Guitar.com/Recording

Metal Collab

Guess Who — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This tune contains the heavyest bass I have ever recorded. Stick your paw prints on it if you want..... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=127186

New World Disorder (by FDM)

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Its a bit ermmmmm, 'full' in places but not bad for an hours jammin. Bass - Me, Guitars - Me, Drums - Some dink off the t'intermawab.... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=127155 Roll on the critique as always....... non amp related feedback is always good, actually sometimes its good from the amp too, but I'd rather hear you guys...

Check this out....

Guess Who — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I recorded this track with my variax 600 using a mix of the acoustic and electric sounds. http://www.reverbnation.com/southside1

Check this out....

Guess Who — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I recorded this track with my variax 600 using a mix of the acoustic and electric sounds. http://www.reverbnation.com/southside1

Blasphemy and the eternal struggle of renovating.

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Yes, blasphemy. It should be illegal to have $80k worth of guitars, amps, mics, keyboards, drums, and misc recording equipment locked away in storage, but I do. All I have out right now is a Gibson Blueshawk, a Guild acoustic, and a Marshall mini stack practive amp. But the good news is that next thursday I'm having the last bunch of drywall delivered, and 3 guys out to help me finish boarding. Hopefully I can be done mudding and sanding and priming in 2 weeks, and then I'll be happy to take the gear out once all the dust is cleaned up. Moving around a room full of gear is not too big a deal for painting, which will be a while before I can afford to do. I have plenty of before pictures that I'll post and of course the after ones will come as well. Here's a photo of the lounge room [sorry you cant really see anything, I need a wide angle lens]. More to come!

Baad guitar sounds.

norway — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey. I'm having some trouble with recording my guitar at the moment. I recently purchased a Zoom R16 interface/recorder (it just arrived yesterday). I was getting a great clean sound but when I switch to distortion it goes really tinny as if I'm using a cheap practise amp. I have experience in production but I have never come across this before. I'm using a really great sounding guitar and amp and a good quality mic, and while I know the R16 isnt exactly top end i expected better so I'm wondering if I've missed something... Any help would be great.

Bach and Roll

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

A song, of sorts. Just toying with that last steaming turd I put out and trying to make it rock. Fail!!!! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=126217

New, affordable interface/software packages available

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

M-Audio recently released 3 affordable recording packages, each with an audio interface and a watered down version of protools. The protools is limited to 16 audio tracks and 3 effects per track, and comes with the 60 or so plugins the other version of protools come with [and from personal experience, they sound really good]. You also get a few soft-synths, a Sansamp plugin, and 3gb worth of loops. This all goes for $100, unless you get the keyboard version which is $130. I haven't used it yet [noone around here has them in stock yet] but I imagine the quality of the interface isn't terrible. I think this is the best deal yet for cheap interfaces. It's not giving you something like Ableton Live as your software - giving you something like protools [albeit a lite version] means you are learning on tools you can upgrade with - maybe as your needs grow you would step up to an M-Powered system for more inputs or an LE version (I don't believe Protools HD is going to be around much longer). I'm picking one up so when I'm working on the road I can use it with my lappie and lay down ideas. The sessions will be compatible with my bigger protools system, so when I get it I'll let you know how I think it sounds.

I\'ve done it again...

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, just REALLY dicking around with this. Consider this a rough draft/mess about when I was drunk last night. But is there potential in it is what I want to know or did I get in over my head with this one. Be honest. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=125820 Cheers!!!!

Recording loops

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Does anyone have some basic tips for creating loops of guitar work? I want them to sound natural but when I try to loop a simple chord progression that is strummed I can't ever get it to sound good, you can always tell it is fake so I'm looking for some advice if anyone has any experience. Should I play it repeated and take out my best measures? Or should I play it once and let my last strum ring out? Any help would be nice, I'll be doing some experimenting on my own soon, but I felt I should ask if someone has any pointers for me before I get started.

new song

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=122598 Most of you I would imagine won't like or care for this song, it was made for a wedding - it is a slow love song, but I figured I'd post it anyways if you guys care to check it out All recorded on a Boss BR series multitrack recorder, technical or other feedback appreciated - can always use tips to make my stuff sound better

Dangggggggg.........

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ermmmmm...................my arm hurts.

Some toons I made recently...by FDM

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have been busy lately, but managed to squeeze in a few little recordings, nothing mad, nothing out of the ordinary, just simple little efforts. Hope you like them. Splasicmenco. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=125198 Its not Spanish, Classical, or Flamenco......its a mixture of all three. Prize goes to whoever figures out what the fuck I was playing in the backing guitar.....cos I sure as hell don't know!! Short & Sweet http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=124775 Well it is!! Moods (Seven) - Hope http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=125066 A ballad, for all you lovers out there in Guitarland........hehe. Ach I was taking the piss out of myself on this. There are a few dodgy moments but give it a listen anyway. And yes the guitar is a little loud in the mix but still, it'll do, I'm not a friggin sound engineer I'm a guitar player. Comments as always are welcome, but criticism is appreciated more-so. Thanks as always guys and that one chick who came on here once.....not literally I might add, but yeah.....shhhhh, she might be looking.

Check this out guys....

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2009 very cool, what do you guys think?

Embarrassing

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

A while back on Icomp someone posted the first line of a song and on their forum asked if anyone could suggest where to go from there. I put together a generic chord progression from the Stone Age and posted it for him. I didn't actually play it. I wrote it on GuitarPro then sent it as a Midi to Mixcraft. Then I duplicated it and put effects on the tracks as virtual keyboards. So there's no guitar on it and I'm not playing on it. At the rate people have been playing it, it will soon be my biggest "hit" What does that say about all the tracks I played on and did 20 takes on - to get it just right? Feel free to put some guitar on it - it's in A maj.

Guitar Input or Mic an Amp

MicroCuts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So... I have got my 8-track and I'm really happy with it. I have mic'd up my accoustic with a Shure SM57 over XLR and have a good quality of recording. But when it comes to electric I have two options. I can either mic up my amp with the SM57 and use that as the input or plug my guitar (and effects board) directly into the 8-track. Does anyone know if there is a 'best practice' on this or if one option is genuinely better than the other or is it just personal preference. From what I can tell you get a warmer tone through an amp and mic because it's your rig it is more your own personal tone that you associate with you. You get the sound of the entire room and any feedback / atmostpherics. It's also no doubt got a significantly better pre-amp than the on built into the 8-track. However this does appear to be a slightly muddier sound than plugging the guitar direct into the 8-track. This might be because I am not best micing up the amp. I guess that asks another question on what the best way to mic an amp is. Mine is an Orange 30w Combo tube with 1 x 15" vintage celestion speaker. Should I be setting up the mic 2" from the speaker, 4", a meter? Also I heard that it should be slightly off centre of the middle for best sound. Any thoughts? All help greatly appreciated as always.

Recording - Mic Question and 8-Track Approval

MicroCuts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi Guys, Time for another stupid question from me. I'm currently gassing on some recording equipment. A mate came round at the weekend with his Tascam 8-track and we laid a few bits down and I'm really impressed so I'm looking to get one myself. The one I'm looking at getting is the Tascam DP02CF. First of all can anyone recomend or have any reason to deter me from it? http://www.andertons.co.uk/Products/Product.asp?id=9403 The next question (the stupid bit) is that I have a Shure SM57 instrument mic already. I'm looking to get a mic stand for this but cannot find anywhere that tells me if the grip for attaching this mic comes with the stand or if I have to get it seperately. Can anyone put me out of my misery? :) Cheers

FDM and Tamara need YOU!!!!!!

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've tried the morons at iComp, its just not happening..... I need someone who can drum, or can provide a drum track for a collab I'm doing with Tamara (see video) who is a dear friend. Its a cover of the Bee Gees song How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, only I want to keep it in the style of the awesome Al Green version which is by far better in my eyes. Its simple, provide a drum track in WAV format in the tempo of the original recording, that way I can re-do my original demo guitar track to suit, then off to Tam for some smoking vocals and hey presto, one bloody awesome song. Can the good folk at G.Com help me out on this one?

audacity and my lightsnake. i need help with this.

Aaron Lee — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

In case you don't know what these are... Audacity is a free recording software and a lightsnake is like a usb cable for a guitar. But whenever i plug my lightsnake in my computer makes no noise and mute instantly turns on and everytime i turn mute off it comes right back on. So i cannot listen to anything i record unless i unplug the lightsnake, meaning i can't record other things with it. Does anyone know what i can do to my computer to fix this?

Need help!!

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm looking for a specific backing track online and cannot find it. What are the best sites to find such things? I hear Farlow has quite a few?

FDM collab video (feat. the TC Ellis)

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Few dodgy moments in the playing, but just to give you guys that asked an idea of what I did, played different to the track but I never do things the same twice. PS, thats my 'In Bed with the Flu' attire with Homer slippers......

Trying some Jazz... Opinions please!

Greg D — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey guys, Woke up this morning feeling like dog shit. So, I have taken some time off work and decided to slob on my sofa! Whilst doing this I thought I wanna try a new style... So I searched for a cool Fusion Jazz backing and played along... Checkout and let me have your thoughts, I have wanted to try this for a while. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=124001

Official Wierd Halloween Music Thread

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, it's time doggies! We need to have a thread that has some straaaaange halloween music in it. I offer my own 'Children Of The Night' where I decided to give my axe-FX a break and use Logic's Amp Designer with my new Imac (Thing is waaaay awesome, Sooo much more powerful than my macbook pro. PLUS... It's got a huge screen!) So anyways, do something cool, make it wierd, maybe a bit ghoulish, definitely strange, but please add some music, thanks! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=123994

New Zombre Blues-ish riff...

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well, it needs a bit of work yet, but it was a fun jam I recorded just to help me see what I need to work on, here. Take a listen, lemme know what you think... Woohooo 12/8 time... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=123818

New Guitar, New Collab...

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

To celebrate the arrival of my new joint 1st favourite lady....(I didn't sleep with it last night Dee, I don't care what you think) I used it to record this, as soon as I hit the first note I just had to keep going!!! Add whatever you like to it guys, I will add some lead and bass myself when I've calmed down a bit, but I'm having WAAAYYY too much fun to play a bloody bass......... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=123790 Thanks amigo's!!! Hope you like it and I done this thing even a bit of justice.

Time

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

My rendition of the epic Floyd tune. Check it http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=123152

New interface on the market for guitarists.

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ElevenRack Digidesign Eleven rack version; looks pretty rad, complete stand-alone functionality, built in reamping capability, REAL KNOBS. Some line levels in, a mic jack, and comes with Protools LE with all the new fun stuff [the digidesign collection of plugins, some 3rd party stuff, a bunch of great V-instruments, and the collection of AiR plugins which sound really good. Take a peak. It's great looking as well, in person it looks more bronze than orange. $900 for this is a decent deal I believe. I have the software version and it sounds pretty good; not as good as my real amps but they cost alot more and need space and volume to sound their best.

Surf Shop

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

New song my friend and I did. Nothing too special or extravagant, but it's my first recording with a strat. Opinions, critiques, and feedback welcomed and encouraged as usual! = )

Violin guitars part 2

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Yep, all axefx and guitar. Too easy, I love this thing...

Some new crap.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Two new things on iComp. 1/ Simple- Called so because it is. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=122788 2/ Demo for Collab - Needs a couple of solos maybe, I dunno, I guess I'm just getting lazy or I've lost all incentive and determination to do what I used to. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=122786

What effect is this?

Marshall2288 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

at 0:09. I guess you could do it with cutting the toggle switch but this is whole band. A tremolo effect set really high maybe? I wanna add this to some of my recordings. Thanks guys.

Recording practice sessions

Richey — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I want to record my band's rehearsal sessions. Here are the facts: 2 guitars 1 bass 1 drums 1 singer 12' x 20' room, "soundproofed" (room within a room except for the floor) Would it be better to mic up each instrument or to stick a mic in the middle of the room and hope for the best?

Some of my stuff! Help Me out!

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi there...I've been playing guitar for quite a while now. I've haven't recorded that much in my first few years of playing. Here are a few songs I've been working on lately www.myspace.com/matthieularochelle tell if u like it, if it's missing something or if something shouldn't be there! Or even better if it sounds crap to your ears :P !

My songs and covers

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Some of my songs and a covers, please comment :P http://www.myspace.com/cacahuaterock saludos a todos!! :P

Studio Reno Update sept \'09, plus the need for more gear

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

In the past week I've done a pretty hefty job of renovating - hung a lot of drywall, ran cables here and there, so much insulation... run into all sorts of little problems and fixed them. All that is left is drywalling. That is it. Then the stuff that comes with that [sanding, painting etc]. It's looking good, all I need is $1000 worth of drywall lol. Too bad I'm broke right now. The other day I saw an ad on craigslist, the person was looking for somewhere to do some "emergency vocal tracks". I offered to do it for free, just because I miss recording since my stuff has been in storage for like 2 years now :( She was totally down and wanted to know all this stuff like "can I hear myself sing with the music and be recorded onto a different track?" which I thought was funny; she kept saying it would help her keep "in tone". I thought she must be a total beginner, so if it wasn't fun... at least it would be funny. When she showed up she gave me some tracks on like 10 cds and my old computer [only 1 processor, 3.53 ghz, 4 gigs or ram... slow by today's standards] was taking forever to load them up so we were talking about her experience; she's been in "big studios" before and sang through a "Norman microphone or something". Well, now she was in a construction site with an AKG C3000b and a packing blanket behind it draped over a mc stand. Plugged into a nice mic pre though. All my good mics are on loan until I have a use for them i.e. my studio is done. I had roughly gotten a headphone mix in place earlier the way I like it when I sing [a splash of reverb, a touch of compression, and my voice 2x louder than the mix] and figured we'd go from there, but apparently she had never had a choice with headphone mixes. Luckily this happened to work for her perfectly and she proceeded to blow my mind with her voice, smooth and in tune, obviously a professional singer who'd never been given a proper chance. She belted out 6 songs in 40 minutes, doing one take on each. One amazing take. She was extremely happy with the way it sounded, never having that good a headphone mix and apparently the quality is better than anything she's worked with so I suppose even with the "norman" [i assume Neuman] it doesn't the nice studio was nessasarily a good one. She says she'll be back twice a month because she is getting back into it. She used to sing stuff over this crazy techno stuff and then some producer guy would chop it up and remix it, and now that she's settled here on vancouver island she's happy to be back at it again. <---totally different topic---> I haven't drooled over gear in a long time but for some reason I was daydreaming and browsing the internet, wishing for the day my studio would be done. What else do I want or need??? So I looked at a ton of gear and it got me wanting. Like really wanting. Top of my list is the Avalon AD2022 mic pre [$3k], and the Hear Back personal monitor mixer system[$1500 for the brain and 4 mixers]. I need a new computer [already designed it to be protools compatible, for $2200] and this SSL quad mic pre that I'm not sure the name of [$1500]. I should concentrate on what's important... like drywalling.

8-Track

MicroCuts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Does anyone have any recommendations on neat 8-tracks that aren't going to break the bank but will give me some quality sound, recording and mixing ability and that have generally been tried and tested? I had a couple of jams recently and realised that not quite everything I come up with is durge so I really want to get into recording as I think it the next logical step to progressing my playing/confidence. I currently have a little 4-track that is so wank that it's not worth recording to. Apart from that I have a fairly good Shure instrument mic... and that's it. I also have a copy of Cubase which I have yet to install and play with (legit of corse!) Any tips on what I need to get started would be greatly appreciated as the idea of recording is really getting me enthused. Cheers guys.

Axe-FX Violin Patch

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, not the best playing ever, but check it out; the axefx sounds like a damn violin... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=121604

What is a cheap but high quality usb thing I can connect my guitar to my computer with?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Sorry, i dont know the exact name. I think is was usb audio interface or something.... Anyways, I am looking for a pretty good quality usb connector for my guitar, pretty much for getting effects I want and maybe to record later. Only problem is, I want a cheap one, not one that is bundled with like 70 programs I won't use. I just want the usb connector, but a good one. Any recommendations?

How about a sax solo Sallan?

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This icomp guy doctorzinc supplied the backing. I did the clean guitar and I left plenty of space for something else - sax? keys? maybe Pickabass going beserk funky?

Metal players + shredders + wannabes

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This guy on Icomp needs a guitarist to do some lead work. It's too Metal for me. It would be a good shredding piece. It's called Grinding Teeth.

Cissy Strut by JTC and Farlow

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This is a track I did ages ago and got JTC to come in on it. Where the hell is JTC? There are a few versions of this. The original by the Meters, there's a John Mayer one. This is the John Scofield version from his album "Flat Out" I think JTC played guitar bass and drums and I played guitar.(It was quite a while ago. I had plans to alter it but didn't) I don't know which axe I used but I would have used the standard studio: Laney LX12 --->Shure14A--->Acoustica Mixcraft.

Thinking about going ITB...

robbiusa — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

... and getting rid of my current recording setup. Looking at firewire interfaces like the Presonus Firestudio Tube or Focusrite LIquid Saffire 56. Then maybe pick up a Liquidmix 16 while they're only 200 bucks. Any thoughts or suggestions? What I have now is: Roland VS2400CD, Mackie Onyx 1220, ART MPA Gold, Lexicon, MX200, and BBE MaxCom that I would be dumping. Not recording stuff, but I would also take this opportunity to make some room and get rid of my old Roland JV1080 and CME UF5 keyboard, along with an Epi Special that is the only guitar that I have that I really don't play (I won it in one of those Gibson/Epiphone contests... woohoo..... signed by Wyclef Jean and Sean Kingston... again.... woohoooooo) . MF offered me $840 in credit for the lot if they receive before the end of the month in the condition that I specified, otherwise $800 for everything after August. Or $600 if I want to cash out in their trade in trade up program. I'm thinking maybe... I'm pretty sure that I could do at least a bit better on my own through ebay or craigslist, but then I'm kinda lazy and there is all that hassle. So, what do you think about any of this.

Covered \"Home\" by Dream Theater

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Let me know what you guys think!

Logic 9 Amp Designer

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well, still mucking about with it for direct recording purposes. Pretty damn 'low gain' even for the 'high gain' models. Still, it's pretty cool considering how self contained it is. Lemme know whatcha think. Oh yeah, there was just a wee bit of latency, annoying as fuck to play through. Maybe I need to add a 'pedalboard' as well...

I think I\'ve found it.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

My search for the style of music I feel most at home with has ended. Thanks to Farlow, Greg, Scott, Rob, sallan and those of you that have pointed out when I'm doing well, and also when I'm trying too hard to impress. My last three tracks on iComp have been more about sitting back and feeling, than sitting forward and blasting through until I have something listenable, but not entirely me. I have gained some inspiration of late from listening to Dave Bainbridge, through a recomendation on iComp from Kevin. I love this stuff, Celtic sounding, ethereal work and I think I could put my feet up and feel more at ease with this style. Listening to Neil Zaza in his more melodic moments has helped too.. So, on with the feeling, and more (hopefully) accessible songs from Padre. Thanks guys.

Paradigm Shift Cover

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So I've been doing a lot of originals lately and decided to take a break from that, and maybe do a cover of some sort. I came across this backing track and decided to take a go. Few things I don't like about the backing track, but it's still pretty cool. Take a listen and let me know what you guys think! I believe this is the first time I've posted/recorded a cover of somebody else's work. Cheers!

A New Track from Padre.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I just can't do anything right lately, and every good intention turns to shit, so I recorded this in the hope of getting that exact feeling across. Number 5 in my moods series of recordings, done today. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=120456 I really should get someone neutral to mix my crap..........

Badass Bass ( Collab )

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Do it, you'll feel good. PS, it takes a few changes so either run with it, go against it, or just tell me I'm a bastard and we'll forget it. But I do try. And you should have a go at least, I'm not a bass player at all, and I only got it lately, so give a nigga a break!?!?! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=120415

latest recording...Train Train cover

Marshall2288 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I haven't been to inspired with my originials lately so i have started spicing up classics. here is the first one I have done. Blackfoot's Train Train. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=120176

For Les Paul from G.Com

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I recorded a little tribute on the hop as it were, in memory of Les Paul. Here's the deal. Take it, add to it, use it as an intro, put in drums, keys, words, whatever. Make a fitting collab from G.Com for the legend himself!! As long as we keep the title I'm happy to let it get taken further. Let me know folks. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=120322 Allan.

Recording software trial

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I got an e-mail from Line 6 about a chance to try out Propellerheads new software Record. It is not exactly a Beta version, but pre-release with 99.9% of the bug fixes thus far ironed out. I will be giving it a thorough going over in the next few days now I have nothing better to do. It is free, full version up until September 9th, so anyone wanting to try out some of the software out there without the cost of buying the full package should give it a go. All you need is an e-mail address and an interface or ability to record.. Just keeping the guys clued in to more freebies. http://www.recordyou.com/ I'll let you know my thoughts after trying it out for a little while.

My new tune on icomp

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I posted this on icomp today. It's probably not finished but there hasn't been much music posted lately. We had so much about a month ago. These last 2 weeks I can barely string 2 notes together, but I've had these 15 songs sitting there, waiting for me to do the guitar parts. I think I used an Arizona Strat copy - $50 on ebay _ through a Laney 10W amp into Acoustica Mixcraft. Everything apart from my reverb-drenched guitar is played by Lenno, the 14-year-old guy from Finland. Here's his site on Mikseri: http://www.mikseri.net/artists/?id=120384&displ_lang=en

I\'m thinking of getting Logic

Marshall2288 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I know a few of you guys use it. What are pros and cons compared to other softwares? What all does it include? i.e. vsts, amp modelers/piano mods. Anything like that?

Got Logic 9

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Just arrived today, got ready to install it I'm super stoked and bwaaaaa I need to upgrade my OS! grrrr, So then I went to Best Buy, bought the damn thing and installed it (Pretty damn cool) and now my wireless router isn't loading the necessary updates (rarrr). I'm gonna have diarhea until Easter if this keeps up!!! So now I connected via an old ethernet router I had, and the updates are happening. About an hour 'till I can install Logic... So off to the Xbox methinks...

Feedback....

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Its a collab Jim, But not as we know it........... did I over-do it?

A few Padre tracks you may not have heard

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I dont put so many on now. But anyone interested can check them out. Blues. ( with weird chord progs).. I'm still learning like us all..... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=119340 4th Moods track, Its raining again, as always here in Ireland... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=119365 And there we go! All done.

Which is better: the Boss Micro BR Digital Recorder or Tascam DP-004?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi All, Basically the question in the topic. Just want a four track recorder and can't decide between the two. Thanks for the help in advance

Results of Padres Tone search.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well, I took it all in, wrestled with No.2 and 4, and made a little rough demo of a track to see what you thought, cheers g.com, you rock!! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=119265

Fo\' Shizzle!!

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Dear Randolf on iComp has been at it again. Remember Zombies on the Lawn? I do, it was genius. Now we have " I like cheese a lot " . Which is his version of Snoops " Drop it Like its Hot " I near pissed my pants at this, my dear g.commers, THIS is talent.... hahaha http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=119230#

Padre\'s Lead Tone

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok rally together g.com, I need your help. I hate the lead tone I've used on most of my stuff, and am trying out different ones I have tweaked and saved on my Pod UX-1. So give this a listen, and note which you preferred if any (even as potential), then I can start working with it and get some good old g.com expertise on it while I'm doing so!! Piss easy eh!? Thanks as ever guys, heres the tones, just say Number 1, 2, 3 etc when you reply. I'll know then.... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=119227

Tributes...

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have decided, as well as my Moods series, to do some tribute tracks hopefully in the styles of my heroes. It's proving harder than I wanted, haha, but I'm having fun trying to do these so that counts the most to me more than anything. The Paul Gilbert one is more concentrated on his rhythm technique I feel, but I might add a solo if I improve 100 times more hahaha If you take the time to listen to any of my insanity I thank you. Seriously. It means a lot to me, and it's why I even bother in the first place. Thanks guys. Buckethead Tribute - " Buckets " http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118660 Paul Gilbert Tribute - " Can A Man be a God? " http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118975 Joe Satriani Tribute - " Satch-Squatch " http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=119045

WOOHOO Logic 9 is out

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

YES! I just ordered it. I can't friggin' wait.

