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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Recording Corner »

Permalink So what's everybody using to record?

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Very nice! I enjoyed it.
Some mixes were confusing - what's sampled and what's not, proving that - sound quality's great out of the box these days, isn't it. Amazing times Big Grin .
Yeah, those boxes are a quick recorder's dream (and much more than that of course), Roland's other V-Studio models are sweet too.

Last edited: May 16, 2013 20:17:20

DreadInBabylon wrote:

I personally like the Komplete 6, the latest batch of M-audio are good too, I heard.

How's your impression of the KA6 now Ariel? I've got my eyes on one. Do you use yours with anything else besides Cubase?

Pete

He who dies with the most tubes... wins

Surf Daddies

Last edited: Jul 09, 2013 21:39:29

Home:
Pro Tools 11 into mBox 3, Summit Audio tube pre/comp front end or Radial JDI. Event Electronics Tuned Reference 6 powered monitors.

Gigs:
Zoom H2 hand recorder up on a tall mic stand at the back of the room
(If possible) USB memory stick to the FOH to record a board mix direct from the mixer. Can then bring back into PT to edit out the silence and mix.
($$) rent a digital multitrack mixer. When we were doing an entry CD for a Battle of the bands, we rented an Alesis HDR24 for $100; came with all of the hookup cables and a Firewire drive caddy. After the show, we were able to transfer 22 tracks of 24 bit/48KHz to hard drives to edit.

But most of the time, I prefer the H2 or iPhone videos people send us. More immediate. As I found out, mixing 22 tracks can be a pain.


'65 Fender Tremolux, '74 Princeton; '80 Princeton Reverb
Dr. Z MAZ 18 Jr. + 1x12 Cab
Various Telecasters and noise-making pedals
Farfisa Compact Duo

Have had all kinds of different setups from reel, cassette 4-track, minidisc 8-track and currently a PC that is extremely powerful but I'll be changing that soon again!!!
I'm going to get a Tascam DP-24. It's a digital 24-track.
Why? The PC is AMAZING!!!! But...my playing has tanked because it makes you lazy! I would record a riff for say...4-bars, loop it, cut & paste it wherever it needed to repeat in the song and play another part, do the same an so on. My tracks all started to sound the same, cookie-cutter, repetitive, blah.
So, I'm going back to using my ears. Play more and get my chops back and then use the computer for mix downs, editing and mastering.
Sometimes I think I'm nuts but some of the best music I've ever made was when I was limited and had to figure out ways around equipments limits.

Lastly, latency happens to a lot of computer set-ups. Latency is basically, I record a guitar riff and play it back...I know damn well I was on beat, timing was great but it plays back milliseconds later and then you have to move it to make it on time. This will make anyone tear their hair out! I shouldn't have to "deal" with it.

On your computer, You can adjust it, get more ram, turn off background services and all that crap, which I'm very savvy with but why? Plug in, power up, record.

Basically, I'm going to use the PC as a sound module. Use it for drums, synths, textures, audio samples, etc.

Hi Pax. Interesting take you have on this. Just my humble opinion, of course -
Although it's main market is still broadcast and live, as far as usabilty goes, digital consoles are indeed an easy solution and fast to setup. OTH, if you already have a PC system that works well ("amazing" you said), I see more advantages to keeping it modular and continue upgrading whatever's needed:
Need more channels? - always better sounds in a dedicated box. How many would you need for a home studio w/o live drums? Get some quality preamps.
No matter how advanced the device's inteface is, editing with a mouse and a big screen is really hard to give up. Just for recording? Wayyyyy overkill.

Pax wrote:

But...my playing has tanked because it makes you lazy! I would record a riff for say...4-bars, loop it, cut & paste it wherever it needed to repeat in the song and play another part, do the same an so on. My tracks all started to sound the same, cookie-cutter, repetitive, blah.

The solution is easy - don't do that! Serioulsy, I've been playing with MIDI and sequencers for 25 years, and I understand the urge and the temptation to take the easy way with whatever the technology of the day is. That's the whole reason why (sucky) 80's music even exits; Synth harmony, bassline, fill, repeat...
Either way, the intent in making music should preserve it's energy throughout the process of recording, with whatever medium. Be sure you're not looking for something else entirely...

So, I'm going back to using my ears. Play more and get my chops back and then use the computer for mix downs, editing and mastering.
Sometimes I think I'm nuts but some of the best music I've ever made was when I was limited and had to figure out ways around equipments limits.

