Need some general recording advice

deathkllr84

deathkllr84

New Metal Member
Mar 20, 2010
23
0
1
Hey my name is John, I'm new here :kickass:

I'm 17 and am an amateur at recording, I've been recording for about 3-4 years now and plan to go into Audio Engineering as a career, making music sound good is fun as hell to me.

Anyway, I've ran into these questions while reading around and through experience:

1) What DAW should I be using to take the next step?

-I've been using FL Studio to program and mix ezDrummer or my own samples for drums. Then I export the drum track into Audacity and record guitar and bass. Pretty nooby setup, and I feel like I need something more powerful: a mixing DAW where I can mix drums while recording, etc. I think you may be able to do that in FL, but I would rather use Cubase or the like to make it simpler. So I need some suggestions.

2) What should I be using/doing to record guitar and bass tracks?

-Currently I have been using my Digitech RP250 multi effect pedal's custom tones to record guitar and bass. It gets me decent results, especially when I experiment with them for a while (ex: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5319877/Left to Rot.mp3 ). But still I feel like I can get better tone from some other method.

I experimented with minor Re-amping type recordings. I ran my Ibanez through my RP250 and ran a dry signal into audacity. After recording a dry track I took it into Fl Studio and put a few different amp VSTs to see how it came out, and I couldn't get anything too good.

EQUPIMENT​
I don't really have that great equipment, mostly because I don't have the money to spend on $500 guitars and expensive monitors, etc. But here is what I use:

Software
-FL Studio to program/mix drums (ezdrummer/samples)
-Audacity to record/mix guitars and bass (can't mix drums in this though)
-Adobe Audition to master songs
-Reaper but have not figured it out yet

Hardware
-Digitech RP250 for tones/recording guitar bass
-No monitors, using dell computer speakers -_- but have been for 3-4 years
-Ibanez GRX guitar, not very top end but has good EMG pickups

So in order to record a song I have to first program the drums in FL, just make them sound as good as possible then export it into Audacity. From there, the drums are pretty much final and I can't mix them while recording guitar/bass. I plug my Ibanez guitar/bass into my RP250 and into the computer through USB, and it records into audacity. I then mix the guitars and bass into the drums until they sound decent. Export the track into Adobe Audition to master, and the track is done.

I just feel there is a more efficient way to do this, and get better sounds. If' you read all this, thank you very much :worship: I seriously appreciate it. Leave me some tips and comments about what you think my next move should be.

hail!
-john
 
Dude, there is like 5000 threads on here that you can search that will answer all your questions.


Welcome. :)
 
Download and try reaper, and read-up on either a m-audio profire, presonus firestudio or a saffire pro40

those seem to be the choice for a lot of people here and they yield excellent results
 
Force666 said:
Dude, there is like 5000 threads on here that you can search that will answer all your questions.


Welcome. :)
Click to expand...

Well I looked around a bit, everyone is talking more about tones and preamps more than DAWS (or maybe I missed something?).

I just need some advice or you opinion on what I should do since I am having those problems. I'm not sure what I should be doing with my kind of setup, it's pretty limited as I don't have money to spend atm.

And I will look into that hardware. :danceboy:
 
There is nothing wrong with FL Studio, unless you are using an older version, like 6 or less. You can do pretty much everything you can do with cubase in it, so I'd keep that and try out it's actual recording and mixing features, they're actually pretty intuitive. I'd ditch the audacity faster than the plague though.
 
Also, there are plenty of free great ampsims around here, that all work in FL Studio.
 
"Ibanez GRX guitar, not very top end but has good EMG pickups"

:puke:

why would you spend money putting good pickups in such a shit guitar?:loco:
 
Harry Hughes said:
"Ibanez GRX guitar, not very top end but has good EMG pickups"

:puke:

why would you spend money putting good pickups in such a shit guitar?:loco:
Click to expand...

No job, no money. The hell is a kid to do? :Smokedev: Came with good EMGs.


And I guess I could mess more with FL studio's recording features. I have already but haven't quite gotten the hang of it.
 
