Super stoked - home studio up and running

[jigfresh]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share my excitement with you all. I got my Arturia KeyLab 49 from UPS the other day... took some wrestling to get the software/ drivers/ keyboard all working together, but once working it's been a lot of fun to play with. The KeyLab comes with Arturia's Analog Lab which is a synth program with a ton of sounds and presets for noobs like me to get in and have fun with. It's really great (in my opinion).

I've also been having fun recording in general. It's only been about 3 weeks since I picked up my interface, Avid MBox 3. I've been loving recording guitar tracks, and doing some vocals has had me realize what a shit singer I am.

Playing with mic placement on my little guitar amp, Fender SuperChamp XD, has been the most fun thing so far. Really cool to hear the diffferent sounds just from moving and mixing the mics.

I'm planning on getting an NI Komplete Audio 6 to replace the MBox, I've been getting Blue screens with the mbox. And the KA6 comes with an older version of cubase, which will save me $50 when upgrading to Cubase elements.

Not sure what else. I'm just overflowing with excitement and enthusiasm. Wish someone lived on my street so you could come over and check things out!

peace

 

[Mickster]

Congrats........and welcome to our world. I hope you're ready for a long.....fun.......$$$$...........ride!! Keep us updated.

 

[DM60]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share my excitement with you all. I got my Arturia KeyLab 49 from UPS the other day... took some wrestling to get the software/ drivers/ keyboard all working together, but once working it's been a lot of fun to play with. The KeyLab comes with Arturia's Analog Lab which is a synth program with a ton of sounds and presets for noobs like me to get in and have fun with. It's really great (in my opinion).

I've also been having fun recording in general. It's only been about 3 weeks since I picked up my interface, Avid MBox 3. I've been loving recording guitar tracks, and doing some vocals has had me realize what a shit singer I am.

Playing with mic placement on my little guitar amp, Fender SuperChamp XD, has been the most fun thing so far. Really cool to hear the diffferent sounds just from moving and mixing the mics.

I'm planning on getting an NI Komplete Audio 6 to replace the MBox, I've been getting Blue screens with the mbox. And the KA6 comes with an older version of cubase, which will save me $50 when upgrading to Cubase elements.

Not sure what else. I'm just overflowing with excitement and enthusiasm. Wish someone lived on my street so you could come over and check things out!

peace

Don't get too excited about your singing just yet. Could be you are not use to your voice sound, you need practice, or, or, or. Work through it, find your voice. If you can't hold a tune, then that is something different, but don't give up just yet. Give it some time and do it a lot. Even if you don't like it. Just sing, sing, sing until you don't notice how you sound but how you need to correct. Big difference.

Congrats, now the recording bandit says, hand over your wallet.

 

[mjbphotos]

There's a ton of free VSTi's out there to try out for different sounds, too, just google them.

 

[grimtraveller]

I've also been having fun recording in general. I'm just overflowing with excitement and enthusiasm.

Wonderful words to hear. For all the pitfalls, keep it that way.

Work through it, find your voice. If you can't hold a tune, then that is something different, but don't give up just yet. Give it some time and do it a lot. Even if you don't like it. Just sing, sing, sing

To quote that guy that used to play bass, piano and guitar in the Beatles, "Speaking words of wisdom, let it be...."

Congrats, now the recording bandit says, hand over your wallet.

It may be worth getting hold of this book

Some of it might be a little out of date but in principle, there's lots of handy stuff ~ if of course you haven't already.

 

[dainbramage]

I hope you already have a car and your own flat. At 28 I still haven't been able to afford either (I'm renting a flat). Guess why? Anyway it's totally worth it. Who needs a car when they live in a remote village far away from anything resembling civilization anyway?

Anyway good on you. You have many, many hours of fun ahead of you

 

[Atkron205]

Congrats! I am still working on mine.

 

[ecc83]

"I'm planning on getting an NI Komplete Audio 6 to replace the MBox, I've been getting Blue screens with the mbox"

Can't speak about the Mbox but the KA6 is as stable as they come. It is as well to make some checks and preparations however...

The NI needs the full USB juice so don't try to run it on a front panel port, can be weaker sisters. Do not go nuts with the length of the USB lead. I found one 5mtr sample would work another not.

Clean out all drivers and softwares pertaining to the Mbox and any other AIs you might have had. I would kill the OnBoard Sound card in the Control Panel.

Run Ccleaner Reg' cleaner.
If you have Win SE anti-V I suggest a FULL scan (might take all day!) Then "MSCONFIG" to see what is starting up in the PC.

But generally you will LURVE the KA6! Don't forget it also comes with Kontakt player and a shedload of downloadable samples. Oh! And have you got a separate HDD for recording data, i.e. .wavs? Not nearly such a problem with modern SATA drives but it do keep things slick and tidy!

Rock on.
Dave.

 

[jigfresh]

Congrats........and welcome to our world. I hope you're ready for a long.....fun.......$$$$...........ride!! Keep us updated.

Thanks. I spent more money! haha... put a bass guitar on layaway at a pawn shop. It was too good a deal to pass up... I may just sell it for more than I paid for it, buy a cheaper bass and buy some more gear!!! Still need monitors and some open back headphones. And a mic stand. and a few cables. and..... and..... hahaha.

Don't get too excited about your singing just yet. Could be you are not use to your voice sound, you need practice, or, or, or. Work through it, find your voice. If you can't hold a tune, then that is something different, but don't give up just yet. Give it some time and do it a lot. Even if you don't like it. Just sing, sing, sing until you don't notice how you sound but how you need to correct. Big difference.

Congrats, now the recording bandit says, hand over your wallet.

