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Computer Audio Recording
A beginners guide to pc audio recording
First
off, this is intended for beginners, novices, newbies, and the like. And, it is
just a basic primer to get one pointed in the right direction. In other words,
experts will certainly be bored to tears here. This is also intended for those
wishing to do computer audio recording of acoustic music in particular. If you
want to record other types of music, I'm sure you will find some helpful
information here, but you will also find this lacking certain elements that
pertain specifically to the kind of music you want to do. And as the title
implies, this is intended for those who want to use their computer to make audio
recordings. The average home computer these days is only a few hundred bucks
away from being capable of very decent recordings. I was inspired to write this
simply because I was amazed at how incredibly easy it was to record my acoustic
guitar music, make copies and sell them on the internet, all on my own home
computer.
Lastly, I'm focusing only on the bare minimum of what it takes to do
this stuff, since money is a factor for
most people. Sure it would be nice to buy a $2000 soundcard, a few $1000 mics,
even though a $100 soundcard and a single $100 mic would suffice. Sure it would
be nice to spend $500 on a mixing board even though a $50 mic preamp is all I
need to get going. If you're into it, and have the money, by all means get
yourself some high end equipment. If I had the money, I would! But if you are
new to making audio recordings, then you will likely be very pleased to hear
what you can do even with the basic inexpensive equipment (once you get your
recording techniques down...and you will), and if you later decide to take it
further, you will be equipped with more knowledge and more experience to
do so.
What you will need
Here are the main
things you are going to need to start recording on your computer (assuming you
already have one!): (1) A new soundcard,
(2) a mic, (3) a
mic preamp, (4) some
headphones, (5) an
amp for the headphones, (6) a
mic stand, (7) a
mic cable to connect the mic to the
preamp, (8) a cable to connect the preamp
to you soundcard, (9) and lastly some recording
software. There is no doubt in my mind that you can get all of this for
around $500, if you try. And, believe it or not, this is enough to get you
started, producing beautiful "cd quality" recordings that are good enough to
sell online.
My
computer already has a soundcard. Why do I need a new one?
You can certainly keep your
old one for other purposes, but you will most likely need a new one if you want
to make quality recordings. Typical computer soundcards (the ones that have the
little 1/8" mic inputs) are designed for gaming, recording the audio for pc
camera applications, and driving desktop speakers. They are not designed for
making quality recordings, and neither are the mics that are designed to go with
them. You need to get a "full duplex" soundcard, i.e.; one that is capable of
recording and playing back simultaneously.
One soundcard definitely worth having a look at is the Delta
Audiophile 2496 . This is one of the most popular soundcards on the market
today, and the best you can do in the $100 range. As the name implies, it is
capable of recording at sampling rates of 96kHz per second and bit depths of 24
bits per sample. What does this mean? In order for analog sound to be converted
to digital, the sound must be sampled at intervals. Think of the sampling rate
as the speed of these intervals and the bit depth as their size. Faster and
bigger equals higher resolution. Problem is, at a certain point the human ear
cannot tell the difference anymore. Where is this point? There is a
lot of
discussion over this. By all means, experiment and see what your ears tell
you. But keep in mind that a cd (every one in your cd collection) is only
capable of 16 bit samples at 44,100 kHz per second. So, even if you record in
higher resolutions, the cds you produce your music on can only render your music
in 16 bit, 44,100 kHz per second samples.
The Delta Audiophile 2496 I have requires only (Pentium 2) 266MHz and
128 MB of PC100 RAM (and that's for 96kHz operation). Always check the "minimum
system requirements" of the soundcard you are interested in to make sure your
system resources are sufficient. You will also want to make sure your operating
system is compatible with the card you select. If you don't have any PCI slots
available in your computer you might look into getting an external soundcard
with a USB connection.
What kind of mic should I get?
You want a mic that
has XLR plugs and balanced cables, not the little computer mics with the 1/8"
plugs and ultra thin cables. You also want a condenser mic, as opposed to a
dynamic mic, as condenser mics have superior sensitivity and are better for
recording ambient music such as acoustic guitar. Three mics I would highly
recommend include the Rode NT3, the AKG C1000, and the Shure KSM 109. Each of
these can probably be found for under $200, and are great for recording acoustic
instruments, among other things. For around $100, the Behringer B5 also works
well for recording acoustic. I would also look at a few large diaphragm mics,
such as the Behringer B1 (about $100) and the Rode NT1 (about $200). Large
diaphragm mics are more sensitive, a bit warmer, but don't pick up the highs
quite as well as the smaller diaphragm mics. There is no set rule as to whether
you should use a small or a large condenser mic for recording acoustic
instruments. Both are capable of great recordings. Your choice will depend on
your own personal sound preference, the kind of instrument you are recording,
where you are recording, etc...
Don't forget to buy the cable you will need to plug the
mic into the preamp's line in!
Why do I need a mic preamp?
