Ok guys heres a thread i posted in another forum a few months back when people were asking about how to begin recording their stuff without having a full band.
The advantage nowadays is that audio recording software is fairly cheap and you can get as many tracks as needed for ver little money. Ill be using Cakewalk products in the following examples and Fruity loops. Both have full demo versions available from their respective websites.
Lets begin with Cakewalk Home Studio 4
This $100 program does almost as much work as a full on Pro Tools rig, and you can get just as good quality if you practice. With 64 Audio tracks and unlimited MIDI tracks its the perfect program for the budding young musician looking to demo tunes or record their band.
Some of the Key features are:
Some other Noteable features are
Add Image Lines Fruity Loops to this and its a great combination of software for any home recordist.
Ok onto the the Tutorial
Ok youll need 3 things for this.
1. Any Cakewalk Program That Supports VST
2. Fruity Loops VST Plugin or Fruity Loops Studio Producer Edition
3. Sound Fonts.
This tutorial will show you how. How to convert Midi Files Using FRUITY LOOPS 4. And Cakewalk With DXI or VST Plugins. The advantage of this is you can use the same steps to WRITE songs with Cakewalk and Fruity Loops
1. This is the most important step. If you are using fruity loops you can only use the sounds that are IN the program. Well you can ADD sounds like sound fonts to fruity loops by making a soundfont folder in the DATA directory of the program. Go to C:/Program Files/Image Line/Fruity Loops; Data/; and make a new directory called soundfonts. Save all your soundfonts in this directory.
2. Open Your Midi File Using Cakewalk.
3. Click the DXI Button, Go to the top left button that looks like an asteric (*) and choose Fruity Loops VST or DXI
4.Cakewalk will automatically separate each track in the Track view. So you can change the sounds, delete tracks that arent needed like guitar tracks and adjust volume.
::NOTE::
Some midi files arent set up properly so you may have to edit them in the piano roll to get the right sounds you want.
5. Go to the synth rack in cakewalk 2x click the FL Studio DXI Or VST Plugin. Then Click The Chilli Pepper looking thing This will open fruity.
6. Go Find your sound fonts in the tool bar on the left. Scroll down to the word Soundfonts (this will not be here unless you did step 1) drag and drop the soundfont to the appropriate track. Exit Fruity Loops
7. Edit the track if you need to
8. Adjust the volume for each track. And midi Settings for each track. in Cakewalk. open the midi track and choose
Output: FL Studio DXI Or VST
Channel: 1 (you will need a different channel for each sound)
Bank; 0:0
Patch: Choose your sound font from the list.
9. Open piano roll and edit whatever midi you need to edit
10. Open a new audio track and arm it to record from your PC mixer
11. Record the track. Export it to a WAV then convert to an MP3 and you got a KILLER sounding backing track.
12. Enjoy your new backing track.
Sound Fonts I Reccomend.
Evandro Drums
Hard Drums
Naturally Decaying Bass Guitar ( REALLY BIG so be patient )
Cadenza Strings.
you can get all these Soundfonts at http://www.hammersound.net
This is great for making MIDI backing tracks, You can also follow the same processes for recording your songs. Just program all your instruments in the Piano Roll of Home Studio and your good to go.
From there you can do what you will. This is a Cheap and reliable way of Getting your songs recorded.
Heres a few other tips for getting a decent guitar tone:
If possible ALWAYS Mic the amp. Even the cheapest mics will sounds better than something recorded direct, Unless your using a POD or a V-Amp always Mic the Speaker !!!!
Back off on the Gain !!!! - When recording guitars you dont need alot of Gain. Too much gain will result in very THIN soundsing guitars. Multi Track your guitar parts. I usually Do 4 tracks 1 Hard Right, 1 Hard left, One at 80% Left and one at 80% Right (this is how Andy Sneap (the producer) gets his amazing tones). Once you put all the guitar tracks together the gain will be there.
Back off on the Low End - Let the bass guitar do its job along with the kick drum.
Dont scoop the mids so much - Guitars are a Mid Range instrument, scooping out mids just takes away Volume.
Record DRY - No effects other then Distortion or Wha if applicable.
