My first original PC recording

[Sabu]

Over the past couple weeks I've built my home PC studio, using info from this forum and various other sources. I've got an Audiophile 2496, mixer and active DI. The Audiophile came with Ableton Live Lite 4, which is limited yet still seems quite powerful for free software (I'm brand-new to this whole PC recording thing, so my opinion might be way off ) I think I have what I need for many home recordings in the future. This is my first attempt at an original recording:

www.myspace.com/sabuthejungleboy

(click on "First Rendering")

I downloaded some free VSTs and thought they sounded pretty good, used a free EQ in the recording

I have a keyboard-playing friend who is pretty hardcore into the PC recording thing, and he keeps mentioning how great Acid Pro is. But it seems more like a loop/sample/synth/MIDI type of program, whereas I want to do more live recording (while still using VSTs and drum loops). I like Ableton Live Lite so far, but I'm thinking that only being able to use 4 tracks, 2 effects and 1 plug-in is going to be a problem eventually. If I'm going to spend a few hundred dollars, I want a program geared towards my interests, so...for recording guitar, bass guitar, vocals, etc is Ablton Live what I need/want? (seems that way to me)

Sorry is this question is in the wrong forum, I'm starting to ramble

[appleyardrules]

ableton live is pretty much a looper program
if you want recording
get like
adobe audition
i <3 it

[Sabu]

OK thanks for the tip!

[teddyastuffed]

i like the song ! its tight, but i think if ur into that funk style of makin music, ur gonna want many more tracks than 4, so definately look into a new program. appleyardrules is right in what he said, but it doesnt mean its bad for live recordings. as for acid pro, thats even more a looping program in my opinion, but same thing, both will work. i honestly would recommend investing in one of the bigger programs like sonar, cubase, or logic if ur an apple user. i recently tried out logic for mac and absolutely loved it. right now i use cubase 3 and love it as well. all will get the job done, its just ones come with features more geared to live recording, midi tracking, or looping. anyways, keep recording and you'll get better n better as time goes by. and make sure u keep having fun ! thats the most important thing. im sure everyone can vougue to the infamous "sit in front of ur computer screen wanting to make something but never doing it". just keep at it and it'll get better n better.

[Sabu]

Thanks for listening Teddy!

I'm reading about "Cubase SE" right now, and I think that might be a contender for me (i.e. I can afford it ). From what I've mentioned above (basically recording songs in my bedroom with drum samples and everything else real live instruments, one track at a time)...is Cubase SE a good idea? Does it support ASIO drivers? I have 2 soundcards in my PC right now, an Audiophile 2496 and a Creative SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit (got the SB for 5.1 sound output). It was a bit of a pain to get the SB and the 2496 installed together (it involved some physical removal and re-installation etc), but they seem to be fine now and from what I've read, as long as my music recording software supports ASIO I should be fine.

Ah, never mind, I found some specs on Steinberg's website. Geez, I don't know if my PC will run this ...my PC specs are like 1% above their requirements...!

[ido1957]

I listened to all three tracks on the site. Really nice/funky bass playing there. I also like the tone and the effects you used. EVFThing was my favorite of the three. The tracks were all too short - I would have liked to listen to more because they're really good .

That's pretty good recording for just getting started. I use Sound Forge Studio 6 (fairly newbie level) - but I have heard several recommendations for Adobe Audition too. That's probbaly one I will seriously consider once I move more toward the PC realm.

[Sabu]

Originally Posted by ido1957

I listened to all three tracks on the site. Really nice/funky bass playing there. I also like the tone and the effects you used. EVFThing was my favorite of the three. The tracks were all too short - I would have liked to listen to more because they're really good .

That's pretty good recording for just getting started. I use Sound Forge Studio 6 (fairly newbie level) - but I have heard several recommendations for Adobe Audition too. That's probbaly one I will seriously consider once I move more toward the PC realm.

Thanks for listening idol! Your comment on tone gave me a warm fuzzy feeling ...I didn't specifically strive for sonic quality for these initial attempts (just getting something done was more important), but one of my major goals will be to get good-sounding bass recorded. The reason the tunes r short is because they're just to demo ideas at the moment. I will hopefully have them complete as soon as I decide on what software to use (which is dependent on availability/cost/my skill level).

[Sabu]

After several months of trying to assemble a jazzy funk band in my rock town (to no avail), I've accepted the fact that I pretty much have to do it myself if I actually want to start anything. So I bought an inexpensive guitar and keyboard...here's my first composition:

http://www.myspace.com/sabuthejungleboy

(click on "funky fish thing")

I haven't touched a guitar in 5 years (and it's been a decade since I went near a keyboard) so my playing on those instruments is somewhat...

I think I'm going to with Ableton Live 5; I'm really liking the demo version of 4 I have.

Unless someone knows if Live 4 is still available?

[Llarion]

I can't listen at work; but I second the Adobe Autition thing. I got the Audiophile 192 recently, and have built around that and Audition, moving from a Korg D1600 DAW...

[bigbubba]

The player says loading xml file but doesn't start playing.

[Sabu]

Yeah lately MySpace has been weird like that...it's working at the moment

[Valiance7]

Just listened to the songs. I think your playing is great. I was nodding my head for sure. You ever want to do some bass on my tracks?

I think you'll be very happy with Live. I've used Sonar LE, Cubase VST, and a few other programs but none are as easy to use or "creative" as Live. Actually the sweetest thing is that you can rewire Live into any of the other programs if you ever get them. For instance I often re-wire reason into Live to come up with the entire instrumentation of a song, then I rewire Live into Sonar to do vocal tracks. It works pretty slick.

[Sabu]

Originally Posted by Valiance7

Just listened to the songs. I think your playing is great. I was nodding my head for sure. You ever want to do some bass on my tracks?

I think you'll be very happy with Live. I've used Sonar LE, Cubase VST, and a few other programs but none are as easy to use or "creative" as Live. Actually the sweetest thing is that you can rewire Live into any of the other programs if you ever get them. For instance I often re-wire reason into Live to come up with the entire instrumentation of a song, then I rewire Live into Sonar to do vocal tracks. It works pretty slick.

Thanks for listening, Valiance! Sure, I'd play some bass on your tunes if you want - I liked "You're Wrong" ('cept for the keyboard ). Do you have any other music online?

I agree that Live is easy to use...I was making music with it shortly after installing it. I've tried Acid and Adobe Audition at a friend's home studio and can't quite understand them.

Have u had any problems with version 5? I see on the Ableton forums that there are some "new release issues" that haven't been fixed yet, such as corrupt .exe files and such. I kinda wish I could find version 4 somewhere for cheap, since the demo I have of 4 seems fine and contains everything I'd be using for a long time in my humble home studio.