My wife is a big choral gal, so I got some lessons or tips from her. Already made a big difference. It's really odd though just like you said, it's really like I'm not used to the sound of my voice. I feel like it's the first time I've actually heard my voice, and it sounds funny. Different than how I hear it. I guess it's like the way I look. I'm used to me in the mirror.

There's a ton of free VSTi's out there to try out for different sounds, too, just google them.

I'm not sure I'll ever check out the ones I have now, but will look around for some free ones when I get bored. Thanks for the tip. Would have never thought to look for such a thing.

Wonderful words to hear. For all the pitfalls, keep it that way.

To quote that guy that used to play bass, piano and guitar in the Beatles, "Speaking words of wisdom, let it be...."It may be worth getting hold of this book

Some of it might be a little out of date but in principle, there's lots of handy stuff ~ if of course you haven't already.

I ordered that book. Got to read the first few pages online as a preview. It already has me inspired. I've never liked rules, however I've always need permission to do things. Even break the rules. It was a revelation to hear people (mainly musicians) tell me I didn't have to follow the rules 'they' have laid out. However even after all these years of breaking the rules I forget I'm allowed to in fact break the rules in new areas I step into. So it's wonderful to get permission from the author to do things differently from what 'they' say is the right way to do it.

It's also nice to be let off the leash of expensive is better. Sure expensive will probably get higher quality, but who's to say higher quality is better. I play rock, dirty, messy, loud rock. It's not even supposed to sound that 'nice'. Thanks very much for the suggestion.

I hope you already have a car and your own flat. At 28 I still haven't been able to afford either (I'm renting a flat). Guess why? Anyway it's totally worth it. Who needs a car when they live in a remote village far away from anything resembling civilization anyway?

Anyway good on you. You have many, many hours of fun ahead of you

Hahaha, I do in fact have all the big things in the bag. Got a wife, house, and 3 cars. Even got a baby. They are expensive too. I'm honestly trying to do this whole thing without breaking the bank. I was reading your thread about an iso cab and holy shit. I see why you rent, those are some expensive amps you own. I used to have a big jcm2000 100w, but I sold it and traded down to a Fender combo with a 10" and 15w. Only cost $250 with an upgraded speaker and a footswitch. Blah blah

Who am I kidding. I just spent $400 on a bass guitar today and I don't know how to play bass. At least now I have a good reason to learn.

Congrats! I am still working on mine.

Good luck getting all the parts you want at the right price.

"I'm planning on getting an NI Komplete Audio 6 to replace the MBox, I've been getting Blue screens with the mbox"

Can't speak about the Mbox but the KA6 is as stable as they come. It is as well to make some checks and preparations however...

The NI needs the full USB juice so don't try to run it on a front panel port, can be weaker sisters. Do not go nuts with the length of the USB lead. I found one 5mtr sample would work another not.

Clean out all drivers and softwares pertaining to the Mbox and any other AIs you might have had. I would kill the OnBoard Sound card in the Control Panel.

Run Ccleaner Reg' cleaner.
If you have Win SE anti-V I suggest a FULL scan (might take all day!) Then "MSCONFIG" to see what is starting up in the PC.

But generally you will LURVE the KA6! Don't forget it also comes with Kontakt player and a shedload of downloadable samples. Oh! And have you got a separate HDD for recording data, i.e. .wavs? Not nearly such a problem with modern SATA drives but it do keep things slick and tidy!

Rock on.
Dave.

I will do all that. Thank you Dave. No outboard hard drive yet. I do everything on a laptop that still has 150 gb of free space.

Picked up the KA6 today. As a bonus it's much smaller than the MBox, so less table space.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement folks.

 

[ecc83]

A laptop eh? I have run my KA6 with an HP i3 W7/64 laptop and it works like a dream, you might not be so lucky, lappies can be troublesome for audio but much better than they used to be and any kinks can probably be fixed.
You might want to turn off Wireless Services when running audio. The make and model would be useful.

Dave.

 

[jigfresh]

I have a Dell Inspiron 17r-7720. i7-3610QM @ 2.3 GHz. 8 GB ram. 64 bit Win 7. I've stripped everything I can think of off it. It's a lean mean music making machine (that I surf the web on).

Any tips on order of installation for software/ drivers. Interface before DAW? I left the drivers and software for my Arturia keyboard, but uninstalled my version of cubase and the drivers/ software for the MBox.

 

[dainbramage]

Hahaha, I do in fact have all the big things in the bag. Got a wife, house, and 3 cars. Even got a baby. They are expensive too. I'm honestly trying to do this whole thing without breaking the bank. I was reading your thread about an iso cab and holy shit. I see why you rent, those are some expensive amps you own. I used to have a big jcm2000 100w, but I sold it and traded down to a Fender combo with a 10" and 15w. Only cost $250 with an upgraded speaker and a footswitch. Blah blah

Who am I kidding. I just spent $400 on a bass guitar today and I don't know how to play bass. At least now I have a good reason to learn.

My pedals are even more expensive than my amps. My monitors even more expensive than the pedals. My guitars even more expensive than the monitors.

Good thing is, when you buy stuff like that used, you can always sell it and not lose a lot of money. I sold most of my gear once and went to South America and lived like a fucking king there for almost half a year without working (for money). So there's always that.

 

[ecc83]

I have a Dell Inspiron 17r-7720. i7-3610QM @ 2.3 GHz. 8 GB ram. 64 bit Win 7. I've stripped everything I can think of off it. It's a lean mean music making machine (that I surf the web on).

Any tips on order of installation for software/ drivers. Interface before DAW? I left the drivers and software for my Arturia keyboard, but uninstalled my version of cubase and the drivers/ software for the MBox.

Ooo! That'll do! I would install the DAW software first and then the hard ware but I doubt it matters. I say that way around because I am always swapping out hardware but rarely DAWs.

Dave.