I always forget to tune...

ibzRG — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

The guitar of course is in tune with itself, otherwise I can hear it's off, but I never remember to check the absolute pitch. It always occurs to me only after I've laid down a few tracks and start considering the layering. A that point I often have nailed a take that I really hate to have to throw away and try again. This is why on several jams I'm out of tune. It's something that only happens to me with the electric. Because of the locking nut, I use the fine tuners to keep it in tune with itself but with temperature changes and string stretch, the absolute pitch is usually off. I almost always tune the acoustics and the bass to a tuner so these are usually in tune when I record them... Any of you guys have this issue?

New sound byte!

shanejohnson2002 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So here's the song I'm currently working on. At the moment, I have much more than this written, and slightly less than that actually tracked and recorded. I'm just *very* pleased with the sound. I can't wait to lay down the vocals on this one. The song is called "Break You". It's all recorded using the black RG with D-Activators. The POD X3 Patch is a Diezel Herbert with a TS9 in front of it, through a 4x12 V30 cab. The left channel is an on-axis SM-57, and the right is an off-axis 57. My only complaint is the slight digital "hiss" I'm getting because I'm recording USB. I have a Y-cable on the way that will correct that problem. On a side note, I know I post a lot of clips up here. I have a bad habit of having Recording ADHD, where I stop a project about halfway through to begin something else. Not this time...I've committed to finishing this one ;). So be expecting the full song in about a week.

Icomp

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

How do you record from your guitar to the computer if your doing Icompositions? Do you need a audio recorder?

Buckets.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

My tribute to Buckethead who I've been listening to while not too well. Hope its worthy. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118660

A new demo... Opinions please!

Greg D — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This is a demo I recorded yesterday. Its not finished and I intend to record it with a full band.... My next album or EP will be with a band. Let me have your thoughts, ignore the dodgy ending! It was a fun song to do and im keen to hear it played with my band! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118627

Moods (Two)......

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Part two of my musical blog, recording my feelings living with Manic Depression. I'm on a hyper one, I don't know how long it will last, and cant sit still and concentrate on one thing at a time. I hope this track reflects that. Bass - Me. ( Only got it recently and am learning it, slowly) Guitars - Me. Drums - Billy Ray ( live recording I 'borrowed' hehe) http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118617

Back to \'normal\' (yeah right).

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have only recently came round from another depressive episode and am feeling more 'me' again. Being a severe Manic has it's good points and bad, thankfully the bad this time didn't result in another attempt at leaving the land of the living so good times!! Anyhoo, my Dee suggested I write a blog again, like the one I used to have, and record how I felt at different times. But I had a brainwave, well more of a slight ripple, and I've decided to capture my moods with my guitar. Genius eh!! Obviously the downside is when I go into a depression you will get basically bugger all as I do not have the ambition, strength, or determination to do anything let alone play. But I will be trying my best to produce a series of tracks that reflect how I feel over time. Here is the first of those...and I'm doing one now as I type this due to being in grand form today. Cheers guys. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118551

My latest collab - I think it\'s called Smoke

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This is my lates collab - not that I did much. The other guy, Ryusuke, wrote, sang mixed and played all instuments except electric guitar. I don't know why he needs me and I've told him that, but he sends me stuff to play on, so I do. I don't know what genre this is. I also don't know whether that Koblo link goes directly to the sound page so I put it on soundclick as well. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=118525

Hey inablackout

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Duuuuuuude I think I totally sent you a message with my Email and stuff but I guess not lol can you just upload all the original tracks here and ill get started on em =D I can write 5-6 songs a day and more on a good day so I think were gonna be putting up alot of music together! I think my voice is perfect for your guys style and I would love to prove it =D. Just let me know when your next practice is and ill try and make it. Or I can record from my house and send you the finished tracks so you can see how you like it.

ART Tube MP

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

A very cool little tube preamp I invested in. I'm using it in the send/return of my interface, and WOWEE!! Pretty much all of my stuff, drums, bass, vocals, and especially (Pod/GT8 Direct) guitar have a more pleasing tone (To my ears) And the gain is a little easier to control. I experimented with it on individual things, but I like it's 'color' so much that I'm just gonna leae the damn thing on and in the send/return loop for good... I'm getting closer to getting the sounds I want from drums thanks to this little guy, well worth the 60 bucks. Special thanks to Xarkzilla and Eds for recommending this bad boy, Now I can't wait to get my Focusrite... Gonna be sweet. of course, then all I have to do is learn how to use it...

My PC crashed big time. All is gone

Marshall2288 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So my PC just fully crashed. I was in the middle of recording some guitar for a guy and BAM! I get this message that spyware/malware/viruses ext were all over my comp. My Mcafee expired and i didn't renew it cuz i don't go on the web withy my PC (i use my Mac for that). So being the possible dumasse' that I am i rebooted to original factory settings. Is all lost???

Musicplacements.com

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So I signed up to this site, just for kicks and posted 3 of my tunes (Vocal) and of course they liked it enough to let me join as a member! oooo The prestige and honor! Now I'm 'qualified' to give them money. So after uploading tunes, going through the process, etc, etc I smell a 'TAXI' sort of thing going on, and I just sort of decided to not bother activating the account. Costs money anyways, so whatever. Now this morning some rapper sounding dude calls me from New York telling my my tunes 'could' have found placement, he loves the stuff blah, blah, blah. Basically he goes on and on about the services that his company provides, etc. I smell smoke, and my bum is getting warm... So for kicks, should I buy the membership? See what happens? D'ya think they phone any/everyone? I mean I had a TAXI membership, and it was a great way to get rid of money... This reeks of the same thing, but if there's a small glimmer of hope...

B Cool!

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Yes, yes, yes, folks! ANOTHER backing track from BMF! I did my take already and attempted to put a little more structure to it than usual. It's not as long as last few backing tracks I posted and it's kinda mellow. We all know I'm not the greatest with theory, but I believe it's in B. Here's my take: http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=117759 Hope you guys enjoy this one, it was fun for me! = )

A free pitch correction that works with audacity?

Aaron Lee — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

That's basically my question. Do they make it and can someone walk me through downloading it? I mainly just want it for me and my band to mess around with (myspace.com/apivotalbreakdown.....let us or me know what you think.)

Favourite Plugins?

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

What's everyone's favourite plugs? I know we all use them, and there's gotta be some favourites around here. If you know of any free ones worth using throw up a link if you can. For EQ and compression, I mainly use my focusrite liquidmix. It's I suppose hardware with a software interface, so I kinda lump it into that category. For a bundle I really love the Waves Rennaissance bundle. The compressor in particular RComp, the vocal channel strip RVox, and RVerb are pretty badass. The eq is actually ok but often loses out to the stock Digidesign Digi EQ3 - it's been out for a little while and is really really good for a free bundled plugin. Here's some free plugins I stumbled across this morning before I run up to the university. http://homerecording.about.com/od/mixingyourmusic/a/Free_Plug_Ins.htm http://www.gersic.com/plugins/ http://www.freeaudioplugins.com/

Interesting recording session coming up

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So here's some randomness for you. My friend Crystal has a grandma who's teetering on the edge of death. She's in good health, but she's like 90 and an amazing pianist. She has played for everyone in the family at every occasion she can - birthdays, weddings etc and plays professionally to this day 4 nights a week. And the family wants her to record an album, live before she passes away. I have secured a yamaha baby grand piano in a nice sounding space [my other friend's mom's piano] for july 28 in Vancouver BC. I'll be bringin my focusrite isa 828, 2 akg 414's, 2 shure sm81s, and 2 shure ksm141's along with my "field recorder", my Roland VS880ex. I will throw all the mics up at once, using the 414's to close mic, the 147s to room mic, and the 81s even further back. In the mix I'll only be using 4 mics at a time to deal with phase issues and to maintain clarity, but having 6 mics up gives me more options while mixing. For a slower song for example a bigger room sound would be better because the extra room sound in the mix would fill up the space more. I'll be making 2 mixes of the album, one for listening and one for in the car/other background music. The one for listening will have no dynamics processing on it so you can really hear the way it was played. I may even record at a higher sample rate and release it in dvd format so there is extra dynamic range. The other mix will be compressed enough that I can bring the volume up substantially, making it viable for putting on in the car or during dinner, without disrupting anything. I plan on photo-documenting the recording process [not so much the mixing process, unless you want to see me sitting at a computer] and posting it - I might post a link to the pics or I might just post the photos here, I haven't decided yet. To rent the pinao I said I'd record my friend's mom's own "tribute to the beatles" she called it. Whatever... I'll just leave it on record lol.

METAL TIME!!!

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

As you all know I've been going apeshit with all these backing tracks! Well HERE'S ANOTHER! I've been trying to post a wide variety of playing styles/tracks to see how versatile we can all be. Here's my take: http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=117607 This shall be very interresting to see all the different ideas we come up with. It's another long one too, so feel free to shorten it if you want to.

Acoustic Rock Backing Track

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I recently found a bunch of backing tracks that I plan on using/recording over. This being one of them. I'll have to ask 'ol Padre to get the bpm, but I'm pretty sure it's in the key of G. I'm not the greatest with theory, so maybe Farlow can shed a little light on that one. I did a take already, however I'm actually attempting to edit it into something worthy this time, rather than just using the initial take with all my screw-ups. Enjoy folks, and post up ASAP! - BMF

Child in Time solo I did few months ago

Johnny Frusciante — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I made this video while listening to the song on my iPod. This was recorded like nearly half a year ago, I can do it 10 times better now. There were some flat notes, some misses, the ending was a disaster...but check it out anyway. :)

Mellow Collab!

Bobby Fioretti — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I didn't make this backing track. I found it on the net and just HAD to solo over it. Hoping for some of you guys to put in your takes, and see who does what with it. Here is the backing track: http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=117400 Here is my take: http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=117399 Feedback welcomed and encourages as usual! I really hope you guys give it a shot and this thread doesn't just die. LOL

Drum mic selections

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I wrote a little piece for my facebook account on my personal favourite mics to use on drums, and I'll pull a copy and paste here for good measure. I don't really go into details on micing or how to mic, just preferences on which mics I like to use. I don't own all the mics listed, but have experience with them all through the various concerts and theatres I have done sound for. So without further ado, here we go. For kick I love the Beta 52a by Shure, though I own the AKG D112 and the always popular Audix D6. The 52 is the physically largest mic but it has the most natural tone - and it takes the eq the easiest. You can add or subtract tons of db's on this thing before it starts sounding forced and fake. The 52 definitely is the most versatile mic of the selection, handling everything from jazz to metal to ummmm Cyndi Lauper. The D6 is AWESOME for metal and rock, however doesn't eq all that well. The AKG D112 aka the football is pretty much a one trick pony, scooped too much in the mids and too hot in the high end for my tastes, making it a clicky boomy sumbitch only suitable for certain kick drums. I may try it on floor tom when I get my kit set up again. Also the Shure Beta 91 is a good mic to throw inside along with another mic, it doesn't do justice on it's own but paired with a mic outside it's a super team of awesome. Audio-Technica makes a gimmick mic, with a condenser capsule for picking up the clicky attack and a dynamic capsule for getting the boom, built into one housing that's perfectly phase aligned. Well, anyone who knows anything knows that for the boom the mic goes outside and for the click the mic goes inside and for a little of both stick the mic ouside the hole facing in - there is no one spot you will get the best of both wolrds, so this mic is a gimmick and a waste of money. Snare drums are overly easy in my books - a '57 or a small diaphragm condenser one top, and a phase reversed mic on the bottom - I usually use a '57 cause I own so many of them, but I have had success here with anything laying around. I use a high and low pass filter to remove frequencies around the snap of the snares and gate it to be keyed by the top snare mic. Toms - the bane of so many engineers. Why are they hard to mic? The answer is that they aren't - the reason they sound bad when you mic them is because they sound like crap in the first place, and no amount of eq is going to tune a drum. Spend the time before hand, then throw a mic up and call it a day. I am fortunate to own a bunch of '57s and Audix D2's, and on good toms these mics are pretty good. I wouldn't mind some Sennheiser e609's or e906's [why do they name two mics opposite?] or even a MD421, but who's gonna spend $550 on a friggin TOM mic? Overheads are where mic selection gets really important. Any good quality condensers will provide adequate results, however really knowing your mics here will allow you to tailor the sound of the kit as a whole to the tune being recorded. I love AKG 414's, Shure SM 81's, Shure KSM 137 or 141's, of course Neumann KM184's. Like I said, any good condensers will do, but placement, selection and polar pattern will help create soundscapes far beyond what most people realize. Coming from the front, coming from the back; X/Y, spaced pair, completely independent; cardiod, omni, figure 8; the choices could [can] drive you mad. Room mics are your best friend. They are the REASON stereo recording was invented. Make sure your phase doesn't get all buggered up, and if you are into time-aligning your drums, leave these out of the equation. Again placement is key. If you are in a smaller room, try turning them around to face the walls. Any good condenser mics will do here, though I tend to use large diaphragm condensers. Random tip of the day? Cover one ear, walk around until you find a spot in the room where the snare sounds amazing. Throw a mic up at this point, and then gate it to be keyed from the close miced snare. Set your release time long enough to let it ring out, and presto... massive snare sound. Other thoughts: A bad drumset will sound bad through good mics and pres, and a great drum kit will sound good through bad mics and bad pres. You are better off spending more time tuning than wasting time trying to get mics in optimal positions. I personally tune my drums slightly higher than I would if I were playing live [not that I am a drummer really, but I do know how to tune drums]. Having the skins a little tighter means a sharper attack and more of an actual note from the drum as opposed to a flabby whack and no real note. A lot of drummers disagree with me on this, especially when they use my DW kit because I dont let anyone else tune them, but my recordings speak for themselves.

Online g.com band??

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Has anyone considered doing an online band for g.com users who would be willing to put some time in? One drummer, one bass player, one singer, two guitars? I know there could be a lot of music files being sent everywhere for different parts, but I think even for one song it would be awesome. It would work in the collab format, but with people taking the track and adding their part then re-posting a link for the next musician to add to. There are two possibilities, one is to agree on a cover and do that, the other would be a free-jam, with each part sent on to the next person to add to and build it from there. I could imagine some freaky shit going on that way, with members jamming with the person previous. I dunno, was bored and thinking of a possible new angle and way to push ourselves rather than just playing with a backing track.

Picture Time!

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Post a pic of your recording area, where you sit so we all can have a glimpse into what what you use and how you have it set up for easy access. I assume most of us have a setup where we sit in a chair and rock out on guitar and have a few misc peices of gear around us. My stuff isn't set up right now but I can get some pics up this afternoon of my stuff. In the meantime, post yours!

Picture Time!

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

The Strawberry Jam

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Just a little backing track for anyone who wants to try something different. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=117023

Logic is soooo Deep.

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

lol I've been toiling away at Logic pro this week, and I have to say, I learned to do some stuff that's pretty awesome. The Ultrabeat Drum Sequencer is friggin' deadly, the pitch correction that comes with the suite is amazing, and the automation and hyper editor tools are bloody mindblowing. Editing real drums is a snap, and drum replacement is sooo easy it's gross... Anyways, back to the manuals...

Collab Etiquette

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, So it appears everyone is having trouble with taking a backing track and recording then posting or mixing etc, etc. Everyone's software seems to be doing different things and I have a suggestion. Can we please post the original bpm of any collab track then we can adapt it up or down depending on our own set-ups. That way everyone can keep it at least in the same time signature. Thanks guys. Allan. From the future. (Farlow will get the time warp joke from Zombre's jam).

My first G.com project

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Back when I made a thread about vocals Mr.JTC supplied me with an amazing track and some awesome lyrics Well tonight Is the night I finish it and post it on Icomp.com =D So ladies and gentlemen.....and Zombre tonight you will be able to hear what im really all about

Jam with Drums, Piano, Strings in minor key

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Back up! Here's a jam in G minor if anyone is interested. I'll add my take tomorrow! Have fun! Gminor (2 flats): G A Bb C D Eb F http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116915#

Recording Setups

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

lol I'm so pleased I got this together, I had to post about it. Now of course, the room I'm recording in is still an unfinished basement, but I'm doing ok despite the 'liveness' of the space. Yep, I mic pretty much everything, still kinda doingg battle with drums, but they've come a long ways. Presonus Firestudio Project goes to my Macbook pro via firewire. Logic Studio's the app of choice here. I have an M-Audio Keyrig 49 as my midi controller. It's plugged direct into the macbook via usb. I have a pair of Roland DS-7 monitors that come out of the Presonus Firestudio. Now for recording guitars I run direct out of my guitar into a Rapco AB100 Splitter (Although I'll be using a mixer for this purpose soon...) one signal goes to my amp WHICH gets miced, and the other signal goes to a track to be recorded dry/direct for re-amping purposes via POD, Podxt or Boss GT8 or even another amp, or even the amp modelling software that I have in Logic. A lot of options, that's for sure. Same thing for bass, although I'd like to pick up a Bass Pod methinks... Anyways, onto the cool part. Drums were a challenge. The biggest struggle was monitoring the signal at a level where I could hear the click (And backtracks) really well. I also wanted to record 4 tracks separately - Kick, Snare, 2 Overheads. I went out and spent a meager $150.00 on a cheap drum mic set for this purpose. They aren't bad, not great, just really generic. I decided that I wanted to use the VS880 for drums exclusively for a few reasons; 1) location of the recording unit. 2) I can start/stop recording with a footpedal 3) The less I can tax my poor macbook the better, and if I can get a consistantly decent sound out of the VS880 (I know I can, that thing is amazing) It's something I won't have to muck with, and I'll still have most of the inputs on my Presonus free for (You guessed it) Guitars and vocals. Of course monitoring all signals at once was a bit of a challenge, but here's what I've done: Drum mics (Kick, Snare, 2 Overheads) go into the main inputs of the VS880. The digital out goes to the Presonus Digital in, sounds great, pretty awesome sound quality, and that horrible bassiness you (I) get from the 'master outs' on the VS880 is avoided. The master out on the VS880 goes to an input on My Behringer Xenyx 2442 mixer. An output on my Presonus goes to another input on the Behringer mixer. Now if I want to play drums along to a recording and actually hear what I'm playing as well as what's on the mac on drums, I use the headphone outs on the Behringer (There's 2) I can also use the Headphone, or any of the outs on the Presonus to monitor as well. The VS880 phones seem to only monitor what's going on in the VS880, Digital 'in' doesn't seem to want to work. No matter, I've got it basically doing what I want. I really like the idea of keeping my drum tracks separate on a different machine, it'll enable me to really get to know 'em. Now tomorrow, I plan to do the following: 1) Get Logic and the VS880 to midi sync, Only makes sense because then I can just record/playback 1 and they'll both run. 2)Need to get a bit of limiting/gating/noise suppression going on on the VS880. The effects processors on the VS are pretty powerful, and they sound great, so I'm sure I'll come up with something. I really want to eliminate the overtones and bleed as much as possible without killing the tone too much (It's a very mediocre kit anyways, so if I can get it to sound good, I'll be set when I get a good kit, especially under these room conditions.) On kick, I just want to hear the kick, on Snare, just the snare and I don't want to have to edit much... 3)Need to work out exact mic placement for my drums, should be cool. lol But enough about me, what're y'all doing with YOUR setups?

Anyone using Amplitude with Adobe Audition ?

Chester Field — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Our band just got Amplitube 2, and tried recording with Adobe Audition.....it does record, and in the format we set, but when trying to play back it claims it is an unrecognized format. Anyone else have this experience, and if so, how the hell did you fix it ? I've armed it in multitrack, and in single track, set the sample and bit rates to 44.1khz and 16 bits, using a wav format, and it still won't play back. Frustrating, because it is a nice piece of software.

Static on my PC. Wireless mouse is to blame.

ibzRG — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I did not see that one coming. Trying to plug a mic into my PC, it had a high level of noise in it that was not caused by the environment. I tried different soundcards but no change. Trying to wiggle the wire and jack to see if anything was loose or if the mic was broken, I came to realize the noise disappeared whenever I touched the PC case. I thought, "great, a grounding problem". Trying to see if it was a peripheral causing it I unplugged the case fans, relocated the power lines insede the case and for some reason decided to unplug the wireless usb mouse. Miraculously all of the static disappeared... Now I can boost my mic input level all the way (20-30db) and it remains very quiet. I replugged the mouse to the front usb this time and it seems to be quiet. Now that I have located the source of the noise, I expect my line-in recordings to be much cleaner as well. In the past I had to work with whatever level I recorded at. Boosting any track became noticeably noisy at around +10db (yeah yeah yeah, I know, no boosting, but sometimes I do have to boost things otherwise the overall tune ends up too low in volume).

Recording Software

Jared — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So my mom decided that they are going to give me one of out older computer to record music on. I was wondering what software is really good for beginners to learn and easy to catch on to. I have looked at quite a few online but Im not sure what would work best, so I decided to get some recommendations for you gentlemen.

I miss you Squeek....

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Yesterday was Fathers Day, and an extremely difficult time for me. I miss my little one Natalya as she lives overseas with her mummy. I love you Squeek, this little track is for you. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116697

I like this......

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I love it when newer ranks of the guitar playing community produce something as wonderful as this. Give it a listen!!! Inspired stuff. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=115989

Garage Band

Jared — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So I recorded the first songs for my bands first album. We decided to use garageband because one member has a nice mic and the program. I was really impressed by how easy it is to use the program and the quality results it got for use to being inexperienced at recording.

The wait is over!

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have finished the cover and im pretty satisfied with it The first half was rushed and the cleans aren't as good as I would like them to be probably cause I didnt get my warmups in Anyways heres the link http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116478 Enjoy!

My Last Serenade cover (Vocals)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok so the song im covering is Killswitch Engage's My Last Serenade As you know its very heavy and the vocals are strenuous but I should have it up by the end of the night! I just need a site to upload it to.

Any Punk specialists for a Collab?

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

No I'm not playing the punk collab but this guy on Icomp is looking for a guitarist. He's done the vocals and the bass. It sounds pretty good. Just contact him on icomp if you're interested.

Operation Liberation

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Since no one took up my Mohab Collab offer I decided to do it myself..... This 8 minute long track is the result. It is still rough around the edges, and the middle, and on top......actually it is still just rough. But give it a listen!!!! I used a lot of harmony work, some tapping, some mellow and some mad, and my "piece de resistance" was getting my guitar to sound like a siren!!! Anybody wants to know how I did it, I'll make a video and post it on g.com. The ending was inspired by a Mr B. Head who I've been listening to a lot lately. Thanks as always guys. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116312

Spooner Arks (Buckethead)

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Just threw together a quick cover of the Buckets song Spooner Arks. Its rough as a badgers arse but it wasn't intended to be perfect, its just my way of blowing off some steam..... Enjoy!!! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116194

Dreamscape (demo song)

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Its there, it kinda rocks, I have to try and get this one sorted as for once I'm bloody happy. Enjoy it guys. Please do!! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=116007

Openollab........

