Digital 4 Track Advice (1 Viewer)

[travispickle]

Roysh. I've spent far too long harrassing other people to record me, so the time has come to buy myself some shit I can self-record on. I'm a complete novice at this, and very much a technophobe so be gentle with me.

I'm not after anything fancy, it's just a way for me to get ideas down. I only use acoustic guitar and voice, so I'm thinking a handy little number like this lad -

http://tascam.com/product/dp-004/

Yes?
NO?
Pro's?
Con's?

I'm aiming to get mics too, so any advice on those would be welcome.
Any help, advice, gibberish would be very welcome indeed.
ta
.|..|

 

[GO]

STOP RIGHT THERE!!!

Why not use yer computer....?

Get REAPER(free to try)

Get a cheap USB audio interface offa adverts(€60-100)

Get a mic from Thomann-cheap

GOOD TO GO and you'll be on the road to happy recording..if you buy a dedicated hardware device you'll have fucl all options(which you will want VERY quickly)

Plus me and Ann Post are REAPER experts at this stage so we can help ya out with problems....(REAPER forum is the most helpful on the net too)

 

[ann post]

Yes?
NO?
Pro's?
Con's?

yes?? no, i dont think it would be money well spent.

I'd recommend using your laptop.
you have to buy a usb audio interface
you have to download reaper
for microphones i'd recommend a condenser microphone, ideally a rode nt1.

those stand alone 4 tracks are grand, but completely unexpandable, or resalable.

 

[GO]

YO ANN!!

WE'RE THUMPED TEAM REAPER YO!!!!

HIGH FIVE!!!!

 

[ann post]

hah.

seriously though travispickle, as someone who used a standalone recording machine for the past 8 years, i highly recommend using your computer.

 

[GO]

I'd imagine editing on a four track would be a hellish experience...never mind when you wanna get yer rock'n'roll compression going

 

[travispickle]

Thanks Lads,
I really appreciate the good advice.
I hadn't thought of the laptop as it needs to be given a health check, keeps crashing. But I'll get it sorted. So I don't need a Mac for recording on? I've just a Toshiba laptop using Windows 7, can I use that?
As you can tell, I'm a complete novice here, so your insights are welcome.

t

 

[Goodbye]

I've one of these: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/mrs4/ (a white one not black) just sitting around since I wen't the Pro Tools route.
Hung onto it for field recording but never used it. Interested?

 

[travispickle]

Thanks The Ian, but I'm gonna look into using the laptop as the lads suggested.
It'd be a better option for me If I can get up and running for a minimal outlay with the laptop.

cheers though
t

 

[Scientician 0.8]

I've one of these: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/mrs4/ (a white one not black) just sitting around since I wen't the Pro Tools route.
Hung onto it for field recording but never used it. Interested?

How much?

 

[cycling]

as someone who just likes to rip the piss spectacularily, esp to ppl devoted to their computer as i assume many of you are and could prbly rip the arse out of me virtualliy. and absolutely hate when im here, as im a pain in the lower i ntestines that a rennie just wont heal can i politely say i have few new years resolutions, one is to only rip the piss you pricks on ppl who post here and thats it really you brown shower of utter PRICKS

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

what other resolutions have you got?

 

[pissypants]

YO ANN!!

WE'RE THUMPED TEAM REAPER YO!!!!

HIGH FIVE!!!!

Add me to that team. Using it 3 years and counting, often instead of using protools.

 

[ann post]

Thanks Lads,
I really appreciate the good advice.
I hadn't thought of the laptop as it needs to be given a health check, keeps crashing. But I'll get it sorted. So I don't need a Mac for recording on? I've just a Toshiba laptop using Windows 7, can I use that?
As you can tell, I'm a complete novice here, so your insights are welcome.

t

have you got about 1gb of ram??

also try and free up about 20gb of HD to get started - from what i've read about 2gb hangs out with the ram swapping things back and forth, a song is about 1gb, so if you want to mess with a few tunes about 20gb should see you safe to start.

defrag your hd, this makes it perform better

you can download reaper now without buying the stuff and it will probably work with the awful mic built into your laptop, which isnt much use to record with but to get used to using reaper you can start now.

also with windows, when recording if you can disable the wifi/internet, as windows loves having secret conversations with the internet which slows it down - like the regular update programs and whatnot.

 

[GO]

Add me to that team. Using it 3 years and counting, often instead of using protools.

Did'nt know you were a REAPER head..high 5 dude!


Yeah Travis..Reaper will run good on anything made in the last 4-5 years...if you can whack a bit more RAM into yer lappy you'll be golden..

€150 will get you up and fully running I reckon....and the amount of free plug-ins online is jawdropping...you'll be composing stuff you never even thought of...

 

[Goodbye]

you can run that shit offa usb key yo

 

[GO]

You certainly can..and if you get one of them fancy fast 8gig usb key yokes you can use that as your scratch disk...which will make everything run nice

 

[pissypants]

Did'nt know you were a REAPER head..high 5 dude!

Haha! How soon you forget! Remember when you couldn't copy and paste in Reaper? And who turned you on to the resources on the Reaper site / forum?

You're an invaluable resource man!

Too much tea, fags and porno mags!

 

[pissypants]

You certainly can..and if you get one of them fancy fast 8gig usb key yokes you can use that as your scratch disk...which will make everything run nice

Just make sure that the USB key you choose has a high enough data transfer rate to be able to handle the number of tracks you're running - especially if you're going to run it in 24bit / 48kHz.

 

[travispickle]

have you got about 1gb of ram??

also try and free up about 20gb of HD to get started - from what i've read about 2gb hangs out with the ram swapping things back and forth, a song is about 1gb, so if you want to mess with a few tunes about 20gb should see you safe to start.

defrag your hd, this makes it perform better

you can download reaper now without buying the stuff and it will probably work with the awful mic built into your laptop, which isnt much use to record with but to get used to using reaper you can start now.

also with windows, when recording if you can disable the wifi/internet, as windows loves having secret conversations with the internet which slows it down - like the regular update programs and whatnot.

Cheers Ann and Shneaky,
Erm, "defrag"?? What's this? I recently had to wipe my HD and restore my lappy to it's original factory settings to rid it of a virus, is this "defragging"?
@Shneaky - laptop is little over 12 mths old, so should be grand.
The most I'll be doing (says he before he gets gripped by Reaper Fever!!) is recording one acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals. I've a few tunes to throw down, but I don't envisage adding loads of parts. I want this just to demo stuff.
I actually don't know how much RAM i have (told yiz i was a technophobe); will have to check.
I did actually download Reaper last night and tried using the godawful built in mic on me lappy, but while levels were good, it sounded odious of course, but was useful for getting used to Reaper.
Do you have to be connected to yon tinternet to use Reaper? My laptop is awful creaky and I only have mobile broadband.