Find a DAW that has a comfortable workflow for you. And being a kid with no money, for now, just bypass all the effects on the Digitech (to where its just a clean signal) run that in to your computer via USB and use a amp sim plugin. It's the not the best way going about it...but I'm sure it'll work. There's some great free amp sims out there. Then once you get some money saved, buy some good hardware. Plus a DI box....that way way you can get some of the guys on here to reamp through some killer fucking amps. :cool:



Harry Hughes said:
"Ibanez GRX guitar, not very top end but has good EMG pickups"

:puke:

why would you spend money putting good pickups in such a shit guitar?:loco:
Click to expand...

Well they are EMGs, and them being active and all doesn't really make a difference what guitar they're put in. Thats why I ditched mine. No matter what guitar I put them in, they still sounded well...like EMGS! lol. Passives are the ones that give personality...but just IMO. But I would recommend eventually getting a better guitar. :lol:
 
JBroll said:
This is complete and total bullshit. Any basic grasp of physics and acoustics will completely clear this myth.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Hey man, didn't mean for anyone to take offence. I was just shedding my opinion on them and the accounts that I had when I had them in a couple of guitars of mine. I didn't state anything as a fact.

Hope everything's cool. :kickass:
 
Nothing is not cool, but what you stated was a matter of fact, not of opinion. Every pickup will have some kind of characteristic - some passives more than actives - but it takes a lot to eliminate the contribution from the rest of the guitar.

Jeff
 
Good point. I never really thought about it that way. I guess I just really didn't think about it since I thought actives got alot of their tone from the built in pres. I never really took into consideration that actives could also sound different with the wood's resonance and such..
 
They get a lot of *tone shaping* from the preamps. 'Tone' is not some disembodied fairy dust that exists independently of physical characteristics, it's the interaction of everything that does anything when you whack the strings. Never forget this distinction.

Jeff
 
I'd say learn reaper. I dont have much experience with it but it seems like every other major daw out there so learn EVERYTHING in it first.Then if you decide to move on it will make things abit easier as you will have an understanding of most functions and how to use them.

Moving up to a major DAW like Logic, Cubase or Protools is a hard decision as you need to decide what you want to get out of the program.

For example Logic has a bazillion plug ins and software instruments so if your a jump straight in creative person than its brilliant.I'm aslo currently studying audio tech and have a course in logic and it seems great just not for me.

Protools has bearly anything in those departments but its enough to get you by.Im definatley a Protools guy as I've gotten my work flow to a great point with it now that I dont want to switch daw for editing or mixing although I keep hearing of great features in cubase and therefore I wouldnt mind learning how to use it.

As I said choose the correct daw for you. Not because a certain person uses it. I'ts gotta fit what you wanna get out of the program.

just my 2 cents
Joel
 
There is not point arguing over which Daw is the best. The reality is Pro Tools is used in most pro studios. The more time you spend on Pro Tools the better.
 
abt said:
There is not point arguing over which Daw is the best. The reality is Pro Tools is used in most pro studios. The more time you spend on Pro Tools the better.
Click to expand...

I think the point that he's broke, and can't afford to replace stuff should probably give you an indication that he can't afford PT.

Also, yes, many studios do use PT - but many of those studios are shutting down and a large amount of them are being replaced with smaller facilities that have to handle any DAW session. So, better knowing Audio Engineering and software in general that one specific program which is beyond his reach.

Maybe?
 
Hearing a lot of helpful things, thanks for the opinions and keep them coming! It's true that I can't afford PT right now, but I will have more time to get using it in college.

I think Reaper would be my best bet. I still have to figure some stuff in it but I have the basics down. Anyone have a link to some useful Reaper tuts?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
New guy needs advice.
Replies
16
Views
1K
F.O.H.
setyouranchor
S
prabblerabble
Using Reaper and FL Studio together
Replies
11
Views
10K
F.O.H.
prabblerabble
P
A
New Here, need some help.
Replies
8
Views
740
F.O.H.
Joematthews
J
D
need some advice on mixing
Replies
9
Views
713
F.O.H.
darkist
D
Narg n Lamb
Recording Help
Replies
7
Views
376
Musicians Discussion
nissan
N
Top Bottom
Back