Getting Started...I mean REALLY getting started

[XPRTNovice]

Hey guys,

First post on OCRemix's forums. Nice to meet you all.

I'm an experienced musician with some homegrown recording experience...I have Cubase and can lay down a track and make it sound pretty, mostly through stumbling around and feeling around what's right. But I've never done any kind of synthetic music before and I'm not sure where to start.

I've looked around the tutorial pages here, but a lot of them seem to be geared toward people who already have a good idea what they're doing. Personally, I'm totally confused as to what kind of stuff I need in order to start making music. I have questions like: What's a patch? What's a soundfont? etc.

Anyway, if there's a link I'm missing that will help me out, please do point me in that direction. The last thing I want is a repetitive noob post.

Thanks

PN

[DusK]

This is a bit outdated and a lot of the links don't work, but there's still a lot of info in there that should answer your questions.

[XPRTNovice]

Thanks Dusk, but that's kind of what I was talking about. Those links assume I already have a base knowledge of what a sample is, how to put it in recording software, and all that stuff.

Maybe I'm trying to start doing something that is so out of my league that I need professional education?

I guess what I'm looking for is someone to start by saying, "Hey, if you want to make sweet remixes like djpretzl, first you need a piece of software like cakewalk or cubase...then you need...oh and you also need...then when you have that you can...." etc.

[Rozovian]

Hi new guy... gal... thing? So you're looking for something more like this one? You actually seem like the perfect candidate to read it and let me know where it gets to complicated and if I skip past stuff we just take for granted.

(guides&tutorials is the place for guides and tutorials, not where you ask for guides and tutorials )

[XPRTNovice]

YES! Thank you. Let me devour this...

And guy, by the way. Joe.

[XPRTNovice]

Hey Rozo,

I did take a look at your guide. I found it helpful, but in a lot of ways it just helped me realize just how great and vast my own ignorance can be. I have a long way to go before I can produce anything, I think.

Thanks,

XPRT

[Rozovian]

Gotta start somewhere. You learn faster if you both read and do stuff. Don't put off trying just because there's stuff you don't know or understand. I started writing before I knew anything about the effects, and I started using effects long before I knew how to use them properly. Every artist is a work in progress. I've been doing this for maybe ten years now, I still have things to learn, but I wasn't learning on the internet during the first half, either.

(feedback on my guide is welcome - when it gets too complicated, skips something, or whatever, write it down, let me know)

[XPRTNovice]

Yeah, you're right. I like laying down tracks using my synth (I have a LittlePhatty) but when it comes to pairing patches and samples with tracks/MIDI, that can become very frustrating, because I don't know how to export them both at once. I have to convert MIDI to audio first, all in separate tracks. And the levels are all jacked up. There's just so much to think about, you know?

[SnappleMan]

Well it seems to me like you don't seem to have a solid understanding of how that would work (you'll have to forgive me if I'm telling you basic stuff that you already know).

Cubase can handle both audio and MIDI data at once, and record/export to and from both simultaneously. It all comes down to how you interface with the software. What you want to do is make sure that you're using hardware that's designed for what you want to do. What you want is a soundcard (audio interface) that has ASIO drivers, audio inputs and outputs, and MIDI in/out. If you already have a good compatible soundcard then <3 for you! If not look into it (google Audio Interface and do some research).

Once you have that set up you want to hook everything up to be used and to work right. You said you use a little phatty? which model? Does it have USB and MIDI or just MIDI? If you have the option of recording via MIDI i/o on your soundcard, then use that as it's faster and more reliable than USB, if your soundcard does not have MIDI i/o, then go USB. Connect the audio outputs of the littlephatty to the audio inputs of your soundcard (or mixer going to a soundcard). Once you hook it up to your PC (and install the drivers if you're going the USB route), open Cubase and start configuring. It should automatically detect your MIDI and USB device and have it ready for use within the track options. Go into the Devices tab and make sure that your soundcard is selected as the primary driver. Then go into VST connections and configure your audio ins and outs, save it as a preset for future projects.

Now you're ready to record.

- You can create a new MIDI track (right click in the track view) to be used with your VST rack (F11 opens the VST rack and you can load any installed VSTs through it). In the tracks properties (shown in the inspector on the left side of the screen) you can route the track to any input (make it your MIDI or USB input from the keyboard) and any output (make the output the VST you want to control in your VST rack). Hit record and you're set. ALso, when you load a VST, it loads it's respective audio channels with it. So if going via the VST rack route, you'll have one AUDIO and one MIDI track for every plugin.

- You can create a new Instrument track that's a combination of audio/MIDI. This is basically an audio track that loads a VST into itself and accepts MIDI input. When you click to create the instrument track you'll be prompted to choose a VST to load, you can choose to load no VST and then change whatever is loaded into it via the track inspector on the left hand side of the screen (where the track properties are). You can also set the MIDI input there. The advantage is that you have only one track to deal with and you can apply your insert effects (EQ, compression etc etc) to the track directly, without having to look for it's corresponding AUDIO track like when you use MIDI tracks. The disadvantage is that you cant use MIDI effects on it (MIDI effects are like insert effects except they affect the recorded MIDI data to add manual note delays or transpose or whatever).

- You can create a new Audio track and record your LittlePhatty's audio output (why WOULDN'T you?). Load a new audio track (stereo or mono) and use the inspector to route it to your audio inputs (the ones you configured in the VST connections tab earlier). Hit the record enable button on the track, and also hit the monitor button if you want to hear what you're playing. Check the levels and record, you got an audio recording.

Now what I do is I create a MIDI track for every track of audio I want to record from my synths. That way I record both the audio output from my synth and the MIDI data of the performance.

Anyway, those are the basics of managing audio and MIDI recording, if you need more help hit me up on AIM or in PMs and I'll get into details with you if you like. And good luck!

