I think I’m ready to trust my computer…

I have a little confession to make–I’ve been a recording Luddite. It has taken me a very long time to get to the place where I was willing to trust the recording process to a computer. But I think I’m finally there.

Phillips cassette recorder

My recording odyssey began many years ago with my first cassette recorder–a Phillips portable cassette machine that came out about the time that the cassette was invented. I was in high school at the time, and I made recordings of my vinyl albums by (get this) setting up the cheap little microphone in front of our stereo speakers and hoping the dog wouldn’t bark while I was recording.

Teac Model 144 Portastudio

Years later, Teac came out with the Model 144 Portastudio, a cassette-based all-in-one multi-track recording device with a built-in mixer. It was way to expensive for me, at around $1100 list price, so needless to say, I didn’t get one. But even more years later, I found a used one in a music store and bought it for $100. I was in heaven. It could only record two channels at once, but it could record at 3.5 inches per second, twice as fast as a conventional cassette recorder, which made for better fidelity and less noise, which was pretty important in the days of tape.

Fostex DMT-8 hard disk recorder

And years after that, when I was in my mid-40′s, I bought a Fostex DMT-8, one of the first generation hard disk recorders, on sale for about what the Teac Model 144 listed for originally. Again, I was in heaven–this time, in digital heaven, because the DMT-8 could record at full CD-quality. The only hitch was that its built-in 512-megabyte hard disk could only hold about twelve minutes of 8-track, CD-quality audio. You could back up your projects to DAT, but a DAT machine was not in my budget, so for several years I lived with the twelve-minute limitation.

Then, again, several years later, came the CD recorder, and lo and behold, I could actually back up my DMT-8′s eight tracks to CD, and reload them to the Fostex, all in the digital domain, without loss of audio quality. Again, heaven.

I should mention that it was not long after I obtained my DMT-8 that recording on a computer became fairly commonplace. I had a friend who recorded some really wonderful acoustic guitar albums on a Mac that was horribly slow by today’s standards, but it worked great. I however, was unwilling to trust a computer with my recordings. I just didn’t think that computers were reliable enough for the job, so for a long time I just watched while the computer-based recording world matured and grew.

Finally, believe it or not, just within the last year, I have decided that my computer is a worthy replacement for my DMT-8 and all of the associated outboard gear I had accumulated, such as my digital effects unit and my dual-channel compressor. Part of my reticence to move to computer-based recording was that I didn’t own a very good computer. In my former day job, I always had a good laptop computer, which meant that I didn’t really need to upgrade my old Bondi Blue iMac at home, because I wasn’t using it for much. Plus, I didn’t feel I should use my company machine for personal recording projects. But when I left my job a little over a year ago, I decided to buy a MacBook Pro, and that’s when I made the decision to jump headlong into computer-based recording.

Apple Logic Express 8

I bought Logic Express with my MacBook Pro, and I have to say that I feel a little stupid for having waited so long to record with a computer. Recording with Logic Express, or even with GarageBand, which I’ve actually used more than Logic, is so easy compared with the complicated user interface of the old DMT-8. I know that stand-alone hard-disk recorders are a lot better now, but it’s just so easy to record on my Mac. And it is totally up to the task–the processing power is more than sufficient for any recording task I am ever likely to give it, and I’m not sure I’ll ever use Logic Express to its full potential.

Anybody want to buy a used Fostex DMT-8 in really good condition?

My new toy: Boss RC-20XL Loop Station

Boss RC-20XL Loop Station

My lovely wife and my amazing son surprised me on Christmas Eve with a gift that I wasn’t expecting–a BOSS RC-20XL Loop Station Twin Pedal.  It had been on my Amazon wish list for so long that I had frankly forgotten it was there, so you can imagine my delight.  As a certified gear geek, I am enamored with anything that has as many knobs, buttons and blinking lights as this sweet little stomp box has.

Honestly, I’ve got no idea what I’m doing when it comes to using one of these things, but I’ve seen some very cool looping things from the likes of Phil Keaggy and others, and I’ve wanted to play with a looper for the longest time.  Well, now I’ve got one, and I have to say, it’s enormous fun.

The RC-20XL is one of the Boss twin pedals (yeah, I’ve had my eye on a couple of the other ones, such as the Boss DD-20 Giga Delay, and the BOSS OD-20 Drive Zone Overdrive Twin Pedal.)  It’s not trivial to figure the thing out, but within five minutes of plugging it in, I was looping, albeit a bit awkwardly.

