Gonna get back into recording

[TheGITM]

I just decided to get back into recording... at least a little bit, anyway...

Technology has sure improved a lot since I last went down this road. My previous recording was into a Korg D12, which was really awesome back then!

Today, it looks like everything can pretty much happen on the PC. I picked up a Volt 476, a Shure SM7B, and I'm running Ableton Live 12. I think I have a pretty steep learning curve ahead with Ableton. I've checked out a few YouTube videos and am picking things up as I go along. It's just going to take time to learn and build the muscle memory for navigating and using all of the shortcuts.

Oh, and I have a Triton Audio FetHead in-line mic preamp on the way... should be here tomorrow.

I'm excited to be heading back down this road again... just thought I'd drop in here and say hi. I think I'll be reading more posts here, and may have some questions along the way.

So, howdy.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

I just decided to get back into recording... at least a little bit, anyway...

Technology has sure improved a lot since I last went down this road. My previous recording was into a Korg D12, which was really awesome back then!

Today, it looks like everything can pretty much happen on the PC. I picked up a Volt 476, a Shure SM7B, and I'm running Ableton Live 12. I think I have a pretty steep learning curve ahead with Ableton. I've checked out a few YouTube videos and am picking things up as I go along. It's just going to take time to learn and build the muscle memory for navigating and using all of the shortcuts.

Oh, and I have a Triton Audio FetHead in-line mic preamp on the way... should be here tomorrow.

I'm excited to be heading back down this road again... just thought I'd drop in here and say hi. I think I'll be reading more posts here, and may have some questions along the way.

So, howdy.

Welcome (back?) to the fold!

Yes, everything can be done with a PC or laptop now, but I dislike doing actual recording with a PC. You're anchored to a single spot and I'm much happier recording in other places where I like the sound of the space or the ambiance. Often the space where we set up for editing isn't the greatest for capturing good acoustic tracks, either.

I've had good luck where I could capture tracks in someone's preferred space where a band is comfortable and then editing on the PC later.

[b1j]

Hey, TheGITM.

I took a MOOC (anyone know what those were?) in 2010 and learned the basics of music production from that. It was a six-week course with 15 to 20 lessons and an assignment for each week. It really helped me nail down the fundamentals of sound and signal flow, the DAW, the Mixer (now part of the DAW), dynamic effects, and filter and delay effects. The sixth week covered synthesis, and I couldn’t relate to it at the time. Maybe I’ll give those videos a look someday?

After that, I dabbled a bit with Garage Band, but I had no mics! True story. I actually used a set of headphones to record my acoustic guitar (and the sound quality reflects that). I stuck to noodling with MIDI instruments with the trackpad. Primitive, but I made some music. I moved up to Studio One Prime version 2, free with my 2-preamp AudioBox USB. I picked up a LDC mic and stayed lightly engaged for a couple of years.

Years later, once I went on a dreadnought buying spree and acquired a matching LDC mic from my brother, I picked recording up again. It has snowballed into a minor avalanche since then. Don’t ask.

My music production path is probably like no other. At this point, I have attained the venerable status of Fledgling Beginner Amateur, and I get a lot of satisfaction from my meager results.

I welcome you into the club, where you’ll likely be running rings around me in no time. Have fun with it!

_______________

EDIT: I just looked and wouldn't you know, that course is till active! Same instructor with the same mohawk hairstyle. After all these years. Who knew?

https://www.coursera.org/learn/techn...?action=enroll

[kurth]

about 5 years ago when I switched from mac to pc, I spent about 3months evaluating pc daws, including ableton. For my needs Mixcraft was superior in every way. Familiar layout which made the learning curve far easier, and superior virtual instruments.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

Technology has sure improved a lot since I last went down this road. My previous recording was into a Korg D12, which was really awesome back then
...I'm running Ableton Live 12. I think I have a pretty steep learning curve ahead with Ableton. I've checked out a few YouTube videos and am picking
things up as I go along. It's just going to take time to learn and build the muscle memory for navigating and using all of the shortcuts.

I have always use Abletone Live. It helps a lot to setup a default template that opens on startup.

[Glennwillow]

Best of luck. I think you will do well and have lots of fun.

- Glenn

[TheGITM]

Thanks, all. I've discovered a fella named Ethan Davis who has some excellent online content on how to use Ableton and I'm learning as fast as I can... but this is going to be process, so I'm tempering my expectations. Start small, and build on it.

The FetHead preamp arrived and it's about as simple a device as you can get. Pop it in-line and hit the phantom 48v button on the Volt and gain is boosted with no discernable added noise. That is so much more simple (and cleaner!) than the old tube preamps I used to use.

