Best Music Software

[calumniate]

I bought Pianoteq 8 and now can plug my laptop into a decent but not great Korg piano.. the results are fantastic and has essentially given new life to my digital piano:

https://www.modartt.com/pianoteq_overview

It's crazy.. instead of using pre-recorded samples, it's fully 'modelled' so the computer does a lot of the hard work to essentially create the sounds. You can manipulate room position, mic position.. all kinds of different things.

I also bought a pedal modulator so my sustain pedal has become truly continuous, vs it behaving like an on / off switch

[TheIronMaiden]

If you have a Windows PC, i've been using Cakewalk and its browser based affiliate Bandlab, both of which are powerful at the price point. That said, I've heard good things about GarageBand.

I've dabbled in Ableton that fell off the back of a truck, but it is pretty pricey if you don't know if you enjoy it or not.

With that in mind, sky is the limit with respect to cost. I would make a budget of what you need and what you can afford. There is some quality low end stuff, but the stuff that costs more is usually better.

My set up is:
Cakewalk,

Bergner Q802USB mixer ( which I bought because I wanted something I just use to mix live) I simple interface might be better, and lost of people #### talk it online, but it gets the job done.

retro ass old off brand condenser mic I bought used.

One thing you don't want to cheap out on is a quality mic stand, one that holds position well will save you a lot of headache.

to me the quality of your gear only really matters with you want totally clean tracks, otherwise you you can do very impressive stuff just by beating your head against the wall and not taking no for an answer.

One final piece of advice is to treat recording like its own instrument that you need to learn. It takes practice to get better. Oh and also, layering is your best friend.

[8sPOT]

Excellent advice folks thank you! Feels like I was on the right track after all.

I plan to do both acoustic and electric. Is it worth it to have a mic for the acoustic AND a mic for vocals? Was thinking of a single mic positioned in the middle or whenever sounds best.

[TheIronMaiden]

Are you talking about signing and playing at the same time, or just general application?

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

Excellent advice folks thank you! Feels like I was on the right track after all.

I plan to do both acoustic and electric. Is it worth it to have a mic for the acoustic AND a mic for vocals? Was thinking of a single mic positioned in the middle or whenever sounds best.

Depends how you like to record. I like to multitrack (record the guitar track first, then the vocal on another track), so I generally use one condenser mic to do each separately. If you wanted to sing and play at the same time you could also just position the mic somewhere in front of you, make sure the levels on your interface are a high enough and get an "in the room" type recording. Positioning of the mic would have the biggest impact on the sound you're getting. With a good mic that should sound fairly decent for a demo or something. I haven't really experimented with multi mic recording myself. I have found mic's are all about experimentation, so you'll try different positions and figure out what sounds good with your guitar and in your room.

[8sPOT]

My plan was to sing and play at the same time, I like the idea of a 'live' recording. But I'll play around with doing them separately as well, it's certainly easier to just do one thing at a time! I feel like my timing is a little better when I do them together though.

I'm thinking of doing both acoustic and electric versions as well just to see which sounds better.

This all seems super exciting to me, I wish I started this a long time ago!

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

My plan was to sing and play at the same time, I like the idea of a 'live' recording. But I'll play around with doing them separately as well, it's certainly easier to just do one thing at a time! I feel like my timing is a little better when I do them together though.

I'm thinking of doing both acoustic and electric versions as well just to see which sounds better.

This all seems super exciting to me, I wish I started this a long time ago!

If your acoustic has a 1/4 plug in, I would plug it into your interface and they position the mic closer to your face and it will pick up your guitar in the background and the ambience of the room, while you get a solid guitar only track.

The other way you can do it is to record your guitar and sing and the same time but position the mic right on your guitar and sing as softly as possible, then make a new track and sign karaoke to this combo recording. ( this way is my preference when I am recording this way, because they I can go back and piece together a compilation of my best vocal takes.

