Activ8
How To
Turn your PC into a Studio.
Turn your PC into a recording studio.If your PC or Mac was bought in the last few years, it'll probably have enough grunt to get you started. The more RAM (random access memory) your computer has, and the better your sound card, the better. If it already takes you forever to open a Word document, try talking to your music teacher about setting up a digital recording studio for the school music room.
You don't need to be 'discovered' by a sleazy record company rep. You don't need to win Rockquest or Pop Idol. You don't need a recording contract, a label, a demo or even a band. If you want to make and release music these days, you can do it all yourself, at home, on your computer. By Annabel Crerar.
Finally, you need something to play back what you've recorded. Like your built-in sound card, your computer speakers defi - nitely won't be home-studio quality. Most headphones will let you hear more details in the music than your built-in speakers, but hooking your computer up to your stereo or buying good headphones (like Sennheiser's HD range) are the best ways to listen.
You need software There are a lot of different software packages out there, and most come in both Mac and PC versions, so choosing one can be a bit overwhelming. The software you use to record and create your tune is sometimes called a multi-track recorder (because it lets you record each instrument as one track) or a sequencer (because it lets you arrange the tracks into sequence).
The sequencer is the 'layout software' for your composition. It lets you record individual instruments and arrange them, along with any samples and loops from your sampler (see 'Optional extras'). You can add effects and make changes to individual tracks, groups of tracks or the whole song, such as fading it out at the end. Most sequencing software also contains synthesisers that allow you to reproduce almost any instrument with a MIDI keyboard (see 'Optional extras'). When in doubt, start with a free program. Kristal Audio Engine is completely free to download for Mac and PC. A lot of Macs come with Garageband already installed (it's still a good deal at about $120 for the iLife package). If you splash out on a digital audio interface, go for one with free sequencing software included.
Some software companies (such as Ableton Live, used by a lot of dance music producers) offer demo downloads of their products so you can try them out for free. Others have entry-level versions. Some of the best-value deals are: Music Creator 3 by Cakewalk (about $50), N-Track Studio (about $75), Fruity Edition by FL Studio (about $150) and Cubase SE3 by Steinberg (around $300 or $120 for students).
It's a good idea to try out a few demos before you buy. And make sure the software you pick supports VST plugins. There are thousands of these patches, with every instrument and effect you could dream up,many of them free.
Testing, testing, 1, 2
How do you make music with all this software? Fire up your sequencer, pick a tempo and an instrument, click record, and play some notes on your computer or MIDI keyboard. That's your fi rst track. Plug in your mic and record a second track of yourself singing or playing guitar. Practise monitoring the fi rst track in your headphones while you record the next. Try to line them up on your screen and make them the same length. When you're done, add another instrument or harmony as a third track. You can add or remove as many tracks as you like. To fi nish your test track, you need to 'bounce down' your master to stereo. In other words, you need to export your multitrack fi le to a two-channel format that other people can listen to on their stereos. There are two kinds of fi le formats: compressed and uncompressed. Uncompressed fi les have the extension .wav or .aiff. They're used for CD recordings because they keep all the information from the original master track.
Compressing a track means that some of the information from the original song is lost, but the fi le size is smaller and easier to share online - about 4 megabytes, rather than 40. The most popular types of compressed fi les are .mp3 and .m4a. Those tracks you listen to on an MP3 player are all compressed. Make sure you always keep the original multi-tracked version of your recording - your master arrangement - in case you decide it's not fi nished after all.
What now?
Now you've got your own studio, work out what your own creative style is. Some people like to write a whole song out on paper then record it part by part. Some people like to get a drumbeat rolling and just jam along till they fi nd a groove they like. Try combining different drumbeats and samples until you fi nd a magic combination. Making a mashup of two different songs is a good way to get to know your new software. It's really easy to get started, but to get good you still need to learn about music - things like song structure, notation, chords and time signatures. Start counting when you listen to music. How many bars are in the intro? How long is the fi rst verse? Think about the way your song is structured. If you're making dance music or hip hop you might be able to get away with one solid backing track running throughout and a breakdown near the end. If you're serious about songwriting, the best option is to follow tried and trusted patterns of song arrangement: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. The idea is to give your listener something catchy, without being too repetitive. And make sure you remember actv8 when you're famous.
What it all means
TRACK: Mono or stereo audio or MIDI file
ARRANGEMENT: A sequenced composition that may contain multiple tracks LOOP: A snippet of audio that is trimmed at each end so that it repeats
MIDI: Musical instrument digital interface
BOUNCE DOWN: The process of exporting multiple tracks down to two-channel (L & R) stereo
MASHUP: Combining the music of one song with the vocals of another.
What you need
HARDWARE: Computer (with a sound card) Microphone and any instruments you want to record Headphones or speakers Cables to connect everything together
SOFTWARE: Digital audio software
OPTIONAL EXTRAS: Digital audio interface MIDI keyboard Sampling software
Optional extras
DIGITAL AUDIO INTERFACE
A digital audio interface is a box that you plug into your computer, which you then plug your instruments and mic into. It will make your recording sound a lot better, and give you multiple audio and MIDI inputs, increasing the number of tracks you can work with. Two inputs will let you record your guitar and voice at the same time, four will let you add bass and drums for a full-band live recording.
The Rock Shop recommends the $399 Mobile Pre-USB by M-Audio, which comes with a free version of the excellent Ableton Live Lite 5 software.
SAMPLER
Digital audio sampling software lets you record and edit sounds as single tracks. You can use it to make loops, repeating patterns of audio that are especially useful for creating drumbeats to go under your track.
If you're making dance music, you can use the software to take samples from CDs, then highlight or remove different parts of the sound. You can also use it to make your own samples: try recording your little brother laughing at the TV, then trim out the TV noise so you've just got a cool laughing sound, then change the pitch and speed so it sounds really creepy.
The best free sampling software is Audacity. Sony's Sound Forge Audio Studio (US$69.95) and Bias Peak LE5 (US$129) both have free demos you can download.
LINKS
Audio Minds
PC Recording
Studio Buddy
Kristal Audio Engine
Garageband
Ableton Live
Music Creator 3 by Cakewalk
N-Track Studio
Fruity Edition by FL Studio
Cubase SE3
Audacity
Sound Forge Audio Studio
Bias Peak LE5
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