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  • Recording

  • Approaches to Recording (or "How do you record at home?")

Let's start with @Jazzman105 from https://community.guitartalk.co.za/d/27343-the-best-christmas-ever/14

Do have a listen to his tunes, - they're smoother than a nitro finish!

I promised @Bill-Rosenberg some insights into my approach with producing these tunes, so here's my first installment on the recording process for my first two singles...

I should start off by saying that I have had very little mentoring in this regard - so I've gone in blind to a large degree. My vision was to compose, track and produce at home to the best of my ability . Then to hand an 85% product to an experienced producer who will then hopefully take the tune to the next level. I have not succeeded in that last part yet (a topic on its own), but I am happy with what I've learned and what I can achieve on my own - production-wise. I don't expect my learning curve to slow down anytime soon.

There is a lot to cover, so I'll start by talking about the gear I use. I track at home - in my DIY home studio in my garage.

Recording gear used:
USB Audio Interface: Roland Rubix 22
I'm a huge Roland fan, so I only have good things to say about the Rubix 22. I'm certainly not the most reliable source on this topic, because I also haven't worked with any other interfaces. The 22 refers to 2 channels In and 2 channels Out. This means that I have two channels available that can record Mic, Guitar or any analog instruments at the same time in addition to the keyboard / controller which records via usb. For solo artist stuff, you don't need anything bigger. Unless you want to record drums - which you shouldn't be doing at home IMO.

Carbon 61 midi controller / keyboard
The Carbon 61 is rather entry level, but it does the job for me. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but my Ipad fills that gap with an app called Logic Remote (more about that later if you're interested)

Macbook Pro with Garageband as DAW
Garageband comes free with Apple products, so it isn't exactly the gold standard in DAWs. Plenty people have nevertheless put great music out using GB. My next step is to upgrade to Logic - which is basically GB on steroids. That is a R3k purchase which is still great value compared to the competition. The debate around choice of DAW is also a topic on it's own.

Rode NT1-A condensor mic
Every studio has one.

I think that the above is by any measure the bare minimum you should have if you're serious about recording.

I started out with GB on Ipad - which was a nice simple introduction to the DAW. The upgrade to Macbook was not too tough because the workflow and basic operating principles stay the same. As far as I read, the same can be expected of my transition to Logic Pro - fingers crossed.

Continured from https://community.guitartalk.co.za/d/27343-the-best-christmas-ever/16

Each tune is different, but the following is more or less the process for me.

Right now, there are at least 10 tunes in varied stages of completion that I'm working on. Some of them won't make it to publication and others are planned for release over the following six months. 95% of my tunes start out as chord progressions on an acoustic guitar with me humming the melody over it.

I then capture the chord progression and song structure on iReal Pro. This gives me a simple, limited but on-the-fly way to create a simple backing track that I can speed up, change the groove / style and even change the key. The song will usually remain in this format for up to a few months. Here is where I fine-tune the melody or lyrics, compare bpm's, perhaps mute the bass so I can write my own bass line, etc. All-in-all, in this stage I make the big-picture changes - with minimal technical effort.

By the time I open the DAW, I am already done composing. The chord progressions, the melody, lyrics, song structure or form, BPM, bass line - everything is already set.

I start my Garageband session by setting the BPM, and Key of the song. You want to get that right at the start.
Knowing my BPM and groove puts me in a position to pull up a preset drumming pattern. This does not have to be the perfect drums. I will have plenty of opportunity to improve on it later.

After this I lay down the chords using my 61-key midi controller or with my ipad using Logic Remote. I literally just lay down / sustain the chords. I'm not trying to comp or groove in any way. My piano skills are rather limited anyway. [An awesome app that allows me, among other things to programme the chords on a strip and play it by simply pressing the aptly named strip. SO if chords are challenging or changing too fast, I use this.]

Next, I record the bass line using the Carbon 61 keyboard as well as the melody in a similar fashion. So now I have laid down all the essential tracks in midi [Bass, drums, chords/harmony, Melody] - which is essentially my click-track.

I do it all in midi first, because midi offers a lot more freedom to manipulate and edit your notes. Everything is cleaner. Another benefit is that I can print a score off the midi tracks. Now I am in a position to share the basic concept of the song accompanied by a score with collaborators or registration bodies, etc.

Now I'd start "tracking for real"....

V8 changed the title to Approaches to Recording (or "How do you record at home?") .