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Quality is low, but the track is ripe for the picking. I've had several goes and it is piss easy. Give it a whirl if you like........ http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=115836

StealthPedal review? (wah pedal audio interface for guitarists/bassists)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I Dig the StealthPedal…Really Blew Me Away!” 5 Tone Bones: perfect score review from GuitarGear.org Bookmark and Share GuitarGear.org's Reviewer Brendan Delumpa digs the StealhPedal, with nothing but good vibes to share! Here are his quotes on StealthPedal winning 5 Tone Bones from GuitarGear.org. "Tone Bone Score: 5.0 – I love enabling technologies that make anything that I do easier, but also add a ton of value. That can definitely be said of the new StealthPedal from IK Multimedia. A quick glance at picture of the unit, and you may think: Okay, just another pedal-style software controller. It is that, but it is also so very much more!" "5 Tone Bones - Gear has stellar performance, value, and quality. This is definitely top of the class, best of breed, and it's a no-brainer to add this to your gear lineup!" "Pros: Truly plug and play, it is automatically recognized by "Powered By Amplitube" software, and requires very little configuration." "Cons: None" Overall Impressions: "What can I say? I dig the StealthPedal! In the next couple of weeks, I'm going on a trip. Guess what's coming with me? A guitar, the StealthPedal, a mic pre-amp, a mic, and a couple of cords. That'll be enough to record any song, and besides the guitar, all that will fit into my computer bag!" "The StealthPedal is also an extremely easy-to-use, full-functioning analog-digital audio interface that you can use for recording or running modeling software live through your computer. And with 24-bit analog-digital, digital-analog conversion, and 44.1/48 kHz operation, you can count on the SteathPedal to produce high-fidelity sound in the studio an on the stage." "The StealthPedal looks just like a mere expression pedal from the top view. But look at the sides and the input and output jacks belie its humble appearance. On the left side of the pedal are ¼" jacks for right and left output, an 1/8" for headphones, another ¼" jack for a dual-switch external switching unit (extra), and the USB jack. On the right side of the pedal are ¼" jacks for inputs, a volume control knob, and a ¼" jack for plugging in another expression pedal. In other words, this "pedal" packs a punch and is so much more than what it appears!" Wah Wah Wah: "…adding software stomp effects and controlling them via the StealthPedal was a total breeze! The software automatically assigns the StealthPedal to control the first effect with some default behavior. For instance, with a wah effect plugin, the foot pedal is assigned to the wah effect and the switch is assigned to bypass. But you can change behavior simply by clicking the "setup" button at the top-right of the application window. It can't get much simpler than that!" "I wanted to see how it performed as an audio interface. In this usage, I was totally blown away! Whereas other audio units such as those from DigiDesign require a software driver to operate (yes, even on the Mac), at least on the Mac, the StealthPedal follows Apple's lead in design: Plug it in and it just works! So in a very real way the StealthPedal is aptly named as it just does what it does without you knowing how – or having to know how it works! Note that you do need a driver for Windows. But on my Mac, the process to be up and running took less than 5 minutes! That's incredible!" "The StealthPedal worked as expected – actually a lot better than I expected because I was expecting only 'okay' signal quality, considering the price point of this unit. Boy, was I wrong. The recorded signal was just as clean as my MBox 2, with no apparent shading of any kind. That put a smile on my face. And another thing that really blew me away was that lag was virtually non-existent. There was tiny bit, but nowhere in the realm of the lag that I normally get with my MBox 2. Amazing!" "Then plugging my guitar directly into the StealthPedal, I fired up the Amplitube Fender plug-in, selected an amp, and started playing. This was truly the first time I could switch on track monitoring and not get thrown off from the lag!" "What's Not Obvious Is Usually Where the True Power Lays: Think about this carefully because it's important: The real impact of the StealthPedal is not necessarily in its features, but in what it provides as a solution. As I mentioned above, the StealthPedal completes the picture for IK Multimedia to provide an end-to-end computer-based guitar performance and recording solution. I don't say this lightly. Not only do they have totally kickass amp and effects modeling, with the StealthPedal, they now have a high-quality, high-fidelity guitar audio interface and software controller! Add to the fact that the StealthPedal requires ZERO setup to use (Mac only, sorry folks), and you've got a complete solution for all your computer-based guitar audio. And because the StealthPedal was built to work specifically for "Powered By Amplitube" products, you never have to worry about compatibility problems! I don't know about you, but that's just incredible to me. But wait there's more!" "Because it is a MIDI controller, the StealthPedal can also be used with other amp sim software via MIDI. So this just isn't a solution for the AmpliTube user, it can be used by virtually all recording guitarists, and other musicians as well!" Read the complete review at GuitarGear.org. Learn about the plug n play power of StealthPedal.

New Collab on icomp

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

There is a guy on icomp called Filscorz who often posts tracks for people to collaborate on. If you go to his page you will see a whole bunch listed - they are ususally the ones with "for collab- have fun!!" written on them. This is me playing over one of his tracks called Dimensia Blues. I can't rememer which guitar I used. Possibly the Ibanez through a 75W no-name bass amp. Usual recording problems, using Mixcraft. (Not Mixcraft's fault, some quirk with my PC insisting that the WebCam is my default Line-in!!)

Not one but TWO!!!!

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Yes folks, I put up two tracks I recorded there with my hour of madness on the new Spear guitar. I hope you enjoy at least one, if not both. As per usual it was hit record and go for it! Track 1: Quiet Contemplation http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=115299 Track 2: OO-EE-OO http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=115302 Thanks guys if you listen to my madness again, you must be gluttons for punishment!! 'AI'

Now In The Studio - Deaf Lesbian!

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, our most recent recording client is... No, that's not the name of the group... She's an actual, living, breathing, deaf lesbian. You would never think of someone who is deaf being able to play and sing. Not just play and sing, but do it VERY well! She has issues with most studios in that they can't give her enough in the cans so she can sort of hear what's going on, but we have a monster gain on our phones and completely sealed units that don't let anything escape, so it works for her. We were just blown away that she can perform so well. As far as handicaps go, this is probably the worst one for a musician, but unless you knew, you wouldn't know! Anyone got any stories about handicapped musicians?

Guilty of Assault.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Just watched one of my favourite films of all time and decided to ruin the theme tune just there 20 minutes ago. Sorry guys but it is fun to jam out something like this for a laugh sometimes. Enjoy if you will.......cheers g.commers!!! http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=115055 Edit: This is the new version as the old one was ok, but sucked ass in places..... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=115099

Drum tracks??

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I will be first to hold my hands up and say I have far too much going on to even consider looking at my Ableton drum programming, or for that matter the Riffworks software I got with the Pod UX-1. I have heard that EZDrummer is the way to go on getting some good tracks together for recording, but don't want my GAS budget going on some tub-thumpers electronic wet dream. It was then I heard of MDrummer, which is free, but you cant drag and drop midi into the sequencer like you can on EZD. That sucks as it would have been easier to belt out a good drum track in about 20 minutes to half an hour. Anyone have experience on this subject, or any of the software mentioned above?? I will assume the replies will be helpful as always and thank you all now guys. Cheers!!!!

Recording Setup

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

HI guys, me and my band are starting to want to record and the gear we have right now is pretty crappy quality. What would be a good set up for recording for a whole band (drums, guitar, bass, keyboard, and two vocals). We have about 1000 to spend give and take.

Another song from Father

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Dicking around with some delay and reverb to make a little tune. Not greatly technical, no sweeps or mad picking like my 'Let it all out' track. But a sweet little number I think.

iComp Collab Idea.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, so I know it aint great, but it is a demo only so bare with me..... If someone likes the idea, likes the sound I'm aiming at, and would consider working on this, let me know, I would like to double guitar this with someone who digs what I'm trying to achieve. Oh, I'm crap with drum tracks so I used a looped pattern I made. Not very inventive I know but it works as a demo...and the outro sucks as I didnt know what way to round it off. Hence the help needed.

New song up on iComp.

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have written too many slow, melodic tracks lately, and the mentallist in me was getting impatient. So I hit record and let rip for 4 minutes. Enjoy!!!

More recorded draft product

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm trying to learn beat matching on Acoustica Mixcraft. Someone gave me a drum track so I recorded some guitar on it. I know the timing's rough and one of the effects I used makes it difficult to get tight timing. This is also the debut of my new Digitech RP70 Modelling Guitar Processor. Guitar is a Cort Larry Coryell LCS2 -the budget version of the LCS1. Amp is a ProBass 75W bass amp. (They are a small volume Australian company - I got it on ebay last week for $US46.) Mic is Shure 14A and my fleecy-lined track pants (it's cold here at night) are probably made by Vietnamese in a sweat shop somewhere in Western Sydney. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=113750

New song finally done........

Father Dougal Maguire. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, its finally finished, please criticise...........

Neil Young cover Needle and the Damage Done

pinsone — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

The voice is off key (really bad) Anyway I wanted to see what you guys thought. I recoreded it in about 10 minuets on garage band and used tin can effect on garage band.

For all us recording buffs

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://ronansrecordingshow.com/ This guy has set up a little indie recording show of his own, it looks as if he just started it recently - stumbled across it the other day, check it out also, celebrating my 500th webcred birthday

Rolland VS880 - Again!

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I had one ages ago, but I've got a friend who has one for sale for about 300 bucks can, and I can't pass it up. I don't know exactly what I'm gonna use it for; probably drums as it can record 4 things at once (I think?If I remember there were 4 inputs, 1/4 inch but whatever...), and all I use is 4 drum mics at the moment so it should be pretty much perfect! I also need to pick up a cheap midi controller keyboard, I haven't had one in a LONG time, and I feel 'in need' as I'm sick of step recording... Anyhoo that's how my Friday's going, hows about you guys?

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rights for a Madonna song? We have already ...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

We were advised on recording a song in case Madonna wanted to hear it. It is a completely different version of "Who's That Girl". We took the pop 4/4 version and made into a French Jazz/ Waltz version in 3/4 time. We have live violin, guitar, drums with digital base, and accordion. The vocals are performed by the star of our movie (she did 2 other songs already) and wanted to mix the track into the movie. It is a dream, all done first in a 64 track analog studio (Studio Chicago) and split into stems for PRO TOOLS. All in all the song took about 3 weeks and I am very proud of it. Madonnas team never had a chance to even hear it as we just finished it just a day before she said no. Our contingency plan is to use the song, but change the vocal melody and lyrics rendering a new song as the violin only plays the melody once. But still I am looking for suggestions. Business only, I feel like I can go with the contingency plan. But the artist in me, along with the other artists that participated in the process. Want me to try harder. Don't take the first NO, nothing worth a damn is ever easy. Any suggestions would be great. You can check out the song here http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=945732 . Thanks in advance, Bill

Head to head comparison - mic preamps

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I borrowed a mic splitter from work to experiment with. I set up a SM57 and an AKG 414 and went at it. The splitter ran into my Focusrite ISA 828 - Focusrite Trakmaster - Mindprint Envoice - and a stock mic pre on my Digi 002r. For the record, the prices of these preamps are: 828 $2600 - Trakmaster $340 - Envoice $700 - Digi pre probbly like $100 if they were available to purchase seperately. The results were shocking to say the least. I know that my awesome Focusrite 828 sounded the best, but a side by side just proved how wide a margin. The ISA and 828 were miles apart from the rest, so we'll just exclude the other 2 right out. The biggest difference between the envoice and 828 were the roundness of the tone - the 828 was much fuller in the lower mids but is was very smooth and natural sounding. The envoice didn't have the low range that the 828 did but definately kept up in the higher frequencies with fast transients. I did some standard tests like jingling my keys, doing some hihat stuff and catching and smacking around a splash cymbal. The fast transient tracking on both preamps revealed important details lost on the cheaper preamps. The more expensive pres showed hope for cheap mics like my Apex 430. I compare it to playing a squire through an expensive amp - you can still have pretty good tone with the right combination. Running the 414 through the digi pre was [after comparing of course] like playing a gibson through a squire champ 15. A feature set shows where the preamps price points may have been skewed a little. The envoice and trakmaster both offer eq and compression as well as a preamp, whereas the digi pre and 828 are just preamps [with di's]. So to get just the preamp out of the envoice it would probably been in the $400 dollar range, and the trakmaster belongs in the $150 if it were truly just a mic preamp. Of course, I don't eq or compress when I record, I do all that jazz in the mix. So I never really use those features.

MIDI programs

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well I downloaded a free trial thing where I could make tons of stuff up bass,drums, and what not bunch of sounds, I know see what you mean by using MIDI. sure beats trying to find that certain loop. I have heard of a few like Beatcraft Iam looking for free if possible, alas if I have to pay I will but it better be good :)

Online Jam Software

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Does anyone understand this? I get the bit about how different players at different locations can jam together, but I don't really grasp the explanation about overcoming the lag issues. I also am not clear on whether it works with Windows XP. It's probably obvious but whenever I hear 3 consecutive words of cyber jargon, my brain switches off. Basically each player is hearing one interval behind the real time of the others. But how long is an "interval?" Is it 1 bar? One second? Has anyone here ever used this?

Have you ever recorded your jams on vid

MicroCuts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I don't really record songs but when I have jam's I record them with my HD camera and even this is fairly new to me. As egotistical as it sounds, watching back my own jams with the people that I played with is really satisfying and is a great way to capture the moments. For example a jam may have sounded great at the time and to have an audio recording makes it nice to be able to hear the sessions back, but to be able to watch them has really allowed me to analyse my own playing. I only recently realised just how fast I can play which I know isn't everything (and probably faily slow compaired to most of you :-)) but it was just interesting to see that when you can put a video to the music, how you can better interpret the technicalities. Also it means that me and the guys I jam with are now building up a full DVD with some amazing jams on. I would really recomend it. There are some great moments where we all just click and again, hearing that is great but seeing ourselves all come to the realisation that we are doing something great and that everyone is at the top of their game at that time is priceless...... that didn't mean to sound like a MasterCard ad! Does anyone else do it?

How do you guys record your songs?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Just wondering the process everyone uses to record there songs - I don't really care about what exact equipment you use but if you want to say it go for it. I have a pretty standardized way of doing my tracks now and am curious as to how everyone else is doing it and maybe stimulating some new ideas. After I've wrote the song, I will settle on a tempo I like for it, then I will record it into mixcraft (some recording software) using a small mixer, generally with an acoustic guitar, and always with a metronome. Once I have a rough track of the song - since I usually make quite a few mistakes and such when recording - I will then build the drums for my song. This first two-part process usually takes me a day to get done, building drums takes me a while, as I try to get them to sound as realistic as possible, adding fills and not making it sound to generic, trying to add the flair I guess that an actual drummer would. The next part in my process is I mix down the drums and put them onto my BR1180 (stand-alone home studio). If I use electric guitar I will hook up a DI box to make a dry recording, and mic my amp setup. Acoustic stuff I just mic my guitar and run a track direct also. I will then do about 2 or 3 takes of the rhythm guitar, and I try to play it as close to perfect as I possibly can. Then I will do the same thing with the bass, usually only do 2 takes with the bass, since I don't play bass regularly I tend to write fairly simplistic bass lines that I can usually nail pretty efficiently. I will then export these takes, if I use a guitar with effects I'll pan the dry guitar hard left and the wet guitar hard right as to keep them seperate for the next step. I will then import these tracks into mixcraft, and listen to the takes. For the parts of the songs that are the same, the verses and choruses, I will sort through my tracks and find the one where I nail them perfectly, and turn them into loops so I can copy and paste them to all parts of the song that use them, and build what I consider to be my flawless rhythm track. For the wet/dry tracks, keeping them panned hard left/right keeps them together so I don't have to chop up both parts separately, which always works out nicely. The same is repeated for the bass line, find the best sections, and make them into a flawless track. Now that I have it all on my computer and can listen to everything together, I will apply the effects I want to my drums, usually maybe just a little compression and a reverb to the snare. I will then take all my tracks from my computer - all the drums parts individually (snare, kick, hi-hats, etc) my perfect bass and guitar parts, and mix them down to individual WAV files that my BR1180 can use. I will then burn them on a CD and import them onto the BR1180. From here I will mixdown my drums first, pan them as I see fit and get them onto a stereo set of tracks since I don't have a ton to work with, this way I can change them later on if I happen to not like how they mixed down. I keep all the original takes for bass and guitar also saved in case I ever need to come back to them. I'll now have all my basic tracks laid, editing the tracks in stereo for wet and dry makes sure I have a flawless copy of my guitar work both with my effects applied, and a flawless copy of the dry track, should I ever decide to come back to it and apply different effects or reamp it if I need to. Once I have all this stuff nearly complete is when I will write solos, and I will do them in the same process as I do my other tracking - do a few takes, put them onto computer, edit for the best takes, the "flawless" solo back onto my BR1180 to do the final mix. Once it's all in my unit I'll usually apply a little reverb to some things, some delay and if need be some EQ. Once I have everything how I like it, I'll listen to the whole thing and set my volume levels to make an even good sounding mix. Then I'll do the final mixdown of my song onto a set of stereo tracks. Once the mixdown is complete, I'll settle on some mastering effects, listening to a few variations until I find the one I like, and from here I'll add fade in/out if the song needs it. Once the mastering has taken place it's virtually done. I will then export the final CD quality copy of the song back onto my computer for a quick few edits - I always record a few empty bars at the beginning of each song, so I have a second to get the tempo in my head before I start the song and also I keep my drum sounds there when I am making drums so there is a bunch of random drum sounds and some blank space that I will then cut out so the song starts where it is supposed to, and sometimes there is a little empty audio data at the end of the track that needs to go. Then this final edited track is mixed down into a HQ WAV file that I keep archived, and a lower quality MP3 that I can share with people and put on my ipod. And that it, that is the process I use to lay down my stuff. Once it's all done I'll back it all up on discs so I have it, and a backup copy should I ever need it.

Video recording

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I’m looking to get a video recorder that would do a decent job of recording guitar and posting on the web. It’s also needed for general family use. My old video recorder is not digital and a pain deal with. We do have a little snapshot camera, it has a digital video feature but the quality is so bad. Any recommendations on a good camcorder that’s not too pricey? Thanks,

Some great articles

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I was looking around the net today about recording and stumbled onto this site http://www.recordingmag.com/resources.html I'll probably get a subscription, I really liked the articles - one even on how to build your own re-amp that would save about $150.

M-AUDIO

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well my old computer after like 5 years I guess decided to die so I had to buy a new one, its really fast , so naturally I wanted to install recording on it, but M-AUDIO dosnt have a driver update for the new windows and also from what I read wont be making a driver update for which is a load of BS , but I guess Iam screwed. anyways I only had the little fast track USB nothing major what would do you recommnd I look to now for recording? to give you an idea of what I was using this is it http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUSB.html

Virtual amp trouble

dracoborealis — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have a number of amp software (Amplitube 2 + Fender, Hendrix and Metal, GT Express etc) that I had to recently re-install (my computer was invaded by a virus and had to be cleared up). Now I can't get a decent sound out of any of them! There's this echoey static noise that sounds like an old TV just about to blow up. It covers the sound of every amp and effect, and cranking the noise gate does nothing to suppress it. I had the same problem before with Metal and Express, but Amplitube 2 for instance worked fine. I can't do any recording with any of them now. As far as I know, the audio setups have been done properly. I use a FastTrack Pro for plugging in. Please help!!

What software are you guys using?

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Sorry if I missed any popular options - I'm a bit out of the loop these days. I'm a Protools user, but I'm not one of those snobby ones. I'll work on just about anything... but Protools just happens to be what I ended up being fluent with. Recently I've just been working and not so much recording... the only thing I've done in weeks is take some cassette tapes I recorded of this 5 day conference [the ancient lady demanded it be recorded to cassette tapes, even though my digital mixer at work records directly to a USB memory stick - I made the mistake of having the peaks hit 0... should have been +6 cause it's analogue] and ran the tapes into protools and through some eq, compression and noise reduction and boosted the volume and then back out to cassette again. Other than that, my relatively new but highly neglected Focusrite ISA 828 has just been sitting there unused :(

Burning night

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well a while back I was working on a song/solo and I kinda put in the storage if you will I brought back out and re-did it its mostly the same but a little extra here and theres, have another section I want to add but should I leave it as is or save this other idea for something else? Also I tried to make more "melodic" I dont even really know what that means or if it is but it feels right to me. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=110909 - solo http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=110910 - extra idea

just got a new toy

this dying soul — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey gang. I just got a Tascam US-122L USB interface for my pc. unfortunately I dont have a mic yet so I'm recording direct. It's giving me ok results so far and I'm sure will only get better as I get more experience with it. It came bundled with Cubase. Any tips for how to get good results recording direct like this? I eventually plan to get a mic or 2 but that's a few months off from now.

setup for rehearsal demos

Kevin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Okay so my band is getting really busy lately. We've got a lot of shows lined up and we don't have time to add another night of rehearsals so we're having a hard time fitting in time to write. My drummer and I do most of the writing anyways, so we were thinking that we would just start recording all of our jams and going over them for song ideas and that would save a little time and also we could record new songs together as a band (live and quickly) and listen back for mistakes and things to work on. So anyways, I'll list our gear and the way I'm planning on setting it up, if anyone has any suggestions or ideas I'm all ears. PA: yamaha 16 channel board w/ qsc poweramp and twin jbl's Recording device: Boss BR 864 digital 8 track portastudio with upto 64 virtual tracks Mics: vocals) shure sm-58's (we have 2 mics and 2 singers) Guitars) cad snare drum mics 2 per guitar cab (we have 4 total) Drums) 2 cad condenser overheads (that we're going to put one on one end of the kit, suspended between the ride cymbal and floor tom, and the other will be on the other end between the snare and hi-hats) and a cad bass drum mic. bass) we are just going to use a direct box... basically I'm running all of the instruments and vocals to the pa like you would live and then I'm going to run either a 1/4" cable or an xlr to the br864 and record to 2 tracks, a left and a right. We're just going to record the stuff live because we don't really care if it like radio quality or anything, this is just for us to be able to play stuff back to write lyrics and everything since we're not having as much time in practice to just go over everything 1000 times because we have to get ready for shows. So anyways, as much as I can I'm going to put all the recordings on cd, but we also have a tascam analog 4 track that I may just run the br864 directly into and just bounce it to a cassette. Anyways, like I said, any ideas or advice or constructive criticism, do tell?

As I promised, my new song

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hope you guys enjoy! Any feedback is appreciated!

Opinions acoustic guitar recording

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey everyone, so what are your favorite ways to record acoustic guitar? I'm planning on recording a song tonight and I thought I'd try and get a few tips or input before I do so. I have an acoustic-electric guitar, I also have an acoustic amplifier, and a condenser mic. I can record two tracks simultaniously, so thats what I intend to do. I was planning on using one track direct, and the other either mic'ing the guitar, mic'ing the amp, or placing the mic between the amp and guitar and hope it picks up both well. Does anyone have any useful suggestions or input? I'll probably try them all out, but if anyone has a lot of experience doing acoustic recording I'd love to hear some suggestions.

Comfortably Numb cover

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=110418# acoustic only, solo over it as you please

New custom drum kit for BR-600 owners

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://uploading.com/files/LCWIRZ0R/Custom BR600 Kit.zip.html Check that out if you own a BR-600, consult your manual for how to make the kit on your unit, should be under "tone load" I think these sounds are better than any of the pre-programmed stuff so it's probably worth a try.

Reason Rocks...

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well, I started using Reason again; my damn drummer's on hiatus for a bit and I'm bored silly with loops. I'm a bad drummer with no clue how to tune a kit so that's out too. Now I was using Redrum as a pattern sequencer, you know, asically making my patterns in redrum and then s=exporting them to the sequencer line and lo and behold i discovered something! I don't need to do that! hahaha I can basically make my own patterns right in the sequencer window; how cool! Of course, the next thing is that I hate the drum samples in there, and since I'm only using Reason ver 2.5 drums 2 refill is out. However, I DO have all of these Betamonkey sessions, and those drum samples are pretty damn good... So I went and created my own refill! Woohoo! Damn I have a lt of drum sounds now, 5 different kits all cool as WELL as the Reason Factory ones (They're OK, they just sound a bit stiff!) Now I just need a midi keyboard controller and I'll be really rocking (Step recording's kinda tedious, and sometimes I just wanna sort of make a 'groove'...) So anyways, just thought I'd post my midi joy, lol

Recomended Recording Gear/Software

Trevor Bell — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

What kind of gear and equipment do you recomend for a recording studio our buget is probably $500 so if you know anthing trutworthy and advanced for recording please inform me on it.

Oh G.Com Baby...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Here's another song I did. Due to lack of space on my 8-track and the inability to use it properly on my part, I didn't get everything in that I wanted in the song. I wanted to add a main vocal track but didn't have the room. There's a fairly long pause between the intro and the main body of the song. I wanted to fill a gain soaked solo in there, but it didn't work out that way. All the bouncing around was causing it to become convoluted so I left it as is. This is also my singing debut...I apologize in advance...lol. Anyway, let me know what you think. p.s. I also want to thank Alex for his help with the BR 600.

