A
beginners
guide to pc audio recording
First
off, this is intended for beginners, novices, newbies, and the
like. And, it is just a basic primer to get one pointed in
the right direction. In other words, experts will certainly
be bored to
tears here. This is also
intended for
those wishing to do computer audio recording of acoustic music in
particular. If you want
to record other types of music, I'm sure you will find some helpful
information here, but you will also find this lacking certain
elements that pertain specifically to the kind of music you want to
do. And as the title implies, this is intended for those who want
to use their
computer to make audio recordings. The average home computer these days
is only
a few hundred bucks away from being capable of very decent
recordings. I
was
inspired to write this simply because I was amazed at how incredibly
easy it was to record my acoustic guitar music, make copies and sell
them on the internet, all on my own home computer.
Lastly, I'm focusing
only on the bare minimum of what
it takes to do this stuff, since money is a factor for most people.
Sure it would be nice to buy a $2000 soundcard, a few $1000 mics,
even though a $100 soundcard and a single $100 mic would suffice.
Sure it would be nice to spend $500 on a mixing board even though a $50
mic preamp is all I need to get going. If you're into it, and
have the money, by all means get yourself some high end
equipment. If I had the money, I would! But if you
are new to making audio recordings, then you will likely be very
pleased to hear what you can do even with the
basic inexpensive equipment (once you get
your recording techniques down...and you will), and if you later
decide to take it
further, you will be equipped with more knowledge and more experience to
do
so.
What you will need
Here are the main things you
are going to need to start recording on your computer (assuming you
already have one!): (1) A new soundcard,
(2) a mic, (3) a mic preamp, (4) some headphones, (5) an amp for the headphones, (6) a mic stand, (7) a mic cable to connect the mic to the
preamp, (8) a cable to connect
the preamp to you soundcard, (9) and lastly some recording software. There is
no doubt in my mind that you can get all of this for around $500, if
you try. And, believe it or not, this is enough to get
you started, producing beautiful "cd quality" recordings that are
good enough to sell online.
My computer already has a
soundcard. Why do I need a new one?
You
can certainly keep your old one for other purposes, but you will most
likely need a new one if you want to make quality recordings.
Typical computer soundcards (the ones that have the little 1/8" mic
inputs) are designed for gaming, recording the audio for pc camera
applications, and driving desktop speakers. They are not designed
for making quality recordings, and neither are the mics that are
designed to go with them. You need to get a "full duplex"
soundcard, ie; one that is capable of recording and playing back simultaneously.
One soundcard definately
worth having
a look at is the Delta Audiophile 2496 . This
is one of the most popular soundcards on the market today, and the best
you can do in the $100 range. As the name implies, it is capable
of
recording at sampling rates of 96kHz per second and bit depths of 24
bits per sample. What does
this mean? In order for analog sound to be converted to digital,
the sound must be sampled at intervals. Think of the sampling
rate as the speed of these intervals and the bit depth as their
size. Faster and bigger equals higher resolution. Problem
is, at a certain point the human ear cannot tell the difference
anymore. Where is this point? There is alot of discussion
over this. By all means, experiment and see what your ears tell
you. But keep in mind that a cd (every one in your cd collection)
is only capable of 16 bit samples at 44,100 kHz per second. So,
even if you record in higher resolutions, the cds you produce your
music on can only render your music in 16 bit, 44,100 kHz per second
samples.
The Delta
Audiophile 2496 I have requires only (Pentium
2) 266MHz and 128 MB of
PC100 RAM (and that's for 96kHz operation). Always check the
"minimum sytem
requirements" of the soundcard you are interested in to make sure your
system resources are sufficient. You will also want to make sure
your operating system is compatible with the card you
select. If you don't have any
PCI slots available in your computer you might look into getting an
external
soundcard with a USB connection.
What kind of mic should I get?
You
want a mic that has XLR plugs and balanced cables, not the little
computer mics with the 1/8" plugs and ultra thin cables.
You also want a condenser mic, as opposed to a
dynamic mic, as condenser mics have superior sensitivity and are better
for recording ambient music such as acoustic guitar. Three mics I
would highly recommend include the Rode NT3, the AKG C1000, and the Shure KSM 109. Each of
these can probably be found for under
$200,
and are great for recording acoustic instruments, among other
things. For around $100,
the Behringer B5 also
works well for recording
acoustic. I would also look at a few large diaphragm mics, such
as the Behringer
B1 (about $100) and the Rode NT1 (about $200).
Large
diaphragm
mics are more sensitive, a bit warmer, but don't pick up the highs
quite as
well as the smaller diaphragm mics. There is no set rule as to
whether you should use a small or a large condenser mic for recording
acoustic instruments. Both are capable of great recordings.
Your choice will depend on
your own personal sound preference, the kind of instrument
you are recording, where you
are recording, etc...
Don't forget to buy the cable you will
need to plug the mic into the preamp's line in!
Why do I need a mic preamp?
