Review, Sychronize and Execute!

Let's review what I have so far.

To start with I have my instruments that I wish to record; electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboard and of course vocals. "What, no drums?" you ask. Unfortunately I'm not much of a drummer but I can program a mean drum machine, so to cover the percussive side of my songs I will be using a 24bit version of the Alesis SR-16. A great and reliable recording tool not to mention writing aid, perfect for small home studios such as mine. Yes there are some better sounding DM's out on the market and within a decent price range, however I am very familiar and comfortable with the programming of this machine. Besides I own two of them so I might as well make use of them.

After the instruments comes the analog to digital converter (please refer to my "To Begin, Let's Convert" post). I will be using the Tascam US-122 for this task. All instruments and vocals will plug directly or indirectly (I will explain this in a later post) into this device for transfer to..........

.....the computer (see "Give Me Power, Give Me Speed" post). Which will in turn record and store all that is performed in the form of WAV files to the hard drive. I say WAV files because it is the most common format used in home recording mostly because files can be saved in 24bit. Most likely you will have a choice as to what format to save as. Personally I recommend WAV for it's universal recognition especially between Mac and PC platforms.

Which now brings us to the brains of the operation, The Recording Software. This is the force that will sort all the hoopla out, make some sense of it and tell it what to do, where to go and how to do it. Where sound engineers once had no choice but to be offspring of octopi like creatures, with eight limbs hovering over a 64 track mixing console operating dozens of sliders, knobs and dials at once. There is now only a computer keyboard, two hands and LCD Monitor to work all the same magic. Ah technology, gotta love it.
There are literally dozens upon dozens of recording software packages out there the most popular being Digidesign's Pro Tools. And while this is an exceptional piece of program coding, I do not believe it is the only choice you have when it comes to professional sounding home recordings. For this project I will be using Steinberg's Cubase 5 - VST32. Once again I can only say that it is a software that I am familiar and comfortable with and is in my price range. Time will tell if the results are what I am looking for in a finished product.
Note that the software image I have inserted is Cubase LE not Cubase 5. This is the software that came with my Tascam converter and I took some screen shots for example. As soon as I start my recording projects I will post some Cubase 5 screen shots. They are very similar programs in look but LE is a bit more simplistic in feel and abilities. Not a bad program to learn on by any means.

I will get into the nitty gritty of using the recording software in later posts as I start my projects. There is a lot to this bundle of goodness. Not only do you have the power of a 32 Track recording console at your fingertips but buried beneath is a digital sequencer able to control many things at once, making live digital recording a wonderful MIDI experience. And you thought I was crazy for using a drum machine.

To Begin Let's Convert

As it is, I have not completely finished the remodeling of the studio but I have acquired  a majority of the basic tools I will use during this project. My budget is at a minimum for the time being so I have made a conscience decision to start small and work my way up to a more elaborate work environment when the funds become more available.

I will be using an analog to digital type of recording environment. Analog being the live vocals and instruments that I will play and digital being the computer and software that will capture and record the sounds. In order to accomplish this, an analog to digital converter will be needed. This device allows for a live instrument to be plugged directly into it whether through a 1/4" or XLR jack. The device then converts the incoming analog sounds internally into digital frequencies that are transported via USB or 1394a cable to the computer. Software which has been installed such as Cubase, Pro Tools or Cakewalk will then take the incoming digital signal and decipher it into audible sound. From here it is treated like any recording/playback device would treat a sound source by storing  it in a file form on the hard drive of the computer (usually a WAV file) instead of to tape or compact disc. You can now play, forward, rewind, loop, speed up tempo, slow down tempo, add effects and manipulate it just about anyway you could imagine. Your only limitations will in the size of the hard drive that you store your recordings to. I will get into my computer specifics in my next blog entry.
note: If you've already decided that Pro Tools will be the software you will be using, you will want to be careful when purchasing a converter. This is due to the fact that Pro Tools is proprietary to Digidesign and M-Audio converters only. It is not guaranteed to work with any other Brand of converter. Read over the requirements carefully when purchasing this or any software.

THE CONVERTER

Being that I am a solo enthusiast at the moment, I find that beginning with a 2-Track input converter will be more than sufficient for what I am trying to accomplish. This will allow me to record two separate analog inputs simultaneously (i.e; vocals and guitar) or a stereo analog instrument such as a keyboard running the left output of the device to input A of the converter and the right output to input B. Doing some price comparison shopping on the internet allowed me to find the best bang for my buck. I will be using a Tascam US-122 that cost around $199 US at the time I purchased mine. (You can read more on the specs of this device by clicking on the image).
Some things to take into consideration when deciding which converter to purchase are buffers and bit depth/sample rate conversion. These two things can ultimately effect the quality of your overall recording. Buffers work in conjunction with the Random Access Memory (or RAM) that your computer contains. Generally 256mb to 1024mb of RAM will suffice and give you a nice range of Buffers to choose from when recording (I will elaborate on RAM when I get into my computer specs later). With bit depth and sample rate conversion it is a lot more difficult to explain so I will just say that you should look for a device with a minimum of a 24 bit depth and 96 kHz conversion. With most converters this is standard. There is a more in depth article you can read here.

If you have a computer or plan on purchasing one, using the specs of your converter will give you a lot more insight to what you will need to buy or upgrade. In my next blog entry I will go over my computer specs.