Grateful Dead Music Forum

Lately I've been wondering what I really sound like when I play so I am thinking about buying a cassette recorder to tape myself. My sister has a crappy one track portable cassette recorder from Wal-Mart and when I recorded myself on that I sounded like shit because there is almost no bass. So to get to the point I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get a good quality two track tape recorder for a reasonable price. Thanks.

You might want to look into just recording onto your pc...I'm pretty sure there are some relatively cheap programs out there for doing so. Maybe the technically proficient here could help you a bit more?

First thing u need to decide is your budget.

What are you able to spend for a recording device? There are many reasonable options out there that are definitely better options than a cassette recorder. Let us know.

Audiology is a free software that can record and has multiple tracks you can lay down but only one at a time. You can record by simply getting a converter plug and going into your soundcard mic input. Plus it has a few fx built into it so you are pretty much set.

You probably have everything you need already except the converter plug which is cheap.

ACID Pro, is an incredible program of Sony, very good, but it isnt free

There have been a few mentions to recording right to the computer, how would you do that, and how new does your computer have to be? Also as far as money, I'm ready to spend from fifty to a hundred dollars.

As far as the connection to the computer, if it is a desktop computer and has a sound card, then there are headphone, mic and line jacks. Depending on the age of the system and the type of desktop unit, these may be on a card which has connectors on the back of the computer. Some models had the sound integrated on the mother board and in the case also, so one has to look for the green, orange/red and blue/purple 1/8" phone plugs, either on the case or on the various connector panels on the back of the system. Some sound cards may not have a line jack, which is usually the blue/purple one. There will be sikscreened or engraved icons next to each jack.

On a laptop, there will be a mic and headphone jack, should be color coded 1/8" jacks somewhere on the side of the computer.


As far as the program, I know of Audacity which is a GNU license freeware program. I use Goldwave, which is also good but is shareware for $41. It would do fine, but I use it to dub from a DAT recording deck. Audacity has similar features to the software that strumminsix mentioned.

Main thing is you need a decent mic to get any sort of good sound. A mic w/ enough dynamic range is required to get the bass you are missing. Put your money towards a mic, provided your computer has a sound input jack. If you already have an acceptable mic and can't do the computer, recording machines are the most common things on the market and they are in the low hundreds. Also a cassette deck records the tape too slowly to get really good sound from a mic. Hard to explain but true.


Hope this helps. Good luck with it.

Dave

Start simple...

DL Audacity
Get a connector to input into your mic jack
Setup your system to recognize the mic input
Setup your Audacity to recognize the mic input

Hit record and start playing !

If you like what you are hearing build up from there.

Here are some cool links that can help turn your PC into a multitrack studio complete with effects and editing capabilities:

KRISTAL Audio Engine is a powerful multi-track recorder, audio sequencer and mixer - ideal for anyone wanting to get started with recording, mixing and mastering digital audio.

It is designed as a modular system. The main application provides a mixing console, while the audio sequencer, live audio input and so on are loaded as separate Plug-Ins.

http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/index. ... n=download

Free audio plugins:

http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.p ... &subItem=1

More plugins that include Chorus, Compresser, Delay, EQ, Flanger, Limiter, Phaser, Reverb, and Auto Filer.

http://www.kjaerhusaudio.com/classic-series.php

A plug in that cures the latency problems associated with using your PC to multitrack:

http://www.asio4all.com/

Free AudioEditor:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Another cool plug in:

http://www.dasample.com/index.php?show=glaceverb