Yet another BR 600 question

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Mmk, here's my situation. I have my BR 600 about as saturated as I dare get it. I have used all of my tracks. I wound up bouncing an intro to 7/8 V3 in guitar mode and the main body of the song is on 7/8 V2. I gone and erased all the other tracks to make room so I can bounce these two together. Is there a way I can bounce 7/8V3 in guitar mode and 7/8V2 in bounce mode to track 5/8 so I can export the whole thing as one song? This is the first song that I've ever sung on

My dog makes her G.com debut

farlow — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I tried to delete this because there was some problem with loading the vid on facebook. I deleted the text and the link but I couldn't delete the heading, so here's a picture of some ducks and chickens out the front of my house and a link to my BB King cover on YT. I couldn't delete the poll, either and without the original video the poll doesn't make sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHu-wf5PJoI

Best place in signal chain for preamp?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have the ART Tube MP Studio Mic Preamp (http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/ART-Tube-MP-Studio-Mic-Preamp?sku=180581) and there is no question that when I run my guitar thru this and then into my DRS, then apply the effects (amp modeling, etc...) of the DRS it definitely sounds much better. I however like the sounds of my amp better. I have a few options of where to but this device and would like some opinions on what others might do, I could: Guitar - Preamp - Amp - Amp Line out - DRS Guitar - Amp - Amp Line out - Preamp - DRS Guitar - Preamp - Amp - Mic'ed cab - DRS Guitar - Amp - Mic'ed cab - Preamp - DRS There is no doubt this thing helps, but where to put it to get the most out of it is in question. Also, my amp is solid state, not tube. Any input?

Looking for some advice, on how to get new music for our film soundtrack

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I work at a small independent film company. We have been working on a full length feature film about a woman trying to make it into the music business. It is a thriller with murder, S&M, latex and general chaos revolving around a secret betrayal. In other words a good old family movie. It was shot in Cannes France, London England, and New York City. Most of the movie is finished, but it needs some finishing touches. Those touches would be music to fill in the blanks and the theme for our twisted villain. Is it off the wall to ask for people to help out? Should I have a contest of some kind? Suggestions? Also, this movie is being premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May of this year. It would be open to all types of music... We would just need permission to use it for the movie and the soundtrack extras if decided upon. If this is inappropriate I am sorry. It's not spam, I am just looking for advice. Thanks, Bill

We have been working on a movie with Music as a big part of the theme, along comes Rowan Robertson.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

We have been working on a full length feature film to be premiered at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in Cannes France. The project was filmed in Cannes, London, New York and Chicago. But, with all the music we were working on we just didn't have the rite sound. Along came Rowan Robertson formerly of DIO. He killed it, and we are now working on our third song with him. He really makes this work for us I hope you check out the You Tube link and see for yourself how great his playing is. When i think of all the musicians we have worked with over the past 18 years, working with him is definitely a highlight. Yes this was his first take??? Freaky I know. Bill

Check out some of my music/videos

mjkshreds — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Please check out my video of me playing the trooper by Iron Maiden and check out the music on my Ultimate-guitar profile, http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/mjkshreds/music/ and please give me some feedback of what you think of it. and if you really like it a lot you could tell your friends so that I can get tons and tons of views which is my goal.

drum beat software

Joe — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I wanted to know what are some good programs out there that I can make custom beats from scratch, not just using loops. I am willing to pay a decent amount

My Cheap Home Recording Set up

Jesse — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

In this thread I just wanted to put out there how I use Sonar Home Studio 6, Sound Blaster Audigy, with a Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface to record. And open the thread for discusion on others set ups and maybe we can help those that are looking for cheap ways to start recording using their computers. Sonar Home Studio 6 (Link goes to Version 7) $100 If you're not familiar with computers it takes a little to figure out all the bells and whistles but as long as you can figure out how to set the tempo and then get the levels right you should be good to go. And for $99 I think it’s well worth it. I still haven’t mastered all the stuff it can do and I need to figure out the midi drums work better but like I said the basics seem to work great. But before you buy the software I suggest you make sure your computer exceeds the system requirements. http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Cakewalk-Sonar-Home-Studio-7?sku=710003 Note: Zombre pointed out in another thread that Kristal Audio is free 16 track recording software. Sound Blaster Audigy SE $35 The computer I’m working with is an older Pentium 4 that had integrated sound which just wasn’t pulling its weight for what I was trying to do so I had to go out and buy a cheap sound card. Now your computer may have no issues at all if it’s a newer computer but I wanted to put this info out there just for something to think about. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7698404&type=product&id=1138084673510&ref=06&loc=01&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=7698404 Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface. $30 Maybe not the greatest out there but it gets the job done for me seeing how I'm only doing one instrument at a time that’s all I need. Although it has a left and right inputs so I guess you can run 2 lines in at a time. I usually set up my input in Cakewalk to either the left or right channel. http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Behringer-UCONTROL-UCA202-USBAudio-Interface?sku=702540&CJAID=10381297&CJPID=2285526 Note: If you already have a kick ass sound card you might be able to plug straight into it by converting your ¼ to a 1/8 and not need this at all but I’ve found that I get better results with going through USB. Ok so here is basically what I do. On my amps and keyboard there are line outs that I plug my regular 1/4 guitar cable into and then the other end I use an adaptor to go from 1/4 to RCA. Like one of these http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/American-Recorder-Technologies-14-Female-to-RCA-Male-Adapter?sku=339509 This plugs into the Behringer USB interface that then plugs into my USB port on my computer. I then open up cakewalk program on the computer, Set the auidio tracks inputs to the USB input, Set the tempo of the song I’m about to record, mess with the volume on the amp to get the levels right, then hit record and try my hardest not to suck ass. Viola! I have my cheap ass home studio! So that’s Software: $100 USB interface: $30 Sound Card: $35 1/4 to RCA $4-6 (Cant’ really remember what I got these for at Radio shack) Maybe and extra cable Anyways that’s my set up for all under a $200. :) Heck and you might not even need the sound card as I did or maybe as Zombre pointed out in another that there is Kristal Audio that you can get for free and if you already have a kick ass sound card you might be able to forget about te USB and just go straight into the sound card. Lot's of options. So with all that said if you have any questions, suggestions, or recommendations for everyone please fire away.

Recording a Demo CD

Mixolydian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey everyone, so I've mentioned this in another thread so some of you might already know that my band is performing in a school type battle of the bands march 25. if we win (and there is a good chance we will) then we will feel ready to start landing some gigs in the local music scene, but we want a Demo CD ready to go before then ,so we can just hit the ground running after the competition, right? so we have decided to make a demo CD, any tips on doing this? we have decided to use home recording equipment instead of renting a studio, but even that is not set in stone, so if all of you out there think that a studio is better we might do that instead. so anyways, I'm open to any suggestions or tips on doing this, everyone's comments are welcome!

New to Recording

Gibson LP Custom — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey guys, Sorry to bother you all so much on my first day here, but I have so many questions. Here's the latest one: my band sounds pretty darn good so we decided to record our songs. But we were completely floored by all the equipment that pops up when I search "recording equipment" on Google. I'm really confused, what are the basics we need to record in a semi-professional manner? Please be budget-conscious, I'm 14 and it takes me a while to save up:) Sid

M-Audio - Session (Recording Software)

Trevor Bell — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

What software do you have and what recording equipment do you have? name it all and explain it all here

Vocal secret?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I was just looking around google and I came to yahoo answers and this is what I got, is it true that this is how some vocals get that great grit loud sound? "be really young, and scream. If you're referring to the sort of...unreal nature of metal voices like old Hetfield, or say...the screamy dude from Linkin Park, it's all in the recording studio. The process is called doubling, and they simply sing/scream the song a second time, and mash both recordings together. The end result is sort of like using a chorus pedal; the voice sounds immense. This immense-ness is caused by slight differences in the recordings filling in little aural gaps. The practice is VERY old, and comes up with some amazing results. So, the answer for live shows would be... maybe a chorus pedal/effects engine... a vocal effects processor with harmonizers... cloning yourself and singing a duet...."

Question:Recording Drums

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, here's the situation. I have a fellah in my band who's really getting busy recording. The stuff sounds basically pretty good, but we want to take it to the next level. The room we record in (Very small, insulated and really no reverb to my ears) is isolated. He has everything miced separately and sent to a separate channel on his mixer, but cannot as of yet separate each mic when recording so that the whole thing records simultaneously on separate tracks. (ie kick on one track, snare on another, etc...) Without going into too much detail, he's recording via USB onto a PC; (I myself prefer firewire and a mac, but whatever, lol!) and using Kristal as his software of choice. Here's what we're getting: The other mics are bleeding into each other a bit, and the cymbals in particular are creating a bit of a wash. I'm thinking that perhaps we can use some processing on an auxiliary, maybe a noise gate or a limiter? Compress it or something? Really what we want to do is get a good, dry, distinct track. We 'repaired' my guitar tracks by basically 're-amping' via a signal splitter. A clean signal is all that gets recorded and we can model and fuss and reroute to our heart's content. Drums are hard. Also, Any EQ tips for these suckers so that it'll compliment the overall mix? I suppose that everything else we record will have an effect on the overall mix as well... But hey ANY feedback or ideas y'all might have will help.

Pro Tools 8

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've been working with Pro Tools 8 for a few weeks now, and I am really impressed. Best new feature? For me, it's the fact that Digidesign/Avid bought Sibelius and embedded it into protools [not fully featured, but good enough for what I do] so that I can print my midi tracks as notation. It really helps me get the stuff to session players coming in to do the real instruments after they hear my demos. Other cool stuff? The Mini Grand piano virtual instrument is pretty stellar, and the track comping features. Some of the new AiR plugins are pretty good like the new reverb, and some of them are useless like the distortion. Eleven is a pretty decent simulator; I'd throw it up against a pod any day. Of course, to my ears, direct recording just doesn't stackk up against a real amp in a good room with a good mic - but demos are demos, and the faster I lay them down the better. Though I will probably still use my Marshall JMP-1 for this. One of my favorites is the way I can show and hide the tools I use; I can finally customize my interface to my liking, and change the track brightness and colour; the colours don't matter, but the previous versions were always too bright and were hard to look at for endless hours.The ability to darken it a little actually makes it a little easier to work with. Anyone else use protools? I highly recomend this update if you do, and buy it from a store; you get more stuff [compared to the downloadable version]... not all of it useful, but I like having the option.

Free Programs

The Manic Demented — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I am pretty sure from previous conversations that this community is slightly torn on the topic of piracy. I got a new lap top and before I moved I forgot to install acidpro on it. I am looking for a FREE program that works in a similar way. Not audacity, something with beat mapping and loop capability. I normally would just torrent something... But this college network, to torrent over it is like walking into a crowd and screaming arrest me for piracy.

Mixers, and Sound card!!!

GoldenEye005 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I bought Mackie Tapco MIX60 mixer a few days ago. I haven't even had time to plug it in yet though. I'll be recording as soon as I can get a decent(affordable) sound card, and some recoding software. I don't need the best of the best but something that might be able to create at academic quality if not semi-professional recordings...Just good enough for a 2-song demo CD to get me a few gigs around local coffee shops. So to sum up what I just said. I need professional advice on what brand, or more specifically what sound card to buy. Suggestions on recording software would be appreciated too. I'm running on a 70$ max on the sound card and I'm willing to pay between 100$-200$ for recording software. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks a bunch people!

Recording a drum beat to a track (BR 600...again)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've gone through the manual and find it to be rather confusing. Perhaps it's the terminology. If I press [Rhythm on/off] and also press [Pattern] then hit [Play] I can select the drum beat that I want, I can hear it. I will then hit [Record] for a while then [Stop]. I see that something has been recorded on the track I selected, but when I press [Rhythm on/off] to turn it off, rewind and hit [Play], I hear nothing. It simply didn't record it. I've gone through the manual, but the whole drum thing throws me. There must be an easy way to record a standard drum beat. Any help would be appreciated.

Ask and I shall receive!

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, my birthday is coming up, and I was at work [my full-time day job] and the owner was down from the head office, and I say that for my birthday, I would like a better mixing board for work [at this job, I use either an Allen and Heath Mixwizard, a GL4800, or if it's just a dinky thing I bust out a Mackie VLZ.. A few weeks pass, fast forward to last monday. I get mail! It is huge! I open the road case and inside there is a Roland M400 digital board with a REAC snake. So basically, I use a single ethernet cable to go from the board the the snake - soooo much less hassle - 16 ins and 8 outs on the snake, and they're sending me a bigger snake head. So next up I use it for the first time... it has a single bank of gain, eq, compressor, and gate settings - when you touch a fader, it knows what channel you're on and therefore the screen displays all the info for that channel, and the controls now do that whole channel, and of course can be linked to control stereo channels or what have you. This thing has flying faders and there are 2 banks of channels, it's a 48 channel board. There are built in effects, which control just like a plugin. The parameters can be controlled by the faders, which is really cool when I'm using a 31-band eq. Also, all auxilliary sends can be done with the faders, so if I'm doing a monitor mix as well as FOH sound then I use the faders which is awesome. The sound? Well, it's good but not as good as using all outboard gear. It is however very quiet, probbly because there's not miles of cable. The effects are pretty good, and there's everything I can think of that I'd ever need, like reverbs, delays, and eq's. There's some crap like chopruses and flangers and phaseers, and other junk that really have no place when doing sound, but it's there. Of course there is 8 ins and outs on the console itself for outboard gear. It is really handy being able to just drop the mixer and snake and be set up, no other gear required. It does however take longer to set up if you do things like label every channel [I still just use tape]. I love it, mainly for the ease of use [I learned how to use it really really fast] and set up time. I wouldn't recomend it for a fixed installation however - if you can leave it all up all the time, just get the best and hook it up the way you want it. But for a touring company it'd be a great board. Apparently you can hook up another one and have it control all the monitors, but I don't know if that is true. What really does it for me though is the snake.... one little ethernet cable. JUst amazing what technology can do for you. Tomorrow however I work my other job [on-call unfortunately], on a Midas Verona 640, and of course I will have to go back to that "damn roland".

Recording software

Aaron Lee — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey me and my band are looking for top notch recording and mastering software and that kind of stuff. Please give me names of all the best ones you know of.

Recording Samurais

frumsapap — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Mr. Xark, sir, I know we don't have the same recording equipment, but I figured that when you go to master that the set up is very similar for whatever the song is. My question is what do these terms mean? High Freq High-mid Freq. Mid Freq. Low-mid Freq. Low freq. How do I set these to make sure that I don't have a lot of bass when it comes out on cd? I finished my first song on disc last night, and it was full of bass and I could harldy hear the guitar, vocals, shakers, drum loop in the back ground, besides the main drums. When I went and burned the cd I burned it at 24 speed, it had 16, 8 as well. What do these terms mean?

Nashville tuning anyone?

thumpinelse — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Has anyone ever messed with Nashville tuning on any of your recordings? A friend of mine stopped by ione day and handed me his 12 string. It was strung with only 6 strings. The top 3 E A D were the smaller strings (octave) Bottom G B E -normal. When played as a backing track, it is a sparkling texture/layer that is from what I understand a "secret" to many Eagles tunes, and other great recordings. You play what you normally might play as a an acoustic back track on a 6 string but because of the voicing, it inspires a different feel and comes out totally different. I have used it on a few tunes and it is sweet.

Recording Studio

Trey — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, We're moving. And building a new house and I'm going to have a room just for my music and I'm going to be recording! So my question is what kind of recording thing ( Idk what it's called ) Would be good? And please don't tell me one thats like $6469798464974654.00 Another question is what is a design or whatever that you think is a good way to set it up? I'm going to also have that seperate room that you go in and everything you know. And what is that little thing that let's you talk into the room while your outside of the room that you record in? ( I think that's cool ) XD

I Need Help With KobloStudio

Zak — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have a usb mic that I use when I record and I saw one of your posts about KobloStudio, so I downloaded it. Since it's nicer than what I was using before I figured I'd try it out, but for some reason I can't get any of the audio I'm putting through the mic to actually record. It just comes back as static or nothing at all. What do I need to do?

Check out some tunes in the works

Marshall2288 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

These are all a work in progress but its kind of the direction in going in these days. Warning!: only "Zuit Suit Zombie" has a solo in it. Let me know what you guys think. Also, if you hear something thats feels or sounds off or something you think would be cool let me know. I would love to hear from you guys. www.myspace.com/nonameyet08 im not trying to promote my myspace. just need some feedback

I have a dilemma and I need some help:

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, Here's how it is; I've been doing som playing out, nothing too serious with me armed with an amp and a CD of Backtracks. They sound OK, but there's a sort of 'lack of continuity' to 'em. And some volume discrepancies. Some are Midis I imported into logic, and some are covers i reworked with Betamonkey Drumloops and live bass. What I'm wondering is this; Should I do all of my tunes in Logic, from scratch and use logic's midi engine to create my backtracks, or should I use Reason to create my backtracks and then record my live tracks with the backtrack in Logic? Also, I don't have a midi keyboard, so entering my drums and stuff has pretty much gotta be step recorded or keyboard entered. If anyone has any experience at doing this in logic, that'd be awesome. I ALWAYS have to edit the midis that I import anyways, so I figured I might as well just do it all myself, that way it's at least all mine, lol! Any help and suggestions you can give me would be great!

Another new recording! Sample from my upconimg demo

NegativeGhostRider — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm back! I've been tweaking my home studio to get the best sound i possibly can with my mediocre gear :-P. I'm submitting this to you guys for critiquing...what can I do to make this sound a bit better? I'm quite happy with it, but there's always room for improvement! I especially think the vocals need work, but that's always a problem with me :-P Also, ignore the drums. That's my lame attempt at a decent programmed drum part. My brother will be recording *real* drums for all of the tracks once they're finished (at Smart Studios in Nash, TX). Anyway, here's the clip: http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7187217 Be br00tulz!

My first mic recording

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well I got my Marshall JTM 60 tube amp finally and decided to get a mic as well this is my first time micing a amp or using one really sides from crap vocals on my other cheap mic , I got a e609 silver mic. I need to get a stand for it lol but I got it ghetto stand right now hehe here two quick demos of it with the new mic. http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?section=user&value=fminorpenta - demo 1 - I dunno random crap http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?section=user&value=fminorpenta - demo 2 - another riff for another song that will probably never happen lol this is basically christmas to myself lol the rest of my paychecks is gonna be saved for a car now, :) hehe I have to stop I think Iam gettin GAS! lol Still tweaking the amp settings and I didnt know how important mic positions were! *gasp*

RiffWorks Guitar Recording & Online Collaboration Software Updated To Version 2.5

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

--Export, 32-bit recording and 32-bit mix make RiffWorks Standard the ideal DAW companion.-- Los Altos, CA - Sonoma Wire Works has released a free update for RiffWorks Standard recording software (Windows & Mac). RiffWorks Standard v2.5 is now the ideal sketchpad for professional DAW users with new features like export, 32-bit recording and 32-bit mix. With RiffWorks Standard you can record ideas at the moment of inspiration, create complete songs with drums and effects, collaborate online with musicians around the world, post tunes to the RiffWorld.com online community, and now export to any DAW for editing and mastering. RiffWorks Standard v2.5 Improvements Include: - New Export Options: o Export Current Riff - Export all the layers of the currently selected Riff as Acidized .wav files including the InstantDrummer and Metronome. Files can then be imported into any DAW. o Export All Riffs - Exports all riffs from a song as .wav files into separate file folders. o Sonoma 7 VST Plugin - The 7 award-winning effects from RiffWorks as a VST Plugin. Effects presets are saved during export for access from the Sonoma 7 VST plugin in your DAW. This plugin is available for free to all RiffWorks Standard users as a separate download. - 32-bit Recording and Export - RiffWorks has always done all processing at 32-bit, but audio files were saved as 16-bit for space and performance reasons. 32-bit file recording is now available as an option in the Audio Setup Window. 32-bit provides the highest recording quality, but takes twice as much disk space. - 32-bit Mix - The option to mix a 32-bit floating point .wav file allows users to take their final mix into a mastering program at the highest quality. - Improved Master Output Compressor/Limiter* - All new program-dependent master output compressor/limiter increases overall output level and eliminates pumping and breathing at high output levels. - Improved Compressor* - New algorithm improves compressors on Layers and Riffs. - FourTrack Import* - RiffWorks Standard and RiffWorks T4 v2.5 automatically detect and import tracks, complete with gain and pan settings, directly from the FourTrack iPhone application using Bonjour on Mac and Windows. - RiffLink Progress Bar* - RiffLink now has a progress bar during song loading. - Many bugs have been fixed, including: o RiffLink peformance* o Sound improvements* o RiffEffects on SongLayers* o Export/Import SongLayers* *Improvements marked with an asterix are also included in the RiffWorks T4 v2.5 (free edition) update. About RiffWorks RiffWorks easy-to-use guitar recording software includes automatic track creation, loop recording, guitar-oriented effects, InstantDrummer, professionally recorded drum tracks, online music collaboration, and song posting. RiffWorld.com rolls it all into a friendly online community with song contests and more. Download RiffWorks T4 free recording software or purchase RiffWorks Standard for the most features. RiffWorks T4 v2.5 (Free Edition): http://www.sonomawireworks.com/T4 RiffWorks Standard v2.5 ($129): http://www.sonomawireworks.com/riffworks.php RiffWorks Standard, by Sonoma Wire Works, is available as a download and CD from Sonoma Wire Works. RiffWorks Standard CDs are distributed to dealers worldwide by IK Multimedia. About Sonoma Wire Works Incorporated in 2003 and headquartered in Los Altos, California, Sonoma Wire Works develops products and services that help musicians enjoy playing, recording and sharing music. RiffWorks has received awards for performance and innovation, including a NAMM 08 Best in Show Trendsetter Award.

Who Records with What?

frumsapap — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Now that I am joining the recording realm, I would like to know who uses what in their living rooms, recording studios, and why. What made you purchase this particular mic, monitors, cables, etc...? I'm not talking of bias on brands, just facts on the quality, of how long whatever it may be has lasted, or sound quality. I am trying to get a good idea for what is out there, and what the pros/cons are of each one.

XARK! I NEED YOU!

SATAN — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

i have been eagerly awaiting your return to G.com. very sorry to hear about your loss. i wanted your opinion on this digital recorder. the Korg D3200. whats your opinion? im getting an entire recording package because for some reason it is $8 less than just the recorder alone.....

such a deep discount for a mere misprint

this dying soul — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

instead of Portastudio it's labled as Portastud on the face of the unit, and they slashed the price in half... damn, if only I was in the position to buy.

How does this little song sound?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

EDIT MIX, I turned down the solo mix how does it sound now? http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=101132 Ok so most of you heard my recordings from when I first started and the solos, riffs, were whack and way out of time pretty bad , but I have been working on it and this is my latest attempt, I forced myself to have slow and fast parts. Just so you now there are points where I stop and go off on purpose . and I would like to know what you think of the short solo ( you can skip to it, its at the end) is it better than the other one I tried to not make it flashy but I solo how it comes to me best, I will try to slow down and just not run scales but this song felt more like it needed speed I dunno >.

Vocal Terror!

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, I'm currently working on my holiday song which requires vocals, so I'm trying to sing...hehehehehHAHAHAH!!!! I sound like a yak drowning in a tar pit! I'm using the mic built in to the Boss BR600, and I was wondering if there's anyway I can use vocal effects with this thing, something, anything to help make me sound less...horrorific. Lots of reverb wouldn't hurt, but I don't think this thing has effects for vocals. I don't have any other mic except the one built in to the BR600. I was thinking that I might be able to sing through my guitar amp, but I'll need to get a cheapo mic. If anybody has any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them. I also have to figure out a way to put drums to this thing, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

LOGIC OR PRO TOOLS?? HELP!

