|
|
Post by Mighty Jack on Dec 31, 2007 3:19:29 GMT -5
Need advice from my fellow musicians, songwriters and performers. While I want to finish this studio produced CD I've been struggling with for a year, what I really need to do before I'm dead is get everything decent I've written recorded and on disc. Everything I've written is on an old Fostex 4 track "cassette tape" recording device right now. And tape erodes so quickly, after time all that work will be lost forever. And man this is all I have that gave meaning to my life. Not to be melodramatic but if fades to nothing after I'm gone, it will be as if I never lived or contributed anything lasting. So if anyone knows of a good, easy to use home recording software? I was reading things like this... Amazon: Cakewalk SONARI don't need a lot of bells and whistles, I'd like to be able to get harmonies and all the instruments tracks down, but it doesn't need to be a full fledged studio system just an upgrade from the Fostex so that I can record and burn off CDs and have a more stable record of my music. I figure in the long run it would be cheaper than plunking down $60 an hour to book time at the studio. Keeping in mind I'm older and I little behind the times with this tech... Any thoughts, views or just know of any good sources that I might go to explore my options? What am I looking at price wise? (course I'll need to buy a real computer or find one of my guitar playing relatives who wouldn't mind me using there's for this purpose. I figure they could use it too and have fun with it) |
|
|
|
Post by wilson on Dec 31, 2007 4:19:01 GMT -5
I'll bite ! Largely because I too have many the 4-track master done all lovely w/ a Fostex 4-track. ( Do you have the 280 ? ) I am no tech-head at all , but I learn purty good fer' an old dog. I've been learning my iMac late `06 for a year and a half , but still haven't leapt into Garageband . . neither creating new or bringing in existing for spit n' polish n' fix-ups. It's a whole vast world and once I go there I'll never sleep or be heard from !!Making this even more ridiculous is the fact that I bought a piece of equipment that's supposed to allow me to bring all 4 tracks into my Mac separately. An M-Audio Firewire 1814 ( Google it up !... tell me what I'm missing by not taking it out the box yet ! ) Sorry to make you jump at a response only to have it be some lunkhead who has the right toys yet holds off on playin' with `em !! I just had to compare notes on Fostex-ary !!  There she is ! . . . Good girl ! |
|
|
|
Post by Mighty Jack on Dec 31, 2007 4:26:07 GMT -5
No all I have is the old cheap Fostex X-12 that doesn't work half the time anymore.
Another question?
Do you all think it would be a good idea to start a web site and put all my lyrics on it?
Yeah I'm in a reflective mood, thinking about the sum of my life. I know people might steal 'em or trash 'em or what not. But it doesn't seem right to keep them in a box in the basement. I think these things need to breathe and be read.
My songs are the one thing I have. I know a webpage can expire when the rents not paid (Note to sefl: Put in will, a relative must maintain site. lol) but I feel the need to leave something of myself out there after I'm gone.
|
|
|
|
Post by wilson on Dec 31, 2007 4:34:06 GMT -5
Yeah , I just checked your profile . 81 huh ? I was gonna say your reflections on mortality were premature ( yet we all get it in increasing cycles ) , but you need to get movin' !! Seriously , go with your instincts & heart . Can't you just put some here in "I Sing Whenever" ? ( It won't take family to keep this place goin' long after we shuffle off , it'll be here ! )Or do you feel you shared too much `round these parts already ? Maybe you've started a suitable thread here. Someone's bound to go "Alright , if I help him preserve his damn songs maybe he'll stop posting those lyrics !!"   |
|
|
|
Post by Mighty Jack on Dec 31, 2007 5:11:35 GMT -5
Yeah I've spilled too much blood here as it is and some of the lyrics I've written the past 3 or 4 months are pretty raw. Come to think of it, can I drop F-bombs on geocites? I normally never swear in lyrics, but the past year, boy howdie... It's like Nicholson in the "Last Detail"! I don't mind sharing but it could get to be too much for this MB, I've got hundreds of 'em. Come to think of it, if C ever found the web site she'd kill me over some of those songs (I can hear her now - "All that personal stuff and you put my name in the words too?" Ga, I'd be dead meat) |
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Atari on Dec 31, 2007 11:44:24 GMT -5
While ProTools is industry standard, you may need to sell a kidney to get it.
I did my last CD on Digital Performer by MOTU, and am in pre-production on the next one using the same setup.
My MacBook came with Garage Band software, but I haven't messed around with it too much. I have a converter box I got for $70 at the Apple store that takes my guitar and/or microphone cable and turns it into a USB interface. I run that through Peak software to record podcasts and other vocal audio (teaching, etc).
If you're going to buy a new computer, I highly recommend the Mac. Especially if you're going to use it mainly for audio production.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 1, 2008 4:57:49 GMT -5
Thanks Mr. A. I'll keep this in mind.
If I could just stumble across a large bag stuffed with $100s, that would simplify everything! ;D But money is an object so I have to try and get the biggest bang out of limited bucks.
Cheap but effective is my motto of the here and now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Atari on Jan 1, 2008 12:34:44 GMT -5
Then I would recommend a MacBook.
You mentioned that you needed a "real" computer anyway. They come bundled with "Garage Band", which has multi-tracking capabilities.
Another option would be to keep your eye on Craigslist or eBay for a nice digital 4- or 8- track machine. Now that everyone is moving to software, there are probably lots of decent self-contained machines out there getting dumped.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 1, 2008 17:19:29 GMT -5
Nice suggestions, you've given me much to think on. I was reading up on both options. I came across this digital 16 track recorder with CDR capability. Folks have told me to go the computer rout, but looking it all over, something like this might be all I really need... www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMHD16CD |
|
|
|
Post by wilson on Jan 3, 2008 22:31:38 GMT -5
Then I would recommend a MacBook. You mentioned that you needed a "real" computer anyway. They come bundled with "Garage Band", which has multi-tracking capabilities. Another option would be to keep your eye on Craigslist or eBay for a nice digital 4- or 8- track machine. Now that everyone is moving to software, there are probably lots of decent self-contained machines out there getting dumped. And , if you come over to the wonderful "Land o' Mac" , don't pay too much attention to sites like www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/shootout/shootout_summary.htm, that show GarageBand in 4th or 5th place. That's none too shabby for something w/ 12% of the maketplace ! |
|
