General Music Chat

Anyone got any input on any of these sound recording / editing programs at this site?

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/win95/RECORDING/

The recorder that comes w/Windows XP is stone-age crap.

What I want to do is record a Guitar track, and then lay down a Bass track, and then maybe another guitar track.

I want CLEAN sound.

There's a lot of freeware & shareware out there - is any of any good?

I havent tried any of the freeware but honestly you need good hardware. The input of a PC is not going to sound very good. Plus if you buy some kind of USB Hardware device like the M-Audio or Tascam devices you get software with it.

Hey, Sweeps,
Thanks for the input.
Yeah - you''re probably right about that.
But - if that's what I need do do - it's not going to happen any time soon. I'm not budgeted for it - times are tough . . .
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My problem right now is that the crummy Microsoft 'Sound Recorder' doesn't have any 'input recording volume' adjustment.
Jeez - even a cassette recorder has that - how measly can they get?
There's probably a poor-man's way - but I sure don't know it.

I can deffinately relate... I am in exactly the same position... I downloaded a recording program online and played with the origional cd of me playing I recorded earlier... all recorded through the computer mic... the sound quality is terrible, but for a scratch pad... well whatever, I don't have the money for gear right now...

these first two recordings are here... http://bandmix.com/profile82143.html
the program is record pad, but it doesn't have multi track... although you can layer tracks, and there are some pretty cool effects on it too.

Hey, BluesGuitarGirl,
I heard your recording . . . too bad you live 23- 1/2 zillion miles away . . .
Anyway, if you can scrape up about $70, you can get Sony's recording program "Acid 3.0."
I haven't used it - thinking of buying it myself. It seems to be able to do everything you'd want . . .
Here's the link - you might want to just read about it, for now . . .
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http://www.mtlc.net/index.php?page=Prod ... =learnmore
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I just recorded parts of 2 songs, while I've been sitting here.
One is a R&B tune, the other is a fast boogie. I do blues, too , but haven't yet recorded any.
The songs (or parts of them, anyway) are:
"A New take," & "The Bradley Boogie."
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Here's the shortcut to my profile:
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http://bandmix.com/profile75490.html.
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Keep on keepin on. . .
Alan

Is that your only option for recording your music into the computer?

Hey, DJ,
Well, at this stage of the game, it's MY only option.
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I can record onto a DVD (not a CD) with my Audio/Video system (non-computer related) DVD Recorder, but I don't have a working DVD player in my computer. Also, I have to send it a video feed - that's not really a problem though - I just hook it up to my video camera.
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And the Microsoft Sound Recorder that comes with Windows XP has a 60 second limit! Can you believe it?
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Geez . . .
Alan

Try Audacity.com Free download multi-track recorder. Lots of free plug in's available as well. Unlimited tracks available. You will be limited by number of inputs available from your sound card. Just one stereo track as a line in but you can sub mix stuff. You can make a decent cheapo recording if you have the time and energy...

Hi, srgdrum.
Thanks for the info.
I tried Audacity.com, & the page opened with:
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We Do NOT Make Audio Software
Audacity, Inc. does not make, sell or support the audacity audio recording software.
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It was a janitorial service, but they provided the link, which was pretty decent of them.
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I went to the Audacity home page.
Yeah, the software does seem to be ok . . .
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But then I saw:

