mutitrack recording for the old fashioned continued

S

swollenrod

New member
Thanks for all the input. Certainly points me in the right direction. Seeing as how i have already gotten myself a really nice computer I think I'll try n-track. 35 bucks sounds reasonable to me, and definatly sounds better than buying a stand alone unit for 800 or so. My only other question then pertains to mixing down (lets keep it strictly to in-track). Can someone possibly enlighten me on how to line up the tracks with this program?
1.)Does each track build to the .wav you are creating, or does it create a separate .wav for each track.
-If it's individually, then is there an easy way to control this environment? Given that i allow a good 15 seconds before each track, will I need to know right down to the milisecond where the song begins to line things up perfectly?

2.) Does this software allow you to play track 1 while recording track 2 at the same time? I mean think about it. It only makes logical sense to hear the drum beat and play along with it so you know first hand what part is what, not to mention the timing. Especially when laying a bass track over the guitar, or vice versa. It seems like a vital part of recording to me, because for one, my memory is not the greatest and it allows for instruments to harmonize that much clearer. The metronome at this point doesn't cut it.

I hate to sound redundant at this point, but it gets confusing to a beginner. These little things make a big difference to me as I think they should to anyone. Naturally digital recording is the platform that evolved from analog, and whether or not recording techniquies arent identical, it stands to reason that there would be vast amount of similarities
 
1) Each time you hit the record button you're recording a brand new wave file. I suggest turning on the option that has n-Track ask you to specify a name for the wave file prior to recording. This makes managing things much easier down the road.

I'm not sure exactly what your concerns are in regards to lining up the tracks or where the song starts. Treat this program as though it were a regular old fashioned multitrack recorder. What I like to do is to add some drum clicks into the start of the song so that I know when to come in. Then when the song is finished, I simply edit out the drum clicks (usually in the mixed down version). You'd have to do something just like this with a regular recorder.

This sort of answers the next question.

2) Yes you can listen to the tracks that you've already recorded while you're recording. It would be almost impossible to work if this wasn't the case. You must have a Full-Duplex sound card to playback and record at the same time...most (if not all) are these days though so don't worry.

Basically everything that you'd think n-Track *should* do...it does...aside from some real fancy stuff perhaps (I've never been limited). Computer recording doesn't *have* to change the *WAY* you record...you just have know which "buttons" to press :) As you get used to it, you'll drop some of your old 4-track habits.

What I would do if I were you: Download the trial version of n-Track. It's pretty much fully functional. Then start recording. Play with it. If you want to do something that you've done in the past, ASSUME that it can do it and look around for the right "button". It'll be there somewhere. You'll also want to read the FAQ which explains a lot! Once things start to click you'll be pretty excited. Start thinking of things that you'd LIKE to do that you might not have been able to do before. There's a good chance that there's a function for that too. :)

Before you know it you'll have a good tune ready and you'll want to mix it down into a single wave. That's when you have to pay the $35.

Slackmaster 2000
 
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