ricknbokker Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 Oy Vey...the trepidation!!! (subject shivers...) So, I quit the band. Granted, it was just a weekly therapy session with some old farts like myself 'gettin' our ya-ya's out', but I find that I will miss it more than I thought. I feel the vacuum that this situation causes, yet I also feel the anticipation of tackling something new. Anticipation not necessarily being a good thing. I am now pointed in a new direction, that is, an opportunity to involve myself in a new project that involves recording original music into the very device with which I am typing this post. I mean...give me a break! Holy cannoli! I am the master of the 'analog, lo-fi, low cost domain!!! What now??! Must I learn yet again the intricasies of a new technology while at the verge of what could be my creative peak?!! Radio Shack has been so good to me!! Why does this always happen to me?! Now I actually have to learn all these terms I see you guys spewing ad nauseum on these fine forums. Things like...DAW...hard disc...24bit converters...latency rates, and what not!!! (That last one scares me. Is that right?) The last plug-in I used was the vacuum cleaner!! Anyway, I would like to 'thank' the audio gods for sticking it to me in what is sounding like the most expensive, confusing way possible. Soon you will see many topics posted by yours truly, in which I will have to plead ignorance to what are surely the the most banal, basic concepts of this new 'realm' I find myself heading toward. Much like an out of control, small, rather unsafe vehicle...hurtling through the dark... destined to impact the hardest, most unforgiving object available to it's limited, terrified, and inexperienced operator... pleading for assistance from anyone who will listen... I won't die, though. That would only interrupt my suffering. Steve (NOT quitting smoking after all...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curve Dominant Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 Digi001, baby! It'll give you a new lease on life. I just got one, so we can learn together... E [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] Eric Vincent (ASCAP) www.curvedominant.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott from MA Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 I hope you have more luck than I'm having... About 6 months ago, I sold my analog 8-track and purchased Cakewalk Pro-Audio and a digital mixer. I haven't successfuly recorded ANYTHING yet! I've had nothing but problems. [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img] Scott (just another cantankerous bastard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod S Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 [quote]Originally posted by Scott from MA: [b]I hope you have more luck than I'm having... About 6 months ago, I sold my analog 8-track and purchased Cakewalk Pro-Audio and a digital mixer. I haven't successfuly recorded ANYTHING yet! I've had nothing but problems. [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img][/b][/quote] You're kidding right? What are the problems? Hardware or software? I recently installed a new audio card and I was up and running in < 2 hrs (seriously). When I initially got into this it only took me a few days to record *something*. (BTW I also use CPA9) A few of us here use it... have you posted before about your problems? Korg Kronos X73 / ARP Odyssey / Motif ES Rack / Roland D-05 / JP-08 / SE-05 / Jupiter Xm / Novation Mininova / NL2X / Waldorf Pulse II MBP-LOGIC American Deluxe P-Bass, Yamaha RBX760 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtrmac Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 I've been using Cubase for the last two years or so and I love it. I was lucky to buy it when version 3 was finally perfected and I did a lot of research into compatible computer hardware etc. Now i have version 5. I waited until a reliable version was released before I upgraded. Steinberg has a user community at [url=http://www.cubase.net]www.cubase.net[/url] which is a big advantage support-wise. I was able to get advice and tips from experienced users and you can see what to watch out for. The best thing about Cubase for me though is the VST instruments. I have a few synths, a drum sample player and the new Halion sampler and it amazes me how much music I can get happening inside my PC without any external synths or samplers. Recently the company I work for has become a Nuendo dealer which is another Steinberg product which is very good. I build computers to run Nuendo in pro studios and people have been very happy with it. One word of advice though if I may: don't stop playing with people altogether. It's easy to sit at home and produce everything by yourself and it is great fun. But I feel that playing live, even just once in a while is very important to keep the real purpose of music clear in your mind. I began to find myself making music only for myself and I began to suspect that the music suffered somehow. I decided to get out once in a while and play in front of an audience again. Even just at a jam session for instance. Anyway, good luck with your endeavor. ------------------ Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan My Music: [url=http://www.javamusic.com/freedomland]www.javamusic.com/freedomland[/url] Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3wiz Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 It's too deep for me. I've resigned myself to putting ideas down on my Triton sequencer, takin it to practice along with some charts and lettin' all my buds put their 2 cents in and then we head off to another friends basement where he has a G4 with motu, a bunch of plug ins, some nice mikes and a sweet sounding old Peavey