Just Started

[rodd13]

Hey guys. I just started with this whole recording thing.
The equipment I have right now are...
- M-Audio Fast Track Pro
- Blue Snowball USB Microphone
- Yamaha FGX730SC Acoustic/Electric
- Adobe Audition 3.0 Recording Software
-Multi-Media Amplified Speaker System EP-120 (I found these in my basement and they sound pretty good to me)
-Dell Studio 540, 4gb Ram, 500gb HD (I also got an external 600gb HD)

I have an instrument cable that I can plug into the audio interface.
I have a yamaha keyboard with midi in and out, but I don't know too much about midi.

My questions...

-Any tips on Adobe Audition 3.0?
-Any good pre-amps that will make the guitar sound better through this interface?
-Any more equipment that I may need? (ex. Better Mic)
-How does midi work?
-What is an alternative to soundproofing?

It would be nice if some of these questions get answered. It may be answered as I roam through the forums some more.

 

[CFox]

Hi. How come did you come about choosing Adobe Audition 3 ?

An alternative to soundproofing would be no sound proofing.

 

[rodd13]

I chose Adobe Audition 3.0 because I saw a lot of tutorials on youtube and online that could help me with editing. It seemed very popular for beginners.

 

[Supercreep]

"Soundproofing" is incredibly difficult and expensive. Do you want to make it sound nice in the room or do you want to prevent sound from getting in or out?

Keep in mind that "soundproof" also means "airtight". Insofar as you like to breathe, you might be biting off more than you can chew.

Check out the studio construction forum downstairs for some practical help.

 

[Hudd]

I would go for a better mic. Mabe a Blue Bluebird

 

[Chili]

I would go for a better mic. Mabe a Blue Bluebird

Yup, a USB mic won't work with your Fast Track.

 

[RaiderPenguin]

There are always going to be better things you might want. Better preamps, mics, monitors and acoustic treatment are all things that would improve the sound quality of your recordings.

But it looks like you have everything you need to get started. The best thing you could do at this point would be to start playing with what you've got and learn more about the recording process. As you do so, you'll probably start to notice shortcomings in your recordings, and maybe once you've spent some time with your gear you'll be able to prioritize on what you want to buy next.

I think far too many newbies to recording (and I can include myself in this, I'm still not too far along myself) try to buy way too much gear without ever really learning how to use it. Better to know the gear you've got than to have a bunch of gear you can't use effectively.

 

[Muzzaman]

I chose Adobe Audition 3.0 because I saw a lot of tutorials on youtube and online that could help me with editing. It seemed very popular for beginners.

I used to use Adobe Audition 3 but felt it hogged too much CPU and was a bit bloated. I've since moved to REAPER and it just sounds better, is great on CPU is more stable and there's a shed load of tutorial on it limitless studios on youtube check them out.

Muzza.

 

[rodd13]

Yeah. I'm probably going to go for the Blue Bluebird. Would I need any preamps?

 

[rodd13]

I used to use Adobe Audition 3 but felt it hogged too much CPU and was a bit bloated. I've since moved to REAPER and it just sounds better, is great on CPU is more stable and there's a shed load of tutorial on it limitless studios on youtube check them out.

Muzza.

I'm starting to feel that my harddrive space is getting eaten alive by Adobe Audition too. I'll check out REAPER. Does it work with Windows 7??

 

[rodd13]

"Soundproofing" is incredibly difficult and expensive. Do you want to make it sound nice in the room or do you want to prevent sound from getting in or out?

Keep in mind that "soundproof" also means "airtight". Insofar as you like to breathe, you might be biting off more than you can chew.

Check out the studio construction forum downstairs for some practical help.

I'm trying to keep the sound nice in the room and also have the sound stay in (If it's possible). Mostly trying to keep the room sounding nice.

 

[Chili]

I'm trying to keep the sound nice in the room and also have the sound stay in (If it's possible). Mostly trying to keep the room sounding nice.

Yeah, those are two completely different functions; soundproofing and sound treatment. They are addressed by completely different methods and are not related to the other.

Sound isolation is keeping sound from escaping your room and/or keeping sound from entering your room. Sound treatment (or acoustic treatment) is to make your room respond properly to the audio frequencies so you don't get unwanted coloration. this will allow you to hear your mixes more accurately.

Sound Isolation is very expensive and you pretty much have to design the room with that in mind before building it. But it can be done.
Acoustic treatment can be done fairly cheap and it is the best investment to getting good mixes. If you're a DIYer type, you can make your own bass traps/broadband absorbers for not a lot of money. Do a search for all this stuff iin the Studio Build forum. It gets discussed often.

btw: I deleted your double post.

 

[rodd13]

Yeah, those are two completely different functions; soundproofing and sound treatment. They are addressed by completely different methods and are not related to the other.

Sound isolation is keeping sound from escaping your room and/or keeping sound from entering your room. Sound treatment (or acoustic treatment) is to make your room respond properly to the audio frequencies so you don't get unwanted coloration. this will allow you to hear your mixes more accurately.

Sound Isolation is very expensive and you pretty much have to design the room with that in mind before building it. But it can be done.
Acoustic treatment can be done fairly cheap and it is the best investment to getting good mixes. If you're a DIYer type, you can make your own bass traps/broadband absorbers for not a lot of money. Do a search for all this stuff iin the Studio Build forum. It gets discussed often.

btw: I deleted your double post.

oh thanks. I'm probably going to try and go for the acoustic treatment. I don't have a set room with just my equipment, I'm actually in my bed room. Just a highschool kid trying to get into recording. Would the sound treatment still work even if I have a bed in the room?

 

[Chili]

Would the sound treatment still work even if I have a bed in the room?

Yup, like I said, use the search function or browse through the Studio Build forum, this gets discussed often. You can get pretty decent results from your bedroom without driving your parents crazy. I'm hoping my kids give me these kinds of problems when they get older.

 

[Muzzaman]

I'm starting to feel that my harddrive space is getting eaten alive by Adobe Audition too. I'll check out REAPER. Does it work with Windows 7??

Rodd, Yup REAPER does indeed work with Windows 7 i'm running it on 7 at the moment. Although just to note, it seems that the 32bit REAPER is more stable than the 64bit version??

Don't ask why, but that's my experience. Download both versions and see which is more stable.

REAPER | Download

Muzza.