Any musicians?

A few years ago I was considering buying PC based recording software and a breakout box so I could do some home recording. At the time Steinberg's Cubase was popular. Of course, I had no time to use it so I didn't bother buying at the time. Any musicians here that know what is a simple, but useful recording software?

Ditched my 4 track back in college.

How's that for "off topic"?

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

I've still got a Fostex 4-track somewhere. It's pretty huge though.

I haven't done any serious recording in years, but CakeWalk used to be pretty good.

If you have a Mac, maybe try GarageBand?

If you're going to do sequencing, Reason's pretty cool. I think it can also record, but it's obviously not its forte.


I'm kinda out of date on this stuff too.

---

Self-righteous douche canoe

Hm. Looks like CoolEdit is now Adobe Audition. Maybe Adobe Soundbooth is the stripped-down version? Might be worth a look.

---

Self-righteous douche canoe

Thanks guys. There's a Guitar Center a couple minutes away. I may just have to go in there and see if I can learn sumpthin. I hate going there, tho, cuz I always end up blowing too much time fiddling around with guitars and basses and equipment I can't afford. Then my lunch hour's over and I'm still hungry, still broke, and still without any yummy sound gear. Bastards.

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

Sooooo... I go to GC on lunch and find a knowledgable bloke who really set me straight.

Price on this stuff has come down dramatically. Lexicon Omega has a breakout box with 4 1/4" ins, 2 XLR ins, and midi ins (all with own level adjusters). Comes with Cubase (48 analog tracks/64 midi), and an effects suite that he SAYS is pretty good.

All for 200 bones!

Can't afford not to do it now.

Lurch

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

Uh oh. Shouldn't've told me that. I've got a rally to go to.

---

Self-righteous douche canoe

Got it and took it up to my Pop's place this weekend, as I was helping him powerwash and re-shingle the garage roof. We played around with his mountain dulcimer mic'd into the unit thru the XLR input. Sounds very good. Look forward to getting proficient with it in my spare :-| time.

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

Mountain Dulcimer? Very nice. Your Dad's a man after my own heart! It's hard to explain to most young guys today what folk music in the late 50's through mid 70's was all about. I can say this though: It wasn't about Glitz, or TV shows, or Fame.

It was the real thing. Real people... real music... really nice.

Rich Smith

Aye. He's a man of many talents. He's the leader of the Rifle River Folk Strings, a darn nice instrument builder, and teaches many dulcimer classes (both building and playing) at festivals and the local arts council.

When he's not making camber plates, rotor hats, inlet restrictors, and caliper brackets for rally cars.

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

I use cakewalk sonor 6. I have a professional recording studio in my house and have been recording many bands including my own for some time now and sonor seems to be the only software i can depend on.

---

---------------------------
| Full Metal Anarchist |
---------------------------

Yeah, I know a lot of folks seem to really be heavy on the Cakewalk stuff. Are you on a Mac or PC based system?

This is just a tinker toy for me. Never plan to do serious recording...just fun stuff for my own amusement and my family.

What are your thoughts on drums? Newer drum samples sound really good! Back when I screwed around with this stuff, you couldn't find a decent electronic snare to save your life, but now there is some really nice stuff.

Have you ever sequenced drums within Cakewalk? If so, is it superduper tedious? Or do you use a MIDI keyboard? Or are you a purist and have to mic a full kit and have a live drummer for everything you do?

I really prefer real drums, but it is VERY tough to beat the samples with home recording goodies, and just not practical for the kind of tinkering I do.

Post some MP3s of stuff you've recorded if you would like to...I'd be interested in hearing your work!

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

V-Drums, man.

---

Self-righteous douche canoe

hoche Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> V-Drums, man.

Easy to use?

can you explain how you use it, in a very short essay? Sequence each hit? or plug in loops and add premade fills?

New to the stuff.

tanks

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan

Roland V-Drums are a set of real-sized drum pads that're midi triggers. You set 'em up like a regular trap kit, and they have pads for mimicking cymbals, hi-hats, snares, toms, kicks, etc. They feel really realistic when you play them. A little more stick bounce maybe. So set that up and then start your sequencer capture, and sit down and play what you want. Voila, instant editable drum track, with each instrument on a separate channel. You can then go in and clean up the sequence or add fills or loops or whathaveyou.

Problem is: 1) you have to have a set of V-Drums, 2) you have to know how to play drums at least a little, and 3) you have to have a place to play them. They're pretty quiet to play, but they can get annoying to whoever's not wearing the headphones. They sound like someone thwacking pencils against a rubber mat really loudly (which is more or less what's happening).

---

Self-righteous douche canoe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2007 04:28PM by hoche.

Ahhh...okay. Thanks.

Problem is not number 3 so much, but that I 1) don't have a set of Vdrums and 2) can't play drums to save my life.

Sounds like a really cool interface for real drummers, tho.

---

Lurch
Eric Burmeister
The west coast...of Michigan