studio console with the tube pre's in it and we can record all day for a hundred bucks...that's 20 bucks a piece! and we're turning out some nice stuff and don't even have to swear at a computer program! Not for everybody, but it's great for techno-illiterate old balding bastards such as myself. And the engineer bud, who teaches digi- recording at the local university, is capable of producing way better stuff than I will ever hope to on my own. As for me...I gave all my PC stuff to a friend and got out my old thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns and am actually getting my chops up. Got my reading back. The TOS&MP has inspired all kinds of new stuff for me. Why, my wife even says I'm better in bed!!! Gotta luv it! [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtrmac Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 b3wiz is definately onto something there. I like his strategy. It has one thing that a lot of bedroom producers like myself are missing, input from other musicians. I'm working on that angle though. ------------------ Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan My Music: [url=http://www.javamusic.com/freedomland]www.javamusic.com/freedomland[/url] Mac Bowne G-Clef Acoustics Ltd. Osaka, Japan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 <> You are always welcome to post newbie questions here. This is NOT like those forums on (ahem) other sites where the "pros" rake you over the coals for your ignorance. The people here are real pros who are more than glad to share their expertise, 'cause they remember what it was like to start out. Ask away! Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 <> That simply should not be. Describe the types of problems you're having, perhaps we can troubleshoot it. I always found Pro Audio 9 to be rock solid and SONAR is doing great for me. You probably have just one little flag set wrong somewhere in your computer that when fixed, will solve your problems. Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvdd Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 Hey Steve, Just curious .. how old are you? I'm 50 and I've had some version of a home studio since '77. In '83 I quit my band and started my one man show; setting up all the tracks at home (guits,keys,drums,vocals) then playing live lead guit and lead vocals in front of a full PA. I'm so bored with this now (and LONELY) that I'm having my first serious rehearsal with 3 guys next Wednesday, hoping to capture some old fashioned band magic. I now realize that when I was 16 it was the real deal. Sounds like we're doing the exact opposite thing right now. You will enjoy the absense of personality hassles and lazy/incompetent players. Good luck on your venture. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott from MA Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 [quote]Originally posted by Rod CA: [b] You're kidding right? What are the problems? Hardware or software?[/b][/quote] Not kidding... I have tried recording some stuff, but my tracks never sync up, and I get a lot of "skipping" and drop-outs. I don't know if it's hardware or software, because I really don't know what I'm doing. I would assume it's a hardware problem... but I have a decent computer. Here's the set-up: AMD Athalon Thunderbird 1 Gig processor Asus A7V-K133 motherboard 128M RAM 20 Gig Hard drive I bought a TASCAM TM-D1000 mixer. I was going to buy the T/DIF PCI card when I got some extra money, but I've been told it's very difficult to set-up, especially for someone like me who doesn't know what they're doing. So, instead I am using the TMD as an regular mixer... running the stereo outs to the line in of the soundcard (which is built into the motherboard). So... here I go... I'm gonna record. I start Cakewalk, and set the "clock source" to "audio". I start my drum machine and get a signal coming through the mixer, and check the level in Cakewalk. I've adjusted the "line" level on my soundcard settings so that 0db at the Tascam mixer is around 0db on the Cakewalk mixer. Everything looks good... so I record the drum machine track (stereo). I can play back the drum track, and everything sounds good... except that the level seems really low?! Odd... it was nice and hot when I recorded it! No problem, I can use the "3db Louder" function (a few times) and get it up to a nice level. Now to throw some bass on it! I pan the drum track hard-right, and record the bass using the left channel (or port, or whatever you call it). Except now the drum track has little "skips" and "pauses", making it difficult to play bass over it. "CPU" is only at about 10%, and "Disk" is 1%, so I know I'm not over-running the system. Also, I can hear the bass a LOT louder in my headphones than the drums, but there doesn't seem to be a monitor mix on Cakewalk. Anyway, I manage to get through the bass track... but when I play the tracks back, the bass is out of sync with the drums. Now I have to try to line them up... which proves difficult because they aren't CONSISTENTLY out of sync! A friend told me the problem is my soundcard. He uses a $700 soundcard, and claims to have no "latency" problems (which is apparently what I'm having). Well, I don't have $700 to spend on a soundcard... especially if I'm not SURE that will fix it! Also, I really want to do away with the analog connection, and go totally digital. My mixer is set up for T/DIF and MMC... the problem is, I know nothing about digital audio or MIDI. I don't understand "word clocks" or "bit rates" or any of that. I understand magnetic tape and razor blade editing! By the way... if I can get the T/DIF connection, then I can monitor everything at the mixer. I know this will solve my monitor-level problem... but will it help the "latency" thing? Should I just scrap it all, and buy another analog reel-to-reel? Scott (just another cantankerous bastard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott from MA Posted August 24, 2001 Share Posted August 24, 2001 [quote]Originally posted by Anderton: [b]You probably have just one little flag set wrong somewhere in your computer that when fixed, will solve your problems.