Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Ok so I am interested into getting more into the technical side of things, specifically recording/midi. No idea where to even start... I know on the back of my amp there is this "balanced" plug that has 3 prongs? Plus a midi port... apparently theres some kind of board I can get to plug the balanced port into (and then use headphones yay! lol) but what am I looking at for good recording into a computer? I have a good sound card but it's lacking along the lines of inputs so need that too (had a better one but it pissed me off to no end...) And what the heck is midi anyway? I thought it was just some sound profiling thing for synth and what not... Umm... yeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 You'll probably want a little audio interface of some sort that has a built in mic pre or two as well as a 1/4" line in or two. There are tons of them on the market, and most are probably about the same as far as functionality. MIDI is an acronym for Musical Instrument Data Interface, I believe. Basically, you can use your recording software to write out parts, then send that to a MIDI device to supply the sounds you hear. Or, you can play the parts on a MIDI device like a keyboard and have them mapped as data to your computer so you can go in and edit the notes or the voice of the instrument. For instance, you could play a drum beat on an electronic kit, send it to the computer via MIDI, then use some kind of software like EZDrummer to supply the actual sounds you hear. I never use MIDI, so there's a whole lot more to it than that, but those are some things you can do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 You'll probably want a little audio interface of some sort that has a built in mic pre or two as well as a 1/4" line in or two. There are tons of them on the market, and most are probably about the same as far as functionality. Can you be a little more specific? I dont have the slightest clue... I've seen people with boards that could play backing tracks right in them... such a thing exist for that as well as connectivity to a computer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sgt mukuzi Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 the midi port on the amp must be for switching chanels etc i said must but i`m guessin. you could get a midi pedal switcher and try to wrk out what controls what. what type of amp is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Can you be a little more specific? I dont have the slightest clue...I've seen people with boards that could play backing tracks right in them... such a thing exist for that as well as connectivity to a computer? Just go to MF and look at audio interfaces. They range in price depending on complexity and features, # mic inputs, etc.Basically they are mic inputs into a box with a chip inside with a usb out connection to the computer. Used in conjunction with recording software like Cubase or Audacity you can multitrack on your computer, do final mixdowns, even insert effects(with software plug-ins). Downside is you have to work the vitural board with a mouse or keystokes, instead of having real faders and knobs. If you are just one on 2 guys laying down tracks one at a time, they work pretty good. Im going to get a simple one for myself so I can overdub some tracks.Right now I have Audacity(free) and Kristal (free)and either works just fine, even with the built in laptop mic I get pretty decent sound recorded. But when you overdub a second track and play back both tracks, they wont be in sync, theres a noticable annoying delay(latency). The interface eliminates the latency. The midi port on your amp is probably to connect some kind of footswitch/stompbox/controller. You program the controller to send messages via midi to the amp to change settings on the amp, vol, channel, tone, reverb, etc, depending on which program you have called up on your stompbox. It could also send signals to other effects units(delays etc) to switch setting on the fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 the midi port on the amp must be for switching chanels etc i said must but i`m guessin. you could get a midi pedal switcher and try to wrk out what controls what. what type of amp is it? Line 6 SV MKII. Midi im more just exploring the possibilities. But for recording I am trying to get descent quality. Most of the home done stuff I have heard from local bands sounds so... synth... I dont know. I dont have a good enviroment for miking so i'm wondering what do I need to use that balanced port on the back of my amp. A mixing board? just a good quality sound card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Can you be a little more specific? I dont have the slightest clue...I've seen people with boards that could play backing tracks right in them... such a thing exist for that as well as connectivity to a computer? http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Fast-Track-MKII-USB-Interface?sku=703669 http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-Fast-Track-Pro-Mobile-USB-Audio-MIDI-Interface?sku=241710 http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-INSPIRE-1394-FireWire-Audio-Interface?sku=241483 http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/EMu-0404-USB-2.0-Recording-Interface?sku=242516 All of those are in the same ballpark price-wise, and all accomplish about the same thing. You can pay more than that and get more mic pres and more total inputs and outputs, but all of those would be plenty to get you going, and all would come with some kind of recording software. I've never actually used any of those though. I've used and owned this: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Lexicon-Omega-Desktop-Recording-Studio-Bundle?sku=583476 It worked very well, but I upgraded for more inputs to this: http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/PreSonus-FP10-10x10-FireWire-Interface?sku=242036 I actually run 2 of the FP-10s in a chain so I get 16 mic pres for recording a full band live. IMO, buy the most inputs you can afford. You may only need one or two now, but if you stick with recording, eventually you'll want a whole lot more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Prages Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Line 6 SV MKII. Midi im more just exploring the possibilities. But for recording I am trying to get descent quality. Most of the home done stuff I have heard from local bands sounds so... synth... I dont know. I dont have a good enviroment for miking so i'm wondering what do I need to use that balanced port on the back of my amp. A mixing board? just a good quality sound card? The best results usually come from a mic'd amp that's cranked up. If you can't do that, then any of the recent modellers are probably a good choice. There are a lot of software modellers out there