Burke Wells Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Hi guys. Newbie here, posting for the first time, and please allow me to apologize if I'm asking something that's been asked before, or if I should've posted this in another forum area. I've been playing guitar for many years now (casually, not professionally by any means), but I've really been "out of touch" with what's hot & what's not regarding equipment, etc, nowadays. Any recording I've done in past years has been crudely done, using a rather cheap little mixer from Radio Shack combined with a couple of cassette decks. (Never could really afford a decent four track recorder in the past like I would've like to have had). But now, I find myself wanting to use something nice & a bit more professional, along the lines of a 4-track recorder, but I keep thinking that in this day & time, there has got to be a really nice way to do that type of recording rather inexpensively on the pc. I've seen a few various pc software programs aimed at guitar recording, etc.... But knowing that I don't really know anything about any of these programs yet, I thought I'd ask for some opinions from some guys that will most likely know much better than I. I've seen Cakewalk's "Guitar Tracks Pro", and "Home Studio" programs..... They sound nice, but I don't know what else is out there, and I'd really like to hear some good advice as to what's truly "THE" program to have, for this type of thing..... plus, what to definately "avoid" and stay away from, etc.... Any & all info is appreciated, and I apologize for such a long, rambling post. Thanks, Burke Wells livin2race@att.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Hi Burke, Welcome to the forum. I'll jump in & get flamed but I use & really like n-Track Studio. It's under $100.00 for the program & the 2 plugins that are available. There are other plugins available that work right in, some of them free. I use a very inexpensive mixer (Phonic MM1202) & have used a Radio Shack mixer too. I use a Soundblaster Live card. That's the basics of a very inexpensive recording setup for computer. I use good mics & in my humble opinion do more for the sound than most other things when it comes to computer recording. I have an inline compressor/gate/filter/etc but seldom use it. Will the cheap system I use make a professional recording? Hell no, but it'll hold up for demos & such. I have Cakewalk, Sonic Foundry & two versions of CoolEdit. I always go back to n-Track. Download the demos & try them all. What works best for you, go with & you'll be doing the stuff that makes you happy. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylver Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Originally posted by Dak Lander: Hi Burke, Welcome to the forum. I'll jump in & get flamed but I use & really like n-Track Studio. It's under $100.00 for the program & the 2 plugins that are available. There are other plugins available that work right in, some of them free. I use a very inexpensive mixer (Phonic MM1202) & have used a Radio Shack mixer too. I use a Soundblaster Live card. That's the basics of a very inexpensive recording setup for computer. I use good mics & in my humble opinion do more for the sound than most other things when it comes to computer recording. I have an inline compressor/gate/filter/etc but seldom use it. Will the cheap system I use make a professional recording? Hell no, but it'll hold up for demos & such. I have Cakewalk, Sonic Foundry & two versions of CoolEdit. I always go back to n-Track. Download the demos & try them all. What works best for you, go with & you'll be doing the stuff that makes you happy.Dak gets great results with his setup. I'd listen to him. I really don't know what to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dot-dot-dot Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 I have Cubasis Audio Lite, SoundForge XP, FruityLoops and Internet Audio Mix. I use SoundForge for recording guitar tracks, then Fruity loops for drum sequencing (it's not just for loops). Then I either use Cubasis or IAM for putting the tracks together - Cubasis has more options, but IAM is quick and easy and sounds fine. Recently I've been using FruityLoops for everything; I trim down the guitar lines and use FL to sequence them back in order. Squeeze the day! The Monkey FX Page - effect guides and handbuilt pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimK Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 I use Cakewalk's Guitar Tracks Pro. If you're not looking for MIDI, then this is a great tool. I looked at n-track and thought it was very good and easy to use. But, I had no need for MIDI. For a little extra money, GT Pro gave me a compressor, limiter, drum loops, loop generator, and a few extra things. It's been rock solid and brain-dead easy to use. You can't download a demo of GT Pro, but you can download a demo of Guitar Tracks 2. If you like GT2, then you'll love Pro. In an effort to improve the responsiveness of e-mail for everyone, the e-mail servers will be out of service. We are hopeful that this change will improve the performance of e-mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wewus432 Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 There is one big advantage to using a program like Sonar: internal instruments. You can have bass, drums, pianos, synths, etc. all installed into the program. That means if you're making a demo you can record your guitar and voice and then put your headphones on and complete the production using a midi keyboard, without going outside the program, very nice to have. It's a pain in the ass to learn a new program, so it is beneficial to start out and stick with something you like. You need to remember, your software, sound card, and Operating System all have to work together. The best thing to do is choose your software and then find a soundcard that is compatible. I recommend Sonar with any of the M-Audio soundcards and Windows XP. If you can upgrade to XP, do it. Everyone is saying it's the best OS yet for audio work, better stability and lower CPU usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Check out Cakewalk's Plasma. It's like a scaled down version of Sonar but still includes some cool virtual instruments and plug-ins. I think it sells for $50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burke Wells Posted June 9, 2002 Author Share Posted June 9, 2002 Just wanted to