This is my starting point... just a nice comfortable corner of the bedroom. Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have some content to share and get feedback on... good have you folks around to help if/when I need it!

[KevWind]

Congrats I don't know anything about UA hardware personally but many folks swear by them ....the UA 476 looks to be a great interface and if the onboard analog compressor feature is anything even close to actual rack hardware unit, that should be an interesting addition.

Curious why the inline mic pre, was the SM7B not putting out enough signal ?
I could not find any actual mic pre gain numbers for the 476

Are you PC or Mac ? And are you doing just guitar or guitar vocals et. al. ?

I see you are dual displays I am a big fan of that Can't tell in your photo but personally I really like the Edit window (waveform) one display and the mixer window and the other (see photo below)

As far a Abelton yes any full featured DAW is a learning curve And learning the specific keyboard shortcuts you will be using is very helpful
But just know the basic recording functions are really not much different from any of the all in one units (like the Korg) just exponentially more versatile

But I will second what rick-slo said one of the first things most useful to learn, IMO is setting up your own user template/s this will cut the time between starting the computer and starting to record by 10 fold at the very least.

My bedroom corner setup

Mixer right Edit left

[TBman]

You might want to get 2 or 3 acoustic panels, I have these from ATS. You can store them in a closet or under the bed when you aren't recording.

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Curious why the inline mic pre, was the SM7B not putting out enough signal ?
I could not find any actual mic pre gain numbers for the 476

Are you PC or Mac ?

The SM7B native output is listed at -69dBV. The FetHead boosts the signal 27dB, which really improves the signal significantly without adding noise. Without it, I had to pretty much max the gain to get enough signal, and it worked, but then it picked up every little ambient sound. With the FetHead, I can cut the gain on the Volt way back and get a much cleaner signal.

And I'm on a PC at the moment. Actually, a mini-PC. I'll see how much it can handle, and will change up equipment if/when it can't handle the load. It's fine for now, though. With the very basic stuff I've done it works fine.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[keith.rogers]

Besides some well placed panels, a chair without arms (or arms that that can be moved out of the way) would be a timesaver, if you want to be able to just sit down and record.

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by TBman

You might want to get 2 or 3 acoustic panels, I have these from ATS. You can store them in a closet or under the bed when you aren't recording.

Thanks for the link! Assuming this goes as intended, I'm sure I will end up growing the recording space and will need to add some acoustic panels. Looking at those panels, I'm wondering if I can fabricate them myself... I have access to a shop so it would just be a matter of getting the right materials and mapping out the dimensions.

Back in the old days, I had the foam panels with the pyramid shaped texture.

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

Besides some well placed panels, a chair without arms (or arms that that can be moved out of the way) would be a timesaver, if you want to be able to just sit down and record.

Yeah, I have a folding chair I swap out when I want to record guitar, but it's not ideal

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

Thanks for the link! Assuming this goes as intended, I'm sure I will end up growing the recording space and will need to add some acoustic panels. Looking at those panels, I'm wondering if I can fabricate them myself... I have access to a shop so it would just be a matter of getting the right materials and mapping out the dimensions.

Back in the old days, I had the foam panels with the pyramid shaped texture.

Absolutely can DIY pretty easy with wood shop tools. 2 ft by 4 ft is the standard size Basically 1x4 pine frame with some fabric cover and either Owens Corning 703 or RockWool Safe N Sound

The mounted black panels behind my recording desk (photo in post above) are 703 with black heavy cotton
These are my portable gobo style on some scrap Alder stands I made


You can see them used behind me in this video (I am facing my recording desk)

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by KevWind

But I will second what rick-slo said one of the first things most useful to learn, IMO is setting up your own user template/s this will cut the time between starting the computer and starting to record by 10 fold at the very least.

Yep, as most here I'm a big proponent of templates. Even a simple one can be a powerful tool in keeping things organized. I would offer this. If by chance the OP chooses Pro Tools, the program is frustrating beyond belief in its ability to randomly discard i/o tables and well as playback engines info. Gone, gone in the deep cold ether. Save i/o structures to the i/o page every day, heck every hour. Do not bother to name the inputs and outputs. Pro Tools will spit them out into nowhere land and you just wind up re-naming every day. For saving legit templates Pro Tools requires enormous attention to not take 6 steps backward on the daily. I've never once had Studio One or Logic behave like this. In Logic and S1 set your template with the correct playback engine and i/o table and it'll stay virtually forever. Rock solid. But not Pro Tools....beware.