    Good call @V8.
    @ScottyDogg had some great input on the last challenge thread that warrants a copy/paste here

    Edit. Lol. Nevermind. Just saw the other thread

    I have a simplified version Jazzman's setup. I record guitar using an Apogee Jam and vocals using the Rode NT USB (essentially a NT1-A with a built in ADC) and am also using Garage Band on a MacBook Pro. At this point I am tracking any midi using the laptop keyboard... which isn't great but at least gets something that I can work with.

    I do have access to a full digital piano with midi out but don't currently have a midi cable (should rectify that). I've also built a load box so I can record my amps directly but it isn't working properly and I haven't had time to debug it so at the moment I'm going straight in with the guitar and using built in amps in Garage Band.

    Regarding my workflow... it isn't really bedded down but I do my composition in Garage Band (need to try iReal). I start offline and work out a part of the song, usually just chord changes and basic melody. Then I use the built in drummers to find a groove and lay down a very rough take of the progression. I'll then use the Master track to lay out the overall shape of the song (intro, verse, chorus, verse... etc.) and fill in the rough shape of each, including a very rough vocal take, which I just do on my laptop mic so that I don't need to set anything up. I muck around with key and structure at this stage until I'm pretty much happy. Then I go back and start recording proper takes of each track, starting with any midi work, then bass, rhythm guitar, vocals, lead guitar and finally details and embellishment.
    I will say that recently I've only really recorded for challenges so I don't agonise over the perfect take and once a track is down I tend to live with it. I suspect that if I were trying to do something worth publishing I would be a lot more fastidious.

    9 days later

    I have a vid that should be coming out today showing a beginner view of how I record/make music. Pretty much covering:

    Audio Interface
    DAW
    DAW Templates for convenience/efficiency
    Drum Sample Library
    Amp Sims and guitar DI as a starting point
    Super brief view of programming drums
    Next Steps

    So this has come out to around 14 minutes and it's super high level lol. Using it as a starting point and can expand on each part going forward.

    Oof - fought long and hard with youtube and 1mbps upload (366meg vid I re-uploaded 6 times haha)

    But yeah, here’s a starting video - intent is to introduce the key areas involved (eg audio interfaces, DAWs, recording DI tracks, amp sims, reamping etc) and how to do it all without dropping millions on gear.

    Thereafter I will dedicate videos to each key area involved. Had to do it like that otherwise this would be hours long lol

    Just a quick edit:

    My plan is to pretty much do videos along the lines of:

    1. Audio Interfaces, DAWs and Working with Templates (specifics on template recommendations)
    2. Recording Guitar DIs (including setting tempo, building arrangements etc.)
    3. Amp Sims
    4. Reamping Guitars
    5. Programming Drums

    Would appreciate if you guys could take the time to post some of your biggest questions around these areas (or anything I haven't covered) when it comes to recording music - my goal would be to answer these questions in the relevant videos

    Hi there, I have not been here in a long time.
    I compose and record at home on my own using the same kind of gear.
    I have composed and recorded 20+ b-tracks and some have lyrics.
    I stopped recording for about 2+ years ago, I got stuck on my style of playing guitar and composing and I needed to up my style of composing on my guitar.
    It sucks composing and playing alone for so long, the only new things you learn are the things you create.
    I must say, composing with someone opens doors to tunes stuck there somewhere in your head.
    I am not stuck anymore and I have composed new tracks leading me to my question.
    Where and how to register my b-tracks and lyrics?
    I know of some places but I need some good info and recommending, please and thank you.

      ScottyDogg Hi, and thank you for your video. I use Ableton, and have a Roland Edirol audio interface. I toyed with setting up a small studio for own use, but haven't got speakers yet, or a vocal mic or a booth. What is a good home setup (monitoring & mic wise) for a guy who's only looking to record his own creative output? Because this was your getting started video, the high level introduction works well. As a video editor, I'm thinking about creating some explainer videos myself, and in the video realm how you get footage into the computer can sometimes be a challenge. Anything to watch out for in this regard in the audio realm? I'm learning some things about mastering by watching tutorials by Fabio (of Noise, London). What really helps when he manipulates EQ for instance, is to see a zoomed in shot of the EQ plugin. Because your videos may not be watched full screen all the time, zooming in on parts of the screen when you really get under the hood of the DAW will be super useful. In terms of reamping, I have a modelling amp with an output I can take into an audio interface. Not even sure how something like that would work, to be honest. Reamping is a new concept for me, so to learn more about it will be super useful. Keep creating this valuable content!!

