Learning to Record.

[Glenn Gay]

I am doing some Beginner / Intermediate lessons online, and I find myself wanting more and more to start sounding better and to start recording. I am playing a little BASS now, and I have always known a little piano. It certainly would be awesome to have the means - software / hardware to try to start producing my own sounds and tones...

Any tips or ideas on tech equipment or software pkgs. I should use?

[Jonathan]

My #1 advice for recording will probably sound (as usual) counterintuitive. 

Have you ever wondered why the songs and playing on old recording from the 60's 70's was so awesome... even though the recording quality wasn't good compared to today's super slick records... where it ironically feels like most new songs may SOUND good, but they feel "lifeless?"

It's because the "magic" comes from the player. It's all about the PERFORMANCE. 

When the PLAYER plays something worth hearing, and records it... it's worth listening to later. Nowadays, people focus way too much on the "gear"... the "stuff"... subconsciously hoping that it will make THEM sound great -- only to find out that it makes the SOUND sound great, but necessarily the musical piece itself. 

This is my extremely long way of saying I think it's best to get a free software and focus on the absolute basics of getting used to playing and recording first. You'll soon find out that how YOU play is what makes the biggest difference. EVERYTHING else is secondary. 

I used to use a free program called Audacity. I would honestly not even worry about mics at first. Just use the mic on your computer and use an acoustic guitar. Record yourself playing a few things, or even a whole song. As you use the software, you'll learn the process of recording, adding tracks, "mixing" them together to sound decent, by using basic tools such as volume control and panning. 

When you can sound good with nothing but your guitar in a room on a free recording software... you will sound MAGNIFICENT when you use better recording gear. 

Remember, it's all about the "source."

[Glenn Gay]

That makes perfect sense Jonathan - thank you

[Ryan Withrow]

Love Jonathan's reply here and I'll add that if you want to sound FANTASTIC on that recording...

Record the part twice in two separate tracks.
Pan one left 100% and pan one right 100%.

Prepare to be amazed in life. PREPARE!

[Glenn Gay]

So, knowing I do not need the best, and I am fine with starter software and hardware, any suggestions as to a Mic, or a DAW...etc?

 

[Jan]

I also fully agree with Jonathan's reply. I can't even get a DAW working despite the fact I have an interface LOL. So I tried it with Audacity but ran into a "Latency" problem. Does anyone has tips or tricks solve or avoid this?

[Glenn Gay]

Thanks for that note Jan. I am just getting into it myself, and I am sure there will be lots of great tips in the near future - you may be our next "GREAT"

 

🤘

[Jonathan]

On 9/2/2021 at 4:26 PM, Ryan Withrow said:

Love Jonathan's reply here and I'll add that if you want to sound FANTASTIC on that recording...

Record the part twice in two separate tracks.
Pan one left 100% and pan one right 100%.

Prepare to be amazed in life. PREPARE!

Agreed. This is also a GREAT trick for getting a HUGE sound from guitars - especially acoustic fingerpicking, or distorted electric guitars. 

 

[Ryan Withrow]

On 9/8/2021 at 12:18 AM, Jan said:

I also fully agree with Jonathan's reply. I can't even get a DAW working despite the fact I have an interface LOL. So I tried it with Audacity but ran into a "Latency" problem. Does anyone has tips or tricks solve or avoid this?

There are PLENTY of resources out there on the Googles, honestly. When dialing in latency issues or problems with any interface I use through Cubase, I'll actually research what others found best for my specific interface/DAW and start there. Once I dial in what others have "perfected", I'll modify slightly to get what's best for my use case and setup. It's wonky for sure, so you're not alone there!

[Neal]

Make sure you are using ASIO protocol when using you DAW with your USB interface.  ASIO solves most latency issues. Check the settings in your DAW to see which is selected.

I have an audio interface that I used to connect to my PC (DAW).  Honestly I don't know why we call them DAWs...it's just a computer with software and a USB interface.  

I then used a VST instrument (Native Instruments Guitar Rig 6) within Ableton Live to apply amp/cab sims and effects to the raw direct inject guitar sound coming into the pc.

I also recently purchased a really cool practice amp that has its own built in USB interface, Positive Grid Spark.  It uses the positive grid BIAS engine to provide built in amp/cab Sims along with effects.  You can play through the sparks built in stereo speakers which are plenty loud for practice, but not loud enough for gigs.

Long story short, if you have a decent audio interface, it should support ASIO.  Check your DAW software to make sure it's taking advantage of ASIO and not set to MME or DX (too much laggg).

ASIO4ALL is a great universal ASIO driver if you need it.  Just Google and download.

Oh and doubletracking as mentioned in earlier post is a great way to fatten up and add dimension to your guitar parts.  It's used heavily in rock and metal production which is what I dabble in.  Some even do quad tracking!  Yeesh!

[Werner]

On 8/30/2021 at 3:54 PM, Jonathan said:

My #1 advice for recording will probably sound (as usual) counterintuitive. 

