Help with home recording

bbottom · January 31, 2012, 10:07:22 PM

So what would you suggest is the easiest way to record bass tracks onto Audacity or an easy to use program? It doesn't have to be great mind you.

When I was doing a lot of home recording before I had the bass running into a combo amp and then DI into a mixer which then ran into the pc. So if I could avoid all of that (and maybe find a program with drum tracks) that would be great.

I can't stress enough that the easier the thing is to run the better.

I lack patience when it comes to anything related to computers

inductorguitars · February 01, 2012, 12:49:44 AM

Yea a DI into Audacity is probably the easiest way to do it. You get that Stayin' Alive bass sound.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug05/articles/classictracks.htm

jibberish · February 01, 2012, 01:14:50 AM

shitass hi impedance mic, mic'ing your amp right through soundcard to audacity is the quickest easiest.
you have the little mixer in windows already
you have the soundcard with hi-imp mic input already
and i'll bet you have at least one "web cam rig w/e" shit mic laying around or any hi imp mic

no feedback if you dont monitor out loud

next easiest is a little mixer taking in normal mic to the line out, which then goes to the STEREO line in on the soundcard. (usb would work here also)

i actually like the little mixer to soundcard line in deal. mixer is flexible, just like a mixer. 8D hey...
so i can switch between instruments with faders instead of unplugging a bunch of stuff
or do the drum machine and something else together etc

Lumpy · February 01, 2012, 01:45:32 AM

Garage Band is good if you're on a Mac. They have some beats included. It's not free though. Reaper for PC (?)

You can buy an instrument cable that's 1/4 jack on one end, USB jack on the other (can't get any easier than that). Or look for 'audio interface' in the recording section of the online stores. In some recording programs (Garage Band) you get "effects" to make your instruments sound cool. Doing digital effects on a direct line-in gives you tons of flexibilty for tweaking your sound (or use your real stompboxes, either way).

I only use Audacity for basic recording and editing -- no beats included, and no stompbox style effects. But it's **free**. I don't like it very much, it doesn't do anything but the bare basics for me. Take a jam room track, trim the gaps, convert it to an MP3. If that's all you need, it's fine.

Maybe find some free beats and/or effects here? (Try google too)
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/

bbottom · February 01, 2012, 11:42:01 AM

Quote from: Lumpy on February 01, 2012, 01:45:32 AM
Garage Band is good if you're on a Mac. They have some beats included. It's not free though. Reaper for PC (?)

You can buy an instrument cable that's 1/4 jack on one end, USB jack on the other (can't get any easier than that). Or look for 'audio interface' in the recording section of the online stores. In some recording programs (Garage Band) you get "effects" to make your instruments sound cool. Doing digital effects on a direct line-in gives you tons of flexibilty for tweaking your sound (or use your real stompboxes, either way).

I only use Audacity for basic recording and editing -- no beats included, and no stompbox style effects. But it's **free**. I don't like it very much, it doesn't do anything but the bare basics for me. Take a jam room track, trim the gaps, convert it to an MP3. If that's all you need, it's fine.

Maybe find some free beats and/or effects here? (Try google too)
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/

Any idea on what the sound quality is like for one of the 1/4 to usb cables? Again I don't need anything fantastic, it just needs to get the job done and not sound like complete ass

zachoff · February 01, 2012, 12:02:51 PM

I like Reaper more than Audacity. Reaper is a little more difficult but a lot more feature-rich. I have a USB recording interface (TonePort UX1) and it's rad. There are a ton of others that are probably just as good or better. I've heard good things about the M-Audio units.

VOLVO))) · February 01, 2012, 12:06:33 PM

Any program is free if you have loose morals.

jibberish · February 02, 2012, 06:08:54 AM

reaper is a whole DAW.
audacity is a fairly feature rich these days stereo wave recorder.
garage band is an entire all-in-1 music creation software.

3 different things

so try to keep the software in line with the intended use.

if you are assembling songs from multiple tracks, audacity is lame. use reaper or garageband, or some other DAW like steinberg etc.

if you are just snagging a track, audacity rules. too simple, export to mp3/wave, done. if you can hear it, you can record it.

clockwork green · February 02, 2012, 12:12:54 PM

I can't figure any of that shit out...I just don't have the patience to learn but it's super simple on the iPad. No more trying to figure out ports and other crap to turn mic's on, just a simple USB adapter and it's good to go.

giantchris · February 02, 2012, 09:51:54 PM

Easiest thing is to use a DI into your line in port on your soundcard. Or you could get something like a Line6 toneport and use PODfarm which actually doesn't sound too bad and is relatively reasonably priced.

bbottom · February 02, 2012, 11:31:39 PM

I ended up buying an ART USB Dual Pre interface yesterday along with a set of headphones.

After about an hour of fucking around with trying to get it to work in Audacity I got it all figured out.

Now all I need is to get something that has some drum beats in it and I'll be golden

Lumpy · February 03, 2012, 12:40:15 AM

You can either program some beats, or look for pre-programmed drum samples, if you can go with pre-fabricated stuff

jibberish · February 03, 2012, 11:05:14 PM

i was thinking. i really am lazy with grabbing audio from the web with audacity; whatever, youtube, myspace, something encoded/scripted that can't be downloaded etc.
i start audacity recording set to "what you hear" and start playing whatever it is i'm recording.
after the recording, trim the ends, boost the levels and export as wave/mp3

now playing : drain STH

black aspirin · September 04, 2013, 05:14:12 PM

I'm sure I'll have a fair amount of questions to ask for a while, so I'm gonna put 'em here instead of clogging up the blog thread or starting a new one. Forgive me, because some of them are bound to be stupid.

1. I assume it would be possible to use my Roland VS-2000 digital recorder as a mixer, whereby I route my gear into it, and then out to my Firepod for recording? I want to do this for two reasons:

a.) To take advantage of some of the awesome Roland VST plug-ins and presets.
b.) I was told that by using a mixer, I could route my Firepod into my Presonus tube preamp, into a mixer, and back to the Firepod in order to run my synth program through the tubes and give it a more warm, analog-type sound.

Also, is this going to cause problems with excess noise or anything...doing so much routing?