Your mic acts as a transducer
which converts the sound emanating from your instrument into an electrical
analog signal. The problem is that signal is inaudible, and therefore a preamp
is needed to boost it back up. Your soundcard then converts this analog signal
to digital so you can write it to your hard drive! (Of course you may want to
do a bit of "mixing" before you "mix down" to your hard drive, but we'll get
back to that). The other important function of the mic preamp is "phantom
power". All the aforementioned mics are "condenser mics", as opposed to
"dynamic mics". Condenser mics are superior to dynamic mics when it comes to
recording ambient music (such as acoustic guitar...) due to their superior
sensitivity. This doesn't come free however. Condenser mics require
electricity to function. A few of them will run off of a 9 volt battery, but
most require phantom power to provide the necessary electricity. So, unless you
choose a condenser mic with a battery, make sure your preamp has phantom power.
For starters, you should check out the ART Tube MP. This is a great little mic
preamp (with phantom power) that you can pick up for about $49. Don't forget
to buy the cable needed to plug the preamp into the soundcard's line in!
I used the aforementioned Delta
Audiophile 2496 soundcard, Behringer B1 mic, and ART Tube MP preamp to record a
Christmas cd. The mic was placed at about the 12th fret, but pointed at the
sound hole. Click
here to listen to sample clips from this cd.
What are the headphones for?
Remember why you need a "full duplex" soundcard? Because you will
need to be able to play back (listen to) one track while simultaneously
recording another, and as a rule
whenever you are listening to and recording music at the same time you need to
be wearing headphones. If you play back through studio monitors or desktop
speakers, then your live mic will pic up that extra unwanted noise in addition
to what you are playing on your instrument. You want the sound emanating from
your instrument to be the only thing going into your microphone! So why is it
necessary to play back and record at the same time? Anytime your project has
more than one instrument, for starters. For example, if I am recording a song
with two guitar parts, I would record the rhythm part first, then play it back
through headphones while simultaneously playing the second part into the mic.
This way the second guitar track has only
the second guitar on it.
Why do I need an amp for my
headphones?
Headphones are just a pair of
speakers, and like any pair of speakers they need an amplifier if any sound is
to come out of them! Don't worry, you can probably find one for around $50.
Don't forget to buy the cable needed to plug the amp into the soundcard's line
out!
How about the recording software?
The good news here is that
there is often some pretty decent "freeware" available online if you do a little
searching. This stuff is usually just scaled back versions of the full
versions, which basically just means there will be some features disabled or
unavailable, with the idea being to tempt you to buy the full version. Trying
out some freeware is a great way to go just to familiarize yourself with the
whole recording process, and to help you decide which program you like best.
Before you buy recording software check the system requirements to make sure it
will run on your computer, and make sure it is compatible with the operating
system you are running as well as your soundcard.
One freeware program worth checking out is
n-Track Studio.
I've never used it myself but I've heard good things, and the price is right!
Last time I checked,
Pro Tools
had some freeware available as well. But if you don't mind spending a few
hundred bucks I highly recommend having a look at Cakewalk Home Studio , as well
as Steinberg Cubase SE . These are two of the most popular programs currently
on the market, and have a lot of bang for the buck. Whatever you end up with,
delve into the help menu asap and familiarize yourself with some of the basic
elements of "recording","
mixing", and "mixing
down", because once you have all your equipment these will be the three
main aspects of producing your music.
Recording
Once you have all your equipment, hook it
all up! Make sure you have read the user's manuals for the soundcard, preamp,
and mic and are comfortable using the equipment. (Tip: turn off the phantom
power on your mic preamp while setting up, plugging everything in, etc...).
Look in your mic preamp user's manual to learn how to set the
recording levels on your preamp. It will have both input and output levels that
will need to be set. For the input, you want as loud of a signal as you can get
without overdoing it and getting "clipping". Your preamp will have some way of
letting you know when this happens (such as a red light or something...). Find
out in the user's manual. Once you have the input set, you will need to open up
your soundcard interface (monitor) to set the preamp output. Play your
instrument into the mic while watching the meter representing your soundcard's
input device (since the signal is going from the preamp's output to the
soundcard's input). On the upper end of the meter there is usually a red zone
which represents too hot a signal and distortion. Generally, it's ok if your
signal touches into this area occasionally, but if it's getting way up in there,
and/or doing so frequently, turn down the output on your preamp! Experimenting
is the name of the game here.
Once you get both the input and output set for the preamp, use your
recording software interface to set the sampling rate and bit depth. A sampling
rate of 44,100 kHz and a bit depth of 16 bits per sample is standard "cd
quality", and can sound amazing. By all means experiment with higher
resolutions if your soundcard and recording software support it, but remember,
if you are producing your music on cds, you will eventually be back to 16 bit
samples at 44,100kHz per second (see section on soundcards).