. . . "hundreds of new features, but this version is unfinished and unstable, and is recommended primarily for advanced users . . . "
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Well, I AM an advanced computer user - about 25 years, now. And, you know, I could probably wrangle with it and figure it out, and even risk software conflicts that I'd probably be able to fix.
But I honestly don't have the time, right now. I can see me spending an extra hour per day farting around with this software - and I really don't have that extra hour tight now. Too much to do, and I'm short on sleep, as it is . . .
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But, I saved the link.
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When I get the time, I'll either download the software, or buy Sony's "Acid 6.0" Music recording software.
It's $70, and it allows you unlimited tracks, echo, reverb, tempo synchro, this and that and this and that.
It looks pretty good, for $70.
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But, thanks for the info. I'm sure it WILL help someone who is reading this post right this very second.
Alan, aka Samick1
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I have successfully and inexpensively recorded my bass through the sound card of my computer. You may hear the results of my labor on my Band.Mix page at http://bandmix.com/profile56782.html -- I think they turned out OK. Of course they would be better if the bass player were better. What I did is plug my bass into a TASCAM Bass Trainer (a product well worth purchasing if only to steal parts) and plugged the Bass Trainer "Line Out" port into the sound card. My biggest challange was to not overdrive the sound card. I achieved that through a combination of the output volume control of the Bass Trainer, the Windows OS software recording volume control for the sound card and the input volume control in the recording software. In order to create a nearly bass-less file to start with, I stripped the low freqs from mp3's using Sound Forge XP Studio 5 (a relatively inexpensive piece of software available at Best Buy). I used MAGIX Audio Studio 7 (a program I purchased at an Office Depot sale for $20) to record my part. All together my "home studio" cost about $200. One caveat is that my sound card is a PCI bus card that works in full-duplex. They are as cheap as $20 now, but full-duplex is important if you want to play the song through the computer as you lay down your track. One more thing, I tried using a USB type of recording device but it had too much latency, which caused pre-and-post-beat recording. Interesting but not pretty. Hope this helps. If you have any questions you may email me steveflacy@gmail.com. Rock out.

Steve Flacy

Hey, Steve,
Thanks for the input.
Good to know about that full-duplex . . .
Steve, any input on Sony's "Acid Music Studio 5?"
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Here's the link to a full product description.
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http://www.mtlc.net/index.php?page=Prod ... =learnmore
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I'd appreciate your opinion, thanks.
Hmm - one other thing - what do you think of my 2 (60 second) sound bites on my profile? What experience level Bass-player should I be looking for? 5 years, 10 years?
Thanks.
Alan Bradley
Madison, CT

The Acid Music Studio software looks pretty good. I believe that the Sony video and audio software is mostly created by the old Sonic Foundry guys, some incredible programmers. I don't think you can go wrong with their work.

On demo song files, I have always believed it is best to play a part against something familiar. Familiar music gives listeners a point of relativity from which to judge the player and also provides a level of listener comfort. This is part of why we have cover bands.

On the level of bass player to seek, playing ability is not an attribute that necessarily equates to years. The years I have played are many and so number the players of lesser years who can blow me away. You should look for other players with whom you feel comfortable. Quite often even mediocre players will, when combined, create a synergy that is impressive.

Hope this helps and, as always, rock out.

Oops.

Steve,
Yeah, that Sony software does look good, huh?
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Also, you are right about the level of years playing, vs. playing ability.
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I think some musicians with 30 years experience really only have ONE year experience, just 30 times.
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After playing for a year or 2 , they stop learning new stuff, and then they just do the same stuff over & over again. . .

Hey - I know 'practice makes perfect,' but what about the other 500 styles of music out there? What about the other 100 Billion songs out there?
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I know I have much to learn, yet, but it seems that almost every musician I talk to thinks they are God's gift to the music world. They act like they are stupendous.
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Yeah . . . 'stupendous,' until they TRY to play along with 'the novice.'

When you hear them stuggling to play along with 'the inexperienced guy', their attitude quickly evaporates. Whatever happened to that 25 years of experience they were bragging about?
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Ahh, well. Live & let live . . .
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But - I don't think I want to settle for mediocre musicians, even if the combination is synergistic.
They're ok for friendships, and jammimg ocassionally.
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But I think that maybe you can pick up bad habits, lowered expectations, and an inflated ego, if you work only with people who will never go past a 'C' average . . .
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Anyway, in the mean time, I'm writing songs that are harder and harder for me to play, so I force myself to get better. I practice with stuff I can barely play. But, after 2-4 weeks or so, I CAn play it. So I need to find something harder, or sime new chords, or a rhythm style that I would like to learn. . . . Maybe a different way of finger-picking . . .

There is ALWAYS something that can be improved.
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So I practice.
When a 'stupendous' musician eventually DOES come forward, maybe they won't make ME struggle too much . . .

Hey Samick!

My bad about the website. Been awhile since I've been there.

They are beta testing a new version of the software. You can still download the older version. That's what I have.

It's a decent audio editor. It's no Pro Tools though. There is no real time editing or effects.

For my purposes it's been pretty good.

Planning on a recording project in the near future. I'll post some of it for your listening pleasure (or displeasure if you aren't into metal!)

Thanks,
SRG