SATAN — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

ok, i think i have made my decision for my recording rig. i think i am going to buy the macbook pro 17" today, along with a firewire interface which i am looking for currently. now what i need to know, is how many of you have had experience with either of these programs? do either of them edit video as well? what is your recommendation? oh yeah, and i got my Ibanez in the mail today... and now i have a hole in my finger filled with glue because i played too much. yee haw!

HELP ME WITH RECORDING EQUIP!!!

SATAN — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hello everyone! well, if you have been following the "satan in high definition thread" then you know what a task i have ahead of me in the forseeable future... this all requires a lot of equipment.... which also requires money. heres the deal: I need help deciding what kind of studio i am going to put together for audio recording. i have a flexible budget, but would like to keep it below $10,000 for now. a little more or a little less is fine. i know a few of you have quite a lot of recording experience, so, i would like to know exactly how you think i should set up this stuff. any ideas? i know this ought to be a hot thread, a lot of you love to record. i have done quite a bit, but nothing that i would consider to be "studio quality". nor was it normally my equipment. i was thinking about getting the Korg d3200 multi track recorder as the basis for my stuff (see link).... what do you all think? i really need a pretty good rundown too, mics, everything. shoot me some ideas guys!

New gear and the obligatory review

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've reached the stage in life where I am happy with my guitar tone [i feel very alone... seems like noone else is] and my other hobby that brings me way more income than playing guitar is recording/editing/working with audio, mainly in the digital domain but I do live audio as well on the pretty professional level; [as in, I do sound at the biggest venue in town, and we get some big acts through here]. I don't get new gear often because I am snooty and willing to accept the fact that I enjoy expensive gear, and I stopped buying stuff to "get me by" long ago - I only make purchases now that I'll live with for a long time, which in turn means I don't get stuff too often. My latest piece of gear is a FOCUSRITE ISA 828, which is an 8 channel mic pre using the ISA series preamps. Let's start with the downsides: -~the "optional" digital card. I know I have griped in the past because at the time I didn't need the digital card but now that I want it it's become a hindrance, costing around $600 to get these 8 channels of wicked tone into my protools rig. Now I know if it had come with the digital option, I would be griping even more about the price tag. -~the freakin price, it was nearly $2900 after tax [though totally worth it, i'm a cheap mofo and generally only buy stuff on sale] -~the output is a DB25, convenient for units that have that as an inpput however some like to put their gear through a patchbay so that they can insert gear, which means the cable cost an additional $95 to go from DB25 to 8 TRS. The good???? ~The tone, even from the DI. Plug a guitar or bass in, it doesn't sound like a guitar or bass through a di, it sounds like clean guitar. The variable impedance lets me go from thick to thin before I even get to eqing, and starting closer to the end result ALWAYS sounds more natural than eqing to get there. The impedance switching is the best part of this preamp, it really lets me find each mics' proper load and makes everything sound as good as it can. ~It remembers my settings when I turn it off. It's not digital, but the interface for selecting impedance, input, phase, and hp filter is. And unlike my MOTU 2408, it remembers what I had it set to when it goes down for the night. Very handy for those multiple day sessions. ~Everything. It's hard to go on and on, but the sound that comes out of this thing is amazing. Ima gonna go and take a few photos of it, I'll post them soon.

Mac virgin dumb questions

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Okay, so my PC is dying and I've been playing around a little bit with a friend's Powerbook, but nothing really music related (ie I've heard of but not used Garageband). I'm thinking of switching sides and getting an iMac as I mostly use my home computer for music recording and everyone seems to be into Macs. I'm not a pro and while I'd love to make pro-quality recordings, I'm not going to be rushing out to get high-end mics, expensive software etc. What I want to do is use something like Garageband to fool around with demos, song ideas etc. Currently I do all that kind of stuff manually using a basic wave editor, freeware drums etc. It's cumbersome and the final result isn't great. I imagine basic Mac stuff will sound better..? On the hardware front, will I need anything other than the iMac itself? I've been looking at the 20-inch 2.66GHz 2GB. My friend with the Powerbook said that I might need a signal booster as the mic is actually a line in, and I use both emulated line-out from my amp and an acoustic mic for vocals. Is he right in which case does anyone have recommendations? I've seen that Garageband comes as standard but then has additional jam packs. Are these worth the money? My inclination would be to get the Rhythm pack as it sounds like it can do drums and bass (which I can't). Worthwhile? Thanks for any input!

More Recording Qeustions!

GoldenEye005 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok. I've been playing for around 4 years now. I have a job, got a car. So I'm thinking about hitting some gig joints in my home town. I was wanting to record some of my stuff so if asked to present what I've don, I can give them something. I'm pretty much an acoustic with singing kinda guy. I Write my own stuff and was wondering if it would be more cost effective to find someone who can record for me or to buy my own software and do the recordings myself. I'm also planning on going to a music college near by.

Recording(midi cables)

GoldenEye005 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey I was just wondering if someone would kindly explain the use of midi cables for me. Where do I connect them? What are they used for? How I can utilize them?

Sound dampening material

evol666 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

My wife and I are house hunting and, barring any unforeseen snags, it looks like we will be purchasing a single family home with a basement. This has got me excited with the idea of building a small home studio to demo songs. Because we will be in the city where the space between houses is about 5 ft, I'll be using beater sticks on the drums and a little 5 watt/8" speaker practice amp for the guitar. To help cut down on noise coming from my house I would like to put some additional sound dampening material over the basement windows. Can anyone recommend material? Basement windows average 1.5' x 3'. I know this has been covered some in the past, so I apologize for the redundancy.

Sony ACID Pro?

NegativeGhostRider — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey I just downloaded the ACID Pro demo from Sony. Wow...very cool. I was wondering if anyone else out there has used / is using it, and what your thoughts on it are. I'm really enjoying the way it finds the beats for you, although on some of my weirder material it has some trouble (my L and R guitars were out of sync on one in particular). The included effects seem to be quite usable, and the loops are fun to play with. I'm not much into looping, but it's still cool. The ability to "paint" the parts of a track that you want is a *very* nice touch.

Help with recording/computer type stuff.

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So ive been playing for a few years now, and im thinking of spending some money. I'm looking for something to help with my playing. Basically what i want is something that gives me different things to play over, as well as the ability to loop, and to maybe do some recording. I've been looking at some things like guitar rig, etc. But im just wondering what all i really need. do i need software, as well as hardware, or maybe just a loop pedal. The guitar rig 3 kontrol comes with a foot pedal and software, but its $500. They also have less expensive versions. So i was just wondering if anyone has some sort of experience with these things, know of any other good programs, or knows any other good methods. thanks for your help, jake.

transfering music from cassettes to computer

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I wish to transfer some original music from cassette to computer. As the music is spread over 3 or 4 tracks I will need a 4 track cassette recorder with 4 output jacks. Tascams MF PO1 4 track Portastudio seems to fit the bill,however there is no information in regard to output jacks. Has anyone used this cassette recorder? If so, please let me know if 4 output jacks are provided and if not, can anyone suggest any alternative solutions to my problem?

wham bam thank you Steve....just got logic 8 and its hot!

Leif — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey any of you logic users i buymped into a newly opened apple store and stumbled on the upgrade to logic 8. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE improveent over 7 which in my eyes was already down right amazing. It's only a 200. upgrade even if your going from 5.0 (which kind of pisses me off because i upgraded frm 7) but it has an explosion pack of some killer tools i haven't even tapped into yet. It also comes bundled with a program called main stage that is basically a giant digital effects rack plus midi synths and the works for playing live through the computer as a mix to your pa...I am always been frightened of this but the tools and interface seem extremely stable so if you have a powerful enough laptop you hould be fine..It has soooo many sweet built in improved libraries of sound and mixing and mastering software...Apple has taken this program to a new level...there is no way any protools program or hardware accessories that can touch this in my opinion and is worth the price to upgrade!!!!!!!sweeet!

Do you know of one?

Trey — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Do you know of anything I don't know about mixing but... Like somthing kind of like audacity or somthing better that's free? To record some stuff?

Hey Shane

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I picked up Acoustica Beatcraft. It's a nice piece of software. It took me only about 10 minutes of fiddling with it to come up with a decent beat, nothing fancy, but usable. And I didn't even read a line of tutorial to do that either. Thanks for recommending it!

My first attempt at music for a film (listen)

PatchworkMan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

My sister got into the 48 Hour Film Project, a competition in which groups are assigned a film genre on a Friday night and have 48 hours to write, shoot, and produce a short film. She enlisted my help with the music. So she called me Friday night and said their film was to be a fantasy. Then the director came on the phone and said he wanted something vaguely Celtic- and Medieval-sounding. He gave the example of "Battle of Evermore" by Led Zeppelin. I needed to have it together in 24 hours. The URL is a link to what I came up with. I capoed the guitar way up and turned up chorus on the recording to mimic the sound of a mandoln, then layered Medieval-ish vocals in Latin over that, since I feared my meager skills as a lead guitar player wouldn't be enough to fill the whole piece. The top link on the page is the whole thing in wave format, probably the best for listening. The bottom link is the same thing in MP3 format. Everything in between is just individual tracks.

"School of Rock" type guitar school

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So I got a weird call to go do sound for a "School of Rock" type of music school, and record it a few weeks back. I accepted, easy money. They give me a list of what's to be on stage, and I use mics from my own personal collection. The owner of the school kept joking about having a list of songs they do and who to run down, it was kind of funny at first but got old very quickly. Then on the night, he had a song list, complete with notes about which kid sucks and when to turn them down. That made me mad. There was way more stuff on stage that needed to be miced than was on the list, and they insisted on using those "3 for $10" type of vocal mics. Also, the teachers all had these rock star attitudes, and the amp volume on the one teacher's amp wasn't even running through the PA. "Gotta crank it up to get that tone, man" he kept saying... however, it was a solid state amp and therefore doesn't get any power tube saturation when it's up louder. Plus, in my opinion... his tone was like ass. So I turned him down MYSELF during soundcheck, and of course throughout the night he magically got progressively louder. I did sound for the show and it sounded good, I didn't turn down the children as I was supposed to, but it seems to me that these teachers [who were with all the groups, taking all the solos and turning up louder than everyone else] just enjoy looking amazing next to the kids. They aren't all that good, but they sound great next to kids who only have 6 months under their belt. The recording... I rushed the mixing and gave it back really poorly done and didn't charge them for it. I know they were paying me to do sound and recording, but I screwed it up because in my mind they are just ripping these children's families off [they offer keyboard and vocal lessons, but don't have teachers for either - the guitarist does it, and he can't do either properly. He can probbly show someone the absolute basics of keys, but he can't sing]. It's horrible, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if they can't find people their own age to jam with because of their monster egos.

Proaudio Bipass solution

Leif — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey, I go into my maudio box to record and then into a computer and bi pass my mixer. This is because we record the drums and guitar tracks at the same time on of course two separate tracks. We do the mix through monitors which we can hear on playback..my question is everytime we do this and just want to go back playing through the pa we have to switch our cables back into the mixer. My maudio doesn't have a bipass solution......Does anyone know a better one besides getting the new motu 828mkII (i have the old one but the recording rate is too low) to do a bi pass so we don't have to switch our cables back and forth? Is there a way to bi pass with some type of inexpensive unit? Just wandering if anyone has the same problem. We play live and record and i hate going back in the middle of practice to switch out the cables. I know i'm lazy!

Recording small

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have never cared to record a full on serious song before (just riffs and little stuff on my MP3 lol) but I had a couple ideas and maybe yall can give me some feedback :D 1.I was thinking get a sound card for my guitar that would allow recording from my amp to computer or somethin like that 2.They have guitar cables with USB ports but I havent heard great things 3.Boss MICRO BR Digital Recorder - this is what Ive been looking at mostly since Iam only doing it at home and small stuff and I have heard good reviews about it Thanks in advance!

What are your recording weapons of choice?

G_Barber — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I know some of us here on Guitar.com do a lot of home recording. I was just curious about what methods/equipment/software etc. various members use. My current setup is very simple. I connect my DigiTech RP350 directly into my PC running Windows XP Home via USB and use Acid Pro 6.0 to record. I also make fake drums with Acoustica Beatcraft and FL Studio.

Cupping the Mic

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Stupid people. It DOES NOT LOOK COOL to cup a mic, makes you sound retarded after the sound man has eq'd your voice to sound full, and causes feeedback like you wouldn't believe. The only time I have seen it used is when cookie monster takes the mic and you can't hear what he's saying anyway, because it sounds overly fake and full of bass - the bad kind that just sounds like mud. Nicely explaining to people puts them in both defensive mode and "this guy doesn't know what he's talking about" mode. During soundcheck I tell them not to do it, and then they go all stupid. ***note to everyone, do not piss off your soundman. there's me, who do a good job regardless, and then there's people that flip out and will ruin your show.*** Take last Saturday. Everyone is holding guitars, and then I realize one guy can't sing and play at the same time. So he just stops playing while he sings. That's fine. But then partway through a set he puts the guitar down, picks up the mic, cups it and sings an incoherant love song. All the while I'm riding the monitor fader trying to keep it as loud as possible while being feedback free. Now it's wednesday, and I'm trying to mix the recording and it's pissing me off all over again, because the other 3 singers come out really clear.

Liz A No Show

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well... She never showed. No call. No email. No word at all. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt here as she's got a little life in her belly that causes all kinds of issues and if she's got "morning sickness" half as bad as my daughter does, then she's got every reason in the world to not come and sing at the studio. I'll still go ahead and finish the two songs I was going to have her work on, but I sure would have liked to have gotten a female voice for these. Hope you're OK, Liz!

recording a song

siddp — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi, i'm basically trying to record a set of 5 songs. I've got everything ready, just don't know what to use to record multiple instruments... I'm on a reallly tight budget (moneys always an issue)... Currently, me and my band use just a single wide range mic to record... What would be a gud mixer, recording software, etc. be???? :?

Mizz Lizz In The Studio Tomorrow

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Yes, our own little Mizz Lizz will be in the studio tomorrow recording vocals for a project that she, IbzRG and myself have gotten ourselves involved in. Before anyone asks... We tell everyone who comes to our studio that it's like Vegas. What happens here, stays here. That applies with Liz as well. She can tell you all about it when she returns, but policy dictates that I can't say anything about what happens behind the closed studio doors other than the general, "It went well." The same will apply for posting what she does. I'll only be able to post it IF she approves, which I hope she does. Should be a fun day. She's never been in the studio before so I expect she'll be pretty nervous. She's also singing to a complete mix she's never heard before. It's not going to be all that easy for her, but as long as it's fun that's all that really matters! Ibz... You're still in this man. I'm not going to grouse about getting .wav files either. This is an internet project, so mp3s will be fine. I'll mix as best as I can, (or, I should say, my engineer will mix as best as HE can!) I've been procrastinating on this. I finally sat down last night and recorded the drum parts. In fact, I put the songs I have on a loop and worked out the drum parts for about 2 hours before recording them. I don't really play drums, but I HATE MIDI, pre-programmed, stuff and to my ears even mediocre drumming is better than MIDI. It's nothing fancy, so don't expect John Bonham out of it. I have to sit down tonight and figure out the bass parts and record them too. I'll have rhythm, bass and drums. Lead guitar is another animal. I don't do lead. Never had the desire to.

I am about to explode, help me with my inputs

Cargen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, i have my microphone and my line in plugged in(which is my guitar, and my mic) now ... i cannot get them to record at the same time, my computer wants one or the other "set priority" how do i fix this?

Recording advice

Kenny Baccus — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, I'm interested in getting some sort of recording device. But I hardly know anything about the subject. Advice?

Roland 840

Hippieway — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I getting a Roland VS 840 recording machine, it records to zip discs. Anyone out there got any experience with this type of machine. Any info, tips, or warnings would be nice. This is my first step into this world and I am interested in all opinions, facts and fables.

my music project...

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://www.myspace.com/nathanelhaleproject

Fir or Fur Elise Rock & Rool Style

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This recording is a direct result of a topic that Zombre started a few weeks ago regarding sight reading which led me to attempt transposing notation to guitar. I chose a simple version of Fur Elise for Piano and converted the notation to tab. (Enlightening) After a few weeks of screwing around with this I decided to press record and lay down some tracks. This is what it turned into. I know my playing is super sloppy and the recording quality is not great but do you think it's a good spin on the tune to play it on guitar this way? I love hearing the classical stuff recorded with heavy guitar like the stuff you hear form Satch and Vai. I appreciate any comments. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=87897 Rock & Rool = Rock & Roll (Typo's Argh!!!!)

New song i've recorded

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Bass guitar sound for home recording

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey all, When recording at home one of the things I struggle with is adding something that sounds like a bass guitar onto tracks. Outside using midi (or buying a bass!), does anyone have suggestions on how to do this. I've tried using software like Goldwave to change the pitch of a regular guitar, which always kinda sounds off. Anyone know of other software that works better for this?

mic preamp tube recommendations

evol666 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have a Bellari MP105 tube mic preamp. It is a little, single tube unit for home use. I bought it years ago when I was doing more home recording and needed a decent preamp. This was the era before PODs. Anyway, I broke it out the other day and plan to use it as a direct box for recording some bass guitar and vocals into my 4trk. Reading some reviews online, a lot of people have suggested swapping out the stock Sovtek tube for something smoother, like a Grove tube. I have noticed that the Sovtek can be a little ouchy when overdriven. Can anyone recommend a nice replacement tube? Are Chinese made Groove tubes good or is that a roll of the dice? Thank you.

Blowing Our Own Horn

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

My studio was given a GREAT compliment yesterday. From another studio in town. Not a small place like mine, but a full commercial setup with multiple studios, a complete mastering room with a great mastering engineer and gear to drool all over. They do a lot of Movie/TV/Radio stuff as well as large groups, like jazz bands, orchestras, etc. They also do groups like we do. In fact, one of our current customers used to record there, but moved his whole project, (and we found out yesterday, two more groups he has in the stable,) to our studio. The last project we finished was for a band called Leadbeater. (They do have a MySpace page, but since I can't access I can't post the URL for you. There are a couple Leadbeater matches, but these guys are located in Colorado. Check them out if you like. They're leaving on tour today for Vegas, LA and a couple other CA locations, Phoenix, somewhere in New Mexico and somewhere in Texas. They're an old school punk group and were a lot of fun in the studio.) Anyway, when they finished their project they needed mastering and had set up a friend of a friend to do the job for $400. Upfront! Knowing what this business is like, we suggested they aquire a backup for mastering. They were on a really tight schedule to get everything replicated before their tour. When we handed them the studio masters, they took one to FTM studios in Lakewood, CO, and dropped it off. They then tried to get the other copy we made for them to the "friend," but, as we suspected, he stopped returning calls and simply flaked out on them. Less than 24 hours after they dropped the first master at FTM, the engineer called them to tell them it was ready. They were thrilled as their "friend" had told them at least a week to "do it right." (A lot he knows.) Here's where our compliment comes in... The mastering engineer at FTM, told them that he didn't have to fix ANYTHING and only tweaked a couple levels to smooth it out, but it's probably something that no one would have noticed in the first place. In that light, their mastering cost them a total of $30. No, I didn't forget a zero. We never master our own work as we've heard it too much. We've also sent a lot of mastering business to FTM because of this. The mastering engineer also commented that he hasn't ever heard anything bad out of our studio and usually doesn't have to do very much to the work we've done. This is not the case with other studios in town. (Even his own, he admitted. The studio owner also joked that he might soon have to hire us to replace his other engineers.) Mastering is usually $200 and up for a full project. He's never charged one of our clients more than $75, (that one was MY bad as it was a rush job just after I got the system we're currently using.) We found this out because the band showed up at the studio last night with an extra $200 for us. (They still owe us a sheepskin for the final mix, but that'll be handled at the post tour party when they return.) They felt it was only fair as it was pretty clear the work we did saved them a ton of money on the mastering process. Plus, setting them up with a "backup" for mastering saved their butts as time was really tight. There are just SO many variables when it comes to recording studios. We've heard the horror stories from bands about 8 hour long drum micing sessions, that THEY'RE PAYING FOR! (We don't charge setup time. Our view is if you can't get the band ready in an hour, then you don't know what you're doing.) Bad mixes. Bad recordings. Good recordings that, for whatever reason, never get completed. Months of waiting. Studios shutting down in the middle of a project. Lost tracks. You name it. It's just REALLY nice to hear from the "competition," though they focus on a different customer set than we do, that they think highly of you. Customers are one thing when they're happy, but to have the "other guys," who work the same profession, where it's more about who is behind the console than what gear you have, comment like this is something that's not usual. Now if we could only start making a profit!

RUSH TICKETS ARE MINE!!!!!

shanejohnson2002 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

MUAHAHAHAHA!!! I just bought tickets to the RUSH concert in Houston TX. Floor seats, 25 rows back from the stage, slightly left of center. I CAN"T FREAKIN WAIT!!!! RUSH ROCKS HARD!!!

mounting monitors

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Is it alright to mount near field monitors on the wall? Like on a small shelf type bracket? or would that cause too much transduced vibrations from the wall?

How to record drums?

RuiOlasBrandon 's — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I only have one mic, so where do I place it to record with drums (if it is possible with only one)? Any suggestions would be nice. Thanks.

Stand alone or computer?

frumsapap — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I am researching the market for recording equipment. I have looked at Imacs, PCs, Tascam, Zoom, Roland BR series, and quite a number of other brands, and I am ready now for any info that anyone has got to give on which way to go. Any info would be gratefully appreciated!

How to purchase a microphone

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Here are my thoughts on purchasing mics. First of all, I'd say buy mics from a company that makes mics. My favourites are Shure, Audix, AKG, Rode and Audio Technica. There are others, but these are the main "big players" who have a low-end to them. When purchasing a low-cost microphone, why purchase from one of these companies? The answer is simple: They are major players and have a reputation to keep up. So their lower cost stuff is going to be better than say your average Behringer, Nady, CAD etc. The second reason is resale value. You buy a squire for $200 you're lucky if you sell it for $75, whereas a mexican Fender will hold it's value based on the name alone. The same holds true for microphones. An AKG Perception series mic will still be an AKG and people will recognize that. And if you start off buying some low-cost mics, you WILL grow out of them. So I recomend that if you are going to deviate from this and buy a nady, carvin, etc mic that you be sure you are going to hold onto it for at least a few years. Then maybe do what I did and just donate them to someone who has caught the recording bug. There are some exceptions to the rule, for example I own 2 Apex mics. One of them sounds FANTASTIC and is completely stock. Low cost mics may even have great components but no quality control. It is manufactured, plugged in, and if it works it is boxed and sold. It was $160 I believe about 5 years ago. I have another that sounded like ass until I did some work on it [changing out some parts and swapping the tube]. It was around $250. Neither of these mics will ever have a good resale value, despite their good tone. Some people swear by their SP mics. Some of it is justified, and some people seriously just get overwhelmed by the openness and crispness of hearing their first condenser mic - lets face it, cheap mics sound good to the untrained ear. They generally have a rise in the high end that sounds nice and airy. A few tracks later however, the mix gets thin sounding and any attempts to pull out the high frequencies sounds boxy and unnatural because the mic didn't have a true response in the first place, and taking stuff out makes it sound fake and forced. Don't buy stuff to get you by. If you need some small diapragm condensers for something and can't buy them, do yourself a favour and just rent some good ones. It's better than being stuck with a pair of behringer pencil condensers that have more hiss than guitar in your recording. And when you do go to buy, know what you want and fight for it. Be sure and don't let the dude tell you what he thinks you should buy because they generally make $9 an hour, and if they were the rockstar they're playing themselves up to be they wouldn't be there. Try to buy in pairs when buying condenser mics, and if not, buy two of the same mic at the same time. If you can't afford it - here's my favourite technique - go to the pa rental counter and get a deal on rental stuff. How do you know what to get if you have never tried a mic? Research. Look up stuff on the web, ask questions here, borrow a friend's, or see if you can sit in on a recording session at a local studio. I let people do it at mine with the artist's permission, as long as they stay out of the way. Finally, know the difference between mics: for example, a Shure beta57 is the same capsule as the beta56, but the 56 si supercardiod and shorter and stockier and easier to place on a drum set. Consider buying some of those instead of the always-handy 57 and save yourself some trouble later - you get both a tighter polar pattern and an easier to position mic. On a cramped stage, it can be a godsend not having a long mike taking up 8 inches of real estate. Some mics I recomend, on the low end of the price scale: Shure SM94, 52, 56, 57, 58, 81 The 52 is a wicked kick mic with a better sound on a kick with no hole The 81 and 94 are both great SDC mics for overheads, acoustic instruments, and percussion in general. The 56 57 58 are standard "have around" mics. Audio Technica 2020, 2021 I got these in a pack for $80 on a christmas sale - regular $200 for the package. They sound good and I don't mind shoving them in places I wouldn't dream of putting my 414. The 2020 is fantasic in particular - no longer than a golf pencil, it fits EVERYWHERE and has become a favourite snare mic for me lately. AT has a relatively new set of dynamicmics that I would love to try. Honestly for years I hated AT due to retardedly high prices but in recent years they have stopped pricing their mics ridiculously high and I find they have come to terms that their mics aren't the best and have priced them accordingly. AKG C series - 1000s, 3000b, 4000b I have a pair of c1000s and they are invaluable, I use them on overheads and hihats and occasionally acoustic guitar when I need something a little grungier sounding. They seem to need a ton of gain though so if you don't have a clean preamp... The 3000b has been dubbed the "poor man's 414" and with good reason. I love this mic as a front kick mic, a vocal mic for screamers, anywhere I would love the sound of my 414 but wouldn't want to put it. The AKG d112 or d12 is a standard kick mic but I find it to be a one-trick pony. A rock kick drum mic for sure. Rode - Anything by them is great, but I really love the NT3. The new M1 is supposed to be as good as the c1000s but cheaper. Audix - my absolute favourite for drum mics. The entire D series is fabulous. The D6, D2 and D4 in particular. I have used the D2 on electric guitar amps with some success. The D6 is great for some recording applications and my personal favourite for live because you can just throw it in and have a sound good enough to get you through the night without tweaking.