Your
mic acts as a transducer which converts the sound emanating from your
instrument into an electrical analog signal. The problem is
that signal is inaudible, and therefore a preamp is needed to boost it
back up. Your soundcard then converts this analog signal to
digital so you can write it to your hard drive! (Of course
you may want to do a bit of "mixing" before you "mix down" to your hard
drive, but we'll
get back to that). The other important function of the mic
preamp is "phantom power". All the aforementioned mics
are "condenser mics", as opposed to "dynamic mics". Condenser
mics are superior to dynamic mics when it comes to recording ambient
music (such as acoustic guitar...) due to their superior
sensitivity. This doesn't come free however.
Condenser mics require electricity to function. A few of them
will run off of a 9 volt battery, but most require phantom power to
provide the necessary electricity. So, unless you choose a
condenser mic with a battery, make sure your preamp has phantom
power. For starters, you should check out the ART Tube
MP. This is a great little mic preamp (with phantom power)
that
you can pick up for about $49. Don't forget to buy the
cable needed to plug the preamp into the soundcard's line in!
I
used the aforementioned Delta Audiophile 2496 soundcard, Behringer B1
mic, and ART Tube MP preamp to record a Christmas cd. The
mic was placed at about the 12th fret, but pointed at the sound
hole. Click here to listen to sample clips
from this cd.
What are the headphones for?
Remember why you
need a "full duplex" soundcard? Because you will need to be able
to
play back (listen to) one track while simultaneously recording another, and as a rule
whenever you are listening to and recording music at the same time you
need to be wearing headphones. If you play
back through studio
monitors or desktop speakers, then your live mic will pic up that extra
unwanted noise in addition to what you are playing on your
instrument. You want the sound emanating from your instrument to
be the only thing going into your microphone! So why is it
necessary to play back and record at the same time? Anytime your
project has more than one instrument, for starters. For example,
if I am recording a song with two guitar parts, I would record the
rhythm part first, then play it back through headphones while
simultaneously playing the second part into the mic. This way the
second guitar track has only
the second guitar on it.
Why do I need an amp for my
headphones?
Headphones
are just a pair of speakers, and like any pair of speakers they need an
amplifier if any sound is to come out of them! Don't worry, you
can probably find one for around $50. Don't forget to buy the
cable needed to plug the amp into the soundcard's line out!
How about the recording software?
The
good news here is that there is often some pretty decent "freeware"
available online if you do a little searching. This stuff is
usually just scaled back versions of the full versions, which basically
just means there will be some features disabled or unavailable, with
the idea being to tempt you to buy the full version. Trying
out some freeware is a great way to go just to familiarize yourself
with the whole recording process, and to help you decide which program
you like best. Before you buy recording
software check the system requirements to make sure it will run on your
computer, and make sure it is compatible with the operating system you
are running as well as your soundcard.
One
freeware program worth checking out is n-Track Studio. I've never
used it myself but I've heard good things, and the price is
right! Last time I checked, Pro Tools had some
freeware
available as well. But if you don't mind spending a few hundred
bucks I
highly recommend having a look at Cakewalk Home Studio , as well
as Steinberg Cubase SE .
These are two of the most popular programs currently on the market, and
have alot of bang for the buck. Whatever you end up with, delve
into
the help menu asap and familiarize yourself with some of the basic
elements of "recording"," mixing", and "mixing down", because once you have
all your equipment these will be the
three
main aspects of producing your music.
Recording
Once
you have all your equipment, hook it all up! Make sure you have
read the user's manuals for the soundcard, preamp, and mic and are
comfortable using the equipment. (Tip: turn off the phantom
power on your mic preamp while setting up, plugging everything in,
etc...).
Look in
your mic
preamp
user's manual to learn how to set the recording levels on your
preamp. It will have both input and output levels that will need
to be set. For the input, you want as loud of a signal as you can
get
without overdoing it and getting "clipping". Your preamp will
have some way of letting you know when this happens (such as a red
light or something...). Find out in the user's manual. Once
you have the input set, you will need to open up your soundcard
interface (monitor) to set the preamp output. Play your
instrument into the
mic
while watching the meter representing your soundcard's input
device (since the signal is going from the preamp's output to the
soundcard's input). On the upper end of the meter there is
usually
a red zone
which represents too hot a signal and distortion. Generally, it's
ok if your signal touches into this area occasionally, but if it's
getting way up in there, and/or doing so frequently, turn down the
output on your preamp! Experimenting is the name of the game
here.
Once you
get both the input and output set for the preamp, use
your recording software interface to set the
sampling rate and bit depth. A sampling
rate of 44,100 kHz and a bit depth of 16 bits per sample is standard
"cd
quality", and can sound amazing. By all means experiment
with higher resolutions if your soundcard and recording software
support it, but remember, if you are producing your music on cds, you
will eventually be back to 16 bit samples at 44,100kHz per second (see
section on soundcards).