Tips on EQing and How to get a decent MIX:
Use Parametric EQ on each Instrument to find its "SWEET SPOT" by applying some parametric EQ with a Tight Q you can focus on Frequencies by SWEEPING through the Audio Spectrum, when you find the frequency that sounds the best go back and Add a small bell surve around that frequency for that instrument. This is an INVALUABLE tool, Most guys of they cant hear an instrument in a mix immediately go for the volume knob DONT !!!! Use EQ to separate the instruments into their proper frequencies, BUT DONT OVER DO IT. If you find yourself bossting frequencies more then 1 or 2 DB, re record the parts or find a diffferent tone.
You can also use the above to find OFFENDING Frequencies when recording. If there certain frequencies in the mix that make i sound bad Scoop them out with the parametric EQ using a tight Q
use Stereo Panning - DONT RUN ALL YOUR INSTRUMENTS UP THE MIDDLE. This wil give you nothing but MUD !!!! Pan instruments around in the stereo field. This will also help Clean up the mix.
MOST IMPORTANT !!!! GO EASY ON THE EFX !!!!!!! Most guys tend to OVER DO IT with effects. Unless its Chorus or Flange, you shouldnt need more than 25 to 40% of the effect in the mix.
FIND GOOD DRUM SAMPLES !!!!!! Try grabbing Drum samples off your Fave CD's If theres a part where the drummer is playing alone, use that section to grab some drum sounds.
Final EQ - After youve gotten your mix to sound good, Add some EQ, Add some frequencies above 6k to add some shimmer, and Pull frequencies in the SUB bass range, Add a Exciter or Stereo imager to slightly polish the mix.
If you dont have STUDIO MONITOR use Regular Stereo Speaker !!!! the produce audio better then PC speakers.
Burn your mixes and listen to them on your home or car stereo. This is INVALUABLE !!!!
Follow these steps and youll be on your way to kicking some serious recording ass. Remember USE YOUR EARS, and take breaks often. Your ears get tired, after mixing listen to some other kind of music to retune your ears then go back and relisten to your mixes.
Good Luck
Da Fukn Guru
The advantage nowadays is that audio recording software is fairly cheap and you can get as many tracks as needed for ver little money. Ill be using Cakewalk products in the following examples and Fruity loops. Both have full demo versions available from their respective websites.
Lets begin with Cakewalk Home Studio 4
This $100 program does almost as much work as a full on Pro Tools rig, and you can get just as good quality if you practice. With 64 Audio tracks and unlimited MIDI tracks its the perfect program for the budding young musician looking to demo tunes or record their band.
Some of the Key features are:
- 64 audio tracks and unlimited MIDI tracks
- Pristine audio quality up to 24-bit/192 kHz
- Included instruments: Virtual Sound Canvas, Dreamstation, and Sfz
- Integrate ReWire™ compatible applications including Project5™, Kinetic™, and Reason™
- Add sounds from additional DXi and VSTi soft synths
- Never miss a take again with Confidence Recording
- Keep perfect time with a built-in audio metronome
- Use included ACID™-format library to create backing tracks
Some other Noteable features are
- Export your mix: WAV, ACID-format WAV, AVI, MIDI, MP3*, Real Audio G2, Windows Media Audio (WMA), and Windows Media Video (WMV)
- Burn your mixes to CD with included Pyro Express CD maker
Add Image Lines Fruity Loops to this and its a great combination of software for any home recordist.
Ok onto the the Tutorial
Ok youll need 3 things for this.
1. Any Cakewalk Program That Supports VST
2. Fruity Loops VST Plugin or Fruity Loops Studio Producer Edition
3. Sound Fonts.
This tutorial will show you how. How to convert Midi Files Using FRUITY LOOPS 4. And Cakewalk With DXI or VST Plugins. The advantage of this is you can use the same steps to WRITE songs with Cakewalk and Fruity Loops
1. This is the most important step. If you are using fruity loops you can only use the sounds that are IN the program. Well you can ADD sounds like sound fonts to fruity loops by making a soundfont folder in the DATA directory of the program. Go to C:/Program Files/Image Line/Fruity Loops; Data/; and make a new directory called soundfonts. Save all your soundfonts in this directory.
2. Open Your Midi File Using Cakewalk.
3. Click the DXI Button, Go to the top left button that looks like an asteric (*) and choose Fruity Loops VST or DXI
4.Cakewalk will automatically separate each track in the Track view. So you can change the sounds, delete tracks that arent needed like guitar tracks and adjust volume.
::NOTE::
Some midi files arent set up properly so you may have to edit them in the piano roll to get the right sounds you want.
5. Go to the synth rack in cakewalk 2x click the FL Studio DXI Or VST Plugin. Then Click The Chilli Pepper looking thing This will open fruity.
6. Go Find your sound fonts in the tool bar on the left. Scroll down to the word Soundfonts (this will not be here unless you did step 1) drag and drop the soundfont to the appropriate track. Exit Fruity Loops
7. Edit the track if you need to
8. Adjust the volume for each track. And midi Settings for each track. in Cakewalk. open the midi track and choose
Output: FL Studio DXI Or VST
Channel: 1 (you will need a different channel for each sound)
Bank; 0:0
Patch: Choose your sound font from the list.
9. Open piano roll and edit whatever midi you need to edit
10. Open a new audio track and arm it to record from your PC mixer
11. Record the track. Export it to a WAV then convert to an MP3 and you got a KILLER sounding backing track.
12. Enjoy your new backing track.
Sound Fonts I Reccomend.
Evandro Drums
Hard Drums
Naturally Decaying Bass Guitar ( REALLY BIG so be patient )
Cadenza Strings.
you can get all these Soundfonts at http://www.hammersound.net
This is great for making MIDI backing tracks, You can also follow the same processes for recording your songs. Just program all your instruments in the Piano Roll of Home Studio and your good to go.
From there you can do what you will. This is a Cheap and reliable way of Getting your songs recorded.
Heres a few other tips for getting a decent guitar tone:
If possible ALWAYS Mic the amp. Even the cheapest mics will sounds better than something recorded direct, Unless your using a POD or a V-Amp always Mic the Speaker !!!!
Back off on the Gain !!!! - When recording guitars you dont need alot of Gain. Too much gain will result in very THIN soundsing guitars. Multi Track your guitar parts. I usually Do 4 tracks 1 Hard Right, 1 Hard left, One at 80% Left and one at 80% Right (this is how Andy Sneap (the producer) gets his amazing tones). Once you put all the guitar tracks together the gain will be there.
Back off on the Low End - Let the bass guitar do its job along with the kick drum.
Dont scoop the mids so much - Guitars are a Mid Range instrument, scooping out mids just takes away Volume.
Record DRY - No effects other then Distortion or Wha if applicable.
Tips on EQing and How to get a decent MIX:
Use Parametric EQ on each Instrument to find its "SWEET SPOT" by applying some parametric EQ with a Tight Q you can focus on Frequencies by SWEEPING through the Audio Spectrum, when you find the frequency that sounds the best go back and Add a small bell surve around that frequency for that instrument. This is an INVALUABLE tool, Most guys of they cant hear an instrument in a mix immediately go for the volume knob DONT !!!! Use EQ to separate the instruments into their proper frequencies, BUT DONT OVER DO IT. If you find yourself bossting frequencies more then 1 or 2 DB, re record the parts or find a diffferent tone.
You can also use the above to find OFFENDING Frequencies when recording. If there certain frequencies in the mix that make i sound bad Scoop them out with the parametric EQ using a tight Q
use Stereo Panning - DONT RUN ALL YOUR INSTRUMENTS UP THE MIDDLE. This wil give you nothing but MUD !!!! Pan instruments around in the stereo field. This will also help Clean up the mix.
MOST IMPORTANT !!!! GO EASY ON THE EFX !!!!!!! Most guys tend to OVER DO IT with effects. Unless its Chorus or Flange, you shouldnt need more than 25 to 40% of the effect in the mix.
FIND GOOD DRUM SAMPLES !!!!!! Try grabbing Drum samples off your Fave CD's If theres a part where the drummer is playing alone, use that section to grab some drum sounds.
Final EQ - After youve gotten your mix to sound good, Add some EQ, Add some frequencies above 6k to add some shimmer, and Pull frequencies in the SUB bass range, Add a Exciter or Stereo imager to slightly polish the mix.
If you dont have STUDIO MONITOR use Regular Stereo Speaker !!!! the produce audio better then PC speakers.
Burn your mixes and listen to them on your home or car stereo. This is INVALUABLE !!!!
Follow these steps and youll be on your way to kicking some serious recording ass. Remember USE YOUR EARS, and take breaks often. Your ears get tired, after mixing listen to some other kind of music to retune your ears then go back and relisten to your mixes.
Good Luck
Da Fukn Guru