A new tune

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, so I sat down to do some recording yesterday. I thought "Hey, I'm in the mood to do a song..." Mostly because I'm sick of instrumental guitar, and have no more ideas for instrumental guitar stuff anymore... Besides, actual songs are more fun, and they're entertaining to listen to! So I did one, and it was going OK, except... I am happy with the sounds I'm getting with my rigs. When I go to record, I'm having some SERIOUS phase issues. Hell, it's nasty enough that I may just go back to using a POD for a bit... (nahhhh, it's never THAT bad!) Anyways, I thought I'd post my track so y'all can hear what I've been up to. It was fun, I kinda like the song, but man.... It's a lot of work! lol Here's the link! Lemme know whatcha think, eh? http://www.scottkerrmusic.com/ScottKerr_SeeIt.mp3 http://cdbaby.com/cd/scottkerr http://scottkerrmusic.com/

Studio Guitarists' Survival Guide

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Here is some really great info that applies to more than just studio guitar work as the author (Sven Stichter) intended. The "To Do" tips are great. http://www.guitar9.com/columnist404.html

Recording with Cakewalk Home Studio 6 XL

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I recently purchase Cakewalk Homw Studio 6 XL for regording and mixing on my computer. As with most software you don't really know what you need till you have it, I put it on a Dell Laptop and am having problems with that setup. I'd be interested to hear what others have used sound card/ computer wise to record and mix. At this point I can't even make a sound...

Into a studio...

inablackout — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hello folks (inparticular Xark or other recording gurus) My band and I are about to go into a studio to cut a 4 track demo, what are some questions that I should ask the man doing the recording aside form cost, time. I've been in a studio before but i was a hired gun then, just went in and played the tunes didn't have much to do with setting it up or anything else, so some advice and questions I should ask would be greatly appreciated.

Got a promo[tion!]

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So my girlfriend was in the hospital for a while there, which set us back in terms of money and renovation of the studio. I had to run out and get a regular job, so I am the handyman at a hotel. Not as glamorous as my other jobs which include teaching guitar, writing music for radio and television, and being a live sound engineer at the place all the famous people play at in town here. While those other jobs are wicked and I love them, they just aren't regular enough to cover us while she was in the hospital. Anyway, after a horrible day at work installing 40 toilets [they're renovating this crappy hotel to make it nice] I trudge home and there is two messages for me on the answering machine. First message - from the theatre I work at - they got a contract with another theatre in town, so when they need a soundman... it's me. every time. which means probbly 2 or 3 times a week. And the pay is just insane, plus they are ususally 14 hour days with time and a half after 8 hours. Second message - the local newspaper. I have a roland VS studio as well as my protools rig and I run around town with that and a handful of mics and record people's jams for them - it started because I was itching to record something and I didn't want people jamming in my half reno'd studio. I work pretty well with only 8 tracks, generally do a little submixing to make it more manageable, and take it home and mix it on protools. Anyway they saw my ad and want to do a feature on me in the paper mid april. Which means my business is more than likely gonna double or triple. I moved in septmember from vancouver to vancouver island and I'm a relative nobody in this town and the exposure is just what I need to get things going.

Tannoy monitors

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey, I am looking for a decent set of studio monitors, but on a kinda tight budget. Someone is selling a pair of Tannoy PBM 6.5 LM Powered Reference Studio Monitors for $450 in my town. Does anyone know if these are decent monitors? Good deal price wise? I don't want to end up paying good money for junk... Regards, -Jer

Micro BR

Jared — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I just got a Micro BR and I was wondering how to put songs onto my computer so I can make a demo disk

Recording equipment

Savva_Rhythm — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

ok so i want to start doing some video recording to put on youtube and G.com, but at the mo i have no recording equipment. i want to record videos with sound (duh). i know alot of you have recorded many times so i need some help. i'v never recorded before so make it simple lol. do you use webcams or a video camera? im guessing its webcams but i still have some doubts. what kind do i need? and how do i sort out the sound? do i get a seperate microphone or something else which i dont know... thanks

\GNX4 VS. Vista/ Vista's winning the battle but who will win the war?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I admit I enjoy using the GNX4 for the effects, but the recording just isn't working out.... no I mean it, blue screen every time! Anyone else having problems with the GNX4 and Vista?

monitors for home recording

evol666 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Can anyone recommend some good powered monitors for around 150 USD? I don't need them for big, professional mixes, just something to help make my home recordings and band demos sound presentable. I'll be mixing from two sources: my cassette 4trk and my Mac (Garageband). Also, any major drawbacks to using powered monitors as computer speakers? I can't think of one, but my knowledge in this end of mixing is very limited. Thank you

Gear Review Yamaha HS80M's

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok, so there was an issue with my old standby reference monitors, the Yorkville YSM1P - been working with them for a long time now, and they just started buzzing around 200 hz - I can't explain it [the woofer buzzed, not the tweeter]. The protect light never came on the whole time I owned them, and I brought them back to get them repaired... a month and a half goes by and they return with a note saying "no problem found". I blew a hissy... went to the store plugged in a keyboard and played a G... buzz city. I kicked and screamed for a new pair, since the repair company obviously didn't know WTF was going on. I found out later they sent it to a TV repair guy instead of where they should have sent it, a Yorkville Authorized repair centre... I don't want to get into the details about how that happened, but it did. So I find out these have been discontinued, and I wasn't happy... I know these speakers inside and out [speakers are made by Tannoy, crossover/cabinet/amplifier designed by Yorkville.] So I look around and they give me a pair of Yamaha HS80M's because I'm a good customer they don't want to lose - first smart thing they've done since I moved [I go to Long and McQuade, but I moved in September and the location I visit now BLOWS]. First off, these are bigger yet lighter than the yorkvilles. Rear instead of front ported, and UGLY in the store, but seem to look good in a studio environment. I don't like the white speaker/black cabinet look. They are said to be the newer version of the NS-10 - I don't think they could be further from the truth... the only similarity I see is the colour sceme, the rest of the looks are different. These are active, running 120 watts. Oddly, the power scheme is 75w to the woofer and 45 to the tweeter - most active bi=amped designs are more of a 75% to 25% ratio. The frequency response is 42 hz to 20khz, and the response is supposed to be relatively flat as tested in an anechoic setting. I find the bass on these to be just right - I can feel the thump of the kick drum better on these than on my yorkies. The high end isn't shrill at all. Listening to my reference CD's is great - the vocals are always forward and clear, something I had to learn on my old monitors where the midrange was a little lacking. Compared with a friends' original NS-10s, these blow them away in terms of listenability. No honking midrange, no lack of balls. These can go loud but there's no limiter or indication of clipping the internal amplifier. I am in a huge room right now though because I haven't put uip the drywall in my control room yet - so I'm in a room that's 35 feet wide right now - in a smaller space, these will be more than loud enough. I may end up getting the subwoofer to go with them one day - but I've got bigger issues right now building the studio. I would recomend them to anyone looking to buy something in the $700-900 range.

Studio track sheets/recall sheets/gear lists/documentation

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So I was filling out a track sheet the other day at another studio and the other guy working there asked me why I bothered in this day and age to do that. I have always done it, even though I have been mainly recording on digital equipment. My answer was "Just in case". I have rarely needed to have this documentation, and have folders full of it. The few times I have needed it, it was a lifesaver. By the way, when I say folders, and filling out... it's on a laptop. I still take the time to get it right, and while some things are different [like... now I just take a photo of amplifier settings and save them in the session folder, along with mic placements] the bulk of it is just paperwork. Some of it gets brought up when I listen to an old recording I worked on, and wonder what I did that sounded so good/bad. Does anyone else document recording work? I use these same sheets when I do live stuff, it helps everything run smoothly and how I want it [I am generally running a pretty organized ship when doing live stuff]. Is it becoming a lost art in this digitized world of virtual instruments and plugins?

Sound insulation

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

hey guys, I've got an update on my garage "studio/Jam room", spent the last couple days putting up drywall and mudding/taping and the room is coming together nicely. I've managed to get the furnace working well, and since I built the wall in the middle of the garage isolating the room from the garage door I have managed to keep it fairly comfortable despite the -30deg C (-49 with wind chill) temperatures we've had in Calgary the past couple days. I am now attempting to sound insulate the room at least enough to make it so the neighbors don't have to listen to me learning violin (a recent en devour of mine) and allow a reasonable level of jamming volume and hopefully some drumming ( although my Roland TD20 kit allows me to jam without turning it up to eleven, I am going to get an acoustic kit if I can insulate well enough). My current plan is to take the inside of the exterior walls and cover them with mattresses and frame another wall infront of them attached only at the roof and floor. I am also thinking of covering the ceiling with carpet and curving the carpet down the corners of the walls to get rid of the right angles (mainly for recording, but also to help keep sound from emanating from the roof.) I will probably just lay some carpet down on the cement floor as well however I have been toying with the idea of floating a plywood floor (could be tough do to the slope of the floor towards a drain in the middle). I am just renting this place so I don't want to put too much $ into it. Do any of you have any good suggestions on cheap sound insulation or construction tips on sound proofing? -Jer

Quick cable question

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Been looking to do some more recording after a fairly long break here, and was looking to buy a cable for running into my digital station. I know I should use a short one, like 10 feet or less, anyone have some specific recommendations? planet waves? monster cables? thanks for any help oh by the way i guess, i got a $100 MF gift certificate for christmas that im gonna burn up on this - was also wondering if there are any other low priced gadgets or the like that would be nice to have for recording, or anything really, thanks again

Guitar Rig 2 Help

Night Owl — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Alright guys, everytime I record a riff or chord sequence or whatever in NI Guitar Rig 2, I lose all the effects I had on it when I export the WAV. Anybody else have this problem? Is there a way around it? Thanks,

my macbook is dead..........

goodbyeboy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

i've been working on this song on pro tools, and suddenly it restarts - turns back on, and PT is completely gone..........and my macbook is not turning on. ha. i got 3 demos to finish in 2 weeks.........i am doomed. i hate my life. :D

OK, kinda confused

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, I got a new amp, Ok? It has an XLR output for recording. My question is....HOW? since the amp didn't come with a cord, how am i supposed to hook this thing up to my computer to get "better sound"?

Tascam DP-01 Or Guitar Rig 3?

Night Owl — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well I'm looking for a good method for recording at home, and I can't decide if I want to get a Tascam DP-01 Digital Recorder or Guitar Rig 3. I'm sorta leaning to Guitar Rig 3 just because of all the good things I've heard about it.. What would you guys recommend?

Next Collaboration

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm thinking about two new ideas for the next guitar.com collab session. We havn't done any hard rock or metal stuff so.... Option #1 Symphony of Desctuction Meggadeath Theme - Intro riff then pied piper riff then alternated leads over the intro riff seperated by a head consisting of the pied piper riff and everyone takes a turn Option #2 Crazy Train Randy Rhoads Theme - Intro riff into the famous riff directly in to the solo back riff with lead on top and each head space is the famous Crazy Train riff and we all take a turn Addition, Each person plays their own version of the head riff to add flavor (both songs)

Christmas is over... Let's start doing some Collab's

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm thinking about laying down a bass line & drum track similar to the Texas Flood bass line and everyone can scream some guitar over it. We can just loop 12 bars until we run out of solo submissions. Anyone want to play? If anyone bites on this I'll post a track tomorrow.

Best VST plugins?

Evil Kitty — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have spent many years (and LOTS of MONEY) recording in professional studios and have slowly been building a home studio to record in. While I know I will never get the exact pro sound - I feel I can get close. I am currently recording on a Mac using garageband and am looking for some VST plugins to help tweak my sound - specifically a compressor. If any of you studio guys could point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!!

Drum Patterns

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I need tips on how to compose drums using a drum machine. I'm looking for a way to build drum tracks for my music. How do you go about coming up with a good drum track? I typically start with just a bass and snare using a simple pattern then try to elaborate on it but it seems like it never really sounds good and the more I put additional drums/hat's/cymbols in to it the more I screw it up. I really havn't made a custom drum drack that I like yet. I could use some expert advice. I'm tired of using the prefab drum pattern that are built into my machine.

Recording Drums

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm thinking of building a little studio at my bands rehearsal room. I have the computer (Macbook w/ Logic, by the way) and a couple of mics. How do i input several mics into the computer? Do i really need a mixer for that? Thanks!

Riff Notes for "Looking Forward"

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I tabbed out (tried) some notes to show where the notes were played to this piece that I uploaded to IComp. This is not tabbed out to show every bend and slide. I just wanted to show the basic ideas that the guitar work came from. I thought someone might find this useful. (not guaranteed to be 100% correct as I did this without the guitar in front of me) Questions, Comments, Criticizms, & Flames welcome. you can listen to the song here... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=77517

Update on my studio construction

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Alrighty, so it's going well. I have installed a floating subfloor through the 900 square foot area. I used the aurelex u-boats [stupidy expensive considering what they do, but they apear to be working well]. I did most of the wiring that I can do at this stage yesterday which included all of the jacks upstairs in my living area and the jacks in the machine room and lounge down in the studio. I am using a "structured media system" which means everything is wired to one easily accessable box in the house and distributed from there. So each room is wired for video [coax], stereo audio[rca], telephone, and internet. The stereo rca feed will be a send from my protools rig to every room in the house, so that bandmates can be in the lounge while someone is tracking and still hear them. The lounge willl have some entertainment [tv and videogames, stereo system, and the arcade machine I'm building]. I've ordered some fancy panels for the iso/vocal booth that are 2 mic jacks and 2 headphone jacks - it is a flat plate that flips open when you push a button. I was at a place called DEMXX which basically just takes what they can from places getting demolished/torn down and sells what they get at bargain basement prices. I found a door, about 1 1/2 thick of glass, that I will be using as part of the studio window. It is 4x8 but I am going to have it cut down to 3 1/2 x 6. Another goody I found there was some movie theatre seats in great condition. I've got a panel of 4 on order - they will be installed along the back wall of the control room. I think I'll reupholster them though - the lime green just isn't my thing. Other than the green, things are going well - the only trouble I'm having is deciding on colours [there's a u in colour up here in canada]. the live room is going to be a maple hardwood floor with grey and white walls. The iso booth will be a dark colour of some sort with a wicked red carpet I've discovered. The control room - no idea. I'm not good that way. So any ideas are greatly appreciated. Attached is a pic of the clean part of the studio where I'm jamming. That guitar is a Gibson Blueshawk.

New custom backing tracks posted

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've posted a few backing tracks if anyone is interested in using them to practice guitar solo's. you can find them here... http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76415 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76416 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76418

When requesting dums for colaborations

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

When composing colaborations on the internet... What is the best way to have another artist put the drum track on a recording when (let's say) the rythem guitar track is recorded first? Would it be best to provide the rythem guitar track with a clearly audible seperate click track so that the drummer or drum programmer has a definative timing marker to run with? (in the title dums=drums)

Pentatonic Noodeling

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Working on a song called Gone Again Blues. Recorded myself noodeling around over the back track I made for this song yesterday. Thought this may interest someone. If anyone want's to add better tracks for the drums, bass, and vocals I'd be glad to share the rythem guitar track and provide the lyrics for you to record on. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76271

IronVibe

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I completed a new recording last night. It's kind of inspired by listening to a little Iron Maiden a few days ago. Please check it out and give me constructive critique. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76170 Thanks

Finally uploaded to I-Compositions

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I am finally able to upload to Icompositions. Here are two songs I have uploaded so far. I know my singing is horrible so no need to flame me on that. I welcome comments on the guitar work and overall songs though. http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76116 http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76114

Mastering and this recording

sallan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

This was the first track for my new live record. 90% of it sounds really good, but it was a live recording, and this was the first track where the piano wasn't dialed in correctly, and thats my main concern. Since I don't have individual tracks (this was all done through the board feed to DAT tape) to play with is it possible in post to bring the piano out a bit more without effecting everything else in a negative way? Here's the link for the track (Bloomdido by Charlie Parker) fast forward to 4:20 for the piano solo in question... http://www.garageband.com/song?|pe1|S8LTM0LdsaSjYFi-Z2g maybe it's ok...but the piano solo was very nice wish it could be heard more clearly. I'm not up on current matering technologies...I do know melodyne can grab a vocal from a mix and alter it's pitches, or at least I think it can. Maybe someone who knows a good deal about post mastering and eq can give me some direction. Thank you in advance!!! -sallan

What is the best simple guitar DI unit?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Greetings What is the best simple guitar DI unit. Good luck!

Funky Backing Track

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I made a new backing track. It's kind of funky. If you want to check it out and record over it send me a message with your email. The deal is that you have to email a copy back with your guitar trax mixed in.

Cool Edit Pro 2.1

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I just got Cool Edit Pro 2.1. Any tips how to use the thing? I thought it might be better than Audcity. I'm not really sure how to use it but any tips or suggestions would be helpful! (And now I wait for Xark to say something about how much he hates recording with computers.)

Recording anxiity?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Does anyone else get nervous when record something? I know I do. It is the same kind of nervous I experience when on stage, but not as strong. Any ways to get over this?

My new classical pieces on YouTube

Michael — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

These are my new recordings on YouTube! It is classical guitar. But they are really great pieces. Enjoy!!

Re-Amping

shanejohnson2002 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Xark has mentioned this before, and it's starting to catch my interest. Allow me to explain why: I was messing around today with a certain section of a song, and decided I wanted to play with the idea of a raging, massive wall of guitars. The concept was simple: more = better. I'm kind of limited right now, as all I have to record with are my trusty old RG and my POD 2.0 into my work laptop with Audacity. Not a "pro" setup by any means, but it works well enough to mess with ideas anyway. This particular section is basically 2 guitars playing stacked 5ths, or in simpler terms one power chord stacked on top of the other, with the higher chord starting on the 5th of the lower chord. For this idea, 2 guitars just wasn't enough. So how do I get more with one guitar, without changing any amps / effects / speaker settings? The guitar has a 5-way switch, so I used that. I recorded each "guitar" as 5 separate tracks, playing each part in the different switch positions. Then I panned each track to a separate place across the spectrum. The first guitar goes like this: Bridge 100% left, Bridge/Mid 60% left, Mid dead center, Neck/Mid 60% right, Neck 100% right. I then repeated the process for the second guitar part, except I reversed the pan values for the switch positions. It got a decent result, and I kind of like the sound (I know it's thin and scooped...I actually was leaving room for a bass and some mid-heavy lead or vocal work, so you're only hearing one part of a much larger picture). HERE'S WHERE REAMPING COMES INTO PLAY!! Notice how muddy and undefined the attacks are. I think that's because of natural human error. No matter how tight you are rhythmically, recording 10 different guitars WILL show minute timing mistakes. With a re-amping device, like a Radial X-Amp, it would be possible to squeeze all 10 guitar tracks from ONE single take. This won't handle the idea about using different switch positions, but it would help if you wanted to use several different amps, or maybe one amp with several different settings. It would also inherently eliminate any timing issues because you're really only playing it once. So here's the question: When you reamp, and you record a second guitar track (and/or third, fourth, etc.), are there any phasing or EQ problems that have to be worked with to get a decent sound? Or is it really as simple as it sounds?

Guitar Recordings

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, last night we had a group in who had been to a number of local studios. They won a local battle of the bands in August and the prize was time at my studio. (16 hours for nada...) Anyway, they were a bit hesitant because of their experiences at other studios. I know this is a hassle for a lot of people. How do you know what you're going to get? They figured because they'd "won" the time that they'd be at our mercy. It's "free" isn't it? Actually, they "earned" the time as this was their 4th shot at the battle of the bands, and they get treated the same way as any paying customer. Their biggest beef with other local studios was that they couldn't seem to get a decent sound from their Marshall half stack. As the guitarist said, "A Gibson through a Marshall shouldn't sound muddy!" He's right, of course. While we can emulate the sound of ANY amp/cab combination in the studio, (no... not with a POD, VAmp, JStation or any other emulator unit or software, but with a collection of tube amps and heads used to reamp the original clean guitar signal, then blended to make whatever sound we want,) we decided to have him bring in his gear and mic it up. We've got a great room that just makes everything sound better to begin with, so getting an acurate representation of those sounds is much easier. We chose to run two mics, in addition to taking a clean signal. Yes, a standard was chosen first and we close mic'd with an SM57 run through a tube pre with the tube circuit fully powered to 300v. Then we went off the deep end... We just bought a pair of NADY RSM2 ribbon mics. (Yeah, I know... NADY? But these mics bench tested beautifully and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to ANYONE!) The sound of the room is what took us in this direction. SInce ribbons are figure of eight they pick up a fair amount of room sound, so it was an easy choice. The more difficult choice was exactly where to place it? Since both rhythm and lead were being played through the same setup, we chose two places for this mic. For the lead, we did a typical 3' back from the cab setup, with the SM57 close. For the rhythm, we took a different tack... We close mic'd the cab with the ribbon right next to the SM57. This way, the front half of the mic picks up close sound and the back half picks up the room. We also ran this mic through a tube pre with the tube at low voltage and flipped the phase for the close mic'd rhythm tracks and put it back in phase for the lead tracks. The sound is absolutely great! (I'll post some when I get back from vacation. I'm going to be gone until the 15th of October.) I know that not everyone has the pres, mics or room to do this. I also know that not everyone has the time to spend on it. Just throwing it out there to remind everyone that recording is not an exact science. We look at everything as an experiment! Different amps, cabs, guitars, basses, drums, voices... There is simply no ONE right way to address anything, or anyone, that might come through the door. It's the same for your own recordings. Don't hesitate to break from the norm. You might find the results very pleasing!

check out my new song!

goodbyeboy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

if y'all have some time, please come and check out my new tune - (i have bunch of others but that's the one that came out really well so far) any comments will be appreciated. songwise, flow-wise, and especially MIXWISE... don't forget to add me as your friend if you like my song! http://www.myspace.com/skyriseband

Can i record with this?

mrkmas — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have teh following equipment PC with 3 ghz processor 800 mhz fsb 1 gb ram, 240 gb hdd SB audigy 2 platinum Marshall tsl100 1/2 stack ampeg b12xt Large and small booms shure 58 50 watt power amp Alesis mixer(8 channel) tons of cable. and excellent pc speakers. that is my equipment( for recording so far) I know i need software(recomendations are welcome) and my soundcard has many front inputs. The main question is i feel, and believe this is kinda a subpar setup. Should i upgrade the mixer, or get a small rack for this kind of stuff? I would just be recording bass and guitar. I am thinking of maybe going to the shure 57, because that is what it is made for. So tell me honestly(and politely) what your thoughts are about using my setup to record, and any suggestions on what to change/upgrade.

recording acoustic guitar - need some advice

goodbyeboy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

hello there. i never actually recorded acoustic guitar tracks before as my songs don't really need acoustic guitar - but this time i do need one. tomorrow i'll be recording with my beautiful gibson - and i was thinking about making 2 seperate tracks one for sm57 and my condenser microphone and record them at the same time. but since this will be my first time recording acoustic guitar i'll make tons of mistakes i know - and i don't wanna waste my time fixing mistakes so any tips/inputs will be appreciated.. i know there are some guys on this site who are like godlike in recording...possibly someone named xark....*cough cough*

Sway & Swagger / Holloway

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm looking for opinions / advice on a couple of song's I've recorded. 1) Holloway 2) Sway & Swagger They were both recorded using m-audio gear and such. Just looking for opinions regarding mixing, eq, and mastering. Thanks in advance. -James Holloway: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=5809642&q=hi Sway & Swagger: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=5809498&q=hi

sad day

johnmarkh — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

so i recently moved, and the day before i do, my onyx just quit on me. now, i don't want to be pissy about mackie because c'mone...002's and even protools hd systems will crap out on you...but do they have to when you're just a couple tracks and a master away from completing a cd???!!! i just moved very close to chicago, and would like to get in doing shows...but i wish i could have a cd for people to remember and listen and share..etc... i think i'll call mackie and see what a repair job would do...but i am so freaking poor. i'm considering just going with the tracks i've got done and making an ep...then later doing a LP. anyways...post your recording project horror stories

I've done it. I have become a recorder label.

