Hi Folks - Newbie with questions here

Posted on

Dumb Ol' Country Boy
Member Since: Jul 24, 2006

Man have I got questions - Been using a tascam portaone 4 track forever but want to try to get into the digital world to make a couple of CD's to entertain family and friends and with an eye towards maybe selling a song or two down the road.

I play guitar, bass and a bit of keyboard for some fills - I use a drum machine but would like a file format that would let me collaborate with others by sending them a file that they could add to with drum (or other) tracks

I would like to be able to record vocals with this as well

What I have
A PIII 2.8 GB PC with large SATA drives and a Gig of RAM
A SoundBlaster Live card with the MIDI cable that will hook to my drum machine (Would buy a new card if neccessary)
I have a copy of cakewalk Home Studio 2002 which I haven't come close to figuring out yet and would replace this if there is something better for under $150
I have (of course) my guitars, electric and acoustic, Mics and a roland drum machine

I guess my questions are what else do I need and are there any good books that cover PC recording in general or Cakewalk in particular or should I be getting another software package?

Also, what do I need to get my guitars and mics into the computer?

And any other info y'all think a dumb ol' country boy can use to get started (I am a Network Administrator in real life actually so feel free to get technical - I've just never got past using a tape instead of the pc)

And if anyone in the Mesa, AZ area is already doing this and wants to show me their setup and teach me a thing or two it would be much appreciated

Oh yea, last thing - is it possible to get the tracks from my TASCAM into a digital format as seperate tracks?

Thanks in advance folks

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 24, 2006 04:54 pm

Welcome to HRC.

Everything you have is more than enough to at least get your going. Cakewalk does make some of the easiest to use applications, I would suggest you set up with what you have and get to know it, let your needs from there be your guide. Sonar Home Studio is the newest version of that line and is a quite good application. The first issue I would guess you will bump in to is latency and/or quality and performance issues from the SB sound card. It will do to get you started and understanding the concepts of digital recording though.

If Cakewalk gives you trouble, ask more specific question, or, go the old fashioned route and read the manual and/or online help guides.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 24, 2006 06:41 pm

Indeed, welcome as well.

dB is correct with the statement on Cakewalk, they are one of the easiest user interfaces arond to get familier with. As well they have some of the best online helpfiles and tutorials built right into the app. As for sharing the files, the Cakewalk version of their compressed files which enclose the audio as well is one of the easiest to use as well. And the newer versions also have expanded ability to save to other formats as well for cross DAW use.

I will second the replacement of the SB card when you get yourself up and running.

And indeed, ask away. There are many Cakewalk users here, myself having used their products since their very first release.

Noize

Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


Jul 25, 2006 09:11 am

Welcome Dega, heh, another techie on board =)

You'll need some sort of preamp. The mic puts out a mic level signal, which is too small to be used in good fashion in the computer. So you need a preamp to boost it up to line level.

Same for the guitars, they'll need some sort of boost to get them up to line level.

This can be done with a standalone preamp, like a M-Audio audio buddy, or something similar. They're not too spendy, and seem to work well. Also, this can be done with a mixer, like from behringer, mackie, peavey, yamaga, and others. They'll have preamps in the input stage of the mixer, then line level signal comes out the other side of the mixer (in some fashion). This can be plugged into the computer, and can be manipulated.

Two ideas I would suggest, getting a maudio audiophile 24/96 ($100), and a small mixer, that has at least two preamps. You can get a standalone preamp, maybe with two channels, but a mixer can offer more flexibility, when routing signal around. The small behringer mixers are pretty cheap, so that's an option.

These two items will keep your signal in good shape, into the computer. I wouldn't trust using the converters, or the preamp on the soundblaster card. They're not made for recording use, like the M-audio stuff is.

Cakewalk should do you just fine though. I've not used it myself, but lots of people have.

el musico is in phoenix, and is working / running tallcat productions:

www.tallcatproductions.com/

It's a real facility they just built up.

Dumb Ol' Country Boy
Member
Since: Jul 24, 2006


Jul 28, 2006 04:32 pm

Thanks to all of you! Your responses and reading some other posts here have given me a better understanding of whati'm looking at. I appreciate the feedback and look forward to posting a cople of tunes online for everyone's (I hope) enjoyment

Thanks again
Russ

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 28, 2006 09:45 pm

Looking forward to hearing your stuff then.

Noize

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