[/b][/quote] There are "flags" that need to be set? Oh, man... I have no idea what I'm doing! I suck! Scott (just another cantankerous bastard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricknbokker Posted August 25, 2001 Author Share Posted August 25, 2001 [quote]Originally posted by bvdd: [b]Hey Steve, Just curious .. how old are you? I'm 50 and I've had some version of a home studio since '77. In '83 I quit my band and started my one man show; setting up all the tracks at home (guits,keys,drums,vocals) then playing live lead guit and lead vocals in front of a full PA. I'm so bored with this now (and LONELY) that I'm having my first serious rehearsal with 3 guys next Wednesday, hoping to capture some old fashioned band magic. I now realize that when I was 16 it was the real deal. Sounds like we're doing the exact opposite thing right now. You will enjoy the absense of personality hassles and lazy/incompetent players. Good luck on your venture. Bill[/b][/quote] Thanks, Bill. I'm few months from 40, and from the time I was 15 or so, I've been involved in some type of band situation. About five years ago, a gave it up as a going concern, and set up a home studio, playing and recording all of the instruments myself on my oh so trusty 4 trac. Like you're doing now, I finally could not stand myself any longer, and got involved in the band I just quit. It was just what I needed at the time, and for the most part was a very rewarding experience. However, as you stated, the personalities involved finally became too much of a burden. So, it seems that although we are traveling in opposite directions now, we have both covered the same ground! Fortunately, this next project is a colaboration with my cousin. He has more of a talent at the technical side of the equation, while I hope to bring more of a compositional and creative quantity into the mix. Although in my first post I came accross like a 'nervous nelly' as it were, it's really a rather exciting proposition for me. I'm just good at bitching, so I tend to go on with my bad self. [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] Thanks to all for the comments. And good luck to you, Bill. It sounds like we're both in for a treat! Steve (good...the valium is working) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnorman Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 hey bud - get a roland VS workstation. while this commentary may start a flame war, it can be very problematic to make a wintel machine serve professional audio purposes for tracking - my recommendation at this time is to get a dedicated recording system. my experiences with PC recording have convinced me that it will still be a few years before it is competitive with such dedicated machines as the roland 1880. if you have a larger budget, there are some very fine dedicated pc-based recrding systems like the paris setup that are excellent. but the bottom line is, you will spend a hell of a lot more time, money, and trouble getting a PC to do serious multi tracking than you will buying something like a roland 1880 or the akai, unless you are a true wizard at solving hardware and software conflicts and have plenty of money to buy peripheral gizmos. jnorman sunridge studios salem, oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b_3guy Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 It's unfortunate but most manufacturers of hardware & software say buy me & let the creativity flow. BULLSHIT!!! The retailers are the same. "Yeah, buy this, it's easy, you be recording right away!" Lies. Whether it's PC or Mac or hard disc recorder, etc. There are always issues, i.e. midi timing, sound card drivers, audio delays, learning curve. It is plug & play, but there are a lot of details nobody ever talks about. I remember when I got Cubase, installed it, I was recording in 20 minutes, including hookups. But I was on a Mac, so everything worked. I've also been using Macs in my job since 1990, so I'm very computer experienced. Then you notice the midi to audio timing problems, recording timing problems. Stuff that takes weeks (I'm not a full timer) to get past. It's not for the faint of heart. If you really want to do it, you will get past all the problems & finally make some music. Steve www.seagullphotodesign.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricknbokker Posted August 26, 2001 Author Share Posted August 26, 2001 Yo Scott! I can see you right now banging your head against the wall! I must admit though, I feel your pain, and I'm glad you're having such problemss. [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] At least I won't be the only one! AS for my new project, it looks like we're in the market for an interface, and we are seriously considering the M Audio Omni Package. Believe me, if I had my way, I would be getting into the Roland J series stuff, but unfortunately, cost IS a real concern, so currently it is out of the question. I'm going into this slowly, so perhaps it's best that I learn ALL the realm has to offer before making any decisions. Btw, if anyone can offer any pros and cons regarding Omnistudio vs Echo's Darla, please feel free to comment. Yo Eric,...sorry, but the Digi 001 is currently out of my league. [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img] Maybe next year... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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