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Thread: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

  1. #1
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    I'm going to start this up. It sort of falls under "gear" but is unique enough that it should have its own thread.

    This is about Recording. Not which guitar/pickup/amp/effect sounds like what with each different song.

    This will be about how you get that sound from the source, laid down into a digital track and subsequently Rendered into an MP3 that all can listen to.

    There are several of these that I have been exposed to.

    First off, there is/was "Audacity". This is a freeware product from Sourceforge and quite good. If simple recording of one track at a time is all your needs call for, you will be hard pressed to justify expending hard-earned money on anything else.

    Secondly, we will hopefully discuss "Reaper". This one is the first step up from the freebie "Audacity" I'd guess. It is fully featured. I really can't see why any home recording Geek would want anything more than this. It uses VSTs which can be found out on the Internet both free and as packaged bundles. VSTs are the "effects" like Delay, Chorus, Distortion, Comp and pretty much anything else you might find in anyone's pedal collection. Of course they are digital and not analog and a good analog pedal will blow them away. But they are handy for someone who is just playing around.

    The other DAWs that I cannot fully address are Sonar, Ableton, Cakewalk and Pro-Tools. Those are the ones that range anywhere from a Couple of Hundred (Sonar and Cakewalk) to Thousands for Pro Tools depending on the plug-ins you add.



    Anyway, this new thread should let us keep things "sorted out" so people interested just in guitars and other hardware can go to GearHeads and not have to wade through interspersed volumes of DAW talk. We already have the Soundclips thread for sample recordings and videos. I will be putting clips in here showing samples of what these DAWs can produce once you learn to use them.

    I'm going to ask Nancy to copy the last few posts in GearHead over here if I haven't figured out how to do it....some of that Administrator Magic she wields.

    Maybe we can start out in GEARHEADS and move the following posts over here:

    537
    538
    540
    521
    517
    515
    512

    I know there are some others buried in that Gearhead thread that I posted a long time ago...particularly about Audacity. But this will get a good start on the new thread.'

    Thanks in advance Nanc

    MikeA

  2. #2
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    Well, I've found the first "don't like" so far with Reaper.

    Some background: You're recording a track and in the middle of a complicated solo part, you miss a a note and get off-fret and screw up a few others but get yourself repositioned on the guitar and complete the take without further errors.

    So now you have recorded a great track except for 5 seconds of Elmer Fudd right in the middle of it.

    With Audacity, no sweat. You just highlight that part of the project, silence it with one click of the mouse, start a new track and when it gets to the part you silenced, you replay that part. It is seamless and no one but YOU will know that you overdubbed it.

    It isn't that easy with Reaper. It doesn't have a built in "Wave Editor"! I've read several forums on this issue, thinking that I was just missing something very glaring in the 400-page docs that come with Reaper. But "NO", I didn't miss it...it is not there. There is a place where you can specify an external wave editor program though.

    Ironically, many people have said that they specify "Audacity" as their "wave editor" <LOL> I haven't tried that yet. Seems a lot of CPU overhead to have both Audacity and Reaper running just to get a segment of a recording "silenced".

    MikeA

  3. #3
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    First, in this part, let it be known that the criticism of a Newbie to a new tool is not the consummate totality of its features.

    It is really quite easy to chop out a piece of a track, modify it and reinsert it without going to an External Editor. In the case of Reaper, you simply position your cursor (current position in the track) at the beginning of the measure containing the piece you wish to change. There is a "split track at cursor" option that will segment the track into two pieces...the first containing everything done in the track up to the point of the error and the second containing the rest of the track starting with the measure in which the error occurs.

    At that point, you can move the second part of the track into a new track without changing its relative position (relative to the first part of the track that is). At that point, you can segment the new "track" so that the measure(s) containing the error are isolated into yet another track. You can at that point, move the rest of the original track back up into the original track in its proper position. "Delete" or "Silence" the bad piece.

    Now, you have in one track, the first error free part, followed by a gap where you pulled out the error, and then the remaining portion of the track.

    To correct the error, "ARM" only the piece of the track that you are going to repair. Position the cursor a few measures before the error and start it up and when you get to the part you want to fix, just play the part correctly and it will record it. Chop the beginning and end of the track so that only the measure(s) that you corrected are left and then move it back up into the original track.

