Dropzone Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Here is what is likely to be the first of many posts. I was hoping to get my studio sorted out before I put the electricery together but i need to record something pretty quick, so my kit is in my loft which boils in summer and freezes in winter. After much swearing and haveing to use a tiny table as workstation and recording desk I have given up for the night. However, my progress has been limited but not un eventful. Tonight I have found out the following things. 1. There are many small floorboards in my loft most of which are not nailed down. 2. Swearing at technology makes you feel better. 3. mixing desks have many buttons, most don't do anything. 4. The lead you have is always three inches shorter than you need. So here is my problem. I have a Alesis USB16 multimix desk going into my computer. I am using Cubase LE (quite old ish) I can get sound to go to the computer and come back to the desk. However, only channels one and two are registering as left and right on the mix bar. I am getting sounds from the headphones on all channels. How do I get, say, track 6 on my desk to record as track 6 on track 6 on the computer? Many thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I think the issue is with your DAW software. If you add a new track, there should be some sort of option to choose your "input" channel. From this button there ought to be some sort of menu that pops up with all the channels on your mixer, from which you select track 6. I can't really inform you more specifically than that since i've never actually used cubase before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Dropzone' post='1317646' date='Jul 26 2011, 09:12 PM']How do I get, say, track 6 on my desk to record as track 6 on track 6 on the computer?[/quote] I think i know what you are saying. In Cubase you need to go to devices, then VST connections, and set your your in's & outs for the channels. This might help - its in a strange lingo though.. but the visuals are there. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4E-wi__rDM"]Cubase Devices[/url] Garry Edited July 26, 2011 by lowdown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redstriper Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 (edited) I don't know if this will help cos I'm no genius but I use an Alesis multimix 16 (firewire) and cubase sx 1. To enable recording on all tracks in cubase: click 'vst inputs' in the Devices menu and activate all the tracks. Select the track input channel in the Inspector Panel on the left of the tracks. Edit: lowdown beat me to it and the video he posted is a more recent version of cubase than mine, so probably more useful. Hope this helps. Steve. Edited July 26, 2011 by redstriper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dropzone Posted July 26, 2011 Author Share Posted July 26, 2011 Many thanks guys. I will be having another try tomorrow and let you know how I get on. Sadly this thread may run a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dropzone Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 This one is not so daft. Potentially I have got 16 channels to simultaneously record, however I want to use the desk to record rehearsals as well as focused recording efforts. What would you recommend I assign the channels to to achieve both. My thinking is Ch1. Vox left / centre for rehearsing Ch2 Vox right Ch3 Backing Vox Ch4 Guitar left / centre for rehearsing Ch 5 Guitar right Ch 6 Bass Ch 7 drums (electronic kit) not sure what to do about a proper recording yet but that is a bridge a way away yet. Any comments more than welcome. Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 What i would say is that you only need 1 channel for vox, but 2 for the drums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanark Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 There's no such thing as a daft question. The only daft thing is not asking if you don't know something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 [quote name='lanark' post='1319073' date='Jul 28 2011, 10:19 AM']There's no such thing as a daft question. The only daft thing is not asking if you don't know something.[/quote] +1. Knowledge is the lowest form of intellegence, being able to ask for help when you don't know something instead of just trying to fumble on through is much more intellegent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 [quote name='Dropzone' post='1318479' date='Jul 27 2011, 05:42 PM']This one is not so daft. Potentially I have got 16 channels to simultaneously record, however I want to use the desk to record rehearsals as well as focused recording efforts. What would you recommend I assign the channels to to achieve both. My thinking is Ch1. Vox left / centre for rehearsing Ch2 Vox right Ch3 Backing Vox Ch4 Guitar left / centre for rehearsing Ch 5 Guitar right Ch 6 Bass Ch 7 drums (electronic kit) not sure what to do about a proper recording yet but that is a bridge a way away yet. Any comments more than welcome. Thanks Mike[/quote] If you're going to be regularly recording the same set up, then it's well worth making a template in Cubase (check the manual or have a quick Google) with the track names, preferred inputs etc all set up. That way, everything is ready and routed to the right place when you fire it up. You've given two channels each for guitar and vox - do you have two lead vocals/two guitars or are you planning to record in stereo? As the guys above have said, a single vocal only requires one mono channel, and a guitar amp the same (unless you have a stereo or multi-amp setup, or are experimenting with using multiple mics). If you are tracking an electronic drum kit, I would at least use two channels and take a stereo output from the drum module. Many drum modules have seperate outputs that can be assigned to individual drums - if you can use this you'll have even more control at the mix. Seems like you have plenty of spare channels, so if the outputs are available it's worth making use of them. To get even more flexibility with the drum sounds (although this is a little more complicated if you're new to using recording software) you could record the MIDI output from the electronic kit - apologies if I'm telling you stuff you already know, but if you're not sure on it, the MIDI data doesn't contain any sound, it's just a series of messages that record what note has been played, when, and how long for - once this is in your computer, you can assign any sound you like to these notes. Recording the MIDI data from the kit means you can use any of the myriad free or commercially available drum sample sets or virtual instruments to get the perfect sound for your mix. This will probably be more realistic than the samples built in to your electronic kit. Hope this helps! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I know were you are with the cables 3"s too short situation! As you use Cubase, why not download Reaper? It's free to use as long as you want & if you like it & use it a lot, you donate $99. I used to use Cubase & Reaper is easy to move to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dropzone Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 I own a midi cable. i will give it a try when I get more confident. When i have recorded in a studio I have always recorded one vocal left then another right, same with guitars is this not usual practice? With regards to the input it was simply select the channel then F4 lets you select. Anyone else recommend reaper over cubase? Many thanks. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 [quote name='Dropzone' post='1320163' date='Jul 29 2011, 10:37 AM']When i have recorded in a studio I have always recorded one vocal left then another right, same with guitars is this not usual practice?[/quote] It depends what sort of vocals you're doing really. Main vocals should be in the centre. Yes guitars should be done left/right but drums need to be in stereo as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[al] Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 [quote name='Dropzone' post='1320163' date='Jul 29 2011, 10:37 AM']Anyone else recommend reaper over cubase?[/quote] Yep. Or at least I've not used cubase in a long long time but reaper is my software of choice now. Both for multitracking original stuff on my own as well as rehearsal recording (which we do from either stereo pair or, less regularly, full 12 way multichannel using a multimix12 FireWire). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Go & try Reaper for yourself & see if you like it. [url="http://www.reaper.fm/"]Here's the link.[/url] Click "Download" at the top of the screen & it'll take you to the downloads page, choose what OS you want it for & that's you for 30 days, no restrictions. I got the price wrong, unless you're using it commercially, it's $40! If you look at any of the topics about DAWs on here, Reaper regularly pops up into the topic. I haven't bought it (yet), but it's been on my mac for over 2 years now. Unfortunately I don't get much time to use it (damned Basschat keeps me away from it ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monckyman Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Mike257 had the right idea in making a template. This is basically just setting up the routing how you want it for rehearsal recording, and saving the whole shebang so you can recall it later. Then you can make another template for more focussed recording, and save that whole thing. So, whatever job you need to do, simply load the required template and all your ins and outs will be the same as the last time you used it. MM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 [quote name='Dropzone' post='1320163' date='Jul 29 2011, 10:37 AM']I own a midi cable. i will give it a try when I get more confident. When i have recorded in a studio I have always recorded one vocal left then another right, same with guitars is this not usual practice? With regards to the input it was simply select the channel then F4 lets you select. Anyone else recommend reaper over cubase? Many thanks. Mike[/quote] Double tracking is good, it sounds nice. IMHO keep doing what you're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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