Of all the computer programs to record with....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rags
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Rags

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Which one is the BEST, which helps clean the vocals the best, just simply put the all around best...I've been using Cool Edit for a few years, I've recorded rap music aswell as rock music, and occasionally I'm happy with the sound but quite often the quality is kinda not too good....

I use a apex 430 condenser mic, with a art tube mp preamp and a top of the line sound blaster sound card.

I'm not very good at mixing and mastering but I guess i can save those questions for the other forum once i figure out which program to use...


Below are two songs i used w/ cool edit

http://www.ragsmusic.com/Taylor Carpenter - Asshole (Beck%20Cover).mp3 <-- rock song

<-- rap song

i feel the quality isn't that great and my vocals are not normally the best they could be quality wise (skill wise too...)...but anyway

i tried acid waaaaaayyyyy back when i first started and really didn't like it, so i guess i'd like to know about cubase and cakewalk, other programs like that, or should i be perfectly fine with cool edit?
 
also, the rap song has alot of cussing in it...so if someone wants me to censor it i could do that..
 
Rags said:
I use a apex 430 condenser mic, with a art tube mp preamp and... a top of the line sound blaster sound card.
Click to expand...

Man, you definitely need a good soundcard, your music sounds good, but your soundcard is spoiling the whole thing, you could even hear clicks in teh middle of teh track. Get an audiophile 2496 they are way solid and better than any "TOP OF THE LINE SOUNDBLASTER"
Good Luck!
 
plenty of people have the same card as i do and their music sounds crystal clear, i was under the impression it woulda been my pre-amp, like the settings were wrong or something...

the vocals come out sounding low, but in the cool edit prog, they're showing up like they're loud and that's where the clips are coming from
 
Yes - the SB card is definitely a weak point.... BUT......

...it also isn't completely about the gear -- you need recording SKILLS too.

Maybe you SHOULD be looking at your techniques,
 
tips

if your recording with an sb card you must denoise and clean up
each track carefully. sample the sb noise in cool edit then apply a low ratio noise reduction to the track. do repeat passes at 5 to 10 percent. ive done recordings with sb cards in the past to show what can be done with them for friends entering the audio field. but the KEY is cleaning up the tracks.
frankly now that audiophile and mia and staudio are so cheap i
would consider a new sound card. also be aware fan noise from pc introduces noise particularly with sensitive condensers like the apex etc.
 
if i were you my gear list would be:

1) sound card
2) mic pre
3) recording software (if you can identify something you need that you aren't getting with what you have).

ps. i use cakewalk sonar2. i'll be upgrading to sonar3 for christmas.
 
It's not the program.

I agree with other comments made but it seems your looking for a program that will improve your recordings. I've used Cooledit for a couple of years before I made the jump to Pro Tools and I know CoolEdit is more than capable of recording and capturing your sound.

As BlueBear said it takes skills to produce great recordings. Maybe your getting frustrated at the level your at because your unable to achieve that sound you want at this point.

If you looking to improve on the "tools" your using, then I'd suggest listening to some of the other posts regarding your sound-card and pre(s) before turning your attention to the software.

Try not to be hard on yourself because as time goes on you learn more, improve your equipment and produce better recordings.

later,
sonicpaint
 
i used to record with the worst soundcard probably ever made, and a radio shack mic for $4 bucks, that was probably back when i was 13 or 14, and then i got the sound blaster card and then the condenser mic just made everything sound so much better, but after 5 years I'm starting to want better

I'm toying with taking some type of music engineering program in school
 
I have acid 4.0 and was wondering what people think of it? As I was thinking of buying Pro Tools or Cakewalk Sonar.

Cheers
 
I use Logic Platinum (Emagic) and love it. It's got a steep learning curve but it's super powerful.
 
There are many programs avaialble on the market to suit your needs. You should ask yourself:

1) Is your task primarily tracking and mixing (then you may want to consider Pro Tools, Bias, etc.)
2) Is your task primarily composing (then you may want to consider Logic/Cubase/etc.

Pro Tools is still the industry standard in terms of recording. Their LE program (free!) is surprisingly powerful but their higher end stuff is still prohibitively expensive.
 
I'm not very good at mixing and mastering but I guess i can save those questions for the other forum once i figure out which program to use...
Click to expand...

Uh, no offence but changing programs isn't going to improve your mixing/mastering. Instead, you are going for another learning curve, making it even harder to progress.
 
I don't think he understands.

That's what I was saying too, along with others in this thread.

sonicpaint
 
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