What software tools should I get if the only real instrument is my guitar?

[davidc02]

All I have is my PC, a Digitech RP300 pedal, and my Fender Guitar with a Seymour Duncan pickup.

I did some playing around with Fruity Loops, ez drumkit from hell, and audition and got this: http://www.mediafire.com/?dxtixn4juxd

I know.. the production blows

But I really wanted to know if software will suffice for me to get something that sounds good enough.

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

Do you actually program patterns on Fruity Loops or do you just use EZ Drummers' loops? You can program the beats in Audition the same as FL. You don't even need to involve FL in the process unless you want to for extra stuff ( like the extras that come with FL ). Audition at least claims to do everything MIDI. You just gotta experiment with dialing in a good guitar sound and if you can't get it all the way there get you some KeFir and some impulse files to get your tone in the zone and you're set. There are plenty of free/cheap VST instruments you can use for piano/synth. I recently discovered Broomstick Bass ( Retails around $99 ) and it's an outstanding Virtual Bass ( Fenders, Ricks, etc ) plugin.

When you say "I really wanted to know if software will suffice for me to get something that sounds good enough." what IS good enough? For demos? For albums? Please elaborate.

 

[mintcheerios]

I'm a firm believer that you can get a great mix these days with minimal gear, but there are still a few prerequisites. You need audio monitors to know what your mix sounds like and a sound card with low latency drivers.

Assuming you have those, you will then need a decent DAW. Then you need plugins like compressors, limiters, EQs, reverbs etc. There are a lot of good free ones out there on the internet. Then finally, you need to get good at using the tools you've acquired. There are tons of articles and forum threads on the internet. There are some good books also such as The Mixing Engineer's Handbook. Also take advantage of student discounts if you can, they help tremendously.

 

[davidc02]

Do you actually program patterns on Fruity Loops or do you just use EZ Drummers' loops? You can program the beats in Audition the same as FL. You don't even need to involve FL in the process unless you want to for extra stuff ( like the extras that come with FL ). Audition at least claims to do everything MIDI. You just gotta experiment with dialing in a good guitar sound and if you can't get it all the way there get you some KeFir and some impulse files to get your tone in the zone and you're set. There are plenty of free/cheap VST instruments you can use for piano/synth. I recently discovered Broomstick Bass ( Retails around $99 ) and it's an outstanding Virtual Bass ( Fenders, Ricks, etc ) plugin.

When you say "I really wanted to know if software will suffice for me to get something that sounds good enough." what IS good enough? For demos? For albums? Please elaborate.

I just use EZ's... I didn't know I could do more with Audition than recording
I'll try that...

What's KeFir?

I'll get that Broomstick Bass... since I don't have a bass

something good... well... something that doesn't sound home made at least... decent enough to think the drums are real and that it was mastered by andy himself.. jk.. I really don't know how good I can really pull off with pure software, but I'm sure it's next to impossible to get album quality, right?

 

[Notuern]

Well, i use FL and Addictive Drums and at times the crappy boobass that comes with FL.
I personally thinks that FL sounds REALLY good, ive compared it to protools at school and the soundquality as about the same.
The difference is that you dont have any real good waveediting in FL yet, but its enough for me.

So i guess it all depends on what you are aiming for.
If you want to create "real" mixes with real instruments, then go with something like Audition, if you want easy midi-editing, a good mixer and a program that anyone understands, go with FL.

Edit:
One thing you can do is to record your guitar with a clean sound, then duplicate the track, and then make it an octave lower, and then mix them together and distort them, it works really well as a bass-placebo if you dont want software to handle it.

 

[davidc02]

Do you actually program patterns on Fruity Loops or do you just use EZ Drummers' loops? You can program the beats in Audition the same as FL. You don't even need to involve FL in the process unless you want to for extra stuff ( like the extras that come with FL ). Audition at least claims to do everything MIDI. You just gotta experiment with dialing in a good guitar sound and if you can't get it all the way there get you some KeFir and some impulse files to get your tone in the zone and you're set. There are plenty of free/cheap VST instruments you can use for piano/synth. I recently discovered Broomstick Bass ( Retails around $99 ) and it's an outstanding Virtual Bass ( Fenders, Ricks, etc ) plugin.

When you say "I really wanted to know if software will suffice for me to get something that sounds good enough." what IS good enough? For demos? For albums? Please elaborate.

But I can't use ezdrummer on Audition..

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

I just use EZ's... I didn't know I could do more with Audition than recording
I'll try that...

What's KeFir?

I'll get that Broomstick Bass... since I don't have a bass

something good... well... something that doesn't sound home made at least... decent enough to think the drums are real and that it was mastered by andy himself.. jk.. I really don't know how good I can really pull off with pure software, but I'm sure it's next to impossible to get album quality, right?

