blazed and confused

[thememuzik]

OK. Check this out.


Right now I have a computer, a Roland w30 keyboard, turntables, a little Behringer 6 channel mixer, an amp, a tape deck, a microphone, an Alesis sr16 drum machine, that's it.

Right now, I have my keyboard, turntable setup, drum machine, and microphone... they all go into the behringer mixer which subsequently goes into my computer (soundcard came with the computer). I make hip hop music, and I do all of my sequencing in the computer. I do not know/use midi at all. When we record songs, I multitrack in Vegas Pro.

Now... I want the editing capabilities that computers and software like Vegas Pro and Acid provide, and its nultitracking capabilites as well. OK.

Now, this is what I need help on. I will break it down into 3 sections... producing, recording, and mixdown.



PRODUCING. Right now I use my drum machine and keyboard to make beats... I record all the elements into the computer and sequence them... so the final beat is created and left on the computer. In the future, I plan to get an MPC2000xl, which has 8 outputs as does my keyboard (I only use one currently though). Now, when using the 8 outputs, I want to run those 8 outs into the computer for eq'ing. Should I: A) Get a bigger mixing board to run those 8 outs into and then into the computer? B) Get a sound card such as a LAYLA with 8 inputs?



RECORDING. The only inputs I need for recording are for when I record my beat for computer sequencing, and the vocals. My turntables also go into the computer. Right now I am planning to get a compressor to stand in between of the Behringer and the computer. I do all my multitrack recording on the computer mind you.


MIXDOWN. I have no board for mixing down, simply because I do all the editing and eq on the computer, and burn it to the cdr. The music never comes out of the computer for anything except listening. I want to be able to mix with an external board though, and don;t know how I would go about doing it. I am thinking: A) Get a DAT, standalone CDR, and BOARD. Run the tracks from Vegas Pro through the BOARD and mix down to the DAT. Then I can burn CDs. But check this out... the LAYLA only has 8 outputs, and I use way more than 8 tracks in Vegas. I want a slider for every track I have in Vegas.



WHAT I AM LOOKING AT BUYING. I plan on getting a DAT for mixdowns and a stand-alone cdr for digital transfer between CDR and DAT. I am looking at the R.eD at http://www.soundscape-digital.com for multitracking, BUT I CANT DETERMINE IF I WILL BE ABLE TO USE ACID AND VEGAS THE EXACT SAME WAY I USE IT NOW. If I had the Soundscape, I could run directly from Soundscape ---> mixing board ---> DAT. Right? But how man... this confuses me because I haven't seen it done. But at the same time, I wonder if I could just build a powerful DAW computer and exclude the R.eD, but how can I get the outputs that I need? And with the R'ed, will I have to get something to run the outputs (tracks from Vegas) analog into the mixing board? Because what if I don't want a digital mixer?


PLEASE HELP ME YALL!!! Give me some suggestions!!!

thememuzik

 

[DollarB]

I produce hip-hop myself, and I think I can help you by letting you in on my set up and give you some ideas that might help you out. I myself also do a lot of computer editing and what not, I think this might give you some ideas. First off let me tell you what I got.
Creative Sound Blaster Platinum Live Sound Card
Akai 2000xl mpc
Akai DPS12i with a 2 gig jaz drive
Yamaha Keyboard
Calkwalk and cool edit pro
I think this is the perfect set up for a home studio as far as hip hop goes, and it is not that expensive.
I first create sounds either with by using break beats from cds (you can do the same on the turntables, i.e. dj premier) or from my keyboard. I then down load them onto my computer and save them as wav files. I transfer then via an external zip drive into my MPC 2000xl, I sequence and contruct the beat all on the MPC, you can also send your sounds to the MPC via midi, which is why have the live drive it is so easy because it has MIDI in and out right on the front of the computer. I can also formulate bass lines and drum beats on Cool Edit Pro, one i have the beat the way i want it I dump it onto the DPS12i from the mpc (this is the only time I use MIDI) which is a 12 track recorder, with a built in mixer. I think you should invest in a DPS12 instead of getting adat, because using the DPS12 and the computer the adat is unnecessiary. Once i have the beat laided down, i lay the vocal or the beat. Of course I have the DPS12 EQed before I lay the beat and vocals. You can then send the finished product to your computer via midi and edit more and add effects with cool edit pro or calkwalk, I try to stay away from MIDI as much as possible I think it jacks up your timing and overall sound, I save everthing on the computer as wav. file because it is totally uncondensed, but this takes up a lot of memory, thats why it is good to have a zip drive and just save the songs. Once you have your finished product in wav form you can burn it directly to a cd, and you have kept everything in the digital domain. Thus, you don't need to know anything about MIDI. If i were u i would get an mpc first then the dps12i, and make sure u get them both loaded with all the options, it will pay off and save you the headaches. And then you won't need adat, you can also mulitrack on Cool Edit Pro, which is very easy to use. If you have any more questions feel free to holler.