Digital multi-track recording on a budget?

[RiverRat]

Well, it's very easy to spend a LOT of money on this, and I really can't do that right now. I would like to have as professional sounding a result as possible, though, and be able to add tracks as needed. I need to investigate the presonus software more carefully and see how that might work. I'd like to record songs with as many instruments as possible for basic tracks and then go into edit mode (for lack of a better term) and re-do any tracks that could be done better, and also work on adding tracks like more vocals, more percussion, etc., etc., so any recording software that will let me do that will catch my eye.

I have some PCs kicking around that might or might not work as the receiving/recording device, but if I go the presonus route, at least I can split the costs between the front and back ends and not have to do everything at one time. Nothing is going to happen right away anyhow.

All you have to do is call, email, FB message, etc... I'll offer any help you need.

[Emoto]

Thanks, Ray. I'll keep that in mind. Still in the mental masturbation stage, though. April is looking a little tighter than I had hoped, so am not sure anything will happen this month.

[eric]

Good luck with the setup ...In the meantime , checkout recording revolution on YT , some of the better DAW related tutorials on the net...

[JonnyBoy]

I've been using my Iphone 4s regular recording of video and gettingwesome recordings for practice reviews. plug it into my car stereo and its better than most of the cassets I had in the 80's. Thats just for reviewing practices.

We got the new presonus Live board and are working through learning it. From what I understand initially, we need a laptop in conjunction to record live shows. All can be remixed after the fact, so the initial levels and room sound used at the show doesnt matter for the final product.

[eric]

The ability to record each pre channel strip signal totally dry and unadulterated via FireWire is so cool . Because you can have everything being mic'd, and directly control what signals you send to the mains / monitors at the same time recording every input for later mixdown.. So , so cool..it's such a total pain in the ass using a non mixer/ interface integrated device.


I totally agree about the using the iPhone to record audio / video. Simplicity and ease of use ( and quality) are what sets Apple products apart. I recorded an open mic the other night in 1080p, off a 4s, threw it into my Mac and put it all together into a polished DVD... Unreal quality

[ImJerryToo]

I don't think you ever gave any parameters on what "a budget" might mean?

You can chew up tremendous amounts of time researching digital interfaces... reading reviews, comparing specs, how are the pre's, do the drivers work right, etc etc etc. I anguished for about 6 weeks doing this.

And having been down this road, here are some thoughts:

It sounds like right now you just want to get your songs "on tape" and be able to multi-track... and that being the case, you DON'T need the ability to do a bunch of tracks at once unless you are going to be full-out recording drums. Sure, it would be nice to have 8 simultraneous tracks -- at some point -- but you most likely don't need it now. Get something cheap that works and does one or two tracks. This gets you started; you can get your songs down and start learning/practicing recording techniques and mixing (which will take time and study itself).

I'd suggest something like a Yamaha Audiogram. It comes with a very usable version of Cubase (somewhat watered down from the full price version, but still way more than you'll ever need). That was my first entry into DAW recording and it worked fine. 100$ and you're done (if you have a decent mic already).
But again, not sure what your idea of "budget" is.

And BTW, it was when I decided to move up from the Audiogram that I spent my 6 weeks of anguish. I ultimately chose the Steinberg MRX16 and I love it.

[playingdead]

I think Bob wants to record the band live and then add tracks later, so he needs at least 8 to start with.

I wouldn't get too hung up on software to mix it later, I've learned that you can spend a lot of time and energy using EQ, plug-ins, compression, but what I do now is just set levels and pans and let it rip. Healy is right about that ... less is more. I let the band's stage dynamics determine what's happening instead of riding faders.

http://playingdead.net/pd033112hardrock ... dwomen.mp3

I mix it in Logic but don't need to ... you could do just fine in GarageBand.

I record on an elderly MacBook Pro, it handles 16 tracks simultaneously just fine. I did put a faster hard drive in there, though, that's pretty vital if you want to run all 16. I haven't paid much attention to the proprietary PreSonus software, but the Capture app works flawlessly on the Mac. Three years now we've been using it.

[tcsned]

Sounds great, Vic! I totally agree with less is more. If you've got good instruments, good amps, and good mics you shouldn't need much else other than balancing channels.