12 May 2009
Filed Under : Gear
Posted By : Emma Forman | Comments : 22
good but cheap recording
still want to get some software but confused over what version of cubase or sonar to get. Think I'll get a USB condensor mic but if there anything I should be looking into getting?
are you running a pc based system? I use cubase sx and am happy with that.
planning to use my laptop, cheers will check out cubase sx
Laptop soundcard latency can be a bit iffy. Might be better off using a desktop PC
yeahhh... that laptop soundcard latency can be a bitch man!!!!????
ah drat will need to look into get a pc as well then
see emma what did i tell you, it,s a minefield of tech to get your head around, having said that our bits on myspace where done with a laptop, and a pretty dinosaur one at that, i just recorded the tracks at a lower sample rate on a rate that did not sample slow enough to cause detection in loss of quality by the human ear, erm it probably sounds s**t to a dog, then who ever heard of a dog buying an album. ha ha, get down rover you cant go into virgin record shop,
yeah can see its all a bit scary but I'm pretty determined to get a home studio setup on a computer...the rate I do things at...it'll take about 5 years but should get there in the end ;)
You might be better off with a proper portastudio, you wont have any latency issues, you can easily record more than 1 input at the same time, and its easily portable to record gigs/practises, or proper demos. For about £900, its about the same you'd pay for a decent PC, with Cubase and a decent soundcard.
I can see what you mean, its just I already have a pretty good multitraker which is fine for recording my acoustic stuff but I can't add any fancy effects after stuff is recorded and want a bit more freedom. My keyboard is pretty ancient so its kinda limited with sounds as well. I'm looking to work on my instrumental stuff for side projects
I had a hd recorder (Zoom 1206)digital recording, and practically any effect you care to add..reverbs, choruses,distortions etc etc..even had a setting to convert normal guitar to sound like a bass...and a built in drum machine. I used to do the mastering to PC (Audacity...free!) and could then apply mastering effects like compression and noise gates and stuff. There's a few machines like that, but the Zoom was quite good, and a lot more intuitive than Cubase...which like has been said does suffer latency issues without a really good soundcard. Sold mine when I was skint...but wish I hadn't...would definitely buy something similar...they aint that dear s/h these days. The one thing I wouldn't skimp on though is a microphone...the USB ones may sound ok through pc speakers, but they lose so much when amplified through half decent hifi
I downloaded audacity - its on my laptop but won't open for some reason
have you downloaded the program...or the torrent??
try here http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows
I've just downlaoded it from there and it loads no probs...don't save it to file..run it
if its on your laptop it sounds like you have 'saved it to folder'...don't cos I think it needs the launcher which is at the site. Click to download, and when it says 'run or save'..just click run. then you'll probably get another box saying 'unknown publisher' etc...just click continue or run or whatever. Installs in seconds
once its installed...open it, go to 'generate' and add new tracks if your laptop has a built in mic, you can probably use that for now, but best to get some kind of cheap mixer and a proper mic you'll see all the effects etc which will be 'greyed out' till you record something...more than enough! LOL
or..once its installed and running, just import any mp3 track, and have a play with the editing part...remember you need to highlight a section before you start editing... I'm bloody good to you lot !!! LOL
hey Emma..I recently bought a yamaha kx 49 usb keyboard..it comes bundled with cubase AI4. Its a purely pc use keyboard (no sound generator) but you can control cubase from it. It also includes a few sound generator software programmes. Cubase takes a little while to suss as it has so many features but my m8 uses it in his pro recording studio so it cant be bad. The keyboard retails around £300 but I picked a brand new boxed one up off e-bay for £150. The sound card needs to be zero latency..try Maplins, a pro sound card will set you back around £60. Hope this helps..Kev
nice one, the keyboard sounds ideal
god i must be getting thicker! i dont think i understand a single comment on this blog! i think someone needs to take me under their wing and show me the ways of technology! any volunteers! haha
plug it in & crank it out is all ya need to know..lol
hey ben fix, we will have to start a low tech blog for numptys, and talk about changing batterys, and the simpler stuff, like how do you know which end of a guitar lead goes in the amp,lol
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