Have you ever wondered why the songs and playing on old recording from the 60's 70's was so awesome... even though the recording quality wasn't good compared to today's super slick records... where it ironically feels like most new songs may SOUND good, but they feel "lifeless?"

It's because the "magic" comes from the player. It's all about the PERFORMANCE. 

When the PLAYER plays something worth hearing, and records it... it's worth listening to later. Nowadays, people focus way too much on the "gear"... the "stuff"... subconsciously hoping that it will make THEM sound great -- only to find out that it makes the SOUND sound great, but necessarily the musical piece itself. 

This is my extremely long way of saying I think it's best to get a free software and focus on the absolute basics of getting used to playing and recording first. You'll soon find out that how YOU play is what makes the biggest difference. EVERYTHING else is secondary. 

I used to use a free program called Audacity. I would honestly not even worry about mics at first. Just use the mic on your computer and use an acoustic guitar. Record yourself playing a few things, or even a whole song. As you use the software, you'll learn the process of recording, adding tracks, "mixing" them together to sound decent, by using basic tools such as volume control and panning. 

When you can sound good with nothing but your guitar in a room on a free recording software... you will sound MAGNIFICENT when you use better recording gear. 

Remember, it's all about the "source."

After reading Jonathan’s initial reply, I followed his suggestion and used equipment  that I have to record. From endless hours of conference calls for work I have an external ‘Snowball’ mic connected to my laptop and I already happened to have the Audacity application installed. 

Well, I placed the mic in front of my amp and recorded myself playing some chord progressions. I then played the recording back on my hifi stereo.

For me, this experiment rendered two main results:

1. I was really surprised how good the recording sounded given that I only used very simple equipment (not even using an audio interface).
2. More importantly: by just listening to my own recording I was able to easily identify what parts of my playing require improvement: This little delay in between two specific chords was not intended (as in building up tension and then just delaying to make the listener wait to resolve the tension into a chord that a chord that is expected). No, the delay simple turned out to be the result of a technical difficulty that I had and still need to overcome.  - Recording can be a great tool for practicing!!! 

[sneuhaus1]

On 8/30/2021 at 1:38 PM, Glenn Gay said:

I am doing some Beginner / Intermediate lessons online, and I find myself wanting more and more to start sounding better and to start recording. I am playing a little BASS now, and I have always known a little piano. It certainly would be awesome to have the means - software / hardware to try to start producing my own sounds and tones...

Any tips or ideas on tech equipment or software pkgs. I should use?

I like Cockos Reaper for my DAW (desktop audio workstation). It's an excellent recording platform, designed by the guys who made WinAmp, back in the <> 2000's. After the free trial, there is a short "nag screen", but all functionality remains. The license is only $60 dollars to make it "legal". (Well worth it, IMO).

Similarly licensed, one of the best amp simulation packages that I have found is called ToneLib-GFX. You can use it stand-alone, or as a VST plugin for your DAW. It also includes a multitude of effects, amplifier models, metronome, drum machine (very realistic), recorder, looper... It's nice.

Also, Reaper has more instructional videos on Youtube than you will ever need, and a great community forum with lots of documentation.

Good luck!

[sneuhaus1]

On 9/24/2021 at 7:28 PM, Neal said:

Make sure you are using ASIO protocol when using you DAW with your USB interface.  ASIO solves most latency issues. Check the settings in your DAW to see which is selected.

I have an audio interface that I used to connect to my PC (DAW).  Honestly I don't know why we call them DAWs...it's just a computer with software and a USB interface.  

I then used a VST instrument (Native Instruments Guitar Rig 6) within Ableton Live to apply amp/cab sims and effects to the raw direct inject guitar sound coming into the pc.

I also recently purchased a really cool practice amp that has its own built in USB interface, Positive Grid Spark.  It uses the positive grid BIAS engine to provide built in amp/cab Sims along with effects.  You can play through the sparks built in stereo speakers which are plenty loud for practice, but not loud enough for gigs.

Long story short, if you have a decent audio interface, it should support ASIO.  Check your DAW software to make sure it's taking advantage of ASIO and not set to MME or DX (too much laggg).

ASIO4ALL is a great universal ASIO driver if you need it.  Just Google and download.

Oh and doubletracking as mentioned in earlier post is a great way to fatten up and add dimension to your guitar parts.  It's used heavily in rock and metal production which is what I dabble in.  Some even do quad tracking!  Yeesh!

Great advice, Neal. If I might add a suggestion, once you get your interface working with your ASIO drivers, you may still have an issue with lag. You'll want to check your buffer size, and fine-tune it. The bigger the buffer, the more lag you will have. Depending on the CPU in your computer, try setting the buffer to 128. If your CPU is older, it may cause some popping or clicking noises. If that happens, increase the size of your buffer to 256 and see how that sounds. You'll have to tweak to get a happy medium between lag and sound quality.

Hope that helps.