The instruction manual isn’t bad, but I suspect that it’s going to take me a while to master this device.  There is sufficient flash memory in the RC-20XL to record up to 16 minutes of audio, and there are eleven phrase storage locations from which to choose.  (“Phrase” is Boss lingo for a recorded loop.)  The first few locations are empty when you unbox the unit, but there are several pre-recorded demo phrases in the upper locations.  You can blow them away if you like, or use them to play around with the pedal.

There is a built-in “guide” function, which is essentially a click track, except that it isn’t just a click–it’s drum or other percussion sounds.  Not exactly a drum machine, but a fairly versatile way to keep your playing on the mark, and you can select from about eight different guide sounds or patterns.  You can also set the time signature (well, anything with a “4″ on the bottom).

There are three inputs on the device–one regular quarter-inch guitar input, one quarter-inch mic input, and an eighth-inch auxilliary input for plugging in a CD player or some other audio source.  The mic input (which I haven’t used yet) could be put to interesting use with vocals–layering harmony parts and such–but could also be used to record loops using acoustic instruments.

There are also a couple of footswitch jacks–one is for use with a dual footswitch (for switching between recorded phrases), and the other is for using the reverse function (which I’ll not say anything about because I haven’t tried it yet).  The output jack is a quarter-inch (mono) phone jack that switches on the power when a plug is inserted (so if you’re using batteries, don’t leave it plugged in or you’ll run down your batteries in pretty short order).  The unit also has a power jack for the standard PSA-series power supplies.

Here’s a quick and dirty run-through of how I’ve been using this thing:

1. Switch the phrase select knob to an empty track.
2. I suggest that for your first trial you click the “Autostart” button to turn this feature on.  In Autostart mode, you can press the record pedal and the RC-20XL will wait until you start playing to begin recording.  Later on you may want to try it without this feature turned on.
3. Click the left pedal to enable recording.
4. Start playing a phrase, and when you get to the end, click the left pedal again to stop recording–do it right on the beat.  What you recorded should begin playing back, and repeating.
5. Click the left pedal again to overdub over what you’ve just recorded–in other words, to add a second part.  Click the pedal again at the end of the phrase to stop recording, and your second part will play along with the first.  (There is an undo function available, too, but frankly, I haven’t learned to use it yet.)
6. To stop the loop, click the right pedal.  To start it again, click the left pedal.  You can repeat this process as many times as you like, or until you run out of memory.

That right there is enough to get you going, and it is almost the extent of what I know so far (although I did figure out how to save a phrase).  But with that small amount of understanding, I’ve been having a lot of fun looping.

I’m still not sure exactly what I’m going to do with my Loop Station–there may be some live performance situations in which I’ll pull it out for a piece or two, but frankly, I think it will be most useful as a practice tool, and for working out ideas before recording them in the usual way.  There isn’t much you can do muscially with the Loop Station that you can’t do with regular multitrack recording, but the thing is that the Loop Station helps you do it much, much faster, which means you can explore new ideas as they happen, without being encumbered with the recording process.

Even though I haven’t figured out all of its features, I really like my RC-20XL, and I’m looking forward to playing with it for a long time.  If you find that you need a little more looping versatility, the BOSS RC50 Loop Station Pedal Board
(the big brother to the -20XL) is a bit like having three RC-20XLs all in one unit, at approximately twice the price.  The RC-20XL sells for about about $260 at Amazon.com.  Your local Boss dealer might have one you could try out in the store, too.

Open-source DAW round-up

There’s not a lot of extra money lying around here in my home studio (The Shack), so if I can find a cheap or free way to get the job done, I love it. GarageBand has been a great platform for podcasting, and the price was definitely right, since it was included for free on my MacBook Pro. (I did splurge when I bought my laptop a year ago, and bought Logic Express, which is working well for me.) But I’m loving the fact that there are some great open-source DAWs that are reaching maturity these days. Seems like everyone knows about Audacity, and it’s a reliable workhorse that has been very popular with the podcasting community, but there are some other open-source digital audio workstation (DAW) applications out there, including Ardour, Koblo, Rosegarden and Traverso.

This won’t be a comprehensive review of these applications–maybe when I get more time–but here’s a quick run-down on each one:

Audacity

Audacity is available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux, and it’s been around for a long time, now. The current stable version is 1.2.6 on Windows, Linux and MacOSX (PPC), and 1.2.5 on MacOSX (Intel); version 1.3.6 beta is also available for all three platforms (universal binary on MacOSX). With an optional VST Enabler, Audacity can load VST plug-ins for Windows and MacOSX, and it also can use LADSPA (Linux Audio Developer’s Simple Plug-in API) plug-ins.

