Hi Folks, I am planning to record songs at my home itself, not at studio rather. I need an instrument to which I could connect: - 1. A Guitar 2. A Keyboard 3. A Mic to take the input from these three sources at once. And then I will connect the output of that instrument to the input of the sound card in the computer. What else I require is I can explain once again: (A) One instrument to connect the above said components. (B) Recommended sound card for giving optimum recording quality. (Although I have one but that is ordinary one). (C) Software for sound recording, which offers rich use of mixing and adding effects. If any one of could suggest what I actually need to do. Plz do so. Regards, kordz
AUDACITY is the best which i've tried. I've heard about soundforge also. lets see wht others have to say :think:
i was gonna post the SAME query today any way i was also wondering that is there any softawre that can like,give effects to my recording? that is like distortion etc????
Hey guys !! Have u eva checked out the wave editor which comes along with the Nero CD burnong s/w.It is bundled in nero 5 versions onwards and i think its one of the best suited for recordings..It has all the possible effects one can eva dream of..and u can even manipulate ur voice to ur requirements.
distortion if u guys want to add distortion and other effects like overdrive,chorus etc. u can use GUITAR FX BOX(google search it!!).i'm not sure if it also records but u can play acoustic guitar and directly get an electric output. rock on!! gaurav
Hi Kordz_Player: I'll tell you the setup I'm using so it might help you. I use a microphone, a guitar and a keyboard for most of my recordings. I use the following equipment: 1) Microphone:SM 58 https://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm58.asp 2) Guitar - A Left Handed Tansen Strat 3) Keyboard: Evolution MK-461C https://www.evolution.co.uk/products/evo_mk461c.htm 4) Soundcard: M-Audio Audiophile 192 https://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/Audiophile192-main.html 5) Mixer: A Behringer 6 input mixer https://www.behringer.com/UB802/index.cfm?lang=ENG a) Now lemme address the basic question - Why do I need a mixer? Well, the output (2 lines) of the mixer is connected to 2 line-ins on your soundcard. The guitar and the microphone go into the input channels of the mixer. The reason why I'm using a mixer in the first place is because my soundcard has 2 inputs while the mixer has 6. The other reason is because my soundcard is not an external interface and hence I have to reach out to the back of my CPU each time I have to make a connection to the soundcard which is a little frustrating. Using a mixer makes it extremely convenient to add instruments one after the other and thus gives better control. The mixer also has a headphone out that helps me to record vocals through the mic while listening to the music through the headphones. The souncard does not have a headphone out. So basically I find the mixer quite useful. b) How do I connect everything? As I said before, you connect your guitar (using a 1/4" jack) and the microphone (either by using a similar jack or a 3 pin cable) to your mixer. My keyboard is a USB based one so that goes into one USB slot on my CPU. If your keyboard is not USB based then you can use a midi cable to connect your keyboard to a midi input on your sound card. The audiophile 192 has midi inputs on it. It is a very good soundcard that sample at a rate of 192 Khz which is excellent. Then comes the use of the softwares. c) Which softwares should I use for my keyboard? You have many options here. Remember that you need to have a midi keyboard, i.e a keyboard that helps you trigger patches and samples on the softwares you are using. Propellerhead Reason is one software which helps you play hundreds of instruments and also use several instrument, drum and percussion loops. It creates a virtual studio for you where you can add drum machines, loop players, mixers etc and create your own virtual setup. It is quite easy to use and if you're a good keyboardist, you can actually create entire songs in Reason which sound really really good for home recording level. The effects and sound banks are really extensive and amazing. The entire sofware is actually a classic by Propellerhead. You can also use Steinberg Nuendo or Cubase if you directly want to record what you're playing. These are nothing but powerful virtual sequencers which help you record various instruments and organize them into different tracks. You can also quantize notes and easily edit your recordings here. Please note that both these softwares are extremely powerful tools. They support VST and other plugins and are used extensively by home and professional recordists. d) Which softwares should I use for my guitar? I dont use any software for my guitar effects. I have a Boss GT8 multi effects processor which I use for effects. You can try using Guitar Rig, Cakewalk Guitar Tracks or maybe other such softwares for guitar effects. Or maybe you could invest in a good processor. To record through the processor, you just connect its output channels (2 in my case) to the input channels on your mixer. For recording just stick to Nuendo/Cubase or even Cool Edit Pro or Sound Forge. e) Which softwares should I use for my vocals? I use a wonderful vocal editor called Celemony Melodyne. It is again a wonderful software. It enables you to record your vocals and then it analyzes it and creates a series of digital notes out of it. It then allows you to analyze which notes are out of pitch/scale and then snaps it to their correct position just by a double click. It also allows you do editing like lengthening notes, adding vibrato, quantizing etc. All in all an excellent tool for vocals. f) What about softwares like Cool Edit Pro and Sound Forge? The also are very easy to use and allow you to record vocals, guitars etc into multiple tracks. All softwares allow you to export the final mix as a .wav or a .mp3 file. Both will provide you with many effects like delay, filtering, noise reduction etc. You can do lot of signal editing using either software. I personally find Cool Edit Pro much better than Sound Forge. g) Do I need anything else? Well, if you have the budget, go in for good monitors. I use the M-Audio 2.1 Studiophile for my setup. (https://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/LX421System-main.html). They're quite good and pick out every sound distinctly. But its not really necessary to go in for them immediately. The important thing is to have an excellent mic and soundcard and the right softwares to suit your needs. Maybe a mixer as well for better control. And yeah, have a pair a good headphones since you'll need them while recording vocals. Have all the softwares, but practice on and master any one of them. Its the best way to work otherwise you can get a little confused with so many softwares available and all of them giving you the same features. Have fun with your home recording!!!...:rock: Cheers! - Dawgie
Vedder, My god! Such an awsome reply. I am amazed I really have to sit and understand for an hour to read and understand what you have suggested. Its really great to see such a wonderful reply. Thanks a lot. Ya, one more thing to say. Go to poetry and lyrics forum and read two ghazals I have posted. Read them and tell me ur views. I am waiting. kordz
Heyy Dude, You've written some really wonderful stuff. Enjoyed reading the ghazals a lot. And dont really worry about rules and regulations for ghazals while writing. Just write what comes to your heart...following rules would make it unnatural. Keep it up!! Cheers!
Great reply vedder...really informative and helpful. Its always better to get first hand advise...thx
you mgiht want to check bhatarmusichouse - its a website with a name something like that. its got some good recording equipment there. a decent sound card is a must. if you want good control over the sound i suggest you mic your amp and record from that - else drectly connect your effects to your pc. audacity is a good software package - some krystal thingamajig is also good.
For recording just stick to Nuendo/Cubase or even Cool Edit Pro or Sound Forge. like vedder said... i`ve used these... and they`re good
