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**Jgel** · 05-14-01, 09:55 AM

I use Cakewalk Pro Audio for all muli-track recording. Just plug in and go. Record your tracks, mixdown and burn to CD. Very easy to use.

**Pleiadian** · 05-14-01, 10:06 AM

Oz,

You have to consider if you want to use midi or if you want to record audio only.

Personally, I am very hapy with Cakewalk Pro Audio 9, which can record both audio and midi. I have not tested any other software though...

The advantage of recording midi is that you can easily edit the recording afterwards. It is a bit more work, but gives you a *lot* more control over you recordings.

Rob

**mcconaghy** · 05-14-01, 11:48 AM

My preference: Logic Audio Platinum. Easy to use IMO, but I'm used to it now. Together with a wide array of VST plug-ins it's a fantastic system which can also work over the Internet with the Rocket plug-in. The Emagic soft-sampler is also very nice.
I use LAP wih the Bitheadz Retro AS-1 synth and Unity DS-1 sampler, along with an array of free VST mono- and polyphonic synths, the MDA piano is very nice.
I record, compose, arrange, produce, clean the windows and chase the cat around the room with it, Also keeps the wife away when I don't want her getting on my nerves!

Stu

And no, I don't have the TD-10 Logic environment. Looking myself.

**Drummersdad** · 05-14-01, 12:07 PM

Originally posted by Pleiadian:
The advantage of recording midi is that you can easily edit the recording afterwards. It is a bit more work, but gives you a *lot* more control over you recordings. Rob

Sorry for my lack of knowledge here. Let me see if I've got this right. You record to MIDI and edit (I've gotten that far with the TD-10 and a program called Anvil Studio) Now I want to burn a CD. Do I find a program that converts MIDI to .WAV files directly? Or do I just play back the MIDI with the TD-10, feed the TD-10 master out to the line in on my sound card and use WAV recording software? Thanks.

**Pleiadian** · 05-14-01, 02:17 PM

Originally posted by Drummersdad:
Or do I just play back the MIDI with the TD-10, feed the TD-10 master out to the line in on my sound card and use WAV recording software? Thanks.

Yep, that's the way!

**BINARY** · 05-14-01, 02:56 PM

Originally posted by Oz DrumR:
I have access to a large amount of Audio software. The trouble is, I don't know what the majority of it does!

I'm looking into doing some basic recording and editing. I'm looking to find out which software is necessary and what is nice to have . . . can you help? What are you using, and what are you using it to do. I'm new to this side of things, but want to get involved

Any info (no matter how basic) - would be appreciated! I'm looking for a starting point!

Hey, man

My opinions here:
At the very least, you need 3 packages:
1) MIDI recording software
2) Single wave editor
3) Multitrack editor

Keep in mind that some software packages incorporate two or more of these packages into one program. Here's just a cursory overview, hope it helps.

1) MIDI recording and editing software if you're going to do MIDI recording (you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you weren't).
For MIDI, Cakewalk is the defacto standard. It's the most popular, the most robust, and works quite well for MIDI. Personally, I use it for MIDI and nothing else, although it is a multitrack editor as well. I think it's ugly and clumsy, but many people here disagree with me.

2) single wave editing software for when you record a track and want to make permanent modifications to the wave file. Here is where you can add effects and cut parts, delete unwanted noises, whatever modifications you want to put in there and not ever remove. I'm using the new Soundforge, version 5.

3) Multitrack editing software if you plan to do anything more than one track. Here is where you mix several tracks together, be it many drum tracks or drums and other instruments, here's where it all mixes together.
You can make modifications to the sound here also, but non-destructively, meaning that you can add an FX channel and have it apply to one or several tracks while not permanently modifying the original wave file, provided you're not using a hard disk based multitrack program like CoolEdit Pro.

I'm using Sonic Foundry's Vegas, which I swear by. It rocks.

BINARY

[This message has been edited by BINARY (edited May 14, 2001).]

**Oz DrumR** · 05-14-01, 06:11 PM

Cheers guys - between you, you've greatley increased my awareness of Audio Software, and given me a starting point.

Particular thanks to Binary, your explainations of which thing does what were very informative. Cheers

It never ceases to amaze me how empathetic most members are in here. Certainly the best education I've ever had - and free! I'll post and let you know how I go.