Ardour

Ardour is available for Linux and MacOSX, and the current version is 2.71. As of this writing, there is an Intel build for MacOSX, and a PPC build is coming “shortly.” Source code is available for both Linux and MacOSX, as well. Ardour requires Jack, which has the benefit of making Ardour compatible with any audio interface that is supported by Jack. LADSPA plug-ins are supported, as well.

Koblo Studio

Koblo Studio is part of the Koblo project, which, according to the developers, is a bit like ProTools, Skype and eBay rolled into one–check out the Koblo main site for information about the Koblo community and collaboration tools (there’s an interview with Michael Logue of Koblo.com that you might want to hear on the Inside Home Recording Podcast, #62). Koblo Studio is currently in beta, and does not support VST plug-ins or MIDI, but those features are planned. Beta version 0.9 is currently available for Windows and MacOSX. Koblo is looking for Linux developers to port the project to Linux, and the source code is available.

Rosegarden

Rosegarden is a Linux-based “general music composition and editing environment,” with audio recording, MIDI sequencing, and and score editing capability; LADSPA plug-ins are supported, and DSSI synth plug-ins are supported, as well. The current release is 1.7.2. A variety of helpful tutorials are also available at the Rosegarden site.

Traverso

Traverso is a multi-track audio recording and editing application that purports to be “complete solution from recording to CD Mastering.” The current stable release is 0.42.0, and Traverso is available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux. Like Ardour, Traverso appears to rely on Jack, and it uses LV2 plug-ins. CD burning tools are also integrated in the application.

If you try out any of these applications, I’d be interested in hearing about your experiences with them.


Stumble It!

Where to find free track sheets to use in your recording projects

I suppose you could argue that the days of pencil-and-paper track sheets in project studios are gone, given that many people rely on their recording software itself to tell them what’s going on in each track, etc. I’ll accept that I might be a bit old-school on this one, but I still like to use track sheets. If you do, too, read on.

What follows is a list of places where you can download free track sheets of various types, typically in PDF format, and print your own track sheets when you need them. Some of these sheets are platform-specific (e.g., customized for use with Roland, Mackie or Tascam gear, etc.), but even if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, maybe one of these sheets will inspire you to create a track sheet design of your own. If you do, and if you’re willing to share it, please let me know.

Roland VS-880 track sheets, PDF
Roland VS-880 track sheets, MS-Excel
Mackie track sheet, PDF
Mixing track sheet, PDF
Tascam track sheet, PDF
Simple track sheet, PDF
Elaborate track sheet with pull-down menus, PDF
Studio track sheet, PDF

Just in case you prefer to pay for a product (on the premise that you get what you pay for), here are a a few other resources that aren’t free:

Silent Way’s Ultimate Track Sheet for MS-Excel, $1.00 download
AnyTrac 8, Windows track sheet software, $49.90 download

If this has been helpful to you, I’d appreciate any Diggs and/or Stumbles; your comments are also welcome!


Stumble It!

The New Notes from the Shack

If you’ve been reading Notes from the Shack for a while, you’ll notice that the focus has shifted a bit. That’s intentional–I had been writing in recent months about quitting my job and starting a new life working for myself in my home office, but that endeavor has taken on a life of its own in a new blog I’ve been writing since September 2008–Underpants Office. If you’re still interested in that stuff, please head on over there and subscribe.

The focus of Notes from the Shack is shifting back to what I had originally hoped it would be when I started it–home recording and making music.

“The Shack” is the name I gave my little home studio/office/study/station a long time ago, when I became an amateur radio operator. Radio nerds usually refer to the place where they have their radios set up as their “radio shack” or just “the shack.” My shack is a back bedroom that is home to my books, my radio gear, my home office workspace, my junk, and my home recording gear. If it sounds like a lot of stuff for one room, you’re right–it gets a little crowded in here at times. That means I have to constantly be careful to keep things as simple and compact as possible, but that’s a good thing.

So I’m eager to get back to writing about home studio recording and stuff. The recording world has changed a lot since I first got into it, and it’s still changing all the time. This blog won’t touch much on high-end tools, because my set-up is very low-end. Although there are some whose home recording setups rival those in professional studios, most of us get by on a lot less gear (or a lot worse gear), and we’re always looking for ways to improve the quality of our recordings, even though we can’t buy the best stuff. That’s where I’m headed with this, so I hope you’ll enjoy it and benefit from it. I also hope you’ll subscribe, so you won’t miss any of the content that is posted here.

Thanks!