acid,SMPTE,mmc mtc and 1 inch reel. questions that a PRO cant even answer

  • Thread starter Thread starter czar of bizarre
  • Start date Start date
Czar,

To answer your last question. How will you be able to go back and
pan, eq, specific instruments if you have already mixed down to tape? You wont be able to. What you have failed to mention is that you were not completely done with all your tracking. What everyone had been trying to get across to you is you that could accomplish the same thing by mixing down to analog tape
if you were done with the tracking and mixing stages.

It appears that you will be transferring your wave files
which is probably the instumental portion and then tracking
your vocals directly to tape. Is this correct?

Here are the steps to sync Cakewalk to Smpte..

First,I would recommend that you restripe the tape. This
will not hurt anything and if this was one of the initial problems
you will be nipping it in the bud right away.

In Cakewalk, Click on the Sync tool bar to enable SMPTE/MTC sync
go to OPTIONS>PROJECT and click the Clock Tab.
Choose the frame rate. You will probaly want to choose 30 frame
Non-drop. Enter the offset time if need be. If this is a new Tape
you may not need one. Check with the engineer for the Frame setting and offset time.
Make sure that your midi interface is selected. Go to Options>Midi
Devices...your midi device should be at the top of the list and highlighted.
Now go to Realtime-Loop and Auto shuttle located in the toolbar.
put a check mark in the Loop continuosly box.

Now all you are gonna have to do is click play in Cakewalk
and you will see in the toolbar chasing Smpte...You will now
use the transport controls on the tape machine to run Cakewalk.
One more setting to check..GO TO Options>Audio>and click the
Advanced Tab ..select Full Chase Lock..

That should do it...I need to mention this though...make sure
you have all of your wave files lined up in Cakewalk just like
you want them BEFORE you do the transfer.

Just a reminder, make sure you run through these procedures
before you go to the studio. I assume you are paying by the
hour. Thats not the place to be trying this stuff out for the first time.

Holla back if you need more clarification..and Good Luck!
 
Czar,

I intended to address your other question about why you
couldnt just run the mix to your computer. But the answer is
YES YOU CAN. I would recommend getting it on CDR and
maybe Dat too depending on where you are going to have it
mastered. Find out what your mastering house prefers.

But here is the real bonus of recording the mix into the PC.
If you have an audio card capable of 96K 24 bit audio youre
really gonna be in business. If not that, record it at the
highest resolution you can! 48k 24bit will be fine.

You could the transfer that 96k 24bit wave file to CD
and take it to the mastering house. The file might be
quite large but ther is an excellent program for compressing
wave files to 50 -75% there original size while maintaining
the quality of the audio. Its called Moneky Audio and it was
referred to me by a mastering engineer so I Know its legit.

I believe its www.monkeyaudio.com If not I'll provide the
link later..
 
i understood what regebro was saying. mixing to a reel to reel instead of sending each individual track on a reel to reel is better. you're still gonna get that analog sound, and you wont need a 24 track mixing desk to mix it all down with. things are gonna get noisy transferring each individual track down to analog. can i ask why you dont record straight onto the 24 track? im not starting an argument here, i geniunly would like to know why you dont record straight onto it.
Click to expand...



see thats what im not understanding. what do you mean mixing to a reel to reel? how am i going to mix the stuff if i dont have everything seperate? either im not making myself clear or i dont understand the procedure. so i will explain again.


i have 15 songs. an average of 4 minutes for each song. each song has a minimum of 16 tracks of music. i have wav files on the pc. i want to process and manipulate these wav files from an external source and not within the pc. i have NOT layed vocals yet. i want to take my digital tracks drop them on analog media and go back digital. i am assuming that a 24 track reel can hold 24 tracks. so the way i see it is to record a track on the reel,go back,record,go back record,go back record etc etc etc . if i go out from the pc onto a 2 track reel which is 2 tracks only i assume. i cant manipulate each individual part. i want to take advantage of his out board gear and process each track. i thought i was recording straight onto the 24 track. longwave i hope you understand what i am trying to say. i may be confusing but im explaining it as best as i can i hope it helps. now i have some questions.


1.how am i going to manipulate each track if i dont multitrack it onto the reel?

