Studio-Central Community

Struggling to choose which interface! Any help appreciated.

Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:10 am

by ecc83 (Posted Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:10 am)
There is a serious omission from your list IMHO.

The Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6.
Also the RME Babyface but like the Apogee, talking serious wonga.

Dave.

Basic Rig Build Help

Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:51 pm

by ecc83 (Posted Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:51 pm)
Yes an Audio Interface allows you to record other instruments. An electric guitar can be connected directly to most and acoustic sounds captured with a microphone but the PRIMARY use of an AI for YOUR immediate purpose is to convert the software sound data from whatever keyboard program you use, into analogue sound that you can hear.

But there is a catch. From the instant that you hit a note on the keyboard to you actually hearing the sound takes a finite time because the computer and the AI have to perform some serious data juggling (that I freely admit to not understanding one jot!) This delay is called "Latency" and is the bain of many a computer musician' life! If you rig a usb keyboard into a basic computer and select Windows Wavetable Synth you will find you can play any of scores of instruments the problem is none of them sound that good (some of them are franky a joke!) and the latency is likely to be so bad that playing with any degree of freedom is impossible.

The answer is to use the software synths in such sequencers as Cubase*and a good AI connected to a reasonably fast computer and this all with ASIO drivers. Frankly I cannot see how you can get Protools on your budget?

*The NI Ka6 I mentioned comes with a "lite" but very useful and powerful version of Cubase (LE5).

Dave.

Recording classical guitars

Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:12 am

by musikron (Posted Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:12 am)
I'll also second the idea of a neck mic, a big part of a classicals sound is the fingers on the string. By placing a mic either at the neck body joint aiming toward the nut, or from the nut shooting down the body, the idea is to capture the sounds the fretting hand makes, and blend that in with the body sound captured by other mics.

Crossgrading to a laptop

Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:35 am

by DaveyDouble (Posted Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:35 am)
Well, I've been emailing Scott from ADK and he's been ultra helpful considering I'm not buying anything from him.
That Z570 appears to be a good machine in that price bracket (i7 quad, 8Gb RAM, dedicated GPU, space for a second drive, eSATA) however I may wait a little while longer until USB3.0 becomes a little more prevalent as Scott advised toward that over eSata for an external drive.

With the Z570 now being a year old, I'd be expecting either for it to drop in price a little further soon, or for an updated model to come out that'll feature USB3 in the near term so I think I'll be holding off a little while longer until the move becomes a must.

Thanks for all the advice and help guys, and especially to Scott.
I'll keep the thread updated as I get more info.

D

gap 73 & fast track pro question

Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:59 am

by MASSIVE Mastering (Posted Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:59 am)
GAP line out to FTP line in.

Over 90 Free VST Effects Plugins

Thu May 31, 2012 8:32 pm

by Nascat (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 8:32 pm)
Found this site while searching for something else.
Store and Freeware sections...Lots of stuff. Some have been mentioned on other threads.
Seems like free plugins comes up alot . So........
(for those looking for Plugins)

http://www.dontcrack.com/freeware/

Looks like this was covered already. But there are some tools
and sequencers might interest rookies...

OHM

Thu May 31, 2012 7:35 pm

by elperuano (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 7:35 pm)
wow, this looks really cool. Has anyone tried it? Does it sound good?

Western Digital HD For Music ???

Thu May 31, 2012 5:35 pm

by caseymcg (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 5:35 pm)
NM

Final conversion to 16/44.1

Thu May 31, 2012 5:27 pm

by aww-de-oh (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 5:27 pm)
i might add... the quality settings can add alot of time to the de- and re-compiling and interleaving codecs.. i recommend choosing the quality down one peg from the 'best' available. you shouldn't notice any difference in output. (but should cut a considerable amount of time off the process)
The time it takes to make the ISO (it comes with a burning utility if needed) is all dependant on the speed of your CPU.

Tweak's Latest

Thu May 31, 2012 4:52 pm

by ron-e-g (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 4:52 pm)
Sorry to hear that.

Main Stage

Thu May 31, 2012 3:55 pm

by elperuano (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 3:55 pm)
Hey CF,

Nope Im just using the midi instruments that came with MainStage (jam packs and logic instruments) and did all my midi-mapping via main stage to my axiom 25. Ive done a little more research and I think the looper is the culprit. Its a shame though bc thats the main reason why I wanted to use it live in the first place.

Looking into some pedal loopers if I can't figure out how to fix this.

Critique my mix!

Thu May 31, 2012 3:41 pm

by elperuano (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 3:41 pm)
Thanks for checking it out Ditto! I really appreciate the feedback!

I agree about the drums. I could tighten them up a bit. I was going for a really "live" vibe, hence the delay on the vocals and space around the drums etc, but in retrospect might've over done it a little bit.

And yes, I love a girl that can sing.

Im going to get a pro to mix it but I thought Id give it a shot on my own and see how it stacks up.

Moog Minitaur

Thu May 31, 2012 3:36 pm

by elperuano (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 3:36 pm)
The monotron would be awesome if you could control it with a midi keyboard. I can't imagine using it much seeing as how the keys were made for mice paws.

For some reason the Moog Slim Phatty speaks to me more than the Mopho from the demos Ive heard online. Cant quite put my finger on why.

Im also looking to snatch up a used Juno 106 someday if I ever see it for cheap enough. That things sounds old and dirty, but in a very authentically 80s kinda way. Could be a great flavor piece to experiment with.

