recording

[sjusk]

Today I downloaded a limited shareware version of n-Track Studio at www.fasoft.com, and it has one feature I haven´t found in Audacity: When I want to record a second track with a backing guitar, there are no troubles with the timing. With Audacity I have to manually move the second track back and forth til it´s there, (and sometimes it never happens) and the only "method" I can see, is estimating and guessing. Lot of pushing back and forth.
Maybe I just haven´t found that button yet in Audacity that syncronices the tracks, but I don´t have to bother with that question in n-Track Studio at all.
On the other hand: n-Track is shareware, not all features are available, and it has anoying pop-ups wanting you to buy the stuff - reasonable I guess.
Audacity has other features I didn´t found in n-Track, so I have been exporting and importing between the two programs, and had some fun with it.
n-Track also needs an mp3 encoder to convert, but the first time you want to use that feature, a sign pops up and takes you to the url where you can attrieve the encoder.

On a different note: I´ve been listening to ALL the great recordings on Mandolin Project, and it´s such a great way to be inspired - thanks y´all!!
I hope to be able to make my humble contribution soon.

sjusk

[Bluegrasstjej]

Beautiful, Sjusk!!!!!!!!!! I tried it!! It syncs really well! It looks much more complicated than Audacity but I'll try to learn it, I do anything if I don't have to fight with the timing every time I do a recording!

[Harrmob]

N-Track is neat, and easy to use. That is what I use and it is pretty powerful. The only problem I have is that if you do not have a pre-amp, and you have a buzz or a hiss when you record, it is compounded with eaach track that you have. If you have 8 tracks of something going at once, count on a huge hiss. That is probably with any software though, not just N-track.

[Bluegrasstjej]

what is a pre-amp? And please, please, explain it in words for someone who don't know ANYTHING about microphones or technology.

[sjusk]

You´re right Harrmob, I couldn´t figure out either to eliminate hissing in n-Track, but Audacity can deal with it, so I exported the wav-file there and managed to get a deasant result out of it.
To you tjej: don´t get confused with all the buttons and sliders, I don´t know what they are for either; just press the record-button and pick away. Little by little you´ll get aquainted with how it works.
I´m sure Harrmob knows a lot more about pre-amps than I do.

sjusk

[Brian Ray]

Tjej,

A preamp amplifies a signal. In this case, a micraphone preamp, amplifies the signal from a mic (makes it louder). Mic output is very low... they need a gain boost in order to get to a respectable level. It does other things as well but that's basically it...

[Bluegrasstjej]

Thanks Dasspunk. A friend of mine brought another mic some week ago, and it didn't work at all on my computer, because of the very low output. How do I know I can use a certain microphone on the computer? I now use a headset but I'd like to get something better.

[Brian Ray]

Tjej,

What kind of mic do you have now (usb or 1/8th inch mini jack)? What kind of sound card? For that matter, what kind of computer?

[Bluegrasstjej]

I guess I have a 1/8th inch mini jack, like an ordinary headphones plug. My soundcard is a Realtek AC97 Audio. What do you need to know about the computer? I don't know anything about computers. I just know how to use them. (isn't it sad?) It's a Compaq Presario. My processor is an AMD Athlon. I guess there's more info somewhere, but then I have to look through all my papers. That's not a problem, if you need more information.

[Brian Ray]

No Tjej, that's enough info on the 'puter.

Here's the deal...
- Computer soundcards typically don't have great AD converters (analog to digital (audio ins)).
- Your average computer mics will never sound that great.
- Decent recording gear will cost you

My guess (guess!) is that your mic is the biggest problem but getting another cheap-ish computer mic will not likely get you where you want to be.

There are really good, cheap mics out there. There are also a few good cheap mic pres. I would suggest buying one of each and going through your existing sound card.

Some cheap mics...

Some cheap mic pres

The Audio Buddy (two mic pres) and any of the ART tubeMPs (single pre) are quite nice. You'd run out of the mic pre into your sound card. I think you'd be surprised at the difference... and all for about $100!

Then the only issue may be a noisy sound card...

[Bluegrasstjej]

Thank you very much, Dasspunk. The pres seem very interesting. I'll think about it and make a decision when I've started making money (quite poor at the moment, get my first salary in a couple of weeks and I have some things I need to pay first).
Thanks for great help!!! You're a rock! Usually people talk about things here and there and mention lots of brands and numbers so that I eventually feel like an alien...

[Brian Ray]

Not a problem a'tall...

One last thing, your sound card does have a line in, yes? The mic-in would likely not work well. It's bound to have a bit of boost in it that would be noisy as hell when using a line-level signal (eg. from the mic pre). You'd want to go mic=>mic pre=>sound card line in.