Stupid noobie question (recording separate tracks)

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skyeladder

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Hi, this is my first post. I'm a total noobie at home recording, at the moment I haven't even got a PC just a laptop with dreadful speakers, cos my old PC died and I stuck the speakers from in into my TV :o

I'm looking for a PC, probably a refurb so I canget more bang for my buck (or should I say pound?) and I'll stick a decent soundcard in it when I get it, I might use the one from my old PC cos it was halfway a decent Creative card.

Sorry, I'm waffling, I'll get to my question..........

WHen I get my PC and stick the soundcard in it, can I record separate tracks simultaneously? I've got a Behringer Xenyx 1202 fx mixer which I was going to use to plug in my guitar, keyboard and mic, but I want to record the tracks to Sonar, as separate tracks. Can I do that or do I need something else? If I do, I could do with something under £100

Cheers
 
Separate tracks recorded simultaneously require their own converter channel.
So.....if you need to record 4 tracks simultaneously, you would need a soundcard with 4 converter channels.

Using a mixer will not get you there. It's all about the number of A/D channels.
 
Hi there,
Your train of thought is a pretty common starting point, but it's not really a great idea.
Standard sound cards (even creative ones) are usually designed for stereo I/O, which means 2 simultaneous tracks maximum.
The inputs are also unbalanced which can mean problems picking up noises/hums/interference.

Your best bet is to figure out the maximum number of simultaneous inputs that you'll need then shop around for USB interfaces that have you covered. (tascam, presonus etc)

Any of these will completely take the place of your internal sound card. :)

As for the Behriner, I'd sell it on unless you have some other need for it.
Sometimes a mixer can be handy for this or that, but it's very unlikely to be a core requirement in your home studio.


What PC you need depends on your aims. If you're recording few raw audio tracks with a handful of effects and not using VSTS (virtual instrument), a core2duo box out of a skip will probably see you through just fine.

£100 won't go a long way, to be honest.
Do you have mics, stands, cables, pop filters etc?
 
Steenamaroo said:
Hi there,
Your train of thought is a pretty common starting point, but it's not really a great idea.
Standard sound cards (even creative ones) are usually designed for stereo I/O, which means 2 simultaneous tracks maximum.
The inputs are also unbalanced which can mean problems picking up noises/hums/interference.

Your best bet is to figure out the maximum number of simultaneous inputs that you'll need then shop around for USB interfaces that have you covered. (tascam, presonus etc)

Any of these will completely take the place of your internal sound card. :)

As for the Behriner, I'd sell it on unless you have some other need for it.
Sometimes a mixer can be handy for this or that, but it's very unlikely to be a core requirement in your home studio.


What PC you need depends on your aims. If you're recording few raw audio tracks with a handful of effects and not using VSTS (virtual instrument), a core2duo box out of a skip will probably see you through just fine.

£100 won't go a long way, to be honest.
Do you have mics, stands, cables, pop filters etc?
Click to expand...

yeah, i got all that stuff, been in a band for ages, just wanted to do some stuff at home, Mrs Skye plays keys and sings, I play guitar, so I wanted something that we could plug all 3 into at once and just record it.
have you got any thoughts on what I need regarding the interface?
Once it's recorded I wanted to use some fx on the tracks and maybe add other virtual instruments but Mrs Skyeladder has a Korg M3 so we're pretty well covered there
 
miroslav said:
Separate tracks recorded simultaneously require their own converter channel.
So.....if you need to record 4 tracks simultaneously, you would need a soundcard with 4 converter channels.

Using a mixer will not get you there. It's all about the number of A/D channels.
Click to expand...

could you recommend any, please?
 