RuiOlasBrandon 's — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Wow.. finally i plugged my amp to my laptop. It's really cool. I use Audacity Portable. Marshall MG 15cdr and some good qual. cables/adapters.

Line In computer recording

Jotun — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hello...I just record for fun jamming along with songs/making a few tracks, and have always done it by mic, but recently i decided to go amp speaker output directly into my sound card. First off my sound card is a Creative SB XFI Xtreme Gamer...and I am going from my amp (Crate GX-15) speaker output (not headphone) into my mic channel on my soundcard. Is this wrong and could I damage anything? And secondly are there any programs I should be using, like ones specifically for doing this type of thing? I have an excellent single track recorder, but the only multi track one i have is Kristal and I really dont like it. When I try to record multi tracks using my mic, the backround sounds tend to build up and it will become really unclear (the only program I've used to do this was kristal). But I'm also having a problem with the line in, it tends to be kind of muffled...but I think thats due to my crappy old amp (its 10+ years old, but it still has the best tone ever :) ) and i think my battery for my EMG pickups is also close to dying. Should I just invest in a good mic and record that way? I would prefer to record with my line in as it a lot easier trying to record something coming from my computer and my guitar at the same time....it will also let me record with lower noises (i can do it when other people are asleep :) ) and it wont record any backround sounds. I play an Ibanez SZ520 with EMG 81/60 pickups, and I only use a Crate GX-15 practice amp at home...any help is appreciated, thanks. and here are some examples of stuff I've recorded before using my $10 mic. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZQo2W-lPFZk http://youtube.com/watch?v=QRh-uHoMvlk (ignore the bass muffling on this one, I forgot to turn my subwoofer down when recording)

BOSS/Roland BR-600 Digital Recording Studio

JTC — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'd like to exchange tips on using the BOSS BR600 Digital Recording Studio with anyone on this site who also uses it for recording their guitar work. I've owned this machine for a little while now and I am familiar with most functions on it. I can always use additional instruction and think I can probably assist anyone who is trying to figure out how to use it.

Podxt and Boss GT8

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

The Line6 Podxt vs The Boss GT8: Basically, I love and kinda hate them both. I have them both, and I like them both for the same thing. There are aspects to both that I dislike, and like equally. First of all, I am an effects junkie, and I love to record and play both live and in the “studio”. I prefer to just mic my amp, buuut, that's not aways possible... Let’s start with the POD. What do I like about it? The price is not bad… the xt certainly cost a lot more than previous models, that’s for sure. And one BIG disappointment was the fact that I could no longer use my old floorboard with this model. Saddening, really. I love the Wah and volume pedal controls for recording. I know, I know… just go out and buy the new controller, right? Nah… I love the way I can create new patches and archive old ones on my computer. I have all of the amp packs for this thing, which really opened up the useability of this product for me. They sound great, and really do a great job of emulating an amplifier. It’s not perfect, but really, it’s the closest thing to getting cool amp tone wehen you’re in a situation where you have to be quiet and need to record, or have no amp and need to go direct to PA. The sheer variety of sounds when combined with my arsenal of guitars is pretty awesome! I like how easy the patches are to program, and I also like how easy it is to store and edit existing patches. A USB interface is nice, too. It’s really an excellent little piece of equipment. But what’s it missing? Well… The bass out of this thing is out of control. It’s always clipping in my computer, yet the volume’s never where I need it. Also, if I have the USB cable plugged in for editing, my computer thinks it’s an audio interface, and the damn thing takes over my computer. Aggh. Also, no pitch shifting or whammy effects. THAT would make this thing TOTALLY rock if they could put that in there… Maybe it’s on Line6’s “to-do list”. The other thing I hate about this is it’s size and shape. Hated it from day one. I wish it were smaller, more like the “toneports”. Oh yeah, the latency when using the audio coming from USB is atrocious, and I have over 2 gigs of ram, and a dual-core processor… YIKES! Firewire would be much better for me… (But then, it’s not just about me, is it?) You know what else is missing? An effects loop. That’s right. Maybe I don’t WANT to use Line6’s effects…It’d be nice to have the option of using something else, that’s all. Now how about the Boss GT-8? What I like about it is it’s sheer power. Holy crap, can it do a lot. Geez does it sound great in front of an amp. Man oh man, does it have a lot of effects, and effect combining options. But it’s big and clunky, and sucks to connect in the studio. (It’s a floorboard, though…) There’s no computer editing interface for it, nothing easy anyways. And to connect, you need to use midi. Yuck. The “direct in” tone is, ummm… muddy. There’s endless variations of muddy. Muddy with high end, low end, rectified, all muddy. I’ve tried it with a whole bunch of different guitars, and I’ve tweaked the daylights out of it, followed all of the suggestions I could find on the web, and here I am, not really digging the end result of what I’ve got recorded. The pitch shifting, whammy, wah, and other digital effects are nothing short of breathtaking. Absolutely amazing effects, and I love ‘em. So really, it’s the amp emulation and distortions I’m not so fond of with this thing. Everything else seems to rock. So now, I have the idea that I’d like to maybe combine the 2. Basically I’ll go from Boss GT8 to Line6 Podxt into my M-Audio Firewire 410 into my macbook pro. This way, I’m thinking that I’ll have the best of both worlds, and maybe, just maybe get the complete set of “direct-in” tonal options I’m looking for. Although I do believe that the sound quality and tonal essence that I currently have is due in large part to the interface I have, and the way I’m using it. In short, it’s a real hit or miss kinda thing I have going here… I’ll have a mixer soon (24 channel, no big whup…) and I should have some better microphones shortly after that which will change things, but I’ll still have to direct record; Where I’m at I just have to be quiet sometimes… Any ideas on how you’d blend the 2?? Or perhaps I should just go out and get amplitube or guitar rig or something...

Re-Amping Guitar Recordings

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

So, you have a particular sound in mind for your guitar, but, as is usual with recording, you just can't seem to get it with just an SM57. What do you do? Or, you have only one guitar and one amp, but you still want to get a different sound. If you hate emulators as much as I do, then running your signal through one of them isn't an option. In the studio, we do something called "re-amping" to address this issue. During the initial recording process we ALWAYS take a direct, "dry" signal and route it to it's own channel. If the guitar player gets it right, then we have something to work with. We do this because it's not easy to get the amp to sound "exactly" the way the guitar player hears it. We know how it SHOULD sound, but, as with any player, we don't hear what the player hears. (I notice this especially with acoustic. I'm NEVER satisfied with my own recordings as they just never sound the way I hear my guitar. With acoustic it's mostly because the guitar is held close to your body and your body acts as a resonator so a good part of what you hear comes through your body an not your ears. This changes your perception of the sound.) It's the same for electric players. In the studio we close mic guitar amps, but the guitar player is usually standing in front of, or slightly to the side of, his amp. This distance allows the sound to develop more and what you hear "live" is going to be different from what you hear on your recording. The important part of this is having that clean, dry, signal to work with. (Those effects that are necessary to use when you play the music, like wahs, need to be there, but forget distortion, chorus, verb, etc.) Once you have your clean track, then you can start re-amping to get your sound fine tuned. We have several amps. Tube and solid state of different brands and wattages. We send the clean signal back out to the amp. (Many times we'll set up two amps, back to back, and record them both simultaneously.) Each different amp has a different sound. By taking these re-amped tracks and mixing them together we can take the brittle, treble quality of our Peavy solid state, and mix it with the round, bluesy growl from our Epi 5 watt tube, then back it with the power and deep distortion of our Dean Markley tube pre and tube power amp. By mixing these different sounds you can create the sound of any amp on the market. It's like modeling, but we do it manually. And the plus comes from using REAL tube amps, not "emulated" tubes! If you have only one amp, you can still do this. It will not be natural for you to hear your amp this way, but the results from your mix will confirm your efforts. Record three tracks. One that's bassy. One that's mid heavy. One that almost pierces your ears with highs. In effect, you are splitting the EQ settings on your amp and using your tracks to mix your EQ. I know it seems that this is a lot of extra work, especially since your amp already has EQ and you should just be able to set it there. Re-amping allows you to get more from each frequency range, resulting in a fuller, more present, recording. If you have an emulator, (I may hate them, but I do have them in the studio,) you can do the same with your clean channel. Just send that clean signal out to the emulator and record your track. Change your emulator settings and do it again. You end up with exactly the same guitar parts, each having a different sound. Mixing these parts together will result in something completely different. We usually also mix in that original clean track. Most people don't notice, but it adds clarity to the cut. Be careful! DON'T use your speaker outs for this! A powered signal can damage your amp! Make sure it's a line level signal and that you have it TURNED DOWN before you start. Even a line level signal will over drive your input. We use a piece of gear, (a re-amper,) to adjust the signal level so it's correct. It's not necessary to have a re-amper, as long as you watch your output signal level closely! We use it because it's a lot easier and, being a studio, we should be able to do this quickly. The re-amper helps on both counts.

Alright - I've done it finally

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I bought it a few months back but negected to mention it in case something came up and ruined the deal. However it didn't. So here it is - my new home [upstairs] and studio [downstairs]. 1200 square feet downstairs with 10 foot ceilings - I'm going to go for a 4-room setup [already planned]. A full half of that space is the live room, a 7x12 vocal/iso booth, a comfy control room and a lounge/storage area with viedogames, my arcade machine and pool table. Between the lounge and control room will be a small machine room for my computers and such. The basement is currently totally unfinished - as in one large, 30'x40' room with some columns in there. So as you can imagine, it will not be ready before christmas. I am going to do it in stages with the lounge last. I used to record other bands and such, however in recent years have switched over to writing music for film, television, and videogames. The money coming in is doing me well - I also work a "day job" with acceptable pay as a foam fabricator - which is a funy coincidence because I can design and create [as well as copy designs] my own studio foam. And as a handy carpenter, I can also make my own diffusers. All in all I'm pretty excited. I am moving all my stuff over this weekend, and actually moving into the place on the 7th of september.

Help with mic recording

Guitarplayer22 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Ok. I use Traction 2 recording software. Its pretty good, (especiall for $100) but when I try to record some vocals I can barely hear it. If i turn it up to much on the software, the quality gets really bad. Do I need to get one of those fancy mics like i see in the recording studios or can i get one for cheap.

I Need Help with amp-pc connection!!

RuiOlasBrandon 's — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi there, I'm a new guy around here. So, I've got 2 mono cables. and my connection is the following: Electric guitar>[mono cable]>Marshall MG series 15 CDR amp>[output, mono cable]>Laptop sound input> Audacity portable. I just cant get any sound, i only get static noise. But if i connect the guitar directly to computer, it works perfectly, but without amp... ...It isn't worth recording anything. So, what software and gear should i get to a proper record session? I'd thank a lot if any of you helped me out, please. ¦-P Rui.

so...i wrote a pop-ish hip hop-ish song

johnmarkh — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

i NEVER write this sort of stuff. it only took a bit of yesterday and a bit today. basically i double tracked the bass, and distorted it. i used a crappy posh drum set, a couple accordion tracks, some sampled and pitch shifted glass clinks, and some vocal tracks. all done using an mxl 990 on snare, 57 on kick, 991's overhead. bass direct with a distortion plugin. vocals 990. accordion 990. it's quite squashed. but i really wanted that sound it's called waste http://www.myspace.com/johnmarkh

Recording Programs

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi, I was just wondering if there are any good/free electric guitar recording programs out there. I currently have Kristal, but I don't like that one. I tried a few others, but they arn't that good. So, any suggestions? I did Google searches, but just keep getting the same stuff.

Home Recording 101

Ruge — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have an American Fender Strat, a small 15 watt Marshal Amp and a V-amp-2 pedal, which I use often with headphones only. I know absolutely NOTHING about home recording but I would love to give it a shot. What are the absolute minimum things that I need in order to get started. My "man room" basement isn't big enough for a pool table but I carved out a corner area for my make-shift studio. I have my gear and a computer. What else do I need? Would like to keep it simple. I get lost in all the fancy jargon thrown about. Let me preface this by saying I'm an intermediate player. I really enjoy playing. I've had a guitar lying around all my life and I always will. The last six months or so I've been trying to get to the next level. I upgraded my guitar, amp and I even took a few lessons. I’ve spent a fair amount of time recently improving my playing ability (learning notes on the fret board and getting a basic understanding of music theory, etc. ). I feel pretty comfortable with my chord play up and down the fret board but I still have a ways to go. Right now I’m trying to get a handle on the modes. That being said, I'd love to play some tracks of my own and then play work on some solos over these tracks and record those on top. Just basic stuff but I think it will be a lot of fun and something I can build upon down the road. While I have a captive audience, the other thing that throw out there: Slowly but surely things are starting to make a heck of a lot of sense to me based on what I've learned recently. (what sounds good in a progression, scale relationship, etc.). What I don’t have is any rhythm to my playing. I always seem to play at the same speed/tempo. Are there lessons/exercises or suggestions that would help me get a flow in to my playing. I'm hoping that playing along some tracks might help me slow down a bit and find a groove. Thanks very much........

Recording Breakthrough

Captain Fantastic — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Now if I could only avoid shaking my new device during the demonstration we could...

HEADPHONES FOR HOME STUDIO

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

hey guys... im going to be running my amp head directly into my mac g5 and want to know what headphones you guys like/recommend for using while playing guitar...basically, as i said--just gonna run the amp into the cpu (through a hotplate first, though) and then use headphones to listen to the guitar (from the cpu) while i play (so the roommates arent bothered)...thanks in advance for the help dan

Recording Studio Scams

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK... These things do exist and if you have a studio, beware! Typically, you'll get an email asking about studio rates and availability. Since we all struggle a bit in the studio business, I can imagine the new owner chomping at the bit to get a group in the studio for a week or two, paid in advance. Unfortunately, it's rarely a real deal. They will be pushy and want things to happen quickly. This is another good indicator that they're trying to rip you off. Slow them down and make it clear that things just don't work that way. They usually won't even ask about a date up front, or be really sketchy about the group, its member or even the style of music they play. There always seem to be a lot of holes. The scams are based on a couple premises. First is money. No surprise! It's the same old stuff you need to watch out for. Don't EVER provide bank information. FOR ANY REASON! It's not your problem if they can't get you the "money" as quickly as you request. If they can't then it's probably a scam. Here's the things I've done to eliminate any possibility of being scammed on the money side: #1. Advanced reservation of the studio, (lockout,) has a set price and a 50% deposit must be received at least 30 days prior to arrival. DEPOSITS ARE NOT REFUNDABLE LESS THAN 30 DAYS BEFORE ARRIVAL! Period! #2. If you're trying to book with less than 30 days advanced notice, the cost increases 50%. Deposits now equal the full quoted price PLUS 50% and must be received no less than 15 days before arrival. No time will be booked with less than 15 days lead time. These deposits are NEVER refundable! #3. No deposit is refundable less than 30 days after receipt! If money is sent and a client requests a refund prior to the 30 day cutoff, it will take a minimum of 30 days to issue a refund check. (This allows time for the check or money order they send to clear the issuing institution.) #4. Payments are accepted for the EXACT amount ONLY! We are not a travel agent, (they'll try to get you to help them with rooms,) or a bank, (hold the extra money for the artists per-diem so they can have it when they arrive.) EXACT amount only or we don't do business. If they're the "real deal" they will understand that this is just business. (While 99% of these are just scams, I have had a real client, who paid quite well, so I don't just blow them all off. Some of them are real, so exploring it through email isn't really a waste of time.) The second reason has to do with immigration. They're looking for a letter from you to "invite" them to work in the U.S. or European country. Once they arrive, they disappear, you never see them. In these cases you may actually receive money that isn't stolen or drawn on non-existent accounts. Be careful here. You can find yourself in a world of s*$& if you are just sending letters out inviting people to come and work. I did this with one Ghana group. They paid a $2400 deposit. Good money actually. I spent about $400 of it FedExing them contracts, info, letters, etc. The embassy in Ghana refused their visa requests. They also contacted me to inquire what the hell I was doing? They advised that there are many who feel that if they actually make a payment it will guarantee their visa approval. While what happened here wasn't illegal, it can be construed as such if you make it a common practice and send invites to group after group getting some monetary value from each. In other words, you're going to have the government looking very closely at you. Just wanted to let you know that, while there are a lot of different scams out there, there are even more ways to protect yourself while exploring the validity of an inquiry about your services. I've made $5000 from international business, which includes the $2000 from the group that never made it. I probably answer about 15 to 20 of these a year, but that one $3000 customer is what keeps me doing it. They're not all crooks. You just have to protect yourself and decide if you want to go through all the hassle in the first place.

Zeppelin cover

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey guys, this is a little cover me and my buddies did of D'yer Mak'er from Houses of the Holy. This was all recorded on a Boss BR-1180CD, I know it's not perfect but please feel free to comment on it and give me some constructive criticism if you have any. Sorry for rapidshare, I don't know of any better place to host the file, thanks guys, hope you enjoy! http://rapidshare.com/files/43190254/D_yer_Mak_er.mp3.html

Recording Equipment. where do you go/ what do you use?

bluburnsorange22 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Whats some good equipment to get to make a slightly budget recording station at home. Like what kind of mics are best for recording directly to a computer? And anyone know any good recording software?

Old Fashioned Backwards Tracks

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

We currently have a group in the studio who wanted a backwards piano chord to lead to a new section of a cut. Now I realize that this isn't a big deal with digital. At least it isn't if you have the software to reverse the recording. I do have something that will work, but getting to it, and getting the result back off of it, is more trouble than it's worth! (Old outdated computer whos CD burner doesn't work any more.) My brother, and chief engineer, spent the morning reprogramming a keyboard to play the chord backwards, and while he was doing so I said, "Too bad they're not in the same key as Yes - Roundabout. Then we could just rip that and use it instead." (It's a joke. I know it would be a copyright violation.) Well, that's not what we did, but it suddenly occured to me that the reason I knew the first sound of Roundabout was a backwards piano chord was that, years ago, I had it on tape, (still do in fact,) and through a pleasant accident, discovered the source of that strange crescendo. That was the start of a revelation. They didn't record in digital back then, it was all analog. We had our solution! I removed the covers from, and dusted off, my tape machines. I usually only use them for my own work anymore as parts, and tape, are impossible to find now. All we did was record the piano chord and misalign the tape heads so that when it was played back it was reversed. Recording, sometimes, is more than just getting a sound down, it's also knowing your gear well enough that you can make it do things that it wasn't necessarily designed to do in the first place. This was a simple problem with a simple solution. It didn't seem so at first, but given the chance to think about it... We've taken steps in the studio that sometimes work and sometimes don't. Like having a vocalist sing into a stainless steel bowl. Putting a mic in the bathroom that's connected to the vocal area. Well, more than just in the bathroom, (which we tiled floor, wall and ceiling for reflection experiments,) we actually put the mic in the toilet bowl! (Flushed and cleaned and turned the water off. We may be crazy but we're not stupid!) Try micing the rear body of an acoustic sometime. If you get it right, you can eliminate a lot of finger noise as well as get a nice round bottom sound. Just because it sounds crazy doesn't mean you shouldn't go ahead and try it. It's only tape, (whoops... zeros and ones,) and you never know what you'll get until you've actually gotten it!

Need some help on mixing

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I am fairly new to doing my own recording. I have a Line 6 Toneport and some good software. I feel that my tracks are good but my mixing needs some work. I need some fairly simple advice to get me over the hump and not information overload. I'm not trying to be a smart a$# about it but I think that I am trying too hard and I'm getting a little frustrated. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Thanks.

Studio Recordings

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK... I've threatened for a long time and now I'm doing it. Realize that these are just crappy mp3's and you don't really get the full treatment listening to them. These tracks are really all one song, but I had to cut it into sections for the cheap mp3 converter I used. They're all raw. Done live in the studio with no overdubs. They haven't been mixed, and you should hear that too. The also haven't been tweaked in any way. The only effects added to the guitar are those the guitarist used while recording. It's The Runnin' Wild Band and the song is called Jeckel & Hyde. It's their tribute to Edgar Winters Frankenstein. Track 1 is the intro. Track 2 is a bass solo. Track 3 is a drum solo. Track 4 is a nice break. Track 5 is more of the same. Track 6 would be the end of the cut if the stupid mp3 converter would let me do more than 5 tracks. Comments are welcome. http://www.cleargravy.com/MP3/Track1.mp3 http://www.cleargravy.com/MP3/Track2.mp3 http://www.cleargravy.com/MP3/Track3.mp3 http://www.cleargravy.com/MP3/Track4.mp3 http://www.cleargravy.com/MP3/Track5.mp3

Reason reFills - bagpipes and such wanted.