W7 VST plug ins installation problems.

Thu May 31, 2012 2:40 pm

by Deefex (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 2:40 pm)
yeah, when i was installing everythging, i made sure that they would go into the program files(x86) folder. the cubase's vst folder. and also i heard that it doesn't really work that well if they are 32bit plug ins.
i've tried restarting the comp, and i think i now see my vanguard synth. but just once version of my sylenth1. i'm going to upgrade NI's massive and maybe FM8 as well. since they are the only synths i use from NI.

NicoFlowProductions

Thu May 31, 2012 2:06 pm

by thizz4ever (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 2:06 pm)
a college student majoring in computer science, doing music on his free time because he loves music

soundcloud.com/nicoflowproductions

YouTube/Google Search: nicoflowproductions

Apple acquiring Redmatica!

Thu May 31, 2012 1:50 pm

by G-Dub (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 1:50 pm)
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/30/app ... redmatica/

Well somethings up, would be nice to see an updated EXS, with Redmatica's EXS tools integrated.

Hey, Jack! (Original by Swingcatswing)

Thu May 31, 2012 12:01 pm

by ron-e-g (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 12:01 pm)
I liked the vinyl intro Jacob. Then, when the main song kicks in.. it's nice. Drums are great, maybe a tad low in the mix, but only a tad! Super arrangement and vocal production. Overall...great song with lot's of creative twist and turns to keep the listener engaged.

Request Critique of Mixdown

Thu May 31, 2012 11:22 am

by ron-e-g (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 11:22 am)
bryan, The good; You have a great Voice, and delivery. I don't know enough about this Song as far as how and who... recorded what. To give much advice.
I'm not familiar with the AKG H-100 Mic to comment on that, I looked it up, but found no results. ( maybe it's an older model) ? The Profire 610 is HD so should be just fine. The only drawback, is it appears to have no Pre-sets. That's probably not good for some of us who aren't Pro's Yet!
BTW what is a custom built DAW?

The bad; I agree with Blue Bear Sound. There is a lack of quality to the sound, sorta Mono almost. But keeping in mind the fact this is a WIP let me say, I hear real promise in your abilities, and this cover. I'm sure as time goes by I'll learn more about how you record, and overall sound you achieve. I can then better advise you.
I'm looking forward to hearing how this progresses.

Cinematic action music

Thu May 31, 2012 11:18 am

by geminni (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 11:18 am)
Do you mean on those mid kicks on left side? Well, I can not remove them because drums are loops I'm learning to play drums, or better say, to compose for drums so fro now I use loops.
You now how is it when you hear something new, feel that is so good but can not realy know what was used to make it so good. I am doing that with drums, percussions, now. I listen music and locate every instrument and select them as I do when composing, like I see notes and channels in my mind

New Member..New Song

Thu May 31, 2012 10:29 am

by ron-e-g (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 10:29 am)
Thanks timboalogo, I appreciate your listen and comments.

I stand corrected, The drums are actually loops from Smart Loops. I added small amounts of Comp., Eq, and Rev. all from Acoustica. I added on a separate track, some crash samples. The bass I recorded using the Pod Farm patch "Dock of the Bay" with only small tweaking. Then some Eq. and Comp.- Again acoustica. For the rhythm guitar, I used Pod Farm's "C-bop" patch. I used this for both the hard panned right and left, Eq-ing them differently for separation.
The first distorted guitar I'm not sure of as going back I see the track is labeled "Cali-Jazz" but the wav says "Country Lick" so I'm guessing "Cali-Jazz". Any-hoo, I only added some slight amounts of "all the usual suspects"...Acoustica Eq, Rev., And Comp. after the fact.

The third guitar is recorded using Pods "Auld Lang Syne" pretty much the same treatment minus the Verb.
The guitar solo played during the break is Pods "Bayou-Rock" Pre-set. All in-house FX.

The main Vocal recorded through a Rode NT-1A with Pod Pre. The patch, or pre-set is "Bright and Clean" again all the usual suspects involved here.
The second vocal recorded same Mic, only I used the "Limelight vocal" Pre.
The third Vocal (that only appears on the harmony sections) is the Vocal patch "Jolie Voc" with heavy Reverb and some Delay added.
There are no buss tracks used on this Song, but small amounts of automation here and there.
The Main, or Master Track is "Dry".
Total-13 Tracks
That about covers it. Except, I should mention, All the tracks were recorded with the UX-2 Pod Farm, in stand-alone config. not as a Plug-in.
The Bass guitar is a cheap-Steller 5 string.
The other is a Fender Strat.

Bryan , Thanks for the listen and your kind comments.

Is Tweak Ok?

Thu May 31, 2012 10:09 am

by hendrixspirit (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 10:09 am)
[darn], I had always been lurking forums and reading the Tweak Guide for improving my recordings and homestudio.

It's very sad for me (even the time had passed) to know "Tweak" had died.

RIP man.

Which?

Thu May 31, 2012 4:24 am

by fretbu55 (Posted Thu May 31, 2012 4:24 am)
Get down to a friendly audio shop and line them up and listen. Don't get too bogged down with makes or, probably more accurately, brands. This only further adds to the confusing and arbitrary discussion of 'what is better'. If you can, get a cooling-off type purchase so you can exchange within a week or two if they don't live up to expectation in your space. Any good shop should allow you to do this.