Even if you're recording both at the same time I would layer that one recording. When I do, I like to make 3 copies of the track and EQ them each a little differently, and pan two of them a little left and a little right to make it sound thicker.

I want to say there is nothing wrong with recording both at the same time, but just know it isn't always easier. When you do both at the same time you need to nail both, and it can be frustrating because you're playing as well as you can but you stutter on a lyric, or your vocals are perfect but you hit a sour note somewhere in there. People multitrack because you can add and and take out whatever parts you need. ( though if you go this route, you got to learn to play to a click).

I guess one thing we forgot to mention is a pair of headphone is helpful. I wouldn't worry too much about how good they are, unless you want 100% clean perfect mix.

[8sPOT]

My acoustic doesn't have an audio jack, but I do like the idea of singing softly and then adding another layer of vocals sort of like karaoke. That sounds like it would the perfect compromise.

For my electric guitar, I have an old BOSS ME-50 pedal board and was thinking of using the lower octave effect to create bass lines. I'm assuming thats doable?

I would plug the BOSS ME-50 into whatever usb audio interface I'm using? I used to have a bass guitar but sold it a few years ago.

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

My acoustic doesn't have an audio jack, but I do like the idea of singing softly and then adding another layer of vocals sort of like karaoke. That sounds like it would the perfect compromise.

For my electric guitar, I have an old BOSS ME-50 pedal board and was thinking of using the lower octave effect to create bass lines. I'm assuming thats doable?

I would plug the BOSS ME-50 into whatever usb audio interface I'm using? I used to have a bass guitar but sold it a few years ago.

For effects the sky is the limit once you start using a DAW. You can tune the whole thing down so low that only gophers can hear it.


* warning I make janky ass recordings*

You can set up a condenser micro record from your amp ( my preference) or you can plug directly into the mixer if you want, but to do that you need to make sure that your mixer has true playback so that you can here the recording in real time without delay. This is always going to be a bit of an issue with cheaper gear and slower computers and less powerful DAWS. TBH this part makes my head spin. there are ways to account for this delay in your DAW, I couldn't explain properly how to set it up.

A part of the reason people play to clicks is that most DAWS can kinda snap things into place because of this ( which is really helpful or super annoying depending on what your trying to do).

Anyhow that kind of off to the side, I wouldn't worry about it, unless you notice it, but when you're choosing a mixer, or interface, having that real time playback so you can listen exactly how it comes in through the mixer is something to look out for. My little mixer for example does not do this, I get around it by playing the audio straight from my computer into my ears when I am playing, but damn if I don't run into lag all the time because I'm using cheap ass gear.

[8sPOT]

Thats really interesting and good to know, I would have figured in 2024 things like that wouldn't even be an issue anymore. Will definitely keep that in mind when setting this all up. Again thanks for the input!

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

Thats really interesting and good to know, I would have figured in 2024 things like that wouldn't even be an issue anymore. Will definitely keep that in mind when setting this all up. Again thanks for the input!

keep in mind, I spent $100 on my mixer, so I am sure that it wouldn't be a problem with something that was higher quality.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by calumniate

I bought Pianoteq 8 and now can plug my laptop into a decent but not great Korg piano.. the results are fantastic and has essentially given new life to my digital piano:

https://www.modartt.com/pianoteq_overview

It's crazy.. instead of using pre-recorded samples, it's fully 'modelled' so the computer does a lot of the hard work to essentially create the sounds. You can manipulate room position, mic position.. all kinds of different things.

I also bought a pedal modulator so my sustain pedal has become truly continuous, vs it behaving like an on / off switch

That sounds amazing. I may need that for my dig piano.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

My plan was to sing and play at the same time, I like the idea of a 'live' recording. But I'll play around with doing them separately as well, it's certainly easier to just do one thing at a time! I feel like my timing is a little better when I do them together though.

I'm thinking of doing both acoustic and electric versions as well just to see which sounds better.

