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I'm finally going to start recording


BobVbass
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Well after generally running away form doing any recording myself and letting other people do it, after reading through Skol's excellent beginner's guide and all the threads on here it's given me the get up and go to give it a bash.

So I've got a copy of Reaper, a focusrite solo (the red one not the white one), a DI box, a Rode NT1a recording pack thingy, a decent set of closed back headphones and a much depleted petty cash tin.

I'm working my way through the Reaper user guide at the minute and it's brilliant, haven't recorded anything yet but the functionality is really eye opening - wish I'd started this earlier.

There's still load of bits I don't quite get but hopefully as I try things out I'll figure out what I need - hopefully I'm going to have my first attempt tomorrow.

Edited by BobVbass
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Welcome to the world of making noises listening back to them and realising you can do a better take... 3 hours later realising you haven't progressed the recording on in the slightest but have started playing around with all the different effects making sci-fi noises.

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[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1426187068' post='2715474']
Even if your FIRST recordings sound arse . :lol: , I think I am just past 30 now and 'arse' describes them well :lol:
[/quote]

If I ever reach the dizzy heights of 'arse' I shall be very proud of my recording prowess :ph34r:

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[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1426156486' post='2714956']
the one thing that can get you down in early stages is if it doesn't sound like how you want it to. Even if your first recordings sound like arse, keep pushing through, most of us here had to get through some dire efforts before we got there, i know i did.... Skol however was just born magic
[/quote]

Haha! I wish :D

Good point through Rob. Just like learning an instrument, it's all about practice, practice, practice. Time invested = better results, for sure.

[b]And welcome aboard BobVbass! [/b]Really good to hear you've taken the plunge and I guarantee you won't regret it. It'll change the way you hear and play music - in a good way. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions - and of course, please share any discoveries of your own along the way.

You're amongst good company here.

Cheers :drinks:

Edited by Skol303
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Thanks everyone

Well - finished the user manual and have decided I'm going to make a cover of Happy by Pharell Williams as a demo for the functions band. Pretty much hate the song to be honest but it goes down well live. It's also a pretty "empty" song with defined repetitive sections so I think that might let me work on a bit at a time. Not liking it much means I can also listen to it more objectively I think.

Just roughed out some drums and hand claps so far haven't had the chance to do any "proper" recording yet but I'm really enjoying reaper its seems pretty intuitive.

I've just used free audio loops at the minute from sampleswap.org sounds alright to me at the mo but what do I know :D

One thing that caught me out was that I chose 160 bpm then assumed each loop would snap to the start of the beat grid but actually they snapped on to the end of each other so gradually drifted out of time (bit like our drummer :) ) Anyway I figured out you have to align the tracking line thing when you paste or it just adds at the end of the last loop, school boy error - editing seems really easy though, in the end I sorted out the verse block then pasted that as a whole - same for the chorus etc.

I'll try and get bass sorted this weekend then seeing the other two in the band on Monday night for proper drums and guitar - really enjoying it so far though

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[quote name='BobVbass' ]One thing that caught me out was that I chose 160 bpm then assumed each loop would snap to the start of the beat grid but actually they snapped on to the end of each other so gradually drifted out of time (bit like our drummer :) ) Anyway I figured out you have to align the tracking line thing when you paste or it just adds at the end of the last loop, school boy error - editing seems really easy though, in the end I sorted out the verse block then pasted that as a whole - same for the chorus etc.
[/quote]

I don't know Reaper but the DAWs I have used have a " Snap to grid ON/Off " toggle button or setting which may have been off when you were doing the above .
HTH

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Is snap to grid or quantise set to bars?
As opposed to 1/16 etc.

I don't really know Reaper, but it could be that when importing/dragging
the Audio Drum file in, that it is not adjusting to the project tempo correctly.
Or, the actually loop when put together is not a seamless loop.

But, it seems you have worked around the problem anyway,
and believe me, when working with DAW's,
you will encounter many work arounds...lol..

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Reaper is a very powerful DAW, and is chock-full of features, especially for how much (I.e how little) it costs for a licence

I did find that you have to trim any track items absolutely precisely if you are creating loops (drag the handles to create loops) and make sure the 'snap to grid' is turned on. IIRC you can set the grid lines as a time unit or as a division of the overall tempo. I normally keep it set to bars and beats within a bar (it defaults to 4:4 but can be changed in the preferences if you're working in other time signatures).

The piano roll is a very handy feature for writing out some melody lines and there's a great selection of free VST's available for everything else.

Most of all don't be afraid to make mistakes!

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