**MustangMick** · 05-15-01, 07:27 AM

There's a free version of Digidesign Pro Tools on their web-page.
8 tracks of Audio and 48 tracks of MIDI.
See the Store on their site
(Well not quite free $9.95 shipping)
http://www.digidesign.com/

**Booberry** · 05-23-01, 01:39 AM

Any quality midi sequencing/audio recording software (Cakewalk, Cubase VST, Logic) will get the job done with flying colors, but keep in mind your hardware probably plays a bigger role in how successful you are making music you're happy with. Why?
1)Third partty effects plugins by companies such as Waves make a HUGE difference in the quality of your final result, but you need a lot of processing power (fast CPU) to run them.
2) A great sounding result starts with - a great sound. You'll probably want a dedicated audio recording PCI card by a company like Echo or M-Audio, especially if you're recording above 16 bit. These cards also have multiple ins/outs.
3) A fast hard drive is a must.
4) The number of tracks you can record/play is linked closely to your RAM - the more the merrier.

I personally use Cubase VST, Wavelab, and lots of DirectX plugins (mostly by Waves and TC Works). They're awesome, but on a 266Mhz Pentium with 32Meg RAM they'd drive you loco.

**sepdrums** · 05-23-01, 12:06 PM

Ok this info is great!

BUT - I am a recording moron, and I have some more questions...

As a band, we are recording onto a Korg 8 track digital. I am assuming the tracks are on its hard drive. Now, it has options like digital out, and it has an SCSI interface. I am not clear if it is possible to dump the file from its hard drive to my pc then either edit it or burn a cd.
We are purchasing a cd burner with digital ins, but I am still interested in somehow accessing the mix via pc. It has MIDI ins/outs, but I am a MIDI moron too when it comes to recording...
So, my question is do any of you know if it is possible to take a song from an 8 track recorder drive and place it on a PC???
It is probably S$(*^ simple, but I have no experience with it, and also don't have a manual

Thanks!!!
Erik

**captain54** · 05-23-01, 12:29 PM

Yes you can transfer data digitally from a standalone hard disk recorder like the Korg...

However, your PC must have a sound card that has digital or spidf inputs...only two tracks at a time can be transfered though..

I'm not too familiar with the SCSI route, but I'm 99% sure that option exists for standalone SCSI CD burners, outboard portable hard disk or zip disk storage...

**K-Chuck** · 05-23-01, 02:42 PM

Just to clarify MustangMick's comment, you can download the free version of ProTools for no charge. The $9.95 is for the CD version. It's a long download, but worth considering for the (lack of) price, the features, and because the high-end versions of ProTools are considered an industry standard.

I haven't used it too much myself because of the steep learning curve, but you can also download the user's manual for free. It does seem to be a robust program, and there are both Macintosh and PC versions. You will want a sound card and a fast computer, though. My 300MHz Mac G3 gets sluggish running it.

Originally posted by MustangMick:
There's a free version of Digidesign Pro Tools on their web-page.
8 tracks of Audio and 48 tracks of MIDI.
See the Store on their site
(Well not quite free $9.95 shipping)
http://www.digidesign.com/

**z-drummer** · 05-23-01, 09:20 PM

I am a recording moron, and I have some more questions...

(In the words of sepdrums)

Booberry- You mentioned using Cubase VST and Wavelab. Are you using a Creative "Live" sound card?

If so... Have you attemted to use the optical Input or Output? The Input from my Fostex VF-16 works fine. For some reason the
Output to my Roland monitors won't.

Any Ideas?

Z

**Booberry** · 05-24-01, 12:11 PM

Z,

I'm not using a Creative "Live" card, and I've heard very negative things about them on Cubase.net. I'm using an M-Audio Delta 66 and have been very happy with it. I have my Event PS5 monitors hooked up directly to the breakout box(included with the sound card) and have had no problems. The Delta 66 comes with it's own ASIO driver and software control panel, so I can control input/output levels easily. I'm not familiar with the Soundblaster - is it set up similarly? How do you have your monitors hooked up? If you are using Cubase, check out Cubase.net - it's an amazing resource. Just be warned, after spending some time on that borad you may want to feed your Soundblaster card to your dog...

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