Mescalino

This what you need:

A computer ( min. Pentium II 333Mhz, 128MB Ram and aprox. 100MB free disc space)

A soundcard: The ones from creative labs are good but if you can afford it buy a Terratec card.
There are two options you can get a soundcard SB Audigy wich costs arround ? 89,- or the cheaper model Live 5.1 ? 46,- or the Terratec DMX Xfire 1024 ? 58,- With this option you also need a mic.
There is also a expensiver solution:
Buy the SB Audigy Platinum or the Terratec DMX 6fire 24/96 and they are both around ? 260,- These card have a 5.25" bay where you can plug your guitar in directly

And you need a program like Cubase or Cooledit.

You install the sound card as described in the manual that came with it.
Then you install the software as described in there manual and/or follow the instructions on your screen when running the setup.

Plug in you mic in the corect hole of the soundcard. Normaly it's a red hole but check you manual, most newer cards have a symbol near there hole.

Now double click on your sound recording program to start it. Now first make a test record with your mic. If it works you can put your mic near your amp and start recording. On most newer cards you can plug your guitar. But be sure to check your manual.
For more info on how the program works, check the help file or search on the internet.

Your song is mostley recorded in WAV format. You can make this file smaller by converting it to MP3.

Here are some intresting links:
Creative Labs
Terratec
Cubase
CoolEdit
Toms Hardware
Home Recording
MP3 WAV coding and decoding tools

Have FUN.

And remember: We from Ultimate-Guitar are never responsible for any damage to your equipment what so ever. Use at your own Risk!

Greetings,

Mescalino

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saotome

There's an easier way to this!
You need 2 cables, an amp, a plug converter (i got one for ?1,75 at a local electric hardware store ) and some recording program...
-Hook up your guitar to your amp
-Set the amp to clean (add the distortion in Cool Edit Pro 2 )
-Plug in the other chord in the line-out of your amp, put the plug converter on the other end, and put that into your computer's line-in...
All set, rock on!

50ft Manikin

is there a way to get this cool converter program for free?
(new band with no money)

garett

The only way you can get something that costs money for free is to steal it... and we're not about to tell you how because UG is not affiliated with any illegal activities.

What you do in the privacy of your own home on your own computer is none of our business... but don't come here asking how to do things that are illegal.

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Jim_Eat_World

I put my riffs onto my computer by using only these...


Soundcard with line in. (£40)
Tascam recorder with line out. (£200)
Line in/out lead. (£10 most)
Line in/out recorder computer program (Free)
Tapes! find them in your house.

Bobs your uncle.

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Jim_Eat_World

Actually saotome has the right idea, hehe

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50ft Manikin

well thats what ill try 1st....

should i record each instrument separately?

uuuuhhhhhhhh

it sounds better if you do. just multi track it.

if you dont know what that is, i'll explain

with cool edit pro, and many other pro recorders. they allow for multitracking. it is when one instrument is layered apon another to make a complete song. You should single out each instrument and record them sepretly.

first things first. Record what ever you want for track one, eaisist is drums, to get the rythem right. after you do that, switch track one to play and track 2 to record. put on some headphones to listen to track one than play whatever on track 2. after recording track 2, put that one into play. and put track 3 into record. with software you can get at least 128 multitrack. if you use to tape at most studios. you can only get 8 tracks.

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garett

You should always record your precussion first to keep time during the song.

CoolEdit has a metronome feature built in that you can use. However, I never use it if there's going to be drums in the song and here's why.

If I'm going to record drums I have to give myself enough time from when I hit the "record" button to when I sit down at the drums and start playing. I usually do this by moving all my wav blocks back 30 seconds or so and then moving them back when i'm done. When I do this, my wav blocks goe out of sync with the metronome.

So what I do is record a simple beat with the drums first. Usually just with the high hats or by clicking the sticks together or something. Then I record the rythm guitar. Then I record the full blown drums (and now I can do whatever drum intro I want on top of the rythm guitar as well) and then I go back and delete the first drum track.

It takes a bit more time but it's incredibly effective.

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50ft Manikin

im not sure that im understanding much of this


looks like im gonna have to fiddle around with cool edit..
unless you mean: from the time you use to get from comp to drums when recording.. you just play something simple where the guitar would be, then record over it?

garett

Cool Edit has the concept of "wav blocks". Each track that you record onto can hold as many different wav blocks as you want. They're just "blocks" that hold your sound.

When you're first starting out you will probably only have one block per track. However, I'll give you a good example of when you'll have more. Let's say you have a section of a track where you're not playing anything and you want to get rid of that because, while nothing's playing, your mic still picked up room noise etc. So you can improve the quality by getting rid of that part of the recording entirely. You do this by highlight that part of track using your mouse then right click the highlighted section and select "cut".

After you've done that you've just created 2 wav blocks. I hope that makes sense.

Now you can move a wav block by right clicking it and dragging it from left to right. You can even drag up or down to move wav blocks onto different tracks.

So what I do is I record a simple drum beat first for as long as I need to onto track 1. Then I put on headphones and record the guitar onto track 2. Then I move both wav blocks in track 1 and track 2 by clicking "edit->select all blocks", right clicking them and dragging them so they both move together to like 30 seconds into the song or so.

Then I put on headphones again and record a "real" drum track on track 3. When I'm done I delete the first drum beat in track 1.

If you still don't understand let me know and I'll try and clarify more.

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50ft Manikin

pretty sure i get it... the 1st drum beat is like your timing, which u make a new recording and replace l8r. and when there is no music u make a new and empty black so there is no background noise...

but can u just select the highlited and click apply silence?

Neptune

Will the sound recorder from windows do for recording??? I've got nothing else really.

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50ft Manikin

read the posts... everything u need 2 know is there

Ditto

I've got cooledit and I'm playing with Guitar->Effect->Line In, but when I am recording I can't hear myself playing, and when I record track 2 i can't hear the playback of track 1. Any ideas on how to fix this?

50ft Manikin

well firstly u shud goto the cooledit website and look at the FAQs and tutorials.. but also check that:
you have enables the line in as your recording system in the options -> Windows Recording Mixer

also make sure all the buttons are unpressed apart from the recording one on the multitrack you want and the recording at the bottom.. this SHOULD let you playback your music while recording

xaff

On the compressing .wav files issue, you can use OGG as an alternative to MP3, smaller files and higher quality.

Btw, hi all. (-: