Home PC Recording..

[Shredboy]

Here is my situtation.. I have a creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro soundcard... I want to start recording my guitar directly into my PC.

First of all is this possible with my soundcard? If so how do I go about it? Ive read a few forums and I just seem to get more confused.. most of the forums i've read contain more advanced PC users than me when it comes to home recording.

Any information would be great..

 

[Zax666]

Well... You can record directly to PC* with basiclly any sound card but it wouldn't be such a good idea. I'd run my guitar into some sorta preamplifier (read: DI/booster/overdrive/distortion/fuzz/multifx pedal) before it hits the soundcard. That won't be needed with active pickups, of course, but it's really better to let hiZ/loZ convertion (or passive to active, if you'd like) to an extrernal device, rather than your sound card's mic input.

You'll also need something like an amp to monitor your playing with and a signal splitter, before your pickups run into anything (an active one would equal less tone loss and a preamp won't be required).

You'll also need to get some amp modeling plug-ins and... quite frankly the only one I've heard that doesn't tire your ears is Simulanalog Guitar Suite. (only available in VSTi, google it up)

And of course, you can get the Line6 GuitarPort and you won't have to deal with your soundcard.

*- I'm writing this with the thought you intend not to use a hardware amp modeler of some kind. That'd really simplify things.

 

[\m/FRNK\m/]

Any soundcard...hmm....... if you want to seriously record stuff I'd recommend a zero-latency card, 'cause for instance a Sounblaster has a small delay in what's played and what is recorded. Very annoying... I recorded all guitars as a guide for our latest album at home. Using the Soundblaster LivePlayer 5.1. I have a 42ms latency or so... that SUX!! I tried a midi and an audio-click in Cubase VST32/5.1r1, and tried to play a little bit before the click.. a whole album... trust me, it's almost impossible. Our drummer had to use those guides to record the drums in the studio.. TIP : Get a good soundcard and check the latency-time!!!

Terratec / M-audio / Edirol > cool stuff...

grtz,

Frank

 

[Shredboy]

Wow thanks for the fast responses guys... yeah it sounds like this ms latency is going to be a pain in the butt... is it possible to actually mic my cabinets and record them that way? Instead of going directly into the cpu? Also what guitar preamp do you suggest? Bang for the buck type of thing.

thanks again.

 

[\m/FRNK\m/]

Sure u can use a mic, but then you have to learn about more things like how to get a good sound and what kind of mic to use and the placement etc., and if you use 2 mics it gets even harder... but always use your ears first And if your amp is in the same room as your PC it's hard to really hear the sound through your PC, cause the amp interferes...(duh). Or buy very good headphones that are closed for sounds from outside.

But I would look for a nice modeller or something yeah... Most handy, just a little box with cool sounds. I use a Boss GT-6 at home now (check the 'Main' page of my site, there's music as a backgroundsound I recorded in Cubase with 3 presets (not altered) from my GT6, only gave it a little more stereo and normalized it using Wavelab. But don't mind the little mistakes heh.. I bended one note a bit too high and a little timing-thingy...), and before that my Engl 580's rec outs (rules!!!), but that's a bit expensive just to buy for homerecording. Just look on ebay or similar sites... Lots of Pod's n stuff... (I'm not a Line6 fan, but I heard great recordings with 'em. And these days they don't make crap... only Zoom does lol.. Oh yeah, I tested the Boss ME50 too, great little thing for $299 new price.. I guess you can get it much cheaper second hand. But it's a cool sounding thing and you can use it as a floorboard too. (3 pedals on it). Here is the URL to a site of a friend of mine, who recorded his stuff using a Behringer V-Amp. Very cheap thing, and he gets good tone from it, even while he sais it sux. But you have to tweak it a lot, and roll back the distortion. Check the mp3's : http://www.roysegers.com.

And for soundcards, try to find a simple Terratec or so, not too expensive, and check the specs first. For instance the Xfire isn't made for serious audio recs, but more for games or just playin music/ watching films/ and other entertainment. M-Audio rules too. I really don't know much 'bout those cards, I'm only mentioning stuff friends use. I need a decent card too, and I guess I'll check those mentioned myself too.. Found some 2nd hand with zero latency at a reasonable price.

Oh yeah, some more samples and more info on the GT6, you can download patches there too :

http://www.bossgtcentral.com/exposed.php


Good luck man

grrz,

Frank

 

[karelrulez]

I just plugged my guitar + effect pedal into my pc, recorded it with Magix Music Maker, it sounds like this:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/pixeldreammusic.htm

 

[Shredboy]

M-Audio rules too. I really don't know much 'bout those cards, I'm only mentioning stuff friends use. I need a decent card too, and I guess I'll check those mentioned myself too.. Found some 2nd hand with zero latency at a reasonable price.

Yeah Ive been lookign at M-audio's web page... since I dont know much about home recording Its all a bit greek to me... Like im not sure if I need a preamp like there audio buddy... and one of there soundcards.. but looking on there site I "think" I only see like one soundcard /boggle it seems the more I read into it the more confused im getting... I use a line 6 spider II HD for my head...

Essentially im a beginner at home audio, but would like to get somewhat serious with it.. Im just looking for the best quality for dollar amount I guess. I actually want to do some composing at home... not just shove my guitar in the cpu and go whee !!!

Again thanks for all the responses guys... you've all been very helpful

 

[XeroX.]

hey guys can u help me? im new to this recording in ur pc stuff but i would like to know how can i do it in the easiest way (dont need professional sounding) and which program is the best i can use to mix all instruments (im a one man-band hehe)

 

[\m/FRNK\m/]

hey guys can u help me? im new to this recording in ur pc stuff but i would like to know how can i do it in the easiest way (dont need professional sounding) and which program is the best i can use to mix all instruments (im a one man-band hehe)

Simple for use is CoolEdit Pro. Just press the red button of the track(s) you wanna record and press 'Rec.'
Very easy to use, but no midi-click or drumsets or whatever.. Just plain multitrack recording.
I always use Cubase (VST32 5.1R1), it's pretty easy too but with many more features like drum/midi-synth programming, all kinds of cool plugins etc. and great to mix and edit with. And I do the mastering with Wavelab. And you can always press <F1> for help

good luck man

Frank

 

[Zax666]

BTW, is there any other platform besides Cubase to support VST?
(I've noticed the quality VST pulgins you find around the net are generally more available than the quality DirectX ones)

 

[\m/FRNK\m/]

BTW, is there any other platform besides Cubase to support VST?
(I've noticed the quality VST pulgins you find around the net are generally more available than the quality DirectX ones)

I found this :

VST hosts
VST applications (such as Cubase, Logic, Nuendo, and WaveLab) require VST plug-ins to be installed into special folder. In most cases a VST application accepts plug-ins installed in the Vstplugins subfolder under the main applications folder, for instance, C:\ProgramFiles\Emagic\Logic Audio Platinum 4.8\Vstplugins. Some hosts, such as Steinberg hosts, use a shared plug-ins folder.
If you want to use the PSP plug-in in more than one VST application, manually copy the plug-in dll file, which has already been installed into the chosen folder, to the appropriate VST compatible host application folder. For example, Cubase VST hosts VST plug-ins in its Vstplugins folder. Cubase VST 5.0 can also host plug-ins in a shared folder called Shared VST Plug-ins Folder. This folder is usually located at C:\ProgramFiles\Steinberg\Vstplugins.
In order to install any PSP plug-in in other VST compatible applications, you should refer to the particular application's operating manual.

From this site (link):

http://www.pspaudioware.com/support1.html#pyt31

A friend of me uses Logic. A 'smaller' Cubase. He's done great recordings with it : http://www.marcelcoenen.com

grtz,

Frank