Good News!

You know how I wasn’t exactly the best of times last week? Well, that’s completely changed. I’ve managed to get new, better recording software, alond with other incredibly useful stuff (that’s what having a birthday during this project does for you) In fact, I actually managed to start recording stuff. And now that I have a decent DAW and recording stuff, I should probably go into explanation about what a DAW means and how to actually record stuff.

The first and most important thing is getting whatever instrument you are going to record, well, recorded. Contrary to what I told you, do not go straight from amp output to computer. This will screw your signal up royally, and unless you’re going for an “lolsolofi” feel, that’s pretty bad. To counter this, recommended that you use some sort of recording device, to “translate” to signal so it doesn’t sound bad. For this recording, I’m using the Presonus Audiobox, which allows convert my amp output into a signal transferrable to boot.  

                              
                                   

             Guess what this thing is

As for recording software, I am using two things: Studio One, a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation: Recording and editing songs, basically what you think of when you think of recording software) and a Hydrogen drum machine program (As I have had my drumming compared to the 7^th grade marching band drummers).  Really good quality headphones are also essential if you’re going to expect to be able to hear what your music sounds like while mixing. Aside from that, the other things that I’m using is basically my standard guitar rig with an extra cable.

While you’re configuring stuff, there are certain things to keep in mind. First, do not try and play to loud. If you do, this will just result in audio clipping, which is the distortion of the signal and will result in your audio quality being horrible.  Therefore, try to keep your playing under control.

When it comes to recording stuff, there are two possible ways to record. You can either try to record using a microphone, or what I’m doing, which is recording the amp output directly. If you are recording the amp output directly, you have are going to get a slightly poorer sound quality than a good mic setting. However, if you are using a microphone, then good mic setup is important if you don’t what your setup to sound like crap.  As such, there is stuff that you should keep in mind.

1.     Don’t try to have background noise. Unless you’re ripping off Set Fire to Flames, background noise will just harm your recording.

2.     Do not try and have the microphone too far away or too close. This can result in your audio being either too quiet or loud enough to the part where it starts to clip.

If you can keep that stuff in mind, as well as other stuff, it is possible to get a good recording using a microphone. However, I’m using a cable to capture the audio directly into the Audiobox, which completely eliminates extra noise all together.

Now once you have a decent recording system set up, you can start recording and editing your songs in the DAW. For an explanation of that, stay tuned for next week.

                                

                             

                                                                                        DUN DUUUUUUN

                                   

Sources:

"Simple Tips for Recording High-Quality Audio” The Rapid ELearning Blog.

N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.                                                                   

" Sound Track Basics: Correcting Clipping Problems." :, UWEC. University of

Wisconsin Eau-Claire, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.