2. i want to mix all my sounds individually on his system. how can i do this if i dont multitrack it on reel?(im not mixing on the pc)


elbenj you have been a gentlemen in your efforts to help me and i appreciate you for doing it. you are working with me and you can see that im not efficient in this area and you are helping out. i thank you. im not done tracking. i havent even tracked the vocals. i want to mix the music and then remix it again with the vocals. i dont want to record the vocals to the pc. the only way i can do that is if i record on my roland hard disc and squirt those tracks to the pc. however i will have to sync it up to the pc to do all that. im trying to keep the transfers to a minimum.
so i figure the best thing to do would be to get all the tracks on reel,mix,lay vox,remix,remix one more time and mixdown to dat or go out 2 channels from the board into my pc or his daw for mastering. if another way exists let me know so i can do it. thank you for your instructiions and tips on how to sync. i will try them out after the 21st. im taking a break. time to relax b4 i go at it again. if i have questions i definitly know i can come to you and several others. thank you



czar
 
czar of bizarre said:




.....see thats what im not understanding. what do you mean mixing to a reel to reel? how am i going to mix the stuff if i dont have everything seperate? either im not making myself clear or i dont understand the procedure.
Click to expand...

You want to dump all your tracks to 1" tape and then mix FROM the 1" reel to reel. You want to do this to get "that Analog sound".

What Reg was suggesting was mixing all your stuff on PC and then dumping the finished mix TO the 1" reel to reel to get 'that Analog sound".

We know that you have repeatedly stated that you don't want to mix on the PC but since you don't seem to coming up with any other solutions Rege's suggestion does seem to make sense.
 
24/96

elbenj said:

If you have an audio card capable of 96K 24 bit audio youre really gonna be in business. If not that, record it at the
highest resolution you can! 48k 24bit will be fine.
Click to expand...

to be honest, in a home / project studio, 96k realy isn't all that amazing. you will barely hear the difference compared to 24bit and 48K.
 
"sticking a chicken up your butt does not make you a chicken" Tyler Durden.
 
i stated from the begining that IF i had to mixdown to reel from the pc i would. however i dont want to mix from the pc for the following reasons.

1. i want fresh ears to mix it. my mixes are getting better but in certain areas i lack. it always has to do with bass. either it is to low or to high. the mids and hi's are cool however. i want him to mix it thats why im paying him $50 an hour.


2.i want to take advantage of his outboard gear. i have A LOT of plug ins but i dont want to fool with all of that. i could pick my favorites and use those.however if it doesnt sound right after its been dumped on the reel im stuck.


3.the engineer is basically an analog head. he doesnt know how to use acid,cubase,cakewalk or sampletude. he uses orchestrator plus but he uses it for automation. if i sat him in front of my pc with all those programs his head would explode. now i probably can mix it under him. meaning i make the adjustments while he listens but i dont know if it will work. worth a try however.


4.i lack experience. i have been around music as a child.however i just started to really get my feet wet in 98. 1999-2000 was time i spent learning how to sync midi,learning programs,practicing recording tech and basically trying to LEARN and experiment. so i want this to be a learning exercise also. IM NOT A PRO. i never claimed to be. however i do know that i have come a far way from when i started.




so those are the reasons im going through hell. sorry if i took you guys with me.


czar



ps.hixmix its pronounced "zar". j i dont understand your comment.

?????????????
 
C.O.B, sorry it has taken me so long to post you back (I forgot I started answering one of your questions :( ).

I see that there has been a lot of flaming in this thread. I did not read all off the posts (yet... ;) ).

The Cakewalk setup information posted by elbenj is/was correct.

But first, you also need to convert your Acid tracks into WAV. files then export them to Cakewalk.

I am going to visit this thread later on tonight to read all of this crossfire.

peace...

spin

p.s. You must remember that there is a cornucopia of knowledge on this BBS. A lot of the members have "real" production studios and they know what they are talking about.
 
sorry, i misquoted Tyler. the quote is:

sticking feathers up your ass does not make you a chicken.

GOOD LUCK CZAR!
and i mean it.

j
 
golden grail

i took a trip ti idaho. i was supposed to be on vacation. however i got caught up in helping my brother with cakewalk and xp60 midi sync. thanks 2 u all for helping.


heres the good news. i found a studio in idaho that i will record in. im gonna fly back in a month. they use a 2 inch sony reel, a BIG mixing console(cant remeber the name)neuman mics and more outboard gear than the studio i was recording in. they use NEUNDO and the guy said we can go out 8 at a time to the reel. all i have to do is save my music as a wav file and load it into the application. however im stuck. i can do the vocals and and track it on the pc and mix it down to a 2 inch 2 track reel or i can multitrack it and do it how i wanted to. $50 an hour but the rates get reduced to $35 when i buy blocks. the 2 inch reel is $135. in cali i have yet to find one for less that $200. so i guess it was good that i did go through all this mayhem. im savin myself thousands by flying to idaho to do the job.



thanks guys for all the support. i even would like to thank the egomaniacs. your egotistical ways delayed me and by doing so i found a BETTER spot to do the project. thanx a million ;)


czar
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top