Learn home recording lesson pros cons digital vs analog get best of both worlds from next level guitar

[lagerdean1978]

Music starts as analog and finishes as analog because a digital code wont drive your speakers or headphones! The bit in the middle (mastering>CD) is the digital bit. CD players, Ipods, Ipones, PCs, Macs etc. all have built in D.A.C.s (digital to anlalog coverter) to covert the digital code back to analog sound waves, BECAUSE YOU CANT HEAR DIGITAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!

[XGuitarBoiX]

I don't understand why everyone is saying ProTools is hard to learn.

It's incredibly simple. I've been using it since I was 13.

[1971SuperLead]

I bought the cheapest Pro Tools recording studio for PC to replace my old Tascam 688 tape machine and almost cried due to the complexity of Pro Tool. It took me 8 hours to lay down a single vocal track. Fuk dat! I'm going back to analog.

You'd think they would make new stuff easier to use than the old stuff. I just don't understand this world anymore.

[Robot0Ninja]

@1971SuperLead pro tools is the industry standard for a reason, it has everything u need.so obviously its gonna be complex.

[1971SuperLead]

@Robot0Ninja It doesn't have everything I need. It doesn't have an easy operating system. It isn't crash resistant. It doesn't have accurate instructions. It doesn't come with an instructional DVD. It doesn't work well with Windows 7 (even though the box said it did). It simply is not a good tool for musicians. Maybe for computer geeks and engineers but, a nightmare for a musician, especially if he is trying to get his ideas recorded. Just wait until it crashes your computer.

[Robot0Ninja]

@1971SuperLead u seem to be the only one that thinks so. and it probably will crash ur computer if ur running off a poor system. for pro tools, u should probably have a 2.4 ghz processor, 3 or 4 gigs of ram and 2 megs of l1 or l2 cache

[1971SuperLead]

@Robot0Ninja Are you kidding? Lots of people can't figure out how to use Pro Tools. I was an aerospace technician rebuilding flight control actuators for commercial and military jets for 21 years. I have an IQ of around 130. Not super smart but I should be able to understand a simple recording software program.

Also, my computor is a newer Windows 7 64 bit desktop. I'm no computor wiz but it has an AMD Athlon IIX2 250u dual-core processor, 750 GB HDD and 4GB DDR2 memory. Isn't that enough?

[Robot0Ninja]

@1971SuperLead well maybe it isnt that simple. i can understand how to work it and im turning 16 in a month, the human mind works differently in everybody. sorry if i was rude earlier.

[1971SuperLead]

@Robot0Ninja You weren't rude. I was a lot smarter at 16 too. Learn it all while your brain is still nimble. You get to be my age and it's hard to learn anything new.

[jf99151]

Bands that cry about needing analog tape recordings and probably paying more for it, (2" tape= $250/reel), are bands that have no idea what they want. They do it for the nostalgia and not the precision. Also, if you really want to hear a high quality analog recording, you have to listen to it on high quality tape players. ($5000), and you still will have the noise and low quality "reproduction of your sound", and if you have it on cd, you get analog noise on 16bit cd. Clean "noise" .

[Wigbolt]

Most bands recording on analog tape actually know exactly what they want. Not everyone is interested in endless editing possibilities and dozens of overdubs. (Analog) recording is about capturing a performance, about atmosphere and emotion. The limitations of analog to me are a positive thing, because they force you to be more creative and to make decisions right away, which adds more spontaneity imo. Cleanness and precision are not key to a brilliant album, as proven by many legendary bands..

[Robot0Ninja]

@jf99151 well here is where your wrong, to the human ear, analog sounds better. analog records the difference in air pressure directly to a tape or record while digital has to record then convert it to digital format. that process breaks up the sound waves making any variation very choppy, while analog is continuous in time making varies smooth in no matter how short of time. analog also has a wider dynamic range wider frequency range, obviously analog is superior.

[jf99151]

Guys, Girls, you still don't get it.... the idea of capturing sounds on a format of recording, means to capture it as clean and precisely as possible. This harshness you speak of with digital is rediculous. The analog tape head gives a 'dark', smooth and warmer sound, BECAUSE IT IS CAUSING A NOISE BY DRAGGING TAPE ACROSS A HEAD !!!!!! Digital does not add the noise !!!!! Your ears are used to hearing noise.... 'analog'. Vinyl is even worse. Dumping from a 2 track tape is senseless !!

[tiddlywinks98712]

jf99151...lol you know nothing about recording...at all, its nice to see you having a go at debating your retarded views though

[EyMeng]

I just notice that King Crimson performing Epitaph in 1969

/watch?v=gvBPYPwjEPQ&feature=r­elated

Sounds INCREDIBLY different from King Crimson performing Epitaph in 2008

/watch?v=YfFWE8vIBCA

why?

[PDXorcist]

That being said, you can still get a great sounding digital recording (as I'm sure we can all agree) but, in order to get a true analog recording, you need to get digital out completely and use good ol vinyl or high quality tape. I wish I could accomplish this, but I'm a realist that I lack the funds and the space for an analog set up. Either way, ROCK OUT!