I agree, limiting yourself as a philosophy is smart, that way we learn to excel with what we got, learn our tools to the fullness and concentrate on what's important. Still, those limited tools better be selected carefully for our own specific application. Still, use of mind and intelligence to control attention is necessary. Thing is, the Tascam 24 is far from limiting, it's actually a magical machine that will do everything. Think those shiny faders and multi-function disco buttons and tiny display with 100's of sub-menus (scroll scroll scroll) would be less distracting than a PC screen? Hah! Amazing, awesome, cool machine. In 5 years it will be hard to sell, will look goofy and will be technologically inferior. It's not state-of-the-art even today.

Lastly, latency happens to a lot of computer set-ups. Latency is basically, I record a guitar riff and play it back...I know damn well I was on beat, timing was great but it plays back milliseconds later and then you have to move it to make it on time. This will make anyone tear their hair out! I shouldn't have to "deal" with it.
On your computer, You can adjust it, get more ram, turn off background services and all that crap, which I'm very savvy with but why? Plug in, power up, record.
Basically, I'm going to use the PC as a sound module. Use it for drums, synths, textures, audio samples, etc.

If you're still gonna use the PC for mixing and especially live drumming, latency still needs to be accounted for and minimized. When recording takes, the buffer can be set very low, and a modern DAW automatically compensates. Have you tried REAPER yet? amazingly efficient software! Can run anything on anything with the lightest CPU cost. Also, extensive customizing abilities that can allow you to have only the functions you need, at you immediate command.

Optimize, get a dedicated HD array and you're off, cheaper, and more future-proof.

Last edited: Jul 05, 2015 10:25:45

DreadInBabylon,

I hear ya! A DAW is an amazing leap from the old four-track days and I've done this before with going back to a digital 8-track. Wound up selling the 8-track and went back to the PC! LOL. I'm going to try the MTR route again, not saying I'll stay in that world but I need a change of scenery, y'know?

The thing that I really like about a DAW, is the ability to change an entire track with a different sound, loop or whatever without having to record a new take. Drag and drop, and change a tune's entire feel.

Thanks for the reply, great points, who knows what I'll do but yeah, you're right about the laziness cut and paste Just don't do it.
Cheers! Agree

Hi Everyone, first time posting...

I just recorded my first surf album using a Kemper Amp into a Focusrite Scarlett 18i6, then into Reaper as my DAW. I've used Reaper for years, and I still love it. The Kemper I've had for a year and a half, but this is my first time using it for 'clean' tones and I'm very happy with the results.

Cheers!

thelurids.bandcamp.com/

I seem to have settled on a Focusrite Saffire 6 I bought used into a MacBook Pro running Logic. Quick and easy to set up and the cut and paste facility is great for songwriting. I cut and paste a song together then spend about a week learning how to play it!

I plug the guitar into the Saffire and get my guitar sound from the simulators. Occasionally I put the guitar through the tank, but you can't change the reverb sound afterwards if you do that.

Logic X has the drummer magic. I set him up with a basic surf beat to follow and he does his thing. Very quick to make demo tracks, I never enjoyed programming a drum track.

http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/

For quick and better than dirty live recording, I can't recommend highly enough the Zoom R16. It's very light weight and I can set that baby up in less time than it takes to put up 4 lava lamps. It has a solid stat drive which is most important when recording live (the hard drive recorders crash easily if set on or near the stage). It's got 8 XLR in's and can record that many tracks simultaneously. . Typically I'll take the direct out of the bass amp, mic the two guitar amps by hanging a SM 57's through the amp handle and over the cabinet, then I'll use the internal mics of the R16 to capture the drums or I'll mic the drums if I know I'll have more than the usual 15 minutes between bands. Yes, this is far from professional recording but much better than an audience recording. I upload the files to Sonar and can usually manipulate the tones quite well. -Marty

"Hello Girls!"

Marty. Since the Zoom R16 price has been dropped I've been interested in buying one myself. Have you tried the Quilter MicroPro direct out into the Zoom and if so was the result pleasing.

crumble wrote:

Marty. Since the Zoom R16 price has been dropped I've been interested in buying one myself. Have you tried the Quilter MicroPro direct out into the Zoom and if so was the result pleasing.

I haven't yet tried it with the Quilter direct out. I have heard other recordings from the Quilter direct out that came out quite nice. With the price drop, I have to recommend the R16 even more highly. I should add that the learning curve is the shortest I've experienced with hard disk recorders.

"Hello Girls!"

Last edited: Jul 30, 2015 13:26:44

My current rig (for surf, at least) is as follows;

Guitar - Fender Mexican Strat or Danelectro '59 Reissue
Bass: Fender Precision
Pedals: Boss Fender '65 Super Reverb
Amp: Orange Tiny Terror Combo (1x12)
Mic: Shure SM58
Recorder: Fostex MkII 8-Track Digital
DAW: Cockos' Reaper
Drums: Steven Slate Essential (plugin)

"Stop Me Before I Surf Again" at Band Camp.com

My setup is very simple and crude. I use a Boss BR 80. I direct in with my guitars and bass. guitars Fender Strat, Ibanez Artist, Gretsch Pro Jet a Carvin Kitbass and a Jazzmaster exporer hybrid partscaster called the Narwhail.

