing track in YooToob and copy the URL. Then I go here: ytmp3.cc/en13/Paste the URL into the box, select MP3, and hit 'convert'. When it's done, I click Download; it drops the MP3 into the browser's Downloads folder. I drop the MP3 on the desktop, and then go into Files Manager, where I move it from Desktop to the Garage Band File Transfer folder. Important Note: you cannot grab an MP3 from the desktop directly from Garage Band, so you have to do it in Files Manager. Open Garage Band, and create a new track. Click the Loop icon in the upper right, and navigate to the Garage Band File Transfer folder. Click on the MP3 file and drag it to your new track. The MP3 is now in its own track. |
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New DAW
Sept 2, 2020 8:15:15 GMT -5
Post by Duke on Sept 2, 2020 8:15:15 GMT -5
I drop the MP3 on the desktop, and then go into Files Manager, where I move it from Desktop to the Garage Band File Transfer folder. Thank you. |
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New DAW
Sept 2, 2020 11:56:18 GMT -5
Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Sept 2, 2020 11:56:18 GMT -5
Cheers. Look here:  |
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TBird
Wholenote
Posts: 298
Formerly Known As: greg1948
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New DAW
Sept 3, 2020 5:26:22 GMT -5
Post by TBird on Sept 3, 2020 5:26:22 GMT -5
Peegoo, nice job on your recording. And thanks for the link to ytmp3. I used another converter for awhile, but then something happened and it would not do the conversion. This one seems to work. I use mp3's of songs I'm learning. I import the mp3 into Audacity, where I can slow down tricky bits or change the key of the original. All these great tools available today is mind boggling.
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