        daveo1977 Thanks man 🙂

        So I'll include a home setup discussion in my next video - monitors, interface, microphones (just gotta plan how far to go because for me, I do silent recording of guitars and so don't need to worry about microphones for guitar amps) but perhaps it'd be best for me to focus on how I do things rather than try to do everything. I'd be curious what you guys think on this

        A video editing series would be awesome - and if you're keen to do a series, I can give you some feedback on things I, starting as a complete noob, wasn't sure of and still don't know haha (e.g. What should source material look like - lighting wise etc. because obviously there's limits to what can be done when adjusting contrast and gamma etc.....I guess there's overlap here with actual filming (advice here would be helpful too lol) and general workflow). Basically as much as can possibly be gone over without committing to software specific intricacies (can be hard to follow say, Adobe Audition specific tutorials when I'm using Davinci Resolve)

        With 'anything to watch out for in this regard in the audio realm' are you specifically asking me for tips on stuff to look out for (there are definitely things here that I will address e.g. balance of lowest possible buffer for decreased latency vs CPU/processing issues when sample rate is too low etc.)

        Great feedback on the zooming in on parts of the screen - didn't think of that and I think it's a great idea! I wonder, would this be something I'd need to do in OBS (or whatever capture software is used) or as a part of the editing (bearing in mind that at times zooming would be needed (e.g. your EQ example) or not wanted (e.g. in my vid where I show the drum mapping as audio comes out the respective channel when I click on the particular drum part)?

        Interesting point with the modelling amp - so my vid was going to be focused on how I reamp - interface to reamp box to pedals to amp to load box (because it's a tube amp) to pc but I can talk also about other setups (like modelling amp to interface in your example - what amp is it btw? I just want to research what outputs it has. OR amp to speaker to mic to interface)

          ScottyDogg I'd probably also record guitar straight in. The amp I've got is a Blackstar ID:15 TVP. It's got an emulated output that doubles as the headphone output, so to use this into an audio interface you'd have to have the necessary cables made up.

          Ja, I was thinking about things to look out for when recording your signal to your computer, like latency. Also choices in terms of instrument cable. My electro-acoustic has two outputs, 1/4-inch jack and XLR. Are there rules about what to use when?

          You can zoom while you're capturing, or after the fact. The zoomed in portion would probably look crisper if you're zooming in as you capture. A crisp zoomed in image created in the editing software depends on the quality of your screen capture. When we were making content for square television sets (standard definition video), we knew that we could safely zoom in from 100% to 107% without losing picture quality. With high definition video, we can zoom in more, but keep in mind where people will view your videos. A slightly out of focus image on a computer monitor will look more out of focus on a high definition television screen. Let me know what your capture settings are?

            daveo1977 Shouldn't need any special cable - normal jack cable should work fine - I would prefer, however, where possible to use a direct output so you have more tonal options later (rather than being stuck with the Blackstar 'speaker simulation' which is applied as a part of the compensated output) but yeah, I'll talk about this more in depth in a vid. Also, I'd prefer to mic an acoustic than use a pickup output (though there are some really cool tricks I might include in a video but in case I don't:

            Nothing special on the streaming settings - just straight up 1080p but in OBS I have set it to capture the best possible image (I assume it's basically a low level of compression which would produce a less 'downsampled' (not sure of the correct term lol) image - but I'll check out the exact settings in OBS when I get home later.

              ScottyDogg 1080p is great. If live demoing a feature is not required, also think about using still images. You could zoom into the desired portion, capture a still and then layer it on top of your screen capture as needed when you edit.

                daveo1977 That's a good plan - thanks man! So just another question - so I know you do video editing - do you happen to know anything about lighting stuff? Like I'm wondering if a simple setup like this would work to provide at least fairly legit lighting in a room that doesn't get much natural light?

                https://www.takealot.com/fluorescent-170-watt-umbrella-single-head-light-kit/PLID56132400

                I see there's flourescent or led - I'm not sure which is better (but assume for like slow motion and stuff, there may be a bit of flicker from flourescent lighting?)

                  ScottyDogg I did a quick test last night with only house lights. I'll share the results in a short video, but I had the benefit of natural light for the final shot this morning. I don't know much about lighting, but the guys at No Film School have a ton of videos that may be of interest to you. Here's one to start with: https://nofilmschool.com/2017/12/5-questions-ask-buying-film-light

                  It's worth testing how far you can push your camera in low light. If you see noise in the picture, you know your camera's sensor is struggling to expose properly.

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