This all seems super exciting to me, I wish I started this a long time ago!

It's such a fun, endless rabbit hole.

The world of music recording scares and entices me all at once. The hours can slip away quick when you dive in.

Good luck.

[calumniate]

Originally Posted by TrentCrimmIndependent

That sounds amazing. I may need that for my dig piano.

Their pricing is kind of strange, and 'could' get expensive depending on what you want. I think I went with the option that gives you 2 content packs. But these packs have a lot more than you might think once you get into the details.. like all versions of specific pianos etc.

I believe they have a demo that disables some keys, but lets you play around with all content packs and I'd recommend doing this first to get an idea of which ones you might want. Some of their main grand pianos are almost perfect.

[PsYcNeT]

Essential DAW/VSTs

Ableton - By far the best "writing/creation" DAW (digital audio workstation). Lots of others like ProTools or Logic Pro and such are good for recording someone else's stuff and mixing it, but Ableton's focus on "Live" means it's just got the best workflow for creating stuff on your own. Not that pricey when they have a sale (but still pricey). The built in plugins are top-notch and stuff like Drum Buss has infinite uses

Superior Drummer 3 - I paid for this. It's an endless money suck. It has 5,000 add-on packs. Almost every one is incredible and worth the money. Just an absolute unmatched powerhouse in the world of "making drum noises that sound like real drums (or don't if that's your thing)"

Arturia Pigments - Pretty much the undisputed king of polychromatic softsynths. Just an amazing amount of stuff you can do with it. Download the demo and try not to go buy it after 20 minutes of tinkering

iZotope RX - RX is a suite of cleanup tools that iZotope publishes, and exceptionally good for smoothing out clicks, pops, hums, noise, clipping, and other garbage on a track

iZotope Ozone - Another suite of mixing, mastering, maximizing, analysis, EQ and compressor tools that fill a ton of niches

Valhalla Vintage Verb - Bar none the best reverb tool ever made. Literally puts everything else to shame

Not Essential But Very Cool VSTs

Philharmonik 2 - Cheap (when on sale) full orchestra pack. Brass, like usual, never sounds that authentic via softsynth but OH MY GOD do the strings sound good

Positive Grid BIAS - Suite of Guitar FX, Pedals and Amp emulation that IMO is the best bang for your buck. Others may argue Kontakt but I like BIAS. Both are great imo

SoundToys Suite - SoundToys is a really cool company with a massive catalogue of really cool tools. Decapitator is probably the one you've heard the most on the radio as a general "crushing" tool. EchoBoy is a fabulous delay tool, LittleAlterBoy is, for my money, the best pitch shifter on the market

Output Portal - Insane tool that does just a wild amount of effects that will blow your mind inside out. Has to be heard to be believed

I'll stop here because I could talk for days about this stuff.

[PsYcNeT]

For starting out hardware I would buy

AI - Behringer UMC22. Cheap, actually decent, and cheap
Headphones - Used Sony MDR-7506s are reference, but beyerdynamic DT770 Pros are amazing if you can get them refurb though a tad colored. AKG K240s aren't the most amazing (and semi-open) but they're under $100 and serviceable
Keyboard - To write basic MIDI lines and funk around, the M-AUDIO Keystation Mini32 Mk3 is an absolute beast and hella cheap

[TheIronMaiden]

It would be neat to hear what people have been/are going to record.

[PsYcNeT]

I honestly would post some of the songs/music videos I've made in the past, but while I'm legit proud of the work, I also have been threatened via DMs more than once here and try to stay relatively anonymous as a result (my inflammatory passion for arguing on the internet is mirrored in my passion for music production). The videos all have my personage so uh, probably best to not.

Would honestly love to have a Post Your Songs thread or maybe a song competition thread or something. I've participated in Spintunes (online song comp) a couple times and done decent placement, something in that vein could be a lot of fun

[TheIronMaiden]

Having a thread showing your work would weed out my bad advice!


Haha!