Home Recording Help

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jacksonfreak

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Hey guys,

Im new to the forum and need some help on home recording. I have got two questions regarding recording. So i recently started using Cubase SX3, just getting used to the program. I have been using audacity all along.

1) This might sound stupid. But can Cubase be used just like audacity to record while ive plugged my guitar straight into my laptop mic input..? Or is Cubase just used for mixing down and mastering tracks..?

2) The other question is ive never been able to record stereo because of the mic input on my laptop. So i was wondering in investing in either a USB/firewire (probably USB atm) interface..If i purchase one of these will i be able to record stereo through my laptop going through a USB port...? Also would you guys be able to recommend a good USB recording interface...maybe about 4/8 channel interface for multitrack recording..?

Thanks for all your help...
 
1) You bought Cubase without knowing what it does? That just somehow amazes me (and I would imagine, most people here).

Read the (amazingly well-written) Quick Start guide...

Technically speaking, no, Cubase has no mastering capabilities. Post-pro, sure.

2) Yes. You can record stereo tracks *ASSUMING THE SOURCE IS A STEREO SOURCE* with pretty much any multi-channel interface (including a stock sound card, although many will frown upon stock interfaces).

Which one? There are dozens. A little research goes a long way.
 
Welcome to the forums.

I think a read of the manual will be the best thing to answer your first point.

for the 2nd one, I would tell you to have a look through this guide and work out exactly what you need:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_and_audio_interfaces.htm

I use a EMU USB 4040. This has served me very well so far. Just the 2 inputs, but that's fine for me as i'm recording mainly acoustic guitar and vocals; and the pre-amp seems nice and clean for the money.

Everyone has different needs and budgets, so have a look through that link and see which one fits your needs best.
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and suggestions: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
Or if you don't want to buy a book, theres a button on the blue bar at the top of the screen. it's the 3rd one from the right. you can pretty much look up anything about home recording with it, especially info for beginners.

one tip I do have for you- actually trying to lay down some tracks, working with your gear and software and learning it will be the best source of knowledge for a beginner. No amount of reading can make you a professional- but actually doing it and practicing a hella lot can get you there. reading forums is what you do at work, when you can't be in the studio!
 
Hello again people,

Thanks again for all the links and replies. If are wondering how i got Cubase i actually downloaded it to be brutally honest. :D ....

Im at work at the moment so im not able to take a look at the quick start guide but i will do as soon as i get some time tonight. From the replies im guessing that Cubase can't be used like Audacity for recording directly.

About the USB interface. Im looking for something that will do a decently good job and improve my quality of recording along with stop the lagging latency issue as i keep constantly battling....Nothing too fancy at the moment...Ive heard the M-audio does some good ones..Does anyone have any experience with them..??

Thanks
 
jacksonfreak said:
Thanks again for all the links and replies. If are wondering how i got Cubase i actually downloaded it to be brutally honest. :D ....
Click to expand...

This is not gonna make a lot of people happy, including myself. Many people her do this for a living and use their hard earned money to get programs such as that.
 
jacksonfreak said:
Thanks again for all the links and replies. If are wondering how i got Cubase i actually downloaded it to be brutally honest. :D ....
Click to expand...
To be brutally honest, take a hike. :D

Some [SELF-CENSORED]ing nerve some people have...

"Hey, I just stole this car - Teach me how to drive it."

WTF is the world coming to?
 
jacksonfreak said:
If are wondering how i got Cubase i actually downloaded it to be brutally honest. :D ....

Im at work at the moment
Click to expand...

Your boss wanted me to tell you that you will not be getting paid for your services today. You see, he doesn't need you anymore. He can just download software off the internet.

FYI- Wrong place to brag about pirating. As a community, we're hardworking people who have respect for all of the time, energy, money and other resources put into the development of software we find vital to the industry.
 
Alright i hope i didn't spoil someones day or get anyone's blood boiling (maybe i did) by telling the truth..I could have just lied about it all and/or never said a thing...Besides im sure there are folks on these forums that do download as well, i saw another thread somewhere regarding this.. :eek:

Anyway apologies, i don't wanna make an enemy of myself now on these awesome forums...
 
