Quick cheap n dirty recording

[lifeboy]

I would really like to get into recording some basic stuff on my computer. All I have at this point is a computer - w/ a pretty basic sound card - an acoustic guitar, and a lot of desire backed up by a complete lack of talent. Anyway, I'd like to know a cheap way of getting into recording myself - buying a new soundcard is not out of possibility, and neither would an acoustic amp. All I really want to do is be able to record my singing and guitar playing, with maybe some beats in the background. I basically want to be able to play something through my headphones, while I record myself. Any suggestions of where to start here would be greatly appreciated.

[TimOBrien]

I like the idea of starting simple and cheap to see if you really want to persue something.... that's what I did.

N-Track Studio (www.n-track.com) full sequencer for $40. Unlimited tracks and tons of features... that's what I'm using. Demo and manual on their website.

QuartzStudioFree (www.digitalsoundplanet.com) free 4-track studio.

Even a $30 copy of Sonic Foundry's ACID Music can do simple recording/multitracking and is great for working up drum loops for your background.

You'll need a sound editor too. Audacity is free (www.audactiy.sourceforge.net) or if you can get to a bookstore and find the October issue of Computer Music magazine- which you'll want to check out anyway - they gave away free a copy of Soundprobe.

Even a $50 SoundBlasterLive card can do reasonable recording for a beginner and the much, much better 24bit/96kHz cards have dropped below $200.


You don't have to go out and drop $10,000 on the highest-end software and hardware to get started recording music --- you'll want to do that after a few months anyway(!)

[twitch]

If you don't want to have to spend a ton of money to upgrade your computer or worry about having enough memory or hard drive space, you could always get one of the smaller digital workstations. They are geared toward singer/guitarist/songwriters. Some of them even store the info on standard smart media cards just like a digital camera and they are small enough to take anywhere. A couple of them fit in your pocket and they all have guitar, vocal, and bass effects. They all have drum patterns built in as well. They are simply the coolest things. They range from 3 to 4 tracks but since you can bounce tracks you free up additional tracks.

[MuZiKUnHeRd]

If you want a inexpensive and basic way to record your sound, most people start off with 4-8 track recorders (used mostly for sketch pads, but not bad for beginner recording). I wouldn't mess around, look for mini-disk multitrack recorders. Doesn't have to be digital. In fact, think it's always best to figure out analog recording before you jump up to digital, but it's your choice. For a microphone, you could use a shure sm57 to record your acoustic guitar and even some basic vocals. Don't let the size fool you, that's a quality mic... If you can afford a digital workstation, i'd definitely try that. Remember, usually, multitrack recorders can be implemented into your computer. I'm pretty new at the actual recording aspect, just like you, so i haven't done this yet. I've messed around with cubase vst and with my soundblaster live card i didn't like the latency. I'm definitely gonna switch to a higher quality sound card. I'm saving up to buy a better program also. I like steinberg products, so i think i'll go with nuendo (pc friendly). A bit pricey but it's worth it to me. Again, it's made by the same company so it won't take as much getting used to. I think the whole package including thier handy soundcard is around $1500-$1700. HTH

[twitch]

Muzikunherd,

How's the weather there in Universal City? I miss that area of Texas. I graduated from SWT there in San Marcos. My name is Eric and I'm a sales engineer at Sweetwater. Anyway there are tons of options for recording on your PC. Nuendo, Logic, ProTools Digi001 etc.
As for your latency problem, just get yourself a little mixer and that should fix your latency monitoring problem. Here's what you do:

To avoid hearing the delay in audio when you are recording you can monitor the audio that you are recording through a mixer before it enters Cubase. Here's how:
Route the audio that you are recording into your mixer. Next, route that signal back out of the mixer (preferably via an Auxiliary Send or Direct Out to avoid a feedback loop) into the audio inputs on your computer.
Route the main mix of Cubase from your computer audio outputs to your mixer.
Create the audio tracks in Cubase that you are going to record on.
Record enable the tracks you are going to record on. You should see levels on these tracks and hear the latency (delay) that you are trying to avoid

Mute the tracks that you are going to record on. This will allow you to monitor the recorded audio through your mixer but not through your computer and avoid any monitoring latency.


Give me a call when your ready to take the next step in digital recording or if you just want to talk about what you're working on.
Take it easy.

Eric Rodrigue (twitch)
1-800-222-4700 ext.1278
eric_rodrigue@sweetwater.com