[Aster]

Well it seems to me like you don't seem to have a solid understanding of how that would work (you'll have to forgive me if I'm telling you basic stuff that you already know).

Cubase can handle both audio and MIDI data at once, and record/export to and from both simultaneously. It all comes down to how you interface with the software. What you want to do is make sure that you're using hardware that's designed for what you want to do. What you want is a soundcard (audio interface) that has ASIO drivers, audio inputs and outputs, and MIDI in/out. If you already have a good compatible soundcard then <3 for you! If not look into it (google Audio Interface and do some research).

Once you have that set up you want to hook everything up to be used and to work right. You said you use a little phatty? which model? Does it have USB and MIDI or just MIDI? If you have the option of recording via MIDI i/o on your soundcard, then use that as it's faster and more reliable than USB, if your soundcard does not have MIDI i/o, then go USB. Connect the audio outputs of the littlephatty to the audio inputs of your soundcard (or mixer going to a soundcard). Once you hook it up to your PC (and install the drivers if you're going the USB route), open Cubase and start configuring. It should automatically detect your MIDI and USB device and have it ready for use within the track options. Go into the Devices tab and make sure that your soundcard is selected as the primary driver. Then go into VST connections and configure your audio ins and outs, save it as a preset for future projects.

Now you're ready to record.

- You can create a new MIDI track (right click in the track view) to be used with your VST rack (F11 opens the VST rack and you can load any installed VSTs through it). In the tracks properties (shown in the inspector on the left side of the screen) you can route the track to any input (make it your MIDI or USB input from the keyboard) and any output (make the output the VST you want to control in your VST rack). Hit record and you're set. ALso, when you load a VST, it loads it's respective audio channels with it. So if going via the VST rack route, you'll have one AUDIO and one MIDI track for every plugin.

- You can create a new Instrument track that's a combination of audio/MIDI. This is basically an audio track that loads a VST into itself and accepts MIDI input. When you click to create the instrument track you'll be prompted to choose a VST to load, you can choose to load no VST and then change whatever is loaded into it via the track inspector on the left hand side of the screen (where the track properties are). You can also set the MIDI input there. The advantage is that you have only one track to deal with and you can apply your insert effects (EQ, compression etc etc) to the track directly, without having to look for it's corresponding AUDIO track like when you use MIDI tracks. The disadvantage is that you cant use MIDI effects on it (MIDI effects are like insert effects except they affect the recorded MIDI data to add manual note delays or transpose or whatever).

- You can create a new Audio track and record your LittlePhatty's audio output (why WOULDN'T you?). Load a new audio track (stereo or mono) and use the inspector to route it to your audio inputs (the ones you configured in the VST connections tab earlier). Hit the record enable button on the track, and also hit the monitor button if you want to hear what you're playing. Check the levels and record, you got an audio recording.

Now what I do is I create a MIDI track for every track of audio I want to record from my synths. That way I record both the audio output from my synth and the MIDI data of the performance.

Anyway, those are the basics of managing audio and MIDI recording, if you need more help hit me up on AIM or in PMs and I'll get into details with you if you like. And good luck!

Incredibly solid advice and if you haven't heard any of snappleman's work then seriously search it up on youtube or DoD.

I suspect you only record right now by hooking the midi of your synth to the computer alone?

Cheap midi usb cable or something?

You would probably be best investing in an external audio interface device suitable to connecting multiple instruments to your computer.

Look for one that has midi connections, 1/4 jacks and mic inputs. Then just hook your gear into the computer and tell your DAW software what to use and where.

They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes at all price levels, consult the forum before you buy one.

Always record both the midi and audio from your instruments, if you use an amplifier cabinet then also getting in a mic recording from it is never such a bad thing to have on top of the audio DI.

When recording guitars, I do not alter effects in real time like wah/pitch/volume pedals.

The reason is that you can alter these vst settings after recording with a bounce mode so as well as perfect playing, you can get perfect expression. Even the live amplifier recording can be bypassed into guitar rig for modulation only.

I would assume it's the same with midi devices that you can record straight and post control the vibrato wheels etc. Good luck bro

[XPRTNovice]

Hey guys,

That's some really solid basic advice, yes. Thanks, it helps clear up some of the fuzzy edges of my knowledge. Maybe I should elaborate a bit on what I've got, since both of you asked questions.

DAW:

Windows XP w/4GB RAM and 1TB external HDD

Sennheiser HD280 headphones

Cubase SX

Fruityloops Studio (both of these programs severely outperform my knowledge of how to use them)

TC electronic Konnekt 8 (2x mic/.25" jacks, additional aux jacks in the back) Not my favorite, and i kind of wanted to upgrade to a firebox, but we'll see

A pair of low-end MXL condenser microphones, an SM-58, and an SM-57

Instruments:

Various acoustic/electric stringed instruments (guitar, oud, mandolin)

Piano, alto sax, clarinet

Moog LittlePhatty tribute synth

The Phatty, from what I can tell, doesn't have USB out. All it has is the regular .25" jack and midi, both of which I have plugged into my konnekt. So far I've done some samples that combine putting the synth directly into the audio track, and also using soundfonts/midi combinations using the phatty as the input device.

What I think I am having the most trouble wrapping my head around is the concept of VSTs, and how to combine them with "patches" or "samples" or whatever it is they're called to create realistic sound that is inputted via MIDI. As it stands right now, I think maybe I'm going the wrong direction by using soundfonts, since that doesn't seem to get me an audio track - it outputs as a MIDI. Most of my knowledge has come through experimentation, so I can safely assume that a lot of it is based on misconceptions.

Anyway, thanks guys. If, based on what I've written here, you get a bit of a better idea of where I am the dumbest, some enlightenment would be much appreciated.