this might sound stupid

[camry]

this might sound stupid but ugh..i wanna use a board now lk a mixer thing instead of using a standard tascam interface..but idk how to connect it to the computer if its not usb lk...basically what im saying is...i wanna get a bit more advance but i have no idea how..and im using a ksm27. so i need some phantom power. please talk ta me here. i feel really dum at this point. and im using a recording software called mixcraft

 

[Somelsewhere]

The only advice I see that I can offer you at this point, as I too am a complete rookie in the means of equipment, would be to invest in Merriam and Webster.

 

[theCKWilliams]

any questions you might have are probably answered here: http://www.itrstudio.com/MIC_CHAT.PDF

on the quick side, if you're looking to do multitrack live recordings, you'll need to upgrade your interface. buy a mixer with USB or firewire capabilities.

is that what you're asking because you're a little unclear...?

or are you asking if you can run the mixer into the tascam interface? yes you can, but if you're using multiple channels into 1 output it will lay all of those channels down as 1 track.

from one noob to another, hope this helps.

 

[TimOBrien]

You still need an interface.

As CK said, you can get a mixer with an interface to plug into your computer:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


-----ALSO LOOK THROUGH THIS------------------------------------------------

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

 

[dodgeaspen]

You can buy a mixer and run the output from the mixer to your sound card. It might not sound to bad If your not looking to get perfect sound quality.

 

[Weasel9992]

this might sound stupid but ugh..i wanna use a board now lk a mixer thing instead of using a standard tascam interface..but idk how to connect it to the computer if its not usb lk...basically what im saying is...i wanna get a bit more advance but i have no idea how..and im using a ksm27. so i need some phantom power. please talk ta me here. i feel really dum at this point. and im using a recording software called mixcraft

It doesn't sound stupid at all, but here's the thing: if you're going to track and mix on a mixer then the preamps on the mixer and the A/D D/A conversion become pretty important. The last thing you want to do is increase the noise level with cheap preamps, then send your audio through multiple layers of bad conversion on top of it. Honestly, unless you have some money to spend then you're probably better off just staying in the box and skipping the mixer altogether.

I sum with a Soundcraft M8 through SSL Alpha Link converters. You could probably go cheaper on the coverters, but the M8 is as low as I'd go on mixer quality, and that's about $800 for eight mono channels and four stereo channels. The preamps are good, the EQ is usable and there are four aux sends plus returns. Not bad at all for the money.

Frank