Use the help menu to find out how to set the recording and playback
devices to be used. These are usually referred to as the "source" and the
"port" respectively. When you set the source of a track, simply indicate which
channel on your soundcard you have plugged your mic into. That way your
soundcard and software interface are on the same page, so to speak. When
recording with one mic, you can plug into either the right or left channel, it
doesn't matter which. But when recording with two mics, plug one into the right
channel and the other into the left. This will produce two tracks on your
software interface, one which uses the "right" recording device as the source
and another which uses the "left" recording device as the source. (You can then
play around with the panning of each track to alter where in the stereo field
each track appears, right, left center... More on panning in a minute). The
port is simply the output device through which any given track plays back. The
source and the port can be set independently for each track. Make sure you
specify the devices for your new soundcard and not that old gaming card that
came with your computer!
Arm a track, and record something! Play around with your mic
placement and see how this affects the sound of your recordings. See which
positions you like, and take notes. Again, experiment...
A few more things you will want to figure out right away include
splitting a track, going to a specific point in a track, cut/copy/paste segments
of a track, fixing mistakes ("punch recording"), and "bouncing" several tracks
into one, and fade ins and outs. These basics will help your ability to
manipulate the audio data.
Mixing
Once you have your tracks in
your project recorded to your liking, you are ready to do some mixing. Mixing
is basically adjusting the volume and panning of each track so they sound good
when played together. You can also throw some effects and EQ into the mix at
this stage of the game, though it's not necessary. You can also do this stuff
during the mastering stage. More on mastering in a minute. (If you really
want to make amazing HiFi recordings, get a mixing board instead of a preamp.
Then you can add EQ and compression to your signal before it reaches your
soundcard. This, combined with multiple mics and higher sampling rates and bit
depth's can produce amazing results, but again you have to pay more for it. This
is more than a lot of pros have done, or even
could do in their time!)
If you can spend a few hundred bucks on a couple of entry level
studio monitors, great. If not, you can just use your headphones or even your
desktop speakers. Mixing is greatly facilitated when done with good speakers
(monitors), since you need to make decisions about what you are hearing, i.e.;
track volumes, panning, effects, EQ, etc... If you are interested in getting a
pair of monitors, check out the Alesis Monitor One MK2s. These are extremely
popular entry level monitors, for obvious reasons. I seriously doubt you can
do better for $200!
If your project has only one track there
isn't much mixing to speak of, maybe just a bit of effects and/or EQ. But if
you have more than one track, experiment with the volume of each track to see
what levels produce the best sound when the tracks are played together. Then,
work on panning the tracks. Panning changes where in the stereo field a track
is played. If you pan a track dead center then you hear it equally in the right
and left speakers. Sometimes that's what you will want. Sometimes, however,
competing sounds can "muddy" the overall sound. You can usually get some nice
separation by panning some tracks to the right and others to the left. Then
again you may want to leave some in the middle, it's really a matter of, you
guessed it, experimenting. Also, panning is a matter of degree. You can pan a
track only slightly to either side, or all the way, and anywhere in between.
You just have to play with it to see what sounds best to you.
Mixing down
Once you like the way your
overall project sounds (when all tracks are played together), you're done
mixing. It's now time to "mix down". Read the instructions in the help menu
of your recording software to see how to mix down. Basically, you are going to
be naming the file you're about to create, specifying where on your hard drive
you want to write it, whether you want it to be a mono or stereo file, and
whether you want it to be WAV or MP3. The best quality (and therefore the
largest file size) is a WAV stereo file. This is certainly what you will want
for burning cds. If you want a smaller file then write an a MP3 file. It will
be about 1/10th the size, and still good sounding. MP3s are great for sending
in e-mails and also for sample clips on your website due to their small size.
Once you have all the songs mixed down to your hard drive, burn a cd! This is
the cd you will give your mastering engineer.
Mastering
Mastering is the one thing I
don't like to do myself. It's worth a few hundred bucks to have a fresh set of
ears hear your cd, give you some objective feedback, and supply the finishing
touches. What are the finishing touches? At the very least, a mastering
engineer will "normalize" your cd, so that the songs are all at a
similar
volume and play well together. Not only will they play well as a whole, but the
overall volume of your cd will be raised to "red book" industry standard so that
your cd will sound good in relation to other professional cds in terms of
volume.
But mastering can be a lot more than that. It depends on what you feel
your project needs. A mastering engineer can also do some "sweetening", using
various methods including (but not limited to) EQ, effects (reverb, delay,
chorus...), and compression. They can also remove unwanted pops and clicks
that are often produced during recording. You may not have noticed these pops
and clicks if you did your mixing using headphones or desktop speakers. But
when you hear your music on a mastering engineers' studio monitors, you hear
absolutely everything. A lot of miracles have been performed by good mastering
engineers! I highly recommend finding one in your area.
Once you have your master disc in your hand, make copies! Keep them in safe
places! Keep one for producing copies (duplicating) for distribution.
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