B
brennantp
New member
I am interested in recording synthesized music on my Dell computer with added vocals and I need to know what kind of equipment will be required. I've done a bit of research, but I still know very little about synthesizers and recording, so I have LOTS of questions. I would highly appreciate ANY advice on any of the questions that I have.
As far as my understanding goes, to record this music, I will need:
1) a keyboard synthesizer
2) audio interface (or MIDI interface, I don't know which)
3) software sequencer
4) a good computer soundcard
5) a microphone to record the vocals
I'm not sure if I will need anything else to do this. First of all, the keyboard synthesizer:
1) will I need an external tone generator as well, or if I have a good quality keyboard synth would I be able to get all of my sounds from that?
2) Do all of my sounds and effects come from this synthesizer, or do I need any other equipment to add effects?
3) Are all of the sounds from my synth recorded on my software sequencer as digital audio? I have done some work with a very old, cheap keyboard on Cakewalk, but I could only get the cheezy MIDI sounds that were already on the computer, and I didn't know how to record the actual sounds that were on my keyboard.
4) Does recording in digital audio take a lot of memory from the computer?
5) Would I need a drum machine to get good quality drum sounds, or do a lot of keyboard synths have good quality drum sounds?
Secondly, there's the audio interface:
1) Is this the item that allows you to recognize and record the actual sounds from the keyboard onto the sequencer?
2) Can I get one as cheap as $50?
Software Sequencer:
1) If I have a software sequencer, is a sequencer on the synthesizer completely unnecessary?
2) Would Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 be the best software to record the synthesized music?
3) Do all of the effects and alterations that you make to the actual sounds have to be done with the synth, or can the sequencer add some really cool effects if it's recorded in digital audio? As I understand it, the sequencer can alter the sounds of MIDI, but not of digital audio.
A good computer soundcard:
1) How necessary is this soundcard if all of the sounds are coming from the synthesizer or tone generator?
Finally, recording added vocals:
1) What would I need to do this? I assume I would need a good microphone. Would I need anything else?
2) Could I record these vocals directly onto the sequencer?
3) Is it better to record the vocals in a studio or can you get quality sounds by recording vocals onto a software sequencer at home?
Thank you. I know that there are so many questions about a broad range of topics, but like I said, ANY advice that you can give regarding ANY of these questions would be helpful. Also, as you can probably see, I know very little about recording music, so if you can make your language very simple, it would be more helpful to me. As my knowledge of music production is limited, a lot of tech-talk might confuse me.
As far as my understanding goes, to record this music, I will need:
1) a keyboard synthesizer
2) audio interface (or MIDI interface, I don't know which)
3) software sequencer
4) a good computer soundcard
5) a microphone to record the vocals
I'm not sure if I will need anything else to do this. First of all, the keyboard synthesizer:
1) will I need an external tone generator as well, or if I have a good quality keyboard synth would I be able to get all of my sounds from that?
2) Do all of my sounds and effects come from this synthesizer, or do I need any other equipment to add effects?
3) Are all of the sounds from my synth recorded on my software sequencer as digital audio? I have done some work with a very old, cheap keyboard on Cakewalk, but I could only get the cheezy MIDI sounds that were already on the computer, and I didn't know how to record the actual sounds that were on my keyboard.
4) Does recording in digital audio take a lot of memory from the computer?
5) Would I need a drum machine to get good quality drum sounds, or do a lot of keyboard synths have good quality drum sounds?
Secondly, there's the audio interface:
1) Is this the item that allows you to recognize and record the actual sounds from the keyboard onto the sequencer?
2) Can I get one as cheap as $50?
Software Sequencer:
1) If I have a software sequencer, is a sequencer on the synthesizer completely unnecessary?
2) Would Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 be the best software to record the synthesized music?
3) Do all of the effects and alterations that you make to the actual sounds have to be done with the synth, or can the sequencer add some really cool effects if it's recorded in digital audio? As I understand it, the sequencer can alter the sounds of MIDI, but not of digital audio.
A good computer soundcard:
1) How necessary is this soundcard if all of the sounds are coming from the synthesizer or tone generator?
Finally, recording added vocals:
1) What would I need to do this? I assume I would need a good microphone. Would I need anything else?
2) Could I record these vocals directly onto the sequencer?
3) Is it better to record the vocals in a studio or can you get quality sounds by recording vocals onto a software sequencer at home?
Thank you. I know that there are so many questions about a broad range of topics, but like I said, ANY advice that you can give regarding ANY of these questions would be helpful. Also, as you can probably see, I know very little about recording music, so if you can make your language very simple, it would be more helpful to me. As my knowledge of music production is limited, a lot of tech-talk might confuse me.