I think you can achieve a non-homemade sound with what you have plus Broomstick but it's gonna take some learning on your part to know what to do to which instrument and when. That's pretty much why I'm here on the Sneap forum, to learn. I've learned a whole lot in just the last week and I'm sure even Mr Sneap the Almighty will attest to the fact that you'll always be learning. For guys like us, access to good systems/hardware to learn on are a major factor but you gotta start somewhere. I think that some fundamental stuff can be learned on about any setup anyhow.

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

But I can't use ezdrummer on Audition..

Any particular error/reason you can't use EZ Drummer in Audition? The website says it supports ASIO, VST, DirectX, and ReWire. EZ Drummer is VST isn't it?

Well, if Audition can't/won't run EZDrummer I know Reaper will and it's basically free and does just as much if not more than Audition.

 

[Det Som Engang Var]

When you guys open E Z drummer is it a piano on the screen? I only know how to program guitar pro drums I can't figure anything out with this. I looked it up on youtube "EZ Drummer Drumkit From Hell" and there were drums on the screen instead of the confusing piano thing.

 

[abyssofdreams]

When you guys open E Z drummer is it a piano on the screen? I only know how to program guitar pro drums I can't figure anything out with this. I looked it up on youtube "EZ Drummer Drumkit From Hell" and there were drums on the screen instead of the confusing piano thing.

Do you use a Sequencer like Cubase/Pro Tools or do you use the Standalone version? Whatever you use, you shouldn't see a Piano

 

[abyssofdreams]

ahhh... now I get what you mean. you need to use/load a drummap, look it up in the manual, right at the starting guide

 

[davidc02]

Any particular error/reason you can't use EZ Drummer in Audition? The website says it supports ASIO, VST, DirectX, and ReWire. EZ Drummer is VST isn't it?

Well, if Audition can't/won't run EZDrummer I know Reaper will and it's basically free and does just as much if not more than Audition.

Here's the EZDrummer compatibility list - supported applications
http://www.toontrack.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=16969

For Audition it says no vsti support

 

[davidc02]

When you guys open E Z drummer is it a piano on the screen? I only know how to program guitar pro drums I can't figure anything out with this. I looked it up on youtube "EZ Drummer Drumkit From Hell" and there were drums on the screen instead of the confusing piano thing.

AFAIK... You need to open, call, or invoke (however you wanna call it) ezdrummer from another program, like FruityLoops... I thought it was easy enough.
This is what you should see and how you'll be using it:

 

[davidc02]

I think you can achieve a non-homemade sound with what you have plus Broomstick but it's gonna take some learning on your part to know what to do to which instrument and when. That's pretty much why I'm here on the Sneap forum, to learn. I've learned a whole lot in just the last week and I'm sure even Mr Sneap the Almighty will attest to the fact that you'll always be learning. For guys like us, access to good systems/hardware to learn on are a major factor but you gotta start somewhere. I think that some fundamental stuff can be learned on about any setup anyhow.

Yeah I was playing around with audition to add that "masterized" feeling but nothing fancy, should I use cubase for that?... I need to replace the drum kicks but I haven't been able to get drumagog running to do it.

 

[MetallyGuitarded]

davidc02, Maybe you should check out Reaper since it's free and it runs EZ Drummer, VSTi's and DXi's. I'd say get all your software functioning right, then experiment with capturing the guitar tones you want. Maybe even just re-amp it ( Record dry, clean guitar then process later ). I thought from the info on Auditions site that it was a full featured DAW but cleary it isn't. That probably explains why I've heard of nearly no one who uses it.

If you don't like your drum sounds, google drum samples or PM me. If you have EZ Drummer and use a good DAW app, you can process each drum to some degree. Try that parallel compression stuff too. There's threads about it here on the Sneap forums somewhere.

 

[davidc02]

davidc02, Maybe you should check out Reaper since it's free and it runs EZ Drummer, VSTi's and DXi's. I'd say get all your software functioning right, then experiment with capturing the guitar tones you want. Maybe even just re-amp it ( Record dry, clean guitar then process later ). I thought from the info on Auditions site that it was a full featured DAW but cleary it isn't. That probably explains why I've heard of nearly no one who uses it.

If you don't like your drum sounds, google drum samples or PM me. If you have EZ Drummer and use a good DAW app, you can process each drum to some degree. Try that parallel compression stuff too. There's threads about it here on the Sneap forums somewhere.

Some people have told me to record using the pedal, not clean direct from the guitar...

I guess only by playing around I'll find what the best option is.

 

[noarin]

for a good bass sound you can also use your guitar and pitch it an octave down; listen to behindert's riffs, I think all of them have pitch shifted guitars as bass, and they sound absolutely killer! give it a shot if you like