Does anyone out there currently use a computer to record music? If you do, please give me some advice (or just tell me what hardware / software you are using). I currently have an AWE64 SoundBlaster (ISA) which has MIDI inputs and I have managed to hook my keyboard up to a demo version of ''Cakewalk'' (Home Studio 8). However, I went and asked a salesperson (god forbid!!) and he highly recommended the Guillemot MaxiStudio ISIS which is a separate sound card. The package he suggested cost around $699 (Australian) and included some software (Logic?). As far as I can tell the ISIS thingy does have an external rack which has lots of additional inputs and it says that it decreases interference (compared to plugging your keyboard straight into another sound card), but if my existing sound card will do a comparable job I don''t want to buy another when I all I need is some good software. (1) Does anyone know whether this card is any good and whether it is worth spending the extra money on? (2) Is my existing card o.k., should I just buy a decent piece of software? Any suggestions as to which software? Please help a stressed out soul, Paulcoz. BTW, the program he demonstrated (Logic?) did do a lot of the stuff I wanted, but I think it might have been a 16-bit job, and it also made a point of getting General Protection Faults in the shop ).

If you are looking to record cheaply, I use an old Soundblaster 32.
I put 8 megs of memory onto the board which allows for samples to be controlled via any midi program as intruments. I also have another Soundblaster 64 to allow me to listen and record music at the same time (the soundblaster has full duplex problems).
This setup has enough quality for my needs, I mean 16b/44.1k is 16b/44.1k.
There are more expensive solutions, but in conjunction with decent software this is a quality setup.

RotoMuffin,

Which program do you use at the moment? I was thinking of maybe Cakewalk Pro Audio.

Paulcoz.

You may also want to look into some of the other sequencing programs like Logic and Cubase VST (just download the demos from the companies'' websites-I think they''re just www.emagic.com and www.steinberg.com). Both of these programs are very good for midi, and it will leave the door open should you wish to do audio recording as well, but you''ll need an analogue-in card to do that. Also, Cubase can run VST plug-ins so that you can run software synths through your midi and have instrument sounds like Pro-Fives and Jupiter-8s. These things have a fairly wide price range, but they''re still worth checking out if you start to really get into it.

I think I'll check out the program demos Kaspian suggested for starters, and see how I go with just the AWE64 and my MIDI-keyboard.

Would it be fair to say I might need a fancier sound card if I want to do analogue recording as well as MIDI (eg. one with analogue-in)?

Does anyone have any personal experience with the Guillemot MaxiStudio ISIS?

Thankyou for your help people,
Paulcoz.

Edited by - paulcoz on 3/29/00 10:35:47 PM


Later...I just tried www.emagic.com - looks like some sort of mortgage / financial institution, also www.steinberg.com is under construction...foiled again!!!

Edited by - paulcoz on 3/29/00 10:56:44 PM

Sorry about that, the sites are www.emagic.de and www.steinberg.net

I don't do much MIDI recording because I'm not particularly fond of the sound quality of the instruments, so I just use a Sound Blaster PCI-128 sound card. Also, I should mention that the software synth plug-ins require A LOT of RAM in order to function smoothly, throw in some effects like chorus and reverb and the system can overload unless you have at least 256megs worth (this is assuming you're using a PC, not a Mac). Also, these synths still suffer from a tiny bit of latency, so make sure you play around with them as demos (if you can find one), or fiddle with them at the store for a while.

You will need an analogue-in/out card if you want to use any patches you particularly like on your keyboard. So if your using a Korg or Roland, for example, and there was, let's say, a particular type of French Horn that you liked, you'd need the analogue card to record the sound on one of the sequencers Audio tracks, it wouldn't go in the MIDI section.

From my experience the analogue-in cards are dedicated PCI cards that will, at the very least, have analogue-in, analogue-out, and usually a digital in and out.

Yamaha makes some, there's the Creamware Pulsar (however it's bloody expensive, but oh so pretty -the Big Mixer mmmmmmmm...), but what I use is the Audiowerk2 from emagic, its a small, straight-forward card and relatively inexpensive (it still set me back $600 Canadian but it's a great value for what it does).

If you want to see some extra spiffy computer recording gear ask the sales person about Pro Tools. Granted it costs about $20,000 for the bare bones, but it's still fun to drool over (just try not to short out the gear with your slobber!).

If you can find it, check out Computer Music. It's a UK based magazine, with all sorts of helpful stuff in it (and a free CD). Electronic Musician is pretty good to, but they don't have as much computer specific articles.

I hope this all helps!:D

Edited by - Kaspian on 3/30/00 12:58:14 AM

Hi Kaspian,

Could you please clarify this for me?

"So if your using a Korg or Roland, for example, and there was, let's say, a particular type of French Horn that you liked, you'd need the analogue card to record the sound on one of the sequencers Audio tracks, it wouldn't go in the MIDI section."

Is it possible to get around this if the program is capable of MIDI-out? eg. if the software is capable of sending signals to a compatible MIDI-keyboard which tell it what voices to play during playback through external speakers.

Can MIDI do that or is the only way to hear the voices of your keyboard played back to record an analogue signal?

I have seen Pro Tools - I would be sceptical to buy something like, I think it is called the Digi001, because of its restriction to using their software. To me it makes a lot more sense to invest in something that works on more than one program (though I haven't actually tried Pro Tools - it may be better than all the others for all I know!!).

Paulcoz.

Edited by - paulcoz on 3/30/00 2:07:46 AM

The example I gave regarding the French Horn patch cannot be done through MIDI. MIDI is simply a series of on/off signals going through your sound card. Play a C major chord and the computer receives the "on" signal, release the chord and it receives the "off" signal. It is the 128 GM sounds in your sound card that are activated. The "patch" is not part of MIDI, it''s like an actual recorded sample. If you are happy with your MIDI set up I still recommend looking into software synths (provided you have enough RAM).

The analogue in/out card would worth investigating if you want to record instrument sounds that are only available on your keyboard and not on MIDI, if you want vocals/samples, or for micing up drums, guitars, etc.

Pro Tools is a lot like the other sequencers in regard to its functions, but its level of control is leaps and bounds above the rest. Regular sequencers control are on a scale of 0-127, while Pro Tools is on a scale of 0-65,536. The Digi001, if memory serves, is a very basic component intended for PC. The bulk of their really good stuff is still only for Mac.

Did that help at all?

Yes,

I was actually experimenting with Cakewalk again last night and I managed to get it working exactly how I want. I add music in the program and have the MIDI-out send to the keyboard to tell it which notes to play / how long to play them (through the headphones on my keyboard). I am going to output this (via the keyboard outputs) straight to tape.

I mainly want to use the computer to fix the timing in my recordings, velocity of notes, errors etc.. so MIDI is best for me. I don''t think I will need to upgrade the sound card after all (of course I would have to buy another if I wanted to add guitar or some other analogue instrument right?).

Your help is much appreciated.
Paulcoz.

Hey... this thread is rather interesting.

I''ve just started getting into electronic music production, and so this is all pretty interesting reading through this...

Kaspian, I see where you''re coming from about MIDI vs Analogue music, but I''m wondering what exactly do these various pieces of software you recommend do? I''m still yet to connect my ancient Yamaha PSR 36 to my equally ancient P100 computer, but I''m interested in finding out what equipment/software will suit my needs as a writer that is just too antisocial to ever work well in a band.

I have experience with MIDI and I''m a natural with computer software so any piece of software you can throw at me I can use given a couple of days or a manual. However my hardware experience leaves a lot to be desired since I only recently gained access to a computer I can take apart (ie, non mission critical).

Anyhoo, I''ll follow this thread and see what comes of it.