Recording

[Hi Ho]

My dad's band wants to record a CD. They have experimented with doing it all live in one shot but it took 8 takes to get it right and it would never be perfect that way. They want to do multiple tracks. However, they don't want to spend a lot of money. The idea is to do a couple tracks at a time with my Audigy sound card and a small mixer. We haven't tried an actuall music recording like that.

I have the Adobe Audition 1.5 tryout that is good for 30 days and is fully functional. This would be the perfect solution if it didn't cost $300. Is there any other lower priced professional grade software that you can recommend? A friend mentioned Samplitude (http://www.samplitude.com/) (v6.0 is only $80). Is that any good? I suggested a sound card more suited for recording such as the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-121-103&depa=0). The problem is that it does not have any XLR inputs. The Delta 1010LT (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=29-121-106&depa=0) has two XLR inputs but that wouldn't change the setup at all since the mixer we're using has two XLR and a stereo out. The way to get around it that I'm thinking is to plug two mics into the soundcard and two into the mixer. Then connect the mixer to two of the RCA inputs on the sound card. Would that work? How good is the software that comes with the M-Audio cards? Would it be sufficient for what I want to do?

[VideoQuasar]

Howdy Hi Ho

this one has a free lite version......119 bucks full version
http://www.multitrackstudio.com/

here's one for 75 bucks
http://www.tracertek.com/ntrack.htm

and here's one for free!!!
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/programs/FatRockStudio/ :)

[SonicVanguard]

Hi Ho, the way you are looking to setup this recording is asking for trouble. And IMO, your dad's band is better of finding an inexpensive studio and just belly up the funds to get it done right. I don't want to discourage, but the recording process is 5% 'stuff' (software, mics, mixers and so on), 5% technical know-how and 90% experience. You don't know how many bands I've worked with that come into the studio all set to make the next 'big hit' telling me they know everything they need to know - 100 studio hours later they are still working tracking the drums for the third song. That's why I don't work with bands any longer - I'll stick with post-production thank you very much :cool: .

Anyway, simply put - get a simple 8 track mixer and the Delta1010LT. You'll need to get some cables to go from 1/4" to RCA for lines 3-8 on the Delta. Use the inserts on the mixer as channel outputs. There will be your 8 independant channels.

N-Track is a good program - but can be difficult to configure for multi-track recording. If you can afford it, stick with Audition.

Dave.

[Hi Ho]

A studio is still an option. As I said they're just experimenting at this stage. If I posted that test track would you care to listen to it? I'm not afraid of being criticized. The track isn't perfect as there are a few mistakes but that is unavoidable when it's recorded live on one big track. The other problem is my dad doesn't seem to want to invest in better speakers. I keep telling him that the Logitech Z640's don't cut it for mixing. The closest thing I have to reference quality stuff is my home theater and my Sennheiser wireless headphones. They work well but I know it's not proffessional grade stuff.

[SonicVanguard]

Post away.

Dave.

[Hi Ho]

Ok, I will put it on the band website and post a link here.

EDIT: OK HERE (http://www.runawaytrainbluegrass.com/Hello%20Trouble%20WMA%20Final.wma) it is. It's bascally a dry cut with no effects on it or anything. I don't know how to to reverb so it sounds natural and not overbearing.

[SonicVanguard]

I re-upped it to Craig's ftp site @ MSU: Hello Trouble (http://www.msu.edu/~carlencr/Hello_Trouble_Mastered.mp3).

Sounds pretty decent - just had some fun with a quicky mastering session. Nothing great, but you can see what professional tools are capable of.

Dave.

[Panama Red]

Gotta jump in here with a casual comment. My compliments to the band first off! That sounds really good. And my compliments to SV's quicky mastering. Amazing how much different it sounds. Thumbs up to all!

[Hi Ho]

That sounds very nice Dave. I'm curious as to how you did that. What could I do in Audition to get that fuller sound? There was a bit too much reverb for my tastes but it sounds a lot richer than the original. I'm having trouble figuring out how to get just the right amount of reverb without being too much. I like the mastering on these two songs:

Dark Hollow (http://www.runawaytrainbluegrass.com/02%20Dark%20Hollow.wma)
Cracker Jack (http://www.runawaytrainbluegrass.com/10%20Cracker%20Jack.wma)

I don't know how to make it sound similar to those songs. Any suggestions?

PanamaRed, thanks for the compliments. :)

[SonicVanguard]

The reverb was fairly generic - as was most of the mastering. Audition is really not a mastering tool - although it can handle working with a stereo mix. basically, mastering adds compression, sonic sweetening, a little EQ and notch filtering (which I did not do on this mix). Then once the mastering of each track is complete, a audio montage is created and that entire mix is normalized and compressed again.

Dave.