Have a look at the tascam USB offerings. No better place to start.
You might want to record everything dry and worry about effects later in the computer.
That way you aren't committed to what seemed like a good idea at the time. ;)

For software, take a look at reaper, unless you already have something.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Have a look at the tascam USB offerings. No better place to start.
You might want to record everything dry and worry about effects later in the computer.
That way you aren't committed to what seemed like a good idea at the time. ;)

For software, take a look at reaper, unless you already have something.
Click to expand...

ta, I'll have look at Tascam and Reaper, but I've already got Sonar, but it's a couple of years old now.

would an Akai EIE I/O USB Audio/MIDI Interface be any good for what I need?
(I'd post a link to it, but it seems as a newbie, I'm not allowed to :o )
 
I have no idea about the quality of that particular interface, but yes it looks like it'd cover you.
You've got mic/line/instrument inputs, and you've got phantom power.
4 discreet inputs means you could record your vocals, guitar and keys simultaneously.

If the keyboard has stereo line outputs then you'll be using 4 inputs rather than 3.
Make sure you aren't going to need more in the future.
Now's the time to think it through. ;)

If I'm patronising you please forgive me, but you can record many more discreet tracks as overdubs.
Ie. You could record four instruments live, for example, and then record the vocals as an overdub.
They tracks would show in your software as 5 discreet tracks.
 
Steenamaroo said:
I have no idea about the quality of that particular interface, but yes it looks like it'd cover you.
You've got mic/line/instrument inputs, and you've got phantom power.
4 discreet inputs means you could record your vocals, guitar and keys simultaneously.

If the keyboard has stereo line outputs then you'll be using 4 inputs rather than 3.
Make sure you aren't going to need more in the future.
Now's the time to think it through. ;)

If I'm patronising you please forgive me, but you can record many more discreet tracks as overdubs.
Ie. You could record four instruments live, for example, and then record the vocals as an overdub.
They tracks would show in your software as 5 discreet tracks.
Click to expand...
nope, not patronising at all :thumbs up:
This is something I've never done, I've only ever plugged into the PC and recorded one track at a time. Plus at the moment I have a dodgy shoulder and am on pain killers that are 1 step down form Morphine, so you can guess what that's doing to the old brainbox :facepalm:

So what you're saying is, with the right interface, I could take it and a laptop to rehearsal and record the whole band? Mind you, I doubt I could get it for 100 quid :D
At the moment, it's really just for me to dip my toe in the water, but it's something I've always liked the use of, so I can see me diving from the 10 metre board before too long!
 
Sorry to hear that. Good excuse to take it easy though, right. ;)

What I'm saying is that an interface with 4 inputs limits you to four simultaneous discreet tracks,
but there's nothing to stop you recording an other four on top of that afterwards, or four more....


It doesn't strictly relate to your question since you want to record live, but I'm mentioning it because I guess a lot of people start out recording live groups and then pull back to separate multi tracking because they realise their acoustic space isn't great for live tracking.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Sorry to hear that. Good excuse to take it easy though, right. ;)

What I'm saying is that an interface with 4 inputs limits you to four simultaneous discreet tracks,
but there's nothing to stop you recording an other four on top of that afterwards, or four more....


It doesn't strictly relate to your question since you want to record live, but I'm mentioning it because I guess a lot of people start out recording live groups and then pull back to separate multi tracking because they realise their acoustic space isn't great for live tracking.
Click to expand...

:D too right, I'm taking it easy, trouble is, I got it for life, so I'll be taking it easy for (hopefully) a long time. It means we do fewer gigs now, we used to do 200-250 a year, not bad for an all original music band, I suppose, but from now on we're looking at festivals etc.

Oooops, better get back on topic.......

Yeah, I get what you're saying, the more inputs, the more options, but for now it's just for me ans Mrs Skyeladder to use, and I'll likely be using that drummer called Mr Computer, and adding bass at a later date. :D

Thanks for helping so well and so quickly. No doubt I'll be asking quite a few more questions before I'm finished :o
 
Ok cool.
If you need any more info, don't be afraid to come back.

The only stupid question is the one you don't ask, they say... ;)
 
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