Live performance recording by computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charva
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Charva

Charva

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I want to start recording our band rehearsals using a PC. I need to know what software/hardware is required for this project. I already have the PC but I need info on sound card, and how much Hard Disc space is needed to record 2 or 3 hours of music at one time. I plan on using 2 mics in the room to capture all the noise we make. Thank you ahead of time for your anticipated response. I'm sure i will have a few more questions and yes, I'm on a budget.
 
Need more details on your budget, and your PC. Does it already have a soundcard? What CPU speed? Space on hard drive? etc..

Do you have a mixer or a microphone preamp?

Queue
 
Athalon 500, 128 meg ram, 40 gig HD no, i need a sound card (midiman audiophile 2496 should do?) and i'm looking at Cakewalk home studio software. Whaddya think and thx for quick reply! and we have a mixer on the PA system we use (Mackie forgot the model #)
 
Hard disk space depends on how you are recording. Only a two track mix? Or four tracks at a time? 16-bit or 24-bit? 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz or 96 kHz?

Sounds like you plan to just run the recording aplication and keep recording for 2-3 hours straight? First, there's a maximum file size in Windows operating systems earlier than Windows 2000 -- I think it's approx. 2 GB -- so this might be a factor. Not to mention, the stability of PC recording systems is such that I think the chance of a Windows recording application running for 2-3 hours straight collecting data to the drive without a hiccup is small. Much better to record song by song. Plus if the hiccup is bad and the machine hangs or reboots, you'll only lose the latest song, not the whole session...
 
A wav file, recorded in stereo/16 bits, uses about 10 Megabytes per minute of audio.

Do the math.

That's a heck of a lot of disc space you'll need, and due to max partition sizes and other possible technical limitations, I doubt very much if you'd be able to stream 2 or 3 hours into the 'puter, without something maxing out, hanging up, or crashing.

Like the other member said, you'd probably be better off breaking the songs and files into smaller segments, by starting and stopping the recorder.

You'll log a lot of data to the hard disc very quickly, and would need to flush the song data out to CDRs frequently, practically after every session.

Good luck.
 
Hey Dave...
Pretty good advice, coming from Mr. Analog ;)

Charva,
My brother does this weekly. He uses Vegas, and stops the recording after each song, but merely starts it again in the same project. The result is, he's got separate wav files for each song, but does not run into the limitations mentioned above, and does not risk losing a whole night if something goes wrong. He has become pretty anal about dumping to CDR as well.

Queue
 
Thx all for the info, really appreciate the help. I'm sure i'll have more questions and you'll be hearing from me again. Later, Charva
 
Thanx Queue. Calling me Mr. Analog and noting my advice is good is quite a compliment

...coming from you.

And Queue, your recordings sound pretty darn good too, for a Newbie, [haha]. Keep up the good work, I'm interested in hearing more of your stuff, someday.

BTW, Queue, Happy New Year, and long-time-no-see. I was starting to wonder what happened to you, lately, since you got off to a BIG start on HR, in 2001, burning up the boards, but I've not heard much from you for a couple weeks.

Anyway Queue, thx again. Cheers.

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Charva, like Queue and others said previously, you're on the right track, but you'd probably be best starting & stopping the 'puter recording software between takes, so as not to max out, mess up, crash or otherwise lose your song data. Starting & stopping the recorder between takes just makes sense, and it definitely helps keep song file size down to a manageable level.

Anyway, even in the analog world, you'd typically stop or pause the recorder between takes, and hardly ever will analog-types just run tape, on & on, endlessly for hours... unless you just have money to burn.

-With cassettes, being so inexpensive, you'd realistically be able to run many hours of tape, on end, without undue financial hardship, but for bigger formats, using more expensive tape,... hardly ever will you do that.

================

I may be a hardcore, unwavering analog fanatic, but I have not lost my common sense. Analog or otherwise, I consider myself to have a fairly good depth of knowledge about home recording.

================

Thx again. Q, nice talking to you, and Charva- good luck, you should do fine.

/DA
 
Dave,
Things have gotten REAL busy on the work and home fronts. Work is work, and at home I'm building a new PC for recording, thus not as much time for Homerecking...

Queue

ps Happy New Year 2U2
 
Thanks again, friendly lil place ya got here! I was asking the bass player why he ever got rid of his old reel to reel that he had back it the 70's. It would be sweet for what I want to record. Then we could transfer the tape to digital and burn a cd. Dumm-arse bass players anyhoo! Hope to get my sound card and software this weekend, I'll probably have more questions in the next week or two. This BBS is awesome.
 
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