[PDXorcist]

Eventhough I'd say I prefer the sound of analog, mixing the two formats really just makes it a digital recording. No matter the analog equipment you're using, those tracks get compressed into a digital format, thus you're losing a lot of the analog presence. Though, digital has come a long way and can come close to the analog capture, the inherit problem is within the limitations of the CD, though 24-bit CDs are slowly coming out, most players still only read 16 bits of what's on the disc.

[Blaydrnnnr]

yeah.. this is all good for getting some basic info out. but if your going to put this out usuing protools as the software for demo and example.. Protools has alot of proprietory usage. meaning plug ins for Protools dont always work in other prgrams.. not to mention, protools is about the most expensive recording software out there. How about gearing this towards the people out there who cant afford prottols.. or are not able to run it. How about simpler, even free programs. Abelton? Audacity?

[toneholder]

Dave, analog vs digital, what do You use most often? digital recording is cool, but i prefer the old school tape deck, it has such a warm classic sound you just can't get with digital in my opinion. has anybody ever used VHS tape to record on?

[TorreyJ]

I would love to buy the guy on the right a digital or analog treadmill. :) Digital is great! ...but analog def, has a sound about it that you cannot reproduce.

[RunTMCfan]

The final product you are playing is simply the format or vehicle to deliver the sound.... If you record from vinyl into your computer yes it's now stored digitally. But it's a digitally recorded vinyl track.

[Lattka23]

why is the screen resolution so low?

[tehm]

In short, you can think of it like this:

When recording with analog equipment it adds something to the sound, or you could say "shapes" the sound, in a way that's difficult to replicate when recording directly to digital.

So your question is the same as asking: Why play through that effects pedal, it will all come out of the same speaker anyway? - Yes, but it will still sound different.

If this is desirable or not, is up to you, and so is the question of if it's worth the extra work or not.

[jsycorp]

lol stop shaking ur leg !

[BoL7zy]

Yeah i think that's the point but not everyone will like the sound, also most people who listen to music just listen to music they don't have a delopeved music hear and they're not going to really be able to tell analog vs digital.

i think if you're just a small band and you want to get heard digital is fine if you know what you're doing, but when you start playing live shows with more people then analog is prob better.

[RunTMCfan]

I don't know much about recording live music. I would love to learn more. I have a lot of experience with audio gear, sound reinforcement etc.

I really like the sound of vinyl with some old school gear.

Grab some late 1970's JBL Studio monitors (paper cone woofers)...a nice amp and some vinyl in a proper environment. It feel like velvet

:(

[godsizedhole]

JBL = Junk, But Loud

[Theanarchistatheist]

Well, maybe so but the dude seems like he has a pretty good resume behind him.

[thejesman]

But it's still worth mentioning. People have to learn some way.

[googenshlagen]

Haha, I'm just being an ass.

You're right.

[mooch666]

i tried something new today that worked really well. Using cubase for the majority of the project, I recorded my clean guitar sound directly into a mixer into cubase. Then took all the guitar tracks and imported it into garageband and made it distorted with settings on a virtual amp i made. Then put it back into cubase exported as highest quality and it sounded really good. I'll upload it onto youtube for anyone who might want to listen to it to see if you'd like to try the method.

[tcrangle963]

meh. iv never used analogue! cant afford it! however i am lucky enuf to own a digital recording studio. i will say its fantastic! i mean right now, i am using a dirt cheap acoustic guitar. my recorded sound is 100 times better than the normal sound! it actually rings like a bell when recorded! the benefits of a digital EQ! you can also change the sound after recording! great stuff!

i couldnt compare it to analogue, but some day i hope to try analogue

[Jensomito]

thank you very much!

[rkb12222]

get audacity, and a good desktop mic, it sounds really good for budgeted recording

[StlyeFree]

IMO I think (for a free recorder) you should get Fruity Loops demo. No time limit for it or anything. It comes with a billion different synths, a virtual studio mixer, a sample recorder, just about everything you can think of and on top of all that, you can hear yourself play through the speakers, so if you make a mistake, it's much easier to hear it.

Audacity is better for mixing, but it's very simple, so it's good if you don't wanna take time to learn everything from FL Demo. Hope I helped.

[b1bIs1337]

It's huge. I guess if I messed around I could find my way though...

[rkb12222]

yea i use the ps3 eye, it works for recording guitar and vocals at the same time

[Runescape5ucks]

yeah, and I find that a Rock Band USB mic (and probably logitech USB mics in general) work really nice. audacity is great for a free program

[rokwilstr]

same with guitar hero its has surprisingly good sound quality

[Aeronius89]

plastic buttons are FAIL!

[rokwilstr]

were not talking about the guitars and yes they are a fail but the rock band and guitar hero world tour microphones have surprisingly good quality, but yes as you clearly stated in capitol letters, fail is what plastic buttons are

[500passwords]

thanks for sharing the knowledge

[sportsportsport]

Recording is interesting. So many methods and opinions.

[TheReptoid]

ultimately it will end up as an mp3 or mp4

[atshapi13]

thanks!