Virtual Music

A

Amr Makki

Member
Hi everyone!
I am a song writer and have been working on Audacity to record my songs with a guitar/keyboard/vocal. I find it very difficult to record because I do a lot of mistakes and have to repeat again and again so I have decided to use virtual music. Again it is very complicated to start. I red about loops and MIDI but I do not know from where to start. I want to make it simple because I record demos not proffesional songs so all I need is a spanish guitar strumming rhythm, solo and a piano solo or accomponiment. I do not know if I have to use a DAW or may be there is a simpler solutions using android applications for example.
Thanks a lot,
 
Keep practicing and recording the way you've been doing. You'll improved if you keep doing it. What's the purpose of your 'demos'? To get others to use your songs? Looped guitar parts are never going to sound like you really want.
 
If you are doing keyboard work, Midi is just a way to "log keystrokes". It records what you press, but doesn't really have a sound of its own. Consider it to be like the roll in a player piano. The nice thing is that you can change instruments but use the same midi file. Using the right software allows you to edit things, so if you miss a note, or hit a wrong note, it's pretty easy to fix a mistake.

There are a lot of people using "loops" these days. Much new music is simply taking someone's loop or "beats" and putting a vocal or instrumental line over it. The problem I have with loops is that they tend to sound boring after a while. If you're doing hiphop, that works because that's really the origin of that style of music. If you're doing something a vocal/guitar piece, its not going to work.

Audacity is ok for quick and dirty recording, but for me, it wasn't right to do full fledged recording. I can't imagine trying to work on a phone or tablet. WAY too restrictive, and I hate touchscreens. Give me a keyboard and mouse!

I ended up with Reaper, but I also have 2 stand alone units (Zoom R24 and Yamaha AW1600) that I have used for recording songs. The nice thing about a good DAW is that you can do quick and simple punch-in fixes for minor flubs. I do that a LOT with vocals. I'll record a verse fine, and then screw up the second. No worries. Just cut the second verse out and redo that part. I've done it with guitars, drums, bass.

One thing about recording is that you can really "stress" about not making a mistake. That's when I start thinking about my playing which LEADS to the mistakes. I do better if I just relax and play. Forget about the recording process and close your eyes and play like you're just in your easy chair piddling.
 
Reaper is a nice DAW option and it is free. There are plenty of options later, like Logic Pro X, Cubase, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Studio One, etc.... I would recommend you to check some basic tutorials of Reaper ( because it's free and you wouldn't be spending money on that without really knowing if you like what you are about to start), and a Midi Keyboard. As TalismanRich said, MIDI doesn't give you an specific sound, it's more like a signal. It will produce sound once you load a virtual instrument. I would recommend you to get Kontakt 6 Player ( free), and try to search for some free samples libraries prepared for Kontakt 6 Player. You could start just with that. If you like it, and you feel comfortable, you can start investing money. I wouldn't start buying things if you didn´t use a DAW before, or you are not used to work with virtual instruments. You have time for that later if you really enjoy it!
 
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