    It sounds a whole lot more complicated than it actually is. It takes only seconds to manipulate the track in the way I described.

    MikeA

  4. #4
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    Now, for another "Discovery".

    A DAW is really made up of two primary functions. The first is capturing audio for replay. This part of a DAW is like a tape recorder except instead of having to use a razor blade to cut segments of a song recorded on tape and splicing them in somewhere else in the song, you can do it without the messiness of a tape cutting jig and without the enevitable "oops's" that you'll definitely make when you cut the tape in the wrong place and cut off a note you needed.

    You can also record a second channel after you've recorded the first one without losing fidelity that comes from second and third generations of the original recording. That is probably the biggest selling point on digital recording in my opinion.

    But the Second huge advantage of DAW's is the inclusion of VST plugins! These little gizmos are wonderful! They are what you use to introduce "echo", "chorus", "distortion", "overdrive", "phaser", "noise gates", "equalizers", "octaviers", "fuzz boxes", "reverb"....and any other effect that you might dream up and that you may need to use in putting the final "sound" onto a recording.

    Those can get really bulky in a DAW recording track though. Reaper comes with a ton of effects and there are more that you can download and implement at no charge. VSTs are widely available on the internet as freeware.

    In Reaper, there are a lot of JS (Java Script) plugins and each effect is listed separately and is controlled by non intuitive sliders and parameter boxes. There are probably 50 of them that are shipped with Reaper when you count the VST plugins that are also available in the original package.

    Which brings me to one that I found and have been using. This one is a VST called LFX-1310 LUXONIX. This is probably the only one I'll need for a long LONG time. It isn't just "one effect". It brings up a main menu that has a long list of effects chains (combinations of say, gates, delays and choruses).

    In fact, with this one module, you can create your own chain of effects. Each chain consists of three "stomp box" effects and you choose which three you wish to use. And, you can stack more than one chain in each channel.

    But the real beauty is that if you record using these effects, you are not committed to them like you would be if you recorded an amp with a set of effects chained to it. With that, to get rid or adjust an effect, you would have to make your change and then record the entire segment over again.

    With a DAW and by using digital effects, you can record with a digital effects chain active so that it sounds something like you want the finished product to sound like, and then after the recording session, pressing one "button" completely removes all effects. Or you can go in and modify the effects by changing their settings, removing them, adding new ones...whatever...after the fact until you get it sounding exactly the way you want it to sound.

    If you are going to move into DAW recording, keep LFX-1310 LUXONIX in mind. It has pretty much everything and everyone I've used so far is of high quality.

    MikeA

  5. #5
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    I really don't know where to put this post. It really doesn't have anything to do with DAW's. Nor is it anything to do with GEAR. And it isn't a SOUND BYTE. So I decide to put it here; out of the way where it won't annoy anyone.

    I rediscovered something today that I've known in theory for years and actually worked at it for a while once, but never had a real application for it.

    Most of us start off learning the Pentatonic Scales on a guitar in the key of E using the Minor Pentatonic or "Blues" scale. That's pretty logical actually because the 1st pattern starts off on the Nut in the key of E and it repeats for the first time up on the 12th fret. There are a lot of songs written in that key...especially Texas Blues.

    But I was wanting to start working on something that was in a Major Scale. Something a little "less dark". It made me thing of Keith Richards and his work with the Stones in the key of "G". He retunes his guitars to open tunings but most of them are "G". Sounded good to me. So I pulled out my magic homemade Scale Slide Rule and stuck the Major Pentatonic slide in it and guess what:

    "Gmaj" has exactly the same note structure as does "Em". Em is played using the Minor Pentatonic Scale (duh) and "G" uses the Major scale but it can still be Pentonic (5 notes).

    The notes are the same but the Root IV and V are different. In "E", the notes are E, A and B (I IV and V). In "G" the notes are G, C and D (again I IV and V). The other notes are still there for sure but they are secondary. Another way to look at this is to look at it from a perspective of Moods. But that's another story.

