Newbie needs help recording band

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Member Since: Jul 16, 2007

Hi,HRC! I play in a 17 piece jazz band and have started recording mostly as a tool to improve the group and also to produce demo's. I mostly record our live performances. I've got a fast laptop with a gig of ram and an EMU 0404 with a pair of condenser mics in a stereo configuration and have had decent results. The advantage is that it's easy to set up and once I get levels, I can play my horn and not worry about fussing with equiment. The down side is that the mix is a crapshoot based on the room and mic placement. I want to take my recordings to the next step which would be simultaneous multitracking so I can adjust the mix later. I'm using Cakewalk Home Studio 4 right now and it seems sufficient but I think I need a new interface. I've read the pertinent posts but was hoping I could get some good advice. (after all, that's why people come here, right?) I would like to lay down at least 8 tracks and I don't have a mixer with outs so I think I need pres. Would the MOTU 8pre do the job? Is there anything else I would need? I appreciate any help I can get and your patience with this really long post. Thanks.

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Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jul 19, 2007 07:41 am

Welcome to HRC.

Yes, to do 8 tracks you'd need a device with 8 inputs like the Motu. Will Home Studio do 8 individual tracks at once? I don't recall if that is one of the limitation of that version or not. You may have to upgrade to Sonar, not sure there though.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 19, 2007 07:03 pm

Welcome from here as well.

I am not positive but I believe the main limits in HS 4 were the 64 audio track limit and a lighter set of pluggins. Other then that I believe (but could be wrong) that it does allow for multi track input just like its big brothers did.

If it does not however Cakewalk does offer a pretty substantial discount on upgrades, but I am pretty sure you won't need to go that route.

As for the MOTU 8pre, indeed that is a fine piece of gear and would more then suffice for your needs. Also the MOTU gear is able to be multi stacked so if the need arises in the future to add more inputs you will be able to do it without any trouble.

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