nowadays that sound really nice too...amp farm, guitar rig, amplitude, etc. These function pretty much like a Pod, but they are software only. You still need a way to get your guitar signal to the computer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Awesome thanks! Now I have some reading to do on this boring day of work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 The best results usually come from a mic'd amp that's cranked up. If you can't do that, then any of the recent modellers are probably a good choice. There are a lot of software modellers out there nowadays that sound really nice too...amp farm, guitar rig, amplitude, etc. These function pretty much like a Pod, but they are software only. You still need a way to get your guitar signal to the computer though. My Line 6 is a modeling amp and the direct output can be set to direct from the DSP (bypassing the amp) so it would be the same as useing a stand along pod (I beleive) but yes its from there that I need something and is the area I am "un-informed" in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Midi:Back in the 90s I bought a Korg X5D synth and hooked it up to a Mac Performa. This was back when audio tracks on a computer were expensive, the hardware and memory just wasnt there yet except at the very high end.But I had fun just using midi to lay down tracks on the compute in Cubase with the synth. You record using the synth, the synth sent the information needed to reproduce the sound via midi to the computer. All the computer stored was the midi code. When you push playback, it sends the midi code back to to the synth that told the synth what sounds to play back. No actual sound waves were recorded. Midi is still used extensively in the synth world, for soundtracks for games, movies, whatever. Its very versatle and expandable. You can get several synths all talking to each other and cooperating together to do this or that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 MIDI is nothing but control data. There are a number of things that you can do with it from sending note information to an instrument that will create the music from the data to control information that can change pitch, channel switch or patches and banks of effects. But you have to have the equipment that does it and that always involves some kind of controller to send the signal and some kind of instrument to translate that data into music. Sometimes it's all in one, but it works the same basic way. I'm no MIDI expert, but I've got an electronic drum kit that uses the trigger information from each pad to feed either a drum machine or an application on a computer. It can be as simple as just a hit with different velocity to a variable controller to close a hi hat just like the real thing. For guitar stuff I've got a foot controller that has 10 buttons and 2 expression pedals. It makes no sound on it's own, but when hooked up to Guitar Rig 3 on my computer it can change banks, turn effects on and off, start and stop a 'tape deck' (a file player) and control things like volume and wah or pitch pedals. I can do some similar things with other applications like ReValver MKIII, but Guitar Rig 3 has better MIDI integration. So my point is that while some things are MIDI there are a lot of different levels of actual usefulness and compatability. I can't change patches worth a crap in MKIII, but it works great in GR3. And remember that in this case there is nothing musical occuring from the MIDI here, it's all guitar and waveform in this case. I'm just changing the signal path with the controller. The great thing about MIDI for music is that unlike recording something from a guitar where you can't easily edit a note in MIDI you can edit the crap out of it easily. Wrong note, just move it, wrong patch, just change it, wrong time, just adjust it. The downside is that the quality really varies and a lot times it sounds like a video game unless you really take the time to add the right nuances like pitch or vibrato or velocity to try to humanize it a bit. And one more thing, be prepared to go through some trial and error during the learning process.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 I know advantages of firewire vs USB but any merit to getting a interal PCI card with and external I/O box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 MIDI is nothing but control data. There are a number of things that you can do with it from sending note information to an instrument that will create t............And one more thing, be prepared to go through some trial and error during the learning process.. Sounds... complicated. So MIDI itself is just an interface that a lot of musically type stuff uses to do stuff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 11, 2010 Members Share Posted March 11, 2010 Sounds... complicated. So MIDI itself is just an interface that a lot of musically type stuff uses to do stuff? Yep. MIDI is just a control/language/code/protocol that is used to communicate between devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted March 12, 2010 Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 Yep. MIDI is just a control/language/code/protocol that is used to communicate between devices. See this is where I fail...I typed 70 paragraphs to try to say just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 12, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2010 See this is where I fail...I typed 70 paragraphs to try to say just that. lawl. That's ok. It was a lot more informative then that. My brain was just hurting earlier so I needed to over simplify everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bun-Bun Posted March 15, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 15, 2010 Ok I went to my local L&Q and looked into this a bit more. I have thus far narrowed the list of AI's to the following. 1. M-Audio Delta 1010 (PCI) 2. PreSonus FireStudio Mobil (firewire) 3. M-Box 2 (USB) 4. Edirol FA-101 (firewire) The Delta 1010 is only because its PCI which I think is a weak reason. the Presonus is affordable and yet has been highly recommended. M-Box attracts me mainly because of the pro tools LE software it comes with. Edirol is a used box for $375 CAD at my local store that I read a couple of good reviews on. My instinct tells me I should get the PreSonus though I am not sure why. Also I was talking to someone and they said that for what im doing (1 maybe 2 max inputs going) that firewire would have no benefit over USB... not sure how quick I am to beleive that. However the fireware version of the M Box 2 is double the price. Can I get pro tools for other AI's or do I have to use M Box hardware? I like pro tools but I dont like propriatary hardware/software... What can/should I do software wise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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