Do it yourself!

[michele]

Guys, I need your help! After years of battles I realized that the only chance that I have to hear the music playing inside my head is ... doing it by myself!
Yes, I'm ready to deal with the musician that plays what you want without being blue in the face ... Mr. PC (not a Mac)!
But here's the problem: I'm a novice ... I know what I want to do but I don't know how to do it!
I want to:
1) Writing all the parts and have them played. Long time ago I used Sibelius (1st version) but ... hey, I need decent sounds!
2) I want to plug my bass in and playing along with the stuff I've written. At the moment I can only trust my beloved Sadowsky and an amp that has a balanced XLR out.
3) I want to be able to cut, copy, paste, EQ etc. etc. ... in one word I want something that allows me to manipulate it all!
That's all guys! My wishes have revealed that I'm so ignorant about this stuff but ... please, help me!! I can spend a reasonable amount of money on this so ... come on ... WHAT I HAVE TO BUY??!!!

 

[DougP]

There are many different ways of doing this as you are about to find out. Once i have the song in my head, my method of recording goes like this:
1. Program the drums using Acid Pro, then save the drumline as a WAV file.
2. Import the WAV onto a track in Cakewalks' Guitar Tracks Pro, then record the the guitars and bass(es). Since you only have an XLR out, you can get an adapter, use a micorphone to record, or use a small preamp device. (i use either a SansAmp, or my roommates POD).
3. Once all the levels are set in Guitar Tracks i save the song as another WAV and then import it into Sound Forge for "mastering". i use it only to add a bit of reverb and compression to the whole song and then raise the volume.

My requires more software than i should use, but it works for me.

 

[Josh Ryan]

You might want to check into some of the all in one solutions offered by E MU www.emu.com (my choice) or M-Audio www.maudio.com (also a lot of bang for the buck) or for more money (been around a long time) digi designs http://www.digidesign.com/ . You can, for not a lot of money, get a sound card, interface and a good software program from any one of these vendors. My personal opinion is that the E MU system delivers the most bang for the buck (same converters as higher end digidesign systems for far less money, good mic preamps etc, cubase vst 5.1 comes with it) Check out the websites and see what clicks.

Another good resource can be found here http://www.recording.org/ they have a couple of forums devoted to digital audio. Do yourself a favor and read a lot before you buy something, there are many, many ways to go about it.

 

[fulcrum]

Guys, I need your help! After years of battles I realized that the only chance that I have to hear the music playing inside my head is ... doing it by myself!
Yes, I'm ready to deal with the musician that plays what you want without being blue in the face ... Mr. PC (not a Mac)!

Be prepared... you'd better know what you want, because that is what you will get. Computers are stupid, they only know how to count to one. Make sure your own ideas are clearly defined in your own head.

Yes, the box also facilitates experimentation in case you don't quite know what you want, but you'll be surprised at how easily you can disappear up your own, er, well, you know, if you're not careful.

1) Writing all the parts and have them played. Long time ago I used Sibelius (1st version) but ... hey, I need decent sounds!

You used Sibelius and lived to tell the tale. I salute you.

How about Finale? It's pretty much an industry standard on both the Mac and the Pee Cee (in case you ever have to port a score over), though it almost assuredly does more than you need (and you'll pay for its functionality).

[quote[2) I want to plug my bass in and playing along with the stuff I've written. At the moment I can only trust my beloved Sadowsky and an amp that has a balanced XLR out.[/quote]
A decent sound card-- I said decent, so that eliminates using the on-bord sound on your motherboard or a cheap solution like a Sound Blaster-- will help you get your sounds into your computer.

As far as the band-minus-one thing, you might research whether Band-In-A-Box runs on the Wintel side; I know it used to run on Mac.

3) I want to be able to cut, copy, paste, EQ etc. etc. ... in one word I want something that allows me to manipulate it all!

No worries here, I think it's safe to say that all prorams with the functionality you require will have some cut/copy/paste capability built in.

 

[Mandobass]

i am a huge believer in the e-mu 1820m.

i've been using it since the day it came out with very good results. the mic pre-amps are ASTOUNDING. the pres were the single most shocking aspect of the unit. i already have cubase SX, so the included cubase didn't do much for me, and the software mixer is O.K. the FX seem kinda cheesey to me.

but there is just this sense of openness and air i get on any signal i run through the 1820m; an aural sensation which i never experienced with my delta 410.

i won't be looking back.

 

[Josh Ryan]

i am a huge believer in the e-mu 1820m.

i've been using it since the day it came out with very good results. the mic pre-amps are ASTOUNDING. the pres were the single most shocking aspect of the unit. i already have cubase SX, so the included cubase didn't do much for me, and the software mixer is O.K. the FX seem kinda cheesey to me.

but there is just this sense of openness and air i get on any signal i run through the 1820m; an aural sensation which i never experienced with my delta 410.

i won't be looking back.

The converters are some of the most badass converters that exist that a home user can buy. I completely agree. The effects are OK, some I like some I really hate.

 

[michele]

Thanks for the replies, guys! As suggested by BlissHead I'm reading a lot so ... I'll bore you later with more specific questions
Thanks to everyone!