TheNetStudio.com

Getting Started Primer!

Turn Your PC Into A DAW

We've put together a little primer on getting started recording your music. We hope it helps you to figure out what you have and what you need to use your computer as a Digital Audio Workstation.

Introduction

Disclaimer

This tutorial is only a general description of how one might get started recording their music at a minimal cost. I may have gotten some of it wrong. In fact, I'm sure I have. Before you make any decisions about purchasing, connecting, or installing any hardware or software, you must make your own thourough investigation of what you plan to do. I have no idea if it will work, and I cannot be held responsible for any decisions you make regarding your own purchase, installation, or use of any recording hardware or software.

You assume all risk if you continue to read this.

I wouldn't trust this tutorial if I was you.

I don't even sound like I know what I am doing.

You should probably check out another web site with better information.

Really.

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Recording Your Music

So you want to record some of your music?

You've been playing for a while now, and your chops are pretty good. The problem is that you don't have a lot of money, and you don't really know many musicians. You think you can afford a couple hundred bucks... Maybe a little bit more... But you are not sure what you need, or where to start.

This tutorial will give you some general information that should help you get started on your journey, and help you to make some basic recordings, even on your tiny budget. Please keep in mind this tutorial will be very generic, and that you will need to put in some time to research and learn to use your equipment and sofware.

If you are reading this tutorial, you probably have a computer (unless somebody printed it out for you). That is a GREAT start. If you are reading this tutorial on TheNetStudio.com web site, you have an Internet connection, and probably a fairly new computer. That is even better. You are already most of the way toward music recording and collaboration.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to use your computer as a recording and mixing system. The exciting part about that, is that you can do this for very little money. If you have a decent microphone, and a decent sound card in your computer, you are already 90% there.

Before we go any further, please read our recording primer at TheNetStudio.com . It is short, and it will give you a background in digital recording concepts. This tutorial will assume that you already know enough about digital recording concepts to get started.

If you need to read or re-read our digital recording primer, Go ahead and do that now... We can wait...

OK... Let's get started.

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The Sound Card

Your computer, very likely, has a soundcard.

If your sound card is like most, it will have some jacks on it: An output jack for your speakers, an input jack for a microphone, and a "line-in" input jack. The bad news is that your sound card and speakers are probably optimized for gaming and not for recording music, but the good news is that you can probably still use it to record your music if you are realistic about what it will sound like.

You will probably not get great sound out of your sound card, but it probably won't be horrible either. It all really depends on your sound card, and your expectations.

Note: If you are trying to use a laptop to record, it will probably not have a line-in jack. In this case you will be limited to a microphone input, unless you purchase a USB or FireWire mixer. Or optionally a PCMCIA based external sound card.

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Connecting A Microphone

If you have less than $50 to spend, you could simply buy a cheap microphone with a mini-plug (1/8" jack), connect it to the microphone input of your sound card, and get started. But the resulting recordings will, very likely, sound muffled and noisy. You might just be better off saving until you can pull together a few hundred dollars to buy a small mixer, a decent microphone, and maybe even a better soundcard.

A good quality small mixer will allow you to get more signal into your sound card, and will allow you to have a lot more choices in microphone brands and types (Dynamic mics, Large and Small Diaphram Condenser mics, Ribbon mics, etc...). To allow the widest range of microphones, make sure your mixer has a couple preamps that have both XLR and 1/4" jacks, and 48V Phantom power.

If you just simply cannot afford a mixer, and you will be connecting your microphone directly to the microphone input on your sound card, make sure your microphone has the same jack as your sound card (probably a 1/8" jack). Be aware that there are fewer decent microphones in this category. To improve your sound you might want to spend a few more bucks to get condenser mic that is powered by battery, this will give you a cleaner and stronger signal.

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Adding A Mixer

You can improve your sound by connecting a small external mixer to your sound card line-in (if your sound card has a line-in jack). You will probably need an adapter and/or cable to connect your mixer's RCA outputs to your sound card (1/8") stereo line-in (if it did note come with a compatible cable). The improvement in quality will probably be good enough that it will be worth the money. As in all things, the better your mixer is, the better the sound will be. However, at some point it does not make sense to connect an expensive mixer to a cheap sound card (unless you already have both).

Adding a mixer will also allow you to record more simultaneous inputs. Unfortunately those inputs will not be recorded as separate individual tracks. Rather they will be sent from your mixer's stereo/line out, into the line-in of your sound card, and captured as a single stereo track in your recording software. For example: you might have 5 microphones: One on guitar, one on vocals, and three on the drums. These microphones are connected to your mixer, and they send out a stereo mix to your sound card. This mix is recorded as a single stereo track into your multi-track recording software. If the guitar is too loud it cannot be adjusted later. The good news is that even though you are limited to recording one track at a time, you can keep adding and overdubing tracks in your software. Each track must be recorded separately, but when they are mixed together in your DAW software, it can sound pretty good. You simply need to know the limitations of your hardware and software, and be creative with your multi-tracking.

