Basic recording of tracks

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lolrecords

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Hi Everyone,
I know this will probably sound like a dumb question, but for some reason I seem to be recording all my tracks loud and they seem to be clipping.. My question is this, what do I need to be looking at as I record say my bass guitar directly into my interface which then records into cubase? Do I need to monitor the signal from the track itself? Make sure that is does not go into the red? Like after I record and then raise the volume of the track via the fader it goes into the red, but is that just because I raised the volume? It's not the signal itself correct? The signal was already recorded, and I kept it from clipping as I recorded it. Does that make sense the way I'm asking it? Thanks again!
 
lolrecords said:
Hi Everyone,
I know this will probably sound like a dumb question, but for some reason I seem to be recording all my tracks loud and they seem to be clipping.. My question is this, what do I need to be looking at as I record say my bass guitar directly into my interface which then records into cubase? Do I need to monitor the signal from the track itself? Make sure that is does not go into the red? Like after I record and then raise the volume of the track via the fader it goes into the red, but is that just because I raised the volume? It's not the signal itself correct? The signal was already recorded, and I kept it from clipping as I recorded it. Does that make sense the way I'm asking it? Thanks again!
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If it's already recorded and there is no clipping then you just need to turn it down in your mix - turn it all down and turn up your monitors.

You can get it louder when you master it - even without mastering you can get it louder by just normalizing the mixed stereo track before you export to mp3 or whatever format you are exporting into. You don't want to be hitting any red (or going above zero) in your mix - if you have too much range use some compression to even out the signal - if you have random peaks a limiter might help.
 
Why do you raise the volume into the red? :)

If it's not clipping/red during tracking...leave it alone. If it is, lower your input levels.

When mixing...don't raise the track/DAW faders just because you want to hear it louder.
Just turn up your speakers. ;)
 
Turn down the preamp so it doesn't clip...simple.

EDIT: whoops, reread that...if it's already recorded and doesn't clip before you move the fader, you are good. If it clips before touching the fader, follow the above advice and turn down. If it's clipping as you're trying to get it in the mix with everything else do these two things: 1) turn everything else down so when you turn the bass up it doesn't clip, 2) compress the bass track so the peaks are not causing it to clip. Both probably need to be done.
 
They call them "faders" for a reason. You make one channel stand out by lowering other channels. If you find that you keep raising all the channels to make them stand out, you're doing it wrong.
 
diggy_dude said:
They call them "faders" for a reason. You make one channel stand out by lowering other channels. If you find that you keep raising all the channels to make them stand out, you're doing it wrong.
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So are you saying that you should track as hot as possible and lower the volumes during mixing?
 
BassMan53 said:
So are you saying that you should track as hot as possible and lower the volumes during mixing?
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No. Track at moderate levels with peaks hitting around -18dBFS and then mix your mutitrack. You can boost the overall level of the final mix after the fact.
 
Track Rat said:
No. Track at moderate levels with peaks hitting around -18dBFS and then mix your mutitrack. You can boost the overall level of the final mix after the fact.
Click to expand...

Yes. I wanted to know if I tracked as hot as possible, would that distort the sound even though, the faders are not in the red when the signal comes in? For ex, I'm recording straight in with the bass guitrar, I have the guitar volume all the way up, I have my input from my interface all the way up (in my case my little Tascam), the signal comes in really hot, but I turn the fader down in Cubase so it's not clipping as I record. Is this the proper way to do it? Or should I turn everthing down at the source and control it from there? Or have everything turned up as loud as possible and turn it down on the mixer for each track in Cubase? Would this be ok? So after I read BassMan53's post, I guess that's what I was trying to ask. What is a decent level to record at? is -18DBF's a reasonalbe level for all the tracks I am recording?
Anyway, thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate it!
 
Tracking as hot as possible is dead wrong unless you want everything to sound garbled.

The volume on your guitar is irrelevant to a point. The only way this would be a problem is if either a.) you have the input gain on the Tascam turned all the way DOWN and the signal comes in over line level (too hot) causing your little preamp in the Tascam to clip and distort, or b.) you don't get a decent tone from the guitar having the level jacked all the way up. I have no idea what bass you're using and/or what kind of tone you want. Active electronics in a guitar with the level jacked up to maximum and a weak battery could cause nasty distortion. There will be a sweet spot somewhere. Wide open might not be it.

Beyond the guitar, at the preamp in the Tascam you want to set the level at or maybe slightly below line level. Does it have a clip light or something? If so, make sure the level is sufficiently down that it stays OFF for the most part.

Have the input levels in Cubase set to "unity" (probably the maximum) and keep the levels going in under control at the preamp.
 
Hey snow lizard,
Thanks for the post. Yeah the Tascam has a red clip light that comes on if the signal is too hot and will porbably distort. The bass guitar I have is nothing special. I'm just getting started so I'm trying to learn, and my gear is just beginner stuff. I just wanted to make sure I'm starting off with all this properly. and I guess what was confusing me was getting the signal in, and at what level to do that at. so far the advice and feedback I got from everyone has been very helpful. Thanks again!
 
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