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Integrity

It's one thing to pirate software when you're 14 and just want to try it out ....but after you grow up..BUY IT! If you can't afford it, use shareware until you can.

A few companies don't mind that their software is used to learn with because when the kids grow up and start working for a living they bring that knowledge with them and end up using licensed versions in the workplace.

Some programmer or programmers spent thousands of hours to develop that software and they deserve to get paid for their work, just like any musician or artist deserves to get paid for theirs.

It's a matter of respect for someone else's property, I guess some people just don't have any!:mad:
 
It's one thing to pirate software when you're 14 and just want to try it out
Click to expand...
I see where you're coming from, but I have to disagree - It's not okay to steal cars if you just want to try them out (especially if you don't even know how to start it).

Long story short -- A couple years ago, I had a dongle go down on a Sunday afternoon. About a million phone calls later, I had a courier jumping on a plane in NY Monday morning to get me a replacement dongle because I had a client flying out on Tuesday.

That cost me about as much as the program cost in the first place, but I didn't have much of a choice, as we were already into the project and I couldn't start over in another program. So, it was either (A) cancel the session, pi$$ off the client in a major way (probably insuring I'd never work with that label again) or (B) get the dongle, fast.

I could very easily blame a defective dongle. But there wouldn't be any dongles if people didn't think it was okay to just steal the software in the first place.
 
I would understand people downloading soft if the price of the soft would be so high, that only an elite could buy it... But today, almost every single soundcard comes with some kind of recording software, and even if not, you have REAPER (which at 50 bucks is a steal) to start right away...

I´m not gonna preach anyone, but if you can have original soft instead of downloading... give it a try.

Anyway, after reading your questions -believe me- you won´t make any difference recording in Cubase LE or Pro Tools HD...

Stop recording throught the computer mic, go buy a cool soundcard and problem solved! :)

(btw, welcome aboard)
 
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yeah go with reaper. There is even a free version ... version 0.99... it works well enough. Or get the newest one whatever. I did that when my conscience started punching me in the face (lol)

now I got logic express for christmas and I love it.
 
I would understand people downloading soft if the price of the soft would be so high, that only an elite could buy it...
Click to expand...
But only "elites" can buy Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces. Does that make it okay for people to steal them?

Software isn't a right -

Although I'm with you on your other point to some extent -- But when perfectly decent SW (a'la Reaper) is out there, it makes software theft (IMO) even worse.

"Sorry you can't afford a Ferrari, so even though you have no birthright to drive a car (much less even own one), we're going to supply you with this perfectly nice Chevrolet for free - If you really like it, we'd appreciate it if you'd give us ten bucks. If you don't, you'll have to wait five seconds before it will start -- Ummm Hey - Why are you stealing that Ferrari? Hello - Perfectly good car here and you don't even have to pay for it if you don't want to - Hello?!? It's a [SELF-CENSORED]-ing FELONY to steal that car... YOU INGRATE - HERE'S A CAR!!! WHY ARE YOU STEALING THAT OTHER CAR?!??!?"

Do you see where I'm coming from here?
 
I expect that julianfernandez is not equating 'understanding' with 'condoning'. There is a difference.

Though we might 'understand' why someone does something, we don't necessarily have to approve it.

In any case, you are right. A price difference doesn't justify theft.
 
Home Recording

hey Ive been working on a new project with some of my friends we have been working on alot of songs and were getting down to the recording part of the whole deal. My dad runs sound sound for a band and hes got the board and everything but i don't want to record onto a cassette tape and i want to record on a cd... he said that he will hook up the other stuff so that i can hook it up and then i need your help to find me a good recording software for a computer and i just want to make sure that it will be satifying.

The equpiment is top of the line but i want the computer software to work good and if you can help me find a software where i can change how loud is it and i can record all of the instruments seperate and over lay or render them over each other so the music will flow like what i want and so that i can make changes if i need... but i would more than appreciate it if you can help me out alot please..

Thanks
Sincerely yours,
Colton T. Snook
 
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