thank you all for the great responses. I've downloaded demos for Guitar Tracks 2, and N-Track, and both of them seem to be really, really cool.... but..... I'm obviously doing something wrong with simply getting my guitar hooked up to my pc. The pc programs don't seem to be "hearing" my guitar. I'm using a Creative Soundblaster Live! sound card, along with Windows '98 SE. Basicaly, I've just plugged my guitar into my small Radio Shack mixer, then coming out of the left & right output jacks of the mixer, into the 1/8th "mic" stereo jack (the pink jack) on my soundcard. By doing this, I can just barely hear my guitar through my pc speakers, but it's very quiet, and audible even with no software programs running at all (which I thought was a bit odd... but hey, what do I know). But if I remove the cord from the pink "mic" jack on the soundcard, then plug it into the blue jack right beside it, then I get what I would consider to be a good, "normal" volume of the guitar through the pc speakers. But this config seems to be locking up programs, etc..... I'm simply stuck & frustrated and not sure how to get rolling with this stuff. Feelin' a bit stupid, as I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong with a basic connection... Just not sure what to try next.... Any suggestions from anybody? Thanks, Burke livin2race@att.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted June 9, 2002 Share Posted June 9, 2002 Burke, double check your windows recording & playback setups. They are involved in the system with the soundcard. You should have the little speaker icon on the lower right tool bar on your windows screen. Double click it & it should bring up your play control window. Go to options, properties & another window will pop up. You can have checks in all the boxes on the screen with the playback button clicked. Click on the Recording button & make sure the Line in, Microphone are checked. Depending on what you're doing, you may want to check them all for now. When you're in the properties window with the two radio buttons for Playback and Recording showing you should see the main play control window change, depending on which button is clicked. With the Recording button clicked, you should see the big Record Control window. If you're mixer is plugged into the mic input on the soundcard, mute the line in on the Record Control & vice versa. With Soundblaster, it's common to get interference if both are un-muted & you're trying to record. That should help. The Radio Shack mixer is enough for now & with you getting an input into the soundcard in certain instances, the problem will probably be found in the setup noted above. Good luck, don't get too frustrated & welcome to the world of computer recording. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burke Wells Posted June 9, 2002 Author Share Posted June 9, 2002 Wow, thanks Dak! I've tweaked around with the settings that you mentioned, and although I still don't think I have everything at an optimum setup yet, at least I'm making some progress. I'm now getting a good strong signal into the n-track program, and I'm learning how to record some multi-track stuff. But for some reason, I still can't seem to get a signal using the Guitar Tracks 2 demo.... Not sure why, but I'll keep tweakin' on it. I seem to be getting quite a bit of "interference" noise.... But I'm tweaking on various volume levels & settings on my little mixer, plus on my guitar equipment, effects, etc... Hoping to get it pretty soon.... Thanks again, Dak! Burke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted June 9, 2002 Share Posted June 9, 2002 Good! You're making progress. Now as to the interference noise. It's probably your guitar pickups. I think you'll find the farther from the mixer you are, the better the noise ratio, especially with single coils. I can't help with the Guitar Tracks program... Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimK Posted June 10, 2002 Share Posted June 10, 2002 Burke, This might help: With GT2, first arm a track by pressing the record button. Then, below the slider for that track is a button/label that will say what input you're using (it's just above the label for the track). Click on this and a popup menu will appear giving you some options as what to use for the input to that track (this is where you can choose between the track being stereo or mono). Make sure the track is using whatever you've plugged the guitar into. So, if the guitar is plugged into the mic input of the sound card, select either stereo or mono mic. Jim In an effort to improve the responsiveness of e-mail for everyone, the e-mail servers will be out of service. We are hopeful that this change will improve the performance of e-mail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolkid Posted June 16, 2002 Share Posted June 16, 2002 Originally posted by Burke Wells: Just wanted to thank you all for the great responses. I've downloaded demos for Guitar Tracks 2, and N-Track, and both of them seem to be really, really cool.... but..... I'm obviously doing something wrong with simply getting my guitar hooked up to my pc. The pc programs don't seem to be "hearing" my guitar. I'm using a Creative Soundblaster Live! sound card, along with Windows '98 SE. Basicaly, I've just plugged my guitar into my small Radio Shack mixer, then coming out of the left & right output jacks of the mixer, into the 1/8th "mic" stereo jack (the pink jack) on my soundcard. By doing this, I can just barely hear my guitar through my pc speakers, but it's very quiet, and audible even with no software programs running at all (which I thought was a bit odd... but hey, what do I know). But if I remove the cord from the pink "mic" jack on the soundcard, then plug it into the blue jack right beside it, then I get what I would consider to be a good, "normal" volume of the guitar through the pc speakers. But this config seems to be locking up programs, etc..... I'm simply stuck & frustrated and not sure how to get rolling with this stuff. Feelin' a bit stupid, as I'm sure I'm just doing something wrong with a basic connection... Just not sure what to try next.... Any suggestions from anybody? Thanks, Burke livin2race@att.netif you have windows,make sure your mixer is set correctly,try using line in instead of mic in,my mic in signal was weak also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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