canuckguitarist Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 Ok, so I've kinda got an idea of what I want, I'd just like to get some more opinions on them... Rolls Interface and Cakewalk Guitartracks 2.0 - Seems like the best way to go right now... OLP/Line 6 Guitarport Pack and Cakewalk Guitartracks 2.0 - Meh, first one seems better I also need info about mics...which ones? Also, would you go with Cakewalk Home Studio 2004 or Guitartracks 2.0? Do you guys have any thoughts, opinions, suggestions? Thanks, Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 I'd go with an Echo Mia and a POD. The Mia's a decent soundcard, and I've used it with a mic, but mic's (IMO) are a real pain in the ass, and I'm looking to pick up a POD to see if that's any better. The Mia runs for about $180. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 that OLP pack doesn't look half bad, the guitar port sounds pretty good, if not get the latest pod pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 Take a look at the M-Audio Quattro - might not be your cup o' hemlock, but it's really versatile, and it's USB, so you can hot-plug it in and out. I'm currently using a Roland VS840, but I'll be stepping up as soon as my Christmas bills are straightened out. It works with any software, so choose what you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 I can recommend all that is M-Audio based on the quality of their Midiman 2496 and reviews from other users. so long ace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardlyneeded Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 I love my GuitarPort and spam for it every chance I get It's extremely versatile as a practise tool and also works for demoing tracks. Is it a professional recording tool? Not even close, but that doesn't mean it's not good. Here's a track that I recorded with my GuitarPort. I know it's not the greatest but that's why they're called demo tracks right . Other stuff... Fruityloops for the drums, PowerTab Editor for the bass track, Cakewalk for the multitracking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 man..i like your style.i would buy a cd full of stuff like that.like d.r.i meets sadus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 i'm trying out some mics to capture the lead tone on my amp,....... let's just say "outa the fryin' pan, into the flame".... both the 57 and MXL condenser sound great.... but i just can't get "the" tone i'm hearing with my ears i'll probably just go out and buy a pod or tinker with the presets on my station that's great thick and clear rythm tone there hardlyneeded..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Learning how to get a great mix takes a lot of practice and reading. It's basically like learning how to build guitars, you have to read and try things out a long time before you figure it out and even then you'll always learn more. A good site that I go to is Audio Forums. Currently I'm using two Delta 1010 soundcards to do recordings. I bought Steinberg Nuendo after demoing it at a local music store 2 years ago. It's a bit much for simple recording, but is great if you ever think you'll want to record in 5.1, 7.1 or 10.2 surround sound later on. I got it because I bought the early Roland VS-880 when it first came out and liked it but, didn't have the editing capabilites I need. I would also recommend any M-Audio stuff Delta series or usb(Quattro), Firewire, they all sound good, I've setup most of them because my friends have bought them. Nowdays, you can get alot of mileage out of Sonar, Cubase SX, which wasn't out at the time and is much cheaper than Nuendo. The real reason I wanted Nuendo is because you can have as many as 8 effects sends, and 4 inserts per channel. It's all nondestructive editing and is a breeze to work with once you get the overall hang of it. One thing to look for is good plug-ins which you will want to buy later on. Waves has some great plug-ins especially the L1 or L2+Ultramaximizer which can help you get that commercial loud cd sound you want. But if your just trying to get some demo ideas down, then you can get by with almost any multitrack recording software. Below are some things to consider when mixing: 1. Everything has a place in the mix. For example, you mix a big bold bass line, then you turn around and solo the kick drum and really pump the bass end on it, you think your really on to something when all of a sudden you listen to everything together and discover it sounds like MUDD.. lol So basically you have to decide which one will take that lower fequency so both of them don't compete for it. Map it out where each instruments predominate frequency will be, so everything in your mix will shine. 2. Get that tracks dynamics under control. If you look at a certain tracks waveform and notice any parts that spike 6db above the average of the audio, you need to select that part of the waveform and do a gain reduction so it will closer match the overall volume. This will get rid of the sudden volume swells that yells out.. "AMATEUR MiX".. Then you could use compression to get even a tighter sound. 3. Pan that stuff. Give your mix life by placing things in the stereo mix at different locations. You really have 2 main types of locations in a mix. Where is the instrument playing at.. that will be determined by the pan, which most people try to pan stuff so that it sounds like your listening to the band live... Bass, kick drum middle, and vocals are generally placed in the middle for reference. Next, there is how close or far is the instrument from you.. You can use reverb to make things sound like they are farther off than other instruments. 4. Let each instrument have it's time. If the singer is singing, the other instruments are background at the moment and need to be brought back a bit. If there is a guitar part between verses you can bring it up a bit then lower the volume when the vocalist takes back over. Think of it as a marathon. A good mix will have that kind of balance, in which each part takes it turn at running with it.. lol.. This post is getting long, but I thought this might help someone make a better mix.. