OK, here's the challenge...

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I'll try to keep it simple!

Me: guitarist, bass, keyboards. write music mainly. have Alesis drum machine, small Behringer mixer, some pedals, basic guitar gear, some mics, etc. I used to have a Boss digital 8, and want to move computer based recording.

Him: writing partner, lyrics, vocalist. has no experience with home recording whatsoever, and is probably not the most computer savvy guy. but he's also not stupid and can learn as well as anyone. has no equipment other than his basic laptop.

The mission: we live on opposite coasts and want to start recording demos of our songwriting efforts. I'm thinking I'd lay down drums/bass/guitar/reference vocal base track, email it to him, have him put on lead vocal tracks, send it back to me to add addtl guitars, etc, and process/mix. not looking to make a slick arena rock album, more like raw loud punchy demos of our trashy punk rock'n'roll stuff.

So, any suggestions of how to begin? cheap and easy software? bare minimum for him to buy for getting vocals recorded? tutorials? links? general encouragement? we had a band together years ago and want to work together again, and this seems like the only possible way, so if anyone can help, we'd really really appreciate it. seriously! much thanks in advance. and now I've written enough, I said I'd keep it simple!
 
Do you think your partner in crime, who has no idea of recording concepts, is going to be smart enough to work out a reasonably complex software recording program like Reaper from scratch? He might be smart but that can be a big ask. Especially if he's not overly computer savvy and has to also get an interface, load drivers, etc. etc. etc.

If this was me I'd probably be getting that program (Reaper) happening myself, after buying an interface and whatever mics I needed, then getting your pal to buy a standalone recorder that can create audio files in the required formats and can interface with a PC.

You create the music... you post MP3 version up somewhere for singer dude... he downloads, plays through whatever via headphones, and sings into standalone recorder (I'm assuming he's ONLY singing...). He saves file and posts it up somewhere (don't email... too big...) and you download it, upload into Reaper (or whatever) and edit/ mix to taste.

Very simplistic view... you'll both have a world of learning to undergo first to get anything halfway decent, but it can be accomplished if you have the willpower, and the time.

Stick your head into the MP3 mixing clinic and find the Whotards thread... and you'll see just exactly what quality can be achieved by people working remotely from each other, but remember the people involved in that collaboration are all very good players and have been doing this stuff for years. Still, it may inspire you to pursue it.

Good luck..
 
Assuming that the Boss you have been using is the old BR-8, I would reccommend that your friend get one (they're cheap on ebay) so as to make it easy for you to help him get up on the HR learning curve, and make it possible for the two of you to exchange files. Assumiing that the recorder has the capability to somehow export WAV files, you could use those files as you make the move into PC recording, thus allowing for more tracks than the 8 that the Boss allows.

Do understand that if you use MP3s as the file exchange fomat, there will be timing issues as described on this forum recently. Better to use sendspace dot come to exchange larger (less compressed) files.
 
thanx so much! great ideas there. you're right, I need to remember that it's easy to think something is no big deal when it might be nearly incomprehensible to a less experienced person. I did indeed have the BR-8, but it died the death. regardless, I think something similar would be way easier for him to grasp (those were only a generation or so from the cassette multi-trackers weren't they?), we could each find one cheap to get started with. will make sure it exports as WAV as format and can import the same.

meanwhile, I'm going to investigate this Reaper deal. I have an old (v.3 maybe?) copy of Guitar Tracks, how does Reaper compare in terms of ease of use, to start with?

also, anyone have suggestions on a good cheap interface? yeah, it was gonna be so easy to just plug into the computer, right? latency! I'd never heard of such a thing hehe! now I'm off to check out that thread you mentioned for some inspiration. thanks again, hope I can help someone out one day too! cheers.
 
Youtube has videos to teach some of this stuff. Not always useful, but most times dumbed down for the common man.

Beyond that you'll both need recording gear of some sort. And some way to share your tracks. Email generally caps at 10MB, but there's other things like drop.io and whatnot, which can facilitate the collaboration effort.

Audacity can do a lot of the simple things for FREE. And various other means to an end.
 
This sounds very familiar to me... email (and blogging for that matter) is a very harsh communication tool. People don't get the subtlety and body language of intent... just harsh text.

My advice on gear is the first thing you should both do is get Skype or some other video conferencing type tool. For cover songs everyone knows the intent, for new creative exchanges, where the intent is being developed, you need more than text.
 
more good points. I didn't think about the Skype thing but you know, that could also be great for if my pal gets stuck trying to use the digital recorder, I could actually see what it is he's trying to do. and the intent/communication thing is right on. that's one giant drawback to the cyber age we live in, how much nuance is lost, and nobody realizes it most of the time.

Audacity is a freeware then. I've heard of that, never tried it. Still leaning towards standalone digital recorders, but how simple is the Audacity? I'll have to give that a try.

btw checked out the Whotards stuff and that's really encouraging!

thanx again, getting excited at the thought of getting back to creating some music again! still wondering if anyone has advice as to lower priced interface for computer recording?
 
craigslist

M-Audio Mobile Pre for me $80. I've got a stand alone recorder too, but they generally don't make good multi-tracks and other annoyances. Great for battery life and just letting run while you fart around though.
 
The standalone recorder thing sounds like it would work, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't just go with Reaper. It really isn't that hard. you and your buddy would each need an interface (or a good sound card in your computer), and one or more decent microphones and away you go. You may need to install a driver for the interface or sound card, but that really shouldn't be any big deal. Using Reaper once you're all setup is really quite intuitive, especially if you just want to insert a 2 track wave file (that you would send him by way of file sharing server - not email) and add vocal tracks.

J
 
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