Hetjr — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

oes anyone have some? also, any good droning type instruments. I've been working on an instrumental concept in Dadgad tuning called "Dissimulo Vita." The tunes will be in the Style of "Novus Odium" and the as-of-yet to be specifically titled "Instrumental Doom Jam" and a mix of said 2 songs which you can check out on www.myspace.com/hetjr or if you got to www.soundclick.com/robthorne

Miked Marshall JVM Clips - Please comment

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I'm getting away from 'direct recording' pedals. I friggin' hate my Podxt (I have every ampmodel for it...) I hate the POD 2.0, and although I dig the effects on my Boss GT8, the thing I love is my Marshall JVM head and Vintage 1960 Cabinet. Don't get me wrong, POD's and whatnot have really helped me get my ideas together and enabled me to quickly record my tunes with not too much hassle, and quietly... The tone I'm after? Well It cannot be recreated with A POD or any such device. Think Jim Martin from Faith No More... Scathing, yet singing... Dry as a bone, even when wet. Hell, I may need a 'V'... Anyways, the track in the link is me messing with my Marshall; I played an Ibanez Prestige on the bridge pup (Stock, But I Think I'll be rectifying that soon, Dimarzio Fred and a Tonezone coming up!) Now I was in OD2 in 'Yellow' mode. Gain was goosed, Bass at 3:00 Mids at 10:00 Trebs at 3:00 with the volume at about 9:00. Volume was low, mostly because I don't seem to be able to get good results with these fuckers cranked, and I need to be able to record at a manageable level. (There's other people in my house!) Now, my Mic is a Yamaha MZ105be, and I had it pointed at the top left speaker in my cab, close to the mesh, and offset slightly southwest of the center. The mic went directly into my M-Audio Firewire410 which then went directly into my Macbook pro and recorded into Garageband. I have logic, but I just love the simplicity of GB... In this track I put in a looped drum track (Betamonkey.com rules!!) and no bass. The focus is guitar anyways; So here's my observations please let me know what you think, OK? 1)I'm trying to get a great sound without EQ'ING and compression, etc. Is it wrong to think this way? I just seems that EQ'ing's awhole different artform, and I'd like to begin with getting a presentable guitar sound, despite recording quietly.... 2)Wow. My technique really bites. Pretty amazing what a bit of delay makes one think he's hiding... I notice that a lead track such as this seems to sit sort of, ummm... 'blandly' in the mix. Mind you, it could be because I'm playing nothing of substance... Anyways, do you think that there's a rhythmic issue with my leads, and maybe that's whay it sounds a bit bland? Or is it that I'm a confused retard and am in way over my head? lol (Someone call Todd Thayer...!) 3)I do like that it's a real amp. It felt better to play, and to my ears is a lot more pleasing; I have a friend who swears that this track sounds lik a POD... Please tell me it isn't so.... (But only if it isn't) 4)I want to do all of my music with my amp miked, and I have been off and on for a while, but I go through phases where I'll direct record again... I thought I might blend it, but I absolutely hate the sound; Am I insane? Should I embrace the POD...? lol 5)To delay or not to delay. I've recorded a LOT of instrumental guitar music, almost all of it with a 'delayed, rectified' type guitar sound. Should I avoid delay alltogether for a while, or just put a very, teensie little bit to wetten my guitar tracks...? I'm leaning towards 'avoid alltogether'... Thanks in advance, folks.

About Amp Modeler Guitar Rig !

polal2is — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've been using Guitar rig for one year now and I have to say that it's the best and cheapest way to get clean recordings have you tried it, what do you think of it... I've been using using it for the video...

Blogs and video

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hey guys, the more I've been thinking about it, though I know I'm not the best guitar player, I feel there are some things I could teach people and would like to maybe start recording some movies for blogs but I'm running into a problem. I don't have a camera that captures both audio and video. I haven't really looked around cause I just now came to this revelation, but I have an Xbox 360 LIVE! camera, and I was wondering if there was any software you guys know of that could capture audio/video from my soundcard/webcam, or would it be easier to just capture on the camera, while recording to my DRS, then sync them in something like Windows Movie Maker? Any shed light on the subject would be helpful, peace.

For You Protools Users

Captain Fantastic — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

For all of you people out there using Protools LE and M-powered interfaces we now can mix in 5.1. Thanks be to Digidesign [but you still really need to work out the issues with system resources]

USB Mic and Audigy Platinum ZS soundcard

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I have an issue with my recording device. For some reason when I plug in my USB mic (condenser, phantom powered) into my computer tower my sound card doesn't recognize it. So the only way I can record is if I unplug my sound card (which is an external hub). I've spent good money on both of these instruments but for some reason they won't "gel". Has anyone else encountered a problem such as this? I've brought my computer to a technician's house and he couldn't figure it out either. Any suggestions? PS-if I knew it would be this difficult I would've just bought a cheap mic and picked up a phantom powered mixer... Jay

Microphone Uses, There is NO such thing as a bad mic!

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Unless, of course, the mic is broken! This probably isn't a big concern for guitarists. Though you never know until you experiment! We have that opportunity in the studio because we have a lot of different mics to choose from. While recording guitar is usually limited to the old standard SM57, the Senheiser E609, or some other similar dynamic mic, this by no means implies that you can't use something else to get a different, or even better, sound. Typically, electric guitar is going to be recorded with a close mic. This is done for a number of reasons. Getting that pure amplified guitar tone before it's affected by the room, eliminating the "noises" the guitarist makes while playing, eliminating other random sounds, etc. For live recording this is a necessity, but in the studio, things are quite different. If we're tracking, we don't have the guitar amp in the studio while we record bass, (which always runs direct,) and drums and maybe keys, also direct.) When we run the guitar tracks the amp is the only thing in the studio. I designed it so the guitarist can plug in while in the vocal isolation room and make all the noise he wants while the signal goes out to the amp in the studio. This allows us a LOT of latitude in how we mic an amp. The room is also acoustically designed, (don't let this disuade you, most rooms have a "sweet spot" and all you have to do is find it,) so we know where our "sweet spots" are. This is more about experimentation than actual technique. Micing techniques are a starting point. There is no one BEST way to record sound. Use what you already know as a starting point and then start changing things from there. Here's a couple things we do that won't work for everyone, but it's still worth pointing out that these setups defy the "rules" of recording guitar, but can still provide you with a good solid sound that's different from recording with the "standard" setup: Big amps are pretty much a no-no in the studio. The higher the wattage, the more difficult it is to get definition of sound. We have several small amps we use and we use them in combination a lot. (Meaning that we run the same signal to both amps at the same time.) This not only saves us studio time, because we don't have to "reamp" the signal, but adds flavor to the original recording. (Reamping the guitar is something we do all the time. Send a clean, pre-recorded, unaffected, signal, out to your amp. This will allow you to play with your micing technique instead of playing your guitar while trying to do it.) We'll place two amps back to back. (25 watts or less works best.) Angle your amps slightly, about 15-30 degrees. Close mic each amp directly and then place a figure of 8 mic between the amps, (this will actually be behind them,) and point the pattern BETWEEN them, not so that the figure of 8 pattern is pointing directly at them. This center mic will be a condenser mic as you don't find variable patterns on dynamics. Use a different mic on each amp for the close mic. Three different mics and two different amps will assure you a different sound on each track. This is really the best way to fatten your guitar sounds as the qualities of each amp and each mic will assure you get different sound qualities. Then, experiment with it. The condenser will pick up a lot of room, so look for your “sweet spot” to set up your amps. The other day we needed a better bass sound for a particular cut. We reamped the bass. (Not something we would typically do, but the player wasn’t the best and EQ & compression just wasn’t cutting it.) We ran it out to a small Peavy amp and mic’d it with a kick mic that’s never sounded good on a kick, and a small diaphragm condensera few feet back. Even with a small guitar amp, (not even a bass amp,) we ended up with a solid, round, punchy sound. You just never know. Many times we simply put up an omni condenser mic and set it about 1’ from the ceiling. (We have a particular sweet spot up there.) We’ll also use this omni technique for vocals. I have mics in the studio ranging from $30 to $1500. This doesn’t mean we always grab the high dollar mic, it just means we have a selection. Even the cheapest mics in the cab have their uses. Just like that kick mic that sounded like crap on a kick. Turned out it did very nicely on the bass reamp. Don’t just follow what the books, or an experienced engineer tells you to do. Your situation is different that what the author of the book, or the engineer, have been working with. The room you record in is different. Your gear is different. You will get great advice on how to get it started, but don’t blindly believe there is only one way to get a result. Regardless of how you do it, if you get the result you were after, you did it the right way.

O.K. I'm Back!

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Still will be a bit limited as I'm in training for the next three weeks, but should at least be able to post some replys. Trip went well. From Colorado, through Utah and then down through Nevada, (even the wife was driving 110mph,) then through the backside of Yosemite. Got a little sunburned with the top down, but still it was great! Spent the next several days on a few acres south of Yosemite. Fed the little forest creatures and sat on my ass. Would have played some guitar, but it's not possible to fit one in the trunk of a MIata. Then on to Santa Cruz, CA for more vegging. Played on the pier, rode a roller coaster and just relaxed. From there we headed down to Escondido. Drove past James Dean's crash site. The wife got lucky and had the wheel when we hit LA. 4PM on a Friday night was not the best time to be driving thorough. At least I didn't have to deal with it, just sit back and watch. Spent a few days there. Went to the wild animal park that the San Diego zoo runs outside of Escondido. From there we headed back toward home through Yuma, AZ. It was damned hot, but the weather guy there was just saying "very warm!" 109 is a little warmer than "very" warm. The wife was a little more "expressive" about that. Top was up and A/C running full blast for the whole day. Got home on Wednesday and continued to veg. Never touched a comp. Watched almost no TV. It was just a "get away from it all" type of vacation where I didn't really do a thing. The wife kept asking what I wanted to do. My reply was, "I'm on vacation. I don't care. Whatever you want to do is fine with me." Let me tell you, it makes for a VERY happy wife and, personally, I didn't care because I planned my vacation to not do anything and that's what I did. Nice to be home though.

Recording my live gig on the 23rd

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Well the summer is here, and I've got a gig coming up, as well as some new gear [yorkville Elite series FOH pa speakers] It's a show at a farmer's field... not the most glorious moment in my musical history but I prefer playing shows like this. The competition out here is really cut-throat for no reason... I had a gig at a festival a few months back and this group of fifteen year olds asked what my bands name was... before I could answer, they told me it didn't matter cause the crowd would be cheering for them. But it's not just the young'uns. Anyway... So I've decided on what gear I'm using to mic it up and record and run the show, since I am guitarist, singer, soundman, recording engineer, and roadie. I'm using a Yorkville Elite series PA with a Mackie mixer and sm 58's on vocals - 57's on guitars - an Audix D6 on kick - stereo overheads, probably my AKG C1000s' - these will also pick up the crowd. Bass direct. I will be recording into a Roland VS880ex and bringing home and mixing on my Protools setup.

Ahhh Yes, Quite Nice George

Captain Fantastic — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

To the delight of Reason 3.0 users comes the Abbey Road Keyboard Collection... The samples of the Steinway Vertegrand "Mrs. Mills" piano, Hammond RT-3 & Leslie Model 122, Mannborg Harmonium, Mellotron Model 400 were recorded with vintage mics, pre's, and outboard gear for added authenticity. I think the $229 price tag is worth taking a chance on them. I'll post some jive and await your cheers and jeers.

Electrical noise

Fred Pierz — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Hi, Lately I been getting a certain amount of electrical noise (mostly pops) from something plugged into the electrical circuit my mixer is also plugged into in my house. It's not very bad, but it is kind of a pain to have to redo a take when it happens. It seems to only be happening to my mixer, not any of my other gear even though they are all plugged into standard surge suppressors. I have two basic questions that I need help with: 1) Could this be a problem with my mixer (Behringer UB1832FX-Pro)? 2) Is there any kind power cleaning units that I can use that are not overly expensive? Thanks for any help you might have. Later, Fred

Simple at home recordings:

Chris Borsheim — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I've been trying to find a decent interface to use as a basic staging point for all my recordings (guitar only). Let me first state I use a mac, with a small version of windows installed. only program running on windows is Fruityloops. Anyways, My other guitarist just use guitar tracks to record, and uses a shitty mic against a small practice amp, into the interface and it works really well. For me on the other hand, I run my guitar straight into a Maudio Usbpre interface, into Garage band, where I've had the mp3 of my drums imported. And Garage band is my tone control. anyone have any better suggestions, be cause the tone I receive is terrible.

KORG D1200

quixotic92 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Does anyone know of any aftermarket upgrades for the KORG D1200 Recorder? -Quixotic-

upgraded my recording setup.

Hetjr — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=54624D7437217A3E i'm still fiddling with it but i got a sennheiser e609 silver amp mic at GC on my way home from work today. literally all i did for this was unplug my line out from my amp that goes to the line in to my computer, set up the mic on an old mic stand and plugged it in and hit record. http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=54624D7437217A3E

Vacation Alert!

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Just wanted to let you know that I'm "Goin' To California With An Aching In My Heart." Will be leaving Friday morning for Yosemite. After a few days there will be headed to Santa Cruz. A few more days and it's south to Escandido and then on to Phoenix before heading back home about the 6th of June. After that I'm in for 3 weeks of training at work. I tell you this to let you know that I'm just not going to be around much for the next 5 weeks. Not that I'm ignoring anyone, just that I'm not going to have the typical access I have to the site. (While I'm on vacation, I won't be touching a computer at all!) I'm really looking forward to getting away. First vacation I've taken this year. Won't have another until the fall.

Who Here Plays other instruments

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

...And can record 'em for the purpose of collaboration? If you CAN record, or mix or whatever, post your capabilities, how much it costs and what format you can present it in as well as what kind of timeframe... Just curious.

My favourite inexpensive studio gear.

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I just thought I'd share some of my favourite gear that is staying with my studio even though they were inexpensive. Taylor Baby Taylor. This little guitar was originally purchased for camping, however it soon found it's way into numerous mixes... the tone isn't good enough to be a main focus instrument however it's lack of bass when compared to my other acoustics makes it a great choice when you need to throw in some tinkley parts here and there. For example when you have a fingerpicked or otherwise arpeggiated part and want the chords strummed in the background. It also has a lot of attack and is great for solos. The third main use is the short scale makes it easy to lay down some more-complicated-than-usual chords with wide stretches. A great little guitar that sounds okay, plays amazing, and is cheap at like >$300. I tried this one and the mini martin, and this one just blew it away. The Martin was super boxy sounding. Epiphone Valve Junior Head This also comes in a combo, but I didn't want to lay down more money for a speaker I probably wouldn't use. It is 5 watts, classd A, one knob. Sounds clean enough at 9 o-clock, dirties to some raunchy blues at noon, and screams ac/dc at full on. An eq pedal makes it a little more versatile and a distortion pedal can make it a great high-gainer. It records wonderfully, and doesn't weigh a ton like my marshall. I use this one more for those thick wall-of rock and roll sounds than for leads, plus the novelty of a tiny one-knob amp is worth the purchase price {$140 for the head} anyway. __ Little 2-hole clamps I use Gibralter ones, you can get them from many companies. The are a bar with a clamp on neach end: I mount these to my cymbal stands, and mount the toms off of them. They help remove the ring from the toms when the kick is hit, because they aren't mounted to the kick drum any more. Of course this isn't a problem with kits like my new one where the toms get their own stands, but it helps if you have the standard type of mount. Feel free to add to my list.

Favorite Drum Loops?

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

What are your favorite drum loops? I'm pretty addicted to BetaMonkey myself... I've bought 4 DVD's so far...

Reccommend a mixer?

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, I'm looking at a Mackie Onyx 16 channel... Any thoughts? Pros, cons? Any alternatives sort of within the same price range? Thanks in advance, dudes!

Hard disk recorders... need help deciding

robbiusa — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I was originally going to upgrade my computer, but after thinking about it, I decided that my 3.5 year old pc still had some life left in it and was good enough for everything that I do except music. So I am thinking of buying a hard disk recorder. I am leaning toward the Korg D3200. My existing setup is: Line 6 Pod XT Live Bass V-amp Pro M-audio Luna Electro Voice N/D 257A Alesis Nanoverb CME UF5 Controller Keyboard Waldorf microQ or Clavia Lead 2X Rack Alesis SR-16 Stereo Drum Machine Behringer ULTRAMIZER PRO Alesis M1 Active MK2 I run it into Sonar on the computer, and have never used any kind of hardware recorder (for music).... Anyone have any thoughts? Pros/cons. Need to stay under $1300. Two singers, 2 guitars, bass, synth, drums. Also want to do live recording and don't want to get a laptop right now. What should I be looking for? Thanks in advance for any advice/tips/knowledge/help. Here are the choices I've been considering: Korg D3200 Fostex VF160EX Boss BR-1200CD Yamaha AW1600 Tascam 2488mkII Zoom HD16 Also, what would be the best way to get it all working together... and is there really no point and I should stick to my pc and comfort zone.

I'm Back.

eds1275 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

That's right, I have returned... I just joined and havent looked over the features yet, but the colours are nicer on the eyes. If you don't know me, I am a longtime user of both guitar.com and digidesign protools. I own a small recording and audio editing studio in Vancouver, BC. I also teach guitar and play some gigs here and there. Just finished work though. More to come.

A little off site topic....but....

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Does anyone have any recomendation for mic-ing drums. i've got 2 microphones and i need some advise on placement. (my drummer is an idiot) Any help would be nice.

OS Upgrade

Captain Fantastic — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

I upgraded my G4 PPC to 10.4.whatever with all of it's great new features and installed Adobe Suite and whatnot but neglected to investigate the consequences that the upgrade would have on my ProTools™ setup. Well, it had this consequence. Nothing worked! I had to upgrade my 6.4 LE software to version 7.3.1 which was the only available upgrade for LE users like me to purchase. It wasn't bad, $75. But then I had to upgrade my memory as well and for the older Mac models like mine, the memory is more expensive because no one needs it! Anyway, my desire to be cutting edge with my OS ending up costing me more but 7.3.1 is running like a real chump, I mean champ. I meant champ all along.

Live Recording in the Studio

Xarkzila — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

A way to get experience and make a little cash too! I offer a great deal to musician's out there. A way for them to get a demo, dirt cheap! For $40 weekdays and $50 weekends, they can book a 4 hour session in the studio for practice. We set up a live situation for recording and provide a CD of a selected portion of their "session." (They tell us when to start and stop the recording.) It's cheap because we don't do any tracking or post-processing, just live mixing. This is our practice time too, so we get to play around as well. We mic the drums, (overheads, kick and snare, no need for more mics actually, we usually only mic this much for studio tracking,) and run everything else direct. (Hey, it's practice!) If the guitarists have pedal boards they can use them as well. We just send their effected signals to a V-Amp, 2120, POD, whatever is free. Bass is run direct through tube pres and tube compressors or a Bass V-Amp depending on what we feel like. SM58's for vocals. Everyone wears headphones. The recording is done live. If you make a mistake, move on or start over. We'll fill a CD so they get something to listen to from the practice. Have a country group in this weekend. Not my kind of music, but music is music in the recording studio. (Unless it's like those metal kids we had in recently. If they could have played what they were trying to play it might not have been so bad. The singer was the worst. After they left we remixed their stuff so he sounded like a pig grunting or as if he were puking. It actually improved the overall presentation!) This should be really easy. Not posting this as an advert, just to let others who have a studio know that this is a great way for you to get practice with your gear, setups, tests of new and new "used" gear you have and whatnot. You can even track them, (but I'd keep with the "you get what you get" idea on the recording part as $50 isn't enough to start post-processing and once you open that can of worms, you'll be sorry,) and play with a mix later. They can take their CD and cut parts for a demo. (I've had several clients do just this and they get a demo for next to nothing as well as a practice for their efforts.) We charge a lot more for a three song demo, depending on what the client wants. Here they can play parts of 10 or 20 songs and get a hell of a demo selection. It doesn't kill the recording business at all. In fact, it seems to help it. The advantage to the band is they get cheap practice space where they don't have to haul all their gear. (Guitarists/bassists only need their axes and effects. Drummers can use the studio kit, though most will bring their throne, kick pedal and cymbals at a minimum. Some will bring their own kit but that's up to them.) Everyone has fun. For you, it allows you to experiment with sounds, mic placements on the drum kit, effects, vocals, live mixing, tracking if you choose to, post-processing if you track it. We record direct to a CD burner, this could be a setback if you don't have a stand alone unit. We have also recorded to cassette tape. All we use is the main outs from the mixer and send that to the recording device. Cassettes are still acceptable recordings for this purpose and cassette decks are pretty cheap, so if you don't have a CD burner, you can still offer this service without having to track the recording and burn it later. Just thought I'd throw this idea out to those who want to broaden their recording horizons, but don't know how to get people into your studio. We use this to fill down time when we don't have anyone else scheduled.

Recording Gurus: I need some help!

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

OK, I'm just looking for some feedback on a recording I just did, mostly curious about mixing stuff, levels, clipping whatever you hear, lemme know... heck, if all you want to do is let me know what a piece of crap it is, that's OK too! Here's the link: http://www.guitarius.net/TheKreeps.mp3 OK, recorded on an Imac with Garageband. M-Audio Firewire 410 and a Samson CO1. The bass was plugged in direct, drums are Beta monkey Drumloops, and guitars as follows: Rhythm Left = Fender Telecaster>EHX Big Muff Pi>Marshall DSL 401 Combo Rhythm Right = Fender Telecaster>Boss DS-1>Marshall DSL 401 Combo Lead Left = Fender Telecaster>EHX Big Muff Pi>Marshall DSL 401 Combo (This track has some delay on it courtesy of Garageband...) Lead Right = Fender Telecaster>EHX Metal Muff>Marshall DSL 401 Combo Lead Center = Fender Telecaster>EHX Big Muff Pi>Marshall DSL 401 Combo (Harmonies and solos, there's some delay on the actual solo also garageband...) For the actual solo, it seems that the battery in my Big Muff Pi started to die, which is fine, i was able to finish up OK anyways, but still... Loss of battery life = less sizzle... Note that this was recorded in my unfinished basement with concrete floors, no blankets, nothing to dampen the sound. I'm not TOTALLY unhappy with the sound, but still... Sounds pretty amateur-ish to me... (Could be the wheedling...lol)

Question on recording Fuzzed out guitars

Zombre — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Any mic placement tips? Also I could use some ideas on how to get rid of that "sounds like it was recorded in an unfinished basement with a concrete floor sound"... of course, I currently record in an unfinished basement with a concrete floor, lol.

I finally got an electric tone I am pleased with

johnmarkh — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

After a lot of confusion and mic moving, I finally got something workable. First off let's go over what I've got. My mic selection consisted of two dynamics ( SM57, Carvin CM50), small diaphragm condensers (mxl 991), and a large diaphragm condenser (mxl 990). They're all cardioid patterned mics, with the 990, 991 having some brightness on the top, and the cm50 is just crappy all over, but mostly harsh in the high end. The 991's (small diaphragm) have almost a warped omni look to them. As for the guitar and amp, I have a tube amp, 2x10, and a semi-hollow body guitar. You can already see where I've had my difficulty. The guitar is crystal clear with great high end, but picked up with those mics? Bleh. I got that bees buzzing tone every time. So what have I disliked? The typical dynamic and LDC combo. SDC's xy'd from a few feet back. dynamics straight on each speaker. Just a 57 from a foot back. boo. So I decided there's a few things I'm doing wrong. First, if I didn't like the plain ole dynamics, it seems I may have some room or phase issues. It only takes a little standing wave to make your distortion crap up. Lucky for me I have a couple of pretty good sized pieces of drywall and pieces of carpet lying around. I tried to baffle a corner and rig up a slightly sectioned off room. Then to use the high-end of the mxl 990 ldc, I put it in the room next to the one I'm in. This room is a basement living room type deal with carpet and couches, but also has brick walls. It's also pretty long room. It's probably something like 12' by 30'. It turned out to be a pretty great reverb chamber so I didn't even have to mess with a plugin. For the dynamics, I put them pretty much on the grill right at the cones. The 57 was right on axis, but to tame the highs of the CM50, I put it off axis. The small diaphragm 991 I used as a room mic to just see what happened. With the dynamics being darker, and the condensers being a little brighter, I had myself a good natural EQ to work with. The cm50 was probably the darkest, the 57 being a decent tone overall, the 991 in the room had a great top end tone with a slight reverb, and the 990 had a longer reverb with a good top end, yet sorta muffled (but not in a bad way). I gave the left and the right a condenser and dynamic each, and messed with levels until things sounded alright. I think on Thursday I'll try to get a clip up, and maybe I'll get my housemate's drums to the studio to see how the electric mixes with other instruments, but it should work well since it's a fairly true to life tone. Typically people just say "point a 57 at the amp", but does anyone have something they like? share it!

What do you use to record?

Mr. Blonde — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:22:30 +0100

Guitar -> V-Amp2 -> Cakewalk Sonar 5 I sequence drums and whatnot in GuitarPro and then load that into Sonar using Edirol Orchestral HQ for strings, Drumkit From Hell for drums, and various soundfonts for whatever I need.