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 umm....................... im kinda computer illiterate but my band is finishing up our album at my cousins little home studio and we are using the Uendo system for his pc, and a few diferent condenser mics, the thing sounds great! i will give some links as soon as it is finished, Krazy derek, sometimes i found to get the same sound your ear hears you need to put the mic where your ear is at the time, this doesnt always work but sometimes for drum room mics, or nice lead tones it does, but im not a pro, it cant hurt to try it though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 i'm going to try playing with the amp actually pointed at my ears.... so i can fine tune the amp and hear what the mic is hearing, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardlyneeded Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Amps have "sweet spots" and really it's just a matter of playing around to find them. I always used to record with a mic right against my amp. It took me quite sometime to find the sweet spot, slightly up and left of the center of the speaker of my Peavey Bandit. Once I found it I put a small dab of white out on that spot so it was marked. I also took note of the angle of the mic and made a cradle for it that would hang on the amp out of a metal clothes hanger. It really depends on what sound you're looking for and your means. I've known people who record with four mics, one in front of the speaker, five feet back, ten feet back and one right inside the back of the cab. Then all four mics were run in line with noisegates and the final guitar sound was a mix of all four mics. Depends on how psycho you want to be and how much effort you're willing to put in to your sound. Oh yeah. Wes: Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 update: i still hate mic's and can't find my sound and i've been tinkering for 5 hours now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 what kind of mic are you using derek? oh and dont put your ear to the amp that will do nothing but ruin your hearing.lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 oh and if the mic is pinted directly at the center of a speaker it will have more of a brighter sound and if its pinted at the rim of the speaker it will be duller sounding , on my mesa dc-5 i like to pint it about three inches from the rim towards the center. its not to bright then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultraman Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 i have a really great program for audio track mixing. its called quartz audio master. it has everything you need to mix all your tracks toghether it only has four tracks because its a demo. but its enough if your only gonna have a drum,guitar,bass and maybe one more instrument on your recording. http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=...artz&tg=dl-2001 even better, its FREE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Isn't the Pro-Tools home version "free" too? 8-tracks I believe. Plus it's "industry standard." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 what kind of mic are you using derek? oh and dont put your ear to the amp that will do nothing but ruin your hearing.lol sure 57 and a MXL condenser.... one sounds to fuzzy and the other sounds to glassy, i can use them both at the same time and almost get my sound, but i can't affored to buy both.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbkim Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 sure 57 and a MXL condenser.... one sounds to fuzzy and the other sounds to glassy, i can use them both at the same time and almost get my sound, but i can't affored to buy both.. How loud are you playing your amps? Some people put their speakers/cabs in an isolation booth to crank them. The mics probably "hear" differently than your ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyderek Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 i tried soft and loud, still meh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 I've got the Digidesign M-Box. $450 Street Price, Comes with ProTools LE It works great but there is a learning curve. If you get this get plenty of ram and a huge hard drive and you're set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted December 31, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 I've got the Digidesign M-Box. $450 Street Price, Comes with ProTools LE It works great but there is a learning curve. If you get this get plenty of ram and a huge hard drive and you're set is that the one that comes with reason, amplitube...etc.? I was looking into that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Take a look at the M-Audio Quattro - might not be your cup o' hemlock, but it's really versatile, and it's USB, so you can hot-plug it in and out. I'm currently using a Roland VS840, but I'll be stepping up as soon as my Christmas bills are straightened out. It works with any software, so choose what you like. I owned one for about a week. Flakey drivers crazy latency just all around bad. Ended up with the Vm-3100 pro base Roland Studio Pack. Imho its the way to go. 8 Chanels at a time, good drivers, no latency issues. About $300 on ebay, Id recomend finding a different version(cough cough limewire cough cough) of logic though. For a point of reference Im finish a 14 track full band project. We recorded 5 tracks of drums(sure drum mic pack), 1 guitar(sm57), 1 bass(direct off amp), 1 Vocal.(sm58 or MXL Condenser). We then replace vocal, bass, and guitar tracks at will. I then did my solos sometimes in 4 layers/sections. Once the mastering is done it will be ready to reproduce. Sound clips of our early attempts w/ just 1 mic for drum are on our site. For a vocal mic the MXL condensors are cool btw. I used it for some of my solos as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryeisnotcool2 Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 hey guys here is one of our songs it still need vocals but let me know what ya think! HYDE no vox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwaszx Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 I think music is very beutiful. Riffs are easy and very beautiful. I especially loved the drum part with the hi-hat and ride trick, very beautifully written. With vocals this song will be great!!!! Congratulations... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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