I want to do more surf stuff now but the reverb is not convincing.

https://soundcloud.com/dresden-conspiracy assorted instrumental tunes

Zhaezzy wrote:

My setup is very simple and crude. I use a Boss BR 80. I direct in with my guitars and bass. guitars Fender Strat, Ibanez Artist, Gretsch Pro Jet a Carvin Kitbass and a Jazzmaster exporer hybrid partscaster called the Narwhail.

I want to do more surf stuff now but the reverb is not convincing.

I had Boss BR-80 for a while. I had already tried a guitar to bass emulation on a Zoom R24 and wondered if the BR-80 would save me buying a Bass Guitar but I found it tricky. I think you've done well to get that little gadget working for you. Working with limitations can be fun.

I did use the guitar to bass emulation on it and you are better off getting a bass. If you can get a decent shortscale you will be even better off. I have the Carvin which has a bowed neck but I still play on the first 7 frets or so. I have a new neck for it come in today. I will do the swap this weekend if I can. ( I think I might need new tuners because the holes are bigger on the one I bought.

The BR 80 has good effects and the amp emulation is decent. The menus are tiresome but I have been at it for so long, it is now second nature have over 30 of my own presets for my riffage.

Look for a used squier P bass you can pick those up for 100 or so.

https://soundcloud.com/dresden-conspiracy assorted instrumental tunes

Last edited: Sep 30, 2015 00:56:50

Short Scale Bass is definitely on the to do list!

Tuner conversion bushings might be a lower cost option for your bass tuners, I'm not sure who does them but they do exist.

For authentic surf reverb on a budget you could look into the Zoom G1on effects pedal - the effect is called Spring 63 also appears on other Zoom pedals. It's a pretty close 6G15 emulation I'd say.

https://youtu.be/ZxYzoVoL3vA?t=36m8s

Last edited: Sep 30, 2015 08:24:37

Pax wrote:

Have had all kinds of different setups from reel, cassette 4-track, minidisc 8-track and currently a PC that is extremely powerful but I'll be changing that soon again!!!
I'm going to get a Tascam DP-24. It's a digital 24-track.

Finally someone else who's going to use a Tascam! I got the TASCAM DP-03SD 8-track Digital Portastudio about 2 years ago and it's all I use. Now for me 24 tracks is way over my budget and skill-set but you've summed up the problem of too much technology-

The PC is AMAZING!!!! But...my playing has tanked because it makes you lazy! I would record a riff for say...4-bars, loop it, cut & paste it wherever it needed to repeat in the song and play another part,

I need simple, crude and effective. 8 tracks give me just enough room to spread out a tad but it forces me to focus on the song, and it is all about the song.

I am forced to do, do, redo and redo over and over and over which has improved my playing to the point that I am capable of things I never would have tried even 6 months ago.

Plus I suck at technology.

My last tip. Buy lots of cheap guitars!

image

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

I got a Torpedo Reload recently and really like it. It lets you connect your amp to your computer (among other things). It's encouraged me to hook up all my outboard gear and run it all through the computer. From there I use a cab sim. I'm very happy with the result so far (compared to using amplitube for everything). In fact I like the sound better than the amp on it's own but that might be due to the incredibly disproportionate amount of time I'm played through a computer/headphones vs. real amp in last years.

-Pierre
The Obsidians! (Ottawa surf)
The Obsidians debut EP

el_camello wrote:

I got a Torpedo Reload recently and really like it. It lets you connect your amp to your computer (among other things).

I watched a video demo of the Torpedo Reload. Wow that's a serious piece of equipment! Running the amp hot while keeping noise down to a whisper, without the need for a bulky isolation box is something I dream about.

crumble wrote:

Short Scale Bass is definitely on the to do list!

Tuner conversion bushings might be a lower cost option for your bass tuners, I'm not sure who does them but they do exist.

For authentic surf reverb on a budget you could look into the Zoom G1on effects pedal - the effect is called Spring 63 also appears on other Zoom pedals. It's a pretty close 6G15 emulation I'd say.

https://youtu.be/ZxYzoVoL3vA?t=36m8s

Hey that sounds pretty good for a low cost multi effect pedal there. I did get a little closer to a surf verb using the BR 80 using a very short delay with less decay. My new bass neck does not fit. So I gotta get buy with the old one for now.

https://soundcloud.com/dresden-conspiracy assorted instrumental tunes

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