Use the
help menu to find out
how to set the recording and playback devices to be used. These
are usually referred to as the "source" and the "port"
respectively. When you set the source of a track, simply
indicate which channel on your soundcard you have plugged your mic
into. That way your soundcard and software interface are on the
same page, so to speak. When recording with one mic, you can plug
into either the right or
left channel, it
doesn't matter which. But when recording with two mics, plug one
into the right channel and the other into the left. This will
produce two tracks on your software interface, one which uses the
"right" recording device as the source and another which uses the
"left" recording device as the source.
(You can then play around with the
panning of each track to alter where in the stereo field each track
appears, right, left center... More on panning in a
minute). The port is simply the output device through which any
given track plays back. The source and the port can be set
independently for each track. Make sure you specify the devices
for your new soundcard and not that old gaming card that came with your
computer!
Arm a
track, and record
something! Play around with your mic placement and see how this
affects the sound of your recordings. See which positions you
like, and take notes. Again, experiment...
A few more
things you will want to figure out right away include splitting a
track, going to a specific point in a track, cut/copy/paste segments of
a track, fixing mistakes ("punch recording"), and "bouncing" several
tracks into one, and fade ins and outs. These basics will help
your ability to manipulate the audio data.
Mixing
Once
you have your tracks in your project recorded to your liking, you are
ready to do some mixing. Mixing is basically adjusting the volume
and panning of each track so they sound good when played
together. You can also throw some effects and EQ into the mix at
this stage of the game, though it's not necessary. You can also
do this stuff during the mastering stage. More on mastering
in a minute. (If you really want
to make amazing HiFi recordings, get a mixing board instead of a
preamp. Then you can add EQ and compression to your signal before
it reaches your soundcard. This, combined with multiple mics and
higher sampling rates and bit depth's can produce amazing results, but
again you have to pay more for it. This is more than alot of pros have
done, or even could do in
their time!)
If you can
spend a few hundred bucks on a couple of entry level studio monitors,
great.
If not, you can just use your headphones or even your desktop
speakers. Mixing is greatly facilitated when done with good
speakers (monitors), since you need to make decisions about what you
are hearing, ie; track volumes, panning, effects, EQ, etc... If
you are interested in getting a pair of monitors, check out
the Alesis Monitor One MK2s.
These are extremely popular entry level monitors, for obvious reasons.
I seriously doubt
you can do better for $200!
If your
project has only one track there isn't much mixing to speak of, maybe
just a bit of effects and/or EQ. But if you have more than one
track, experiment with the volume of each track to see what levels
produce the best sound when the tracks are played together. Then,
work on panning the tracks. Panning changes where in the stereo
field a track is played. If you pan a track dead center then you
hear it equally in the right and left speakers. Sometimes that's
what you will want. Sometimes, however, competing sounds can
"muddy" the overall sound. You can usually get some nice
separation by panning some tracks to the right and others to the
left. Then again you may want to leave some in the middle, it's
really a matter of, you guessed it, experimenting. Also, panning
is a matter of degree. You can pan a track only slightly to
either
side, or all the way, and anywhere in between. You
just have to play with it to see what sounds best to you.
Mixing down
Once
you like the way your overall project sounds (when all tracks are
played together), you're done mixing. It's now time to "mix
down". Read the
instructions in the help menu of your recording software to see how to
mix down. Basically, you are going to be naming the file
you're about to create, specifying where on your hard drive you want to
write it, whether you want it to be a mono or stereo file, and whether
you want it to be WAV or MP3. The best quality (and therefore the
largest file size) is a WAV stereo file. This is certainly what
you will want for burning cds. If you want a smaller file then
write an a MP3 file. It will be about 1/10th the size, and still
good sounding. MP3s are great for sending in e-mails and also for
sample clips on your website due to their small size. Once you have all
the songs mixed down to your hard
drive, burn a cd! This is the cd you will give your mastering
engineer.
Mastering
Mastering
is the one thing I don't like to do myself. It's worth a few
hundred bucks to have a fresh set of ears hear your cd, give you some
objective feedback, and supply the finishing touches. What are
the finishing touches? At the very least, a mastering engineer
will "normalize" your cd, so that the songs are all at a similiar
volume and play well together. Not only will they play well as a
whole, but the overall volume of your cd will be raised to "red book"
industry standard so that your cd will sound good in relation to other
professional cds in terms of volume.
But mastering can be alot more than
that. It depends on what you feel your project needs. A
mastering engineer can also do some "sweetening", using various methods
including (but not limited to) EQ, effects (reverb, delay, chorus...),
and compression. They can also remove unwanted pops and
clicks that are often produced during recording. You may not have
noticed these pops and clicks if you did your mixing using headphones
or desktop speakers. But when you hear your music on a mastering
engineers's studio monitors, you hear absolutely everything. Alot
of miracles have been performed by good mastering engineers! I
highly recommend finding one in your area.
Once you have your master disc
in your hand, make copies! Keep them in safe places!
Keep one for producing copies (duplicating) for distribution.
Books
If
you would still like more information on pc recording, here is a great book
on
the subject.
On
to duplication and distribution
>>>
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