Your mixer should have have one or more built in "preamps". This is important, because only the channels that have preamps will boost their microphone signals enough to get a clean recording. Be aware that a 6 channel mixer might only have two preamps. So you may only be able to record two channels at a time unless you purchase additional preamps and connect them to your mixer.

Once you have connected your mixing board to your sound card, you can use a host of microphones from very inexpensive dynamic microphones, to high end condenser microphones. Since your sound card will be limited in how good it will sound, you will probably get the best bang for your buck by buying one or two Sure SM57s. Even if you decide later to buy a full blown recording rig, and build a "world-class" studio, you will still find use for those SM57s. They are well made, they sound great on a lot of sources, and they are under $100. If your budget is very small there are other decent dynamic microphones for around $50.

Note: There are also USB and FireWire mixers available that will improve your sound. I will leave it up to the reader to investigate whether those mixers make more sense for your individual circumstances. A USB or FireWire mixer may be your only choice if you are using a laptop

Now you have a microphone, a mixer, and your sound card.

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DAW (Recording) Software

Next you will need software to turn you computer into a digital recording system - AKA a "Digital Audio Workstation" or DAW. This is where it gets exciting:

There are several inexpensive multi-track recording software packages that are good, and a few very good ones that are free.

You can investigate the inexpensive DAW software that is available by taking a trip down to your local mega music store. However, finding good freeware is a bit more difficult, so I am including some well known freeware multi-track DAW software here. I do not personally endorse any of these products, but I have tested a few of them, and I was pretty amazed at their capabilities.

Here are links for some of the more popular freeware/shareware packages:

Once you learn to use your recording software to record your tracks, you may want to add effects to those tracks, such as reverb, compression, or EQ. To do this, you must apply a "plugin" to your track. There are many plugin packages that run several hundred, or several thousand dollars. Again, the good news is that there are hundreds of freeware plugins that cover most of the same effects.

I considered including some of them here, but there are so many good ones that you will not have any problems locating them. To find these plugins, you can go to your favorite Internet search engine, and type: freeware VST plugin. Or simply browse throught the amazing giant free audio plugin database Tom Gersic has put together at: www.gersic.com/plugin. Last time I checked he was approaching 1,500 (Yes, One Thousand Five Hundred) free plugins. You will be amazed at the massive number of free, high quality VST plugins that are available for download. There are also freeware DX plugins, and a few freeware RTAS plugins, but the vast majority are VST, which most recording software will accept.

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I Need Some Help

There is not enough room in this tutorial to explain how to use your recording software, or how to use plugins. But I will note a few things you should check if you are having problems.

If you are not getting a signal from your microphone into your recording software, make sure that you have plugged your microphone into one of your mixer's preamps. Most mixers have several inputs, but only a few preamps. You will want to use the channels that have preamps. If your microphone is a "condenser" mic, it may require "phantom power". Check to make sure your mixer has phantom power, and that the phantom power is turned on for that channel.

Note: If your mic does not require phantom power be sure that phantom power is NOT turned on. I have heard that Phantom power can destroy a Ribbon mic (I do not have any ribbon mics), so be aware and be careful. This is important to note, because some mixers apply phantom power to all of the channels, rather than individual channels. You might have a condenser mic on one channel, and a ribbon mic on another. This would make your condenser mic work, and would fry your ribbon mic. If I know Murphy, the condenser mic will be a cheap one and the ribbon mic will be your most expensive piece of gear.

If your microphone is self powered by a battery, check to make sure your battery is good.

If you can only record or playback for a few seconds and then the software stops or studders with a "dropout", then you will need to ensure that your computer can keep up with your recording. The three major culprits in this case are a fragmented hard drive, inadequate memory, or not enough CPU power.

To resolve your fragmented hard drive, run a defrag (after you get a good backup of course).
To resolve your CPU problem, check to see what is running on your computer in the background, and disable everything that you do not need. This would include: Antivirus software, any add on programs like "docking" software, other security software or services (do you have a web server running on your computer?) that might be taking CPU power away from your recording software.
To ensure that you have the maximum amout of memory for your recording/playback, close all open windows and stop all uneeded background tasks.

Multi-track software is notorious for requiring a lot of CPU and memory. As you add more tracks and more plug-ins, your computer may not be powerful enough to keep up. In this case you may need to bounce multiple tracks down to a single track, or you may need to "print" your effect. You can do a search using your favorite Internet search engine, to read more about that. Please be sure to understand the limitations you will encounter when you bounce multiple tracks, or print your effects.

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Click Tracks, Samplers, and Drum Machines (Oh My)

You've probably never thought about it, but when you tap your foot to a song, it is always on the beat.

That is no accident.

When recording music, many bands use a "Click Track" to keep the song from speeding up or slowing down. A Click Track is simply a beat that each musician follows like a metronome. To give your music that invisible groove, You may want to create a click track.

When you record your music to a click track it is easier to follow when overdubbing tracks, it keeps the tracks, "tighter", and it keeps your song in time.

But what if you want more than a simple Click? What if you want a full drum kit, even though you don't know any drummers? More good news for you: There are a some very inexpensive drum machine/samplers available, and a few free ones too! The two I will mention here are:

* Hammerhead: www.threechords.com/hammerhead
* Acid XPress: www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/freestuff.asp

I will leave it up to you to download and investigate which software makes most sense for your music. I have used a couple of different freeware sampler/drum machines, and again, I was pretty amazed at what they could do.

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Mastering (Making your tracks sound more like a commercial CD)

I won't take a lot of time on this subject. Let me say that mastering is still best done by a mastering engineer. And that real Mastering is not just throwing a Brickwall Limiter on your Master Fader.

But since you have only spent a couple hundred bucks on your rig, and your recordings are really just basic demos, it wouldn't make make much sense to spend a lot of money to master your recordings. If all you want to do is get your songs louder on CD, or do a little final EQ-ing, there are yet more freeware options. You could download some of the freeware mastering plugins, and use your DAW software to master your tracks, or you could use an obscure little piece of software called SoundEngine. SoundEngine is a standalone mastering software program. It is from a Japanese programmer, so be sure you download his english version. You can find it here:

SoundEngine Free: http://www.cycleof5th.com/products/soundengine/?lang=en

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Collaboration (Internet Music Collaboration)

First digital recording systems eclipsed their analog counterparts. Even against the will of many Audio Engineers that still feel analog gear is superior. There are many reasons why digital recording systems became the de-facto standard, but that is the subject of another tutorial ;-). Suffice to say that digital recording systems continue to get better and less expensive, and that analog recording gear is becoming more and more esoteric.

Next came the revolution in music delivery that was instigated by Napster. And while Napster was doomed from the begining, because it was based on violating copyrights, the idea of widespread digital music deliver was inevitable. Once iTunes and the iPod came on the scene, the death of physical music delivery was pretty evident.

So what is left?

I believe that the last piece of the puzzle is digital music collaboration. A method of digital collaboration for bands, musicians, producers and mixers, which can facilitate multitrack digital recording projects using the Internet. Just like it's real world analogue (a brick and mortar recording studio), A Virtual Recording Studio can be a virtual meeting place for musicians to create music. A place where different musicians can work together on multiple songs.

With a Virtual Recording Studio an artist with a really great song is no longer limited by geographic location, in finding other "local" musicians that have the same musical tastes. Instead, artists can use the Virtual Recording Studio to collaborate with like minded musicians, whether they are in the same neighborhood or on different continents, using the magical ether of the Internet.

Disclaimer: I believe in this concept so strongly I created the Virtual Recording Studio website. It is free, and I would encourage everyone that reads this tutorial to stop by and see if it can help you to collaborate with other musicians to get your music recorded.

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The End

I think it's amazing that once you buy the basic hardware, just about everything you need as far as recording software, plugins, drum machines/samplers, software synths, and even mastering software can be downloaded for free. But let me warn you: recording is a complicated subject, and it is VERY hard to get your music to sound like a commercial CD. That might be because it was recorded by skilled and talented engineers, using gifted producers, and famous musicians with great songs. They still record in Multi-million dollar facilities with top of the line hardware and software.

Be realistic about your music, and your recording. But dream big. Read everything you can, and don't be afraid to experiment. Try to find someone to mentor you in a working studio, and spend some time on the various Internet recording forums. Pick pieces of your rig to update when you can afford it, and record as much and diverse music as you can.

Then again, what do I know.

;-)

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Comments

We hope that you have found this tutorial helpful. Please feel free to send us comments about this tutorial or about VRS in general at TheNetStudio@Verizon.Net

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Tutorial menu:

Introduction Sound Card Microphone(s) Adding A Mixer DAW Software I Need Some Help Drum Machines Mastering mixes Collaboration The End Comments

Useful Links:

Note: This is NOT an endorsement of these sites, nor any of their products. However, browsing through the sites below may give you even more information to help you understand digital recording, and recording in general.

Prosoundweb
Digidesign
M-Audio
T-Racks
Harmony Central
Waves Ltd.

Share/Free Ware:

Below are the web sites for some of the freeware and shareware mentioned in this tutorial.

Note: This is NOT an endorsement of these sites, nor any of their products.

Reaper
Kristal Audio
Ardour
Audacity
Hammerhead
Acid XPress