Digital Studio 101

[siberia_111]

Hi, I have a very generic question but am new to the world of digital recording and any help would be appreciated.
I have a Powerbook G3 (FireWire) w/ 320MB of memory, and use the built-in sound card w/ Sound Manager.
My current studio setup is just a Tascam 4-Track--which I record vocals, guitar, base, and Virtual Drummer (freeware download) on. Very simple, but I want to go digital to do everything I can do on the 4-track, but also take advantage of the added effects, etc.
What I need to know is: what kind of software should I be running to to this? (I've been looking into ProTools Free and Cubase 2.0 for Mac). Do I need to buy a better sound card? Can I record from my guitar amp directly into the computer?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
-G

[Overlord of the Undertone]

Get yourself a G4 and Digi001.
You'll be able to do 8 tracks digital.
Make sure to get alot of ram and a fat hard drive.
You can't go wrong.

[gtrdave]

With ProTools Free and a Griffin iMic usb interface, you can get very good quality 8 track recordings for a low, low cost.
Want more? I would suggest BIAS Deck II and the DigiGram Pocket VX card.
You'll spend quite a bit more but Deck II is a VERY powerful recorder/editor. I've been using it for almost 10 years and I personally think it slaughters ProTools.
Stienberg Nuendo is up and coming BUT it's very processor hungry, too much so for my tastes.

------------------
Say that the Devil's a genius and be marked for the kill.
Say what you want about Yahweh and He'll love you still.
www.mp3.com/byfaith (http://www.mp3.com/byfaith)

[everettmarshall]

G-

It sounds like you might have a budget issue--if you're looking for the free versions of software and still wanting to run your 4 track. If that is the case, continue to use your current setup until you can afford to spend $300.

My suggestion is this: Get familiar with Logic (from Emagic www.emagic.de). (http://www.emagic.de).) This is truly an amazing piece of work...and I've used ProTools for a long time. One of the biggest reasons I switched was because I really needed something that would run on a PowerBook with no additional hardware--and I needed something alot deeper than "free". And to my knowledge, Digidesign still does not "support" running full version of ProTools on a PowerBook (unless you're running a digi001 or a Magma Expansion bay for PCI cards). When I say "support", I mean they will not help you make it work, and when something goes wrong they'll leave you hanging because "you're not supposed to do that." That is in fact what happened to me...I lost authorization on my PB hard drive and my keydisk failed. Digi took almost two weeks to replace the diskette---That is when I bought Logic; I've never even opened the package that digidesign finally delivered with my keydisk.

Logic Gold 4.7.3; that's their mid-level product; I paid about $350 for it over a year ago. I run it on a PB400, no additional hardware. I routinely run 16-18 stereo tracks. Gold is packaged with about 30 VST plug-ins...there are numerous low cost (Pluggo from cycling74.com) 70 VST's for $70; and free VST plugins available all over the place. If you don't know, VST plugins will give you real-time effects...no hardware, no "rendering", no bouncing to get what you want. Just open the insert, and select what you want on any or every track. It's better than a real studio.

Honestly, I am so thrilled about this app that I wish you could come to work with me and look over my shoulder. I produce for a radio station in St. Louis...I'm the Imaging Director and I literally use this program on average, 6-8 hours per day.

If you would need to add any hardware at all, a MOTU 828 will give your 8 ins and outs, via firewire. If you need 8 more, just hookup another 828. I've seen 828 for a low of $625.00

Emagic is a great company with awesome products. I've never had a problem with them responding to anything I've ever needed. It will take something pretty spectacular to get me to switch to anything other than Logic; and chances are it'll still have Emagic's name on it

Good luck,

Everettt

[Rimmer]

You can route a line level signal into a audio input on the computer but don't go trying to plug any direct guitar or amplified inputs of any sort into that little connector. You would be better off with a seperate audio connection through USB or Firewire. The main reason for this is that the Analogue to Digital conversion (A/D) is down away from the computer which can create noise. I have heard reasonabe things about the iMic but you should check out compatibility with various apps that you may end up using.

Cubase 2.0 is very old now. You should be looking at VST 4.0 onwards for the greatest compatibility with plugins and the like. ProTools free should be investigated purely as it's free although I think you should check out the compatibility with various audio interfaces.

The other thing is the Mic's. You should preamp mic's properly so make sure what ever audio interface you try can handle a proper mic level input. A seperate mixing desk might be the solution..

Cya

Steve...R