    The beauty is that with just a little work learning where in those patterns that you are already familiar with in Em, you find the Root for Gmaj, you can be completely up to speed in a Major key without having to get familiar with a new pattern!

    Music really is logical!

    MikeA

  6. #6
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    Probably as good a place as any to post this.

    I'm looking for a good, easy to use set of drum samples to use in my recordings..such as they are. Most of the ones that are not loaded with samples of drum tracks, are so complicated in defining the different sounds (cymbals, snares, kicks, hi-hats, toms) that you really don't want to mess with defining the beats....on what count to kick the bass, how many hits of the snare and on what count....you know...defining a complete sound. It is tedious to say the least.

    Much easier is getting a complete set of sample drum loops. With those, you can speed them up or slow them down and get a rhythm that you can use. I have in the past, ripped drum loops off of commercial recordings and those do work good...but it is not really all that easy to find a drum loop on a record (or CD) that doesn't also contain the bass guitar, rhythm guitar, lead guitar and vocals also in the integrated mix.

    But there are sources and I'm looking for them! Just find one you like and adjust the tempo and record it. You might want to find two or three different loops to integrate into a recording. Not many songs have a drummer repeating the same pattern throughout the song.

    I do have two quick solutions on hand though one of them doesn't work now. I have a Boss Dr. Rhythm drum machine but the internal battery is dead. It will not charge up and it has no provisions for Alkaline batteries.

    But the other one does work and works great! It is my Yamaha Drum Kit. It has 99 different rhythms. These rhythms can all be looped though some of them are like 60 measures long...a complete song pretty much. You cannot change the drum kit on these as they are preset.

    Now, if I could drum....I could define the kit that I wanted to use. Anything from acoustic drums to electronic drums. Anything from monster gongs to tiny finger cymbals. Then just play it and record it. Well, I'm not there by any means so I need to go the preset rhythm route. But it isn't too hard to find something in that set of 99 samples and adjust it to the proper speed for what I'm wanting to do.

    It's not like having Keith Moon or Joe Vitale lay down a track for me, but it's about as close as I'm going to get to having a good drum score for recording.

    MikeA

  7. #7
    Stuck on the Border WalshFan88's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    On my iMac, GarageBand comes with several great drum loops and tracks but a lot of them are fairly basic. Logic, however, has a bit more. I use them a lot when recording ideas or song covers. I just use the USB guitar interface and put that into Logic (another Apple program that offers more that the one that comes with Macs, GarageBand) and then I'm good to go. Pro Tools is really a studio application but Logic is great for home studios. I love Apple's for recording and editing media (photos, videos, and audio). Macs are just naturally great for it.
    -Austin-
    Resident Guitar Slinger
    Fan of the Eagles from 1972-2016 #NOGLENNNOEAGLES

    RIP Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner

    "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key..."


  8. #8
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    What the pros say is that MAC is the way to go if you want plug and play and reliability. Who'd want THAT? <LOL> But they also say that there are not nearly the options out there for expansion and upgrade in Audio Software. Prettymuch "what you get is what you hear".

    For most, including me, that would surely be enough. I'll not knock Mac's.

    MikeA

  9. #9
    Stuck on the Border WalshFan88's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeA View Post
    What the pros say is that MAC is the way to go if you want plug and play and reliability. Who'd want THAT? <LOL> But they also say that there are not nearly the options out there for expansion and upgrade in Audio Software. Prettymuch "what you get is what you hear".

    For most, including me, that would surely be enough. I'll not knock Mac's.
    For me, Macs are the better OS.... Pretty much no viruses or security concerns, fast, no crashes, and it's very reliable. Compatibility with Windows is spotty at times, I won't deny that.

    But I also will say in the same breath, the work Microsoft has done in Windows 7 has truly impressed me both as a computer user and a computer technician/repair person. Maybe they are finally catching up on what people want from a computer. Speed, security, and reliability. All very important.
    -Austin-
    Resident Guitar Slinger
    Fan of the Eagles from 1972-2016 #NOGLENNNOEAGLES

    RIP Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner

    "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key..."


  10. #10
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

    No Doubt...MS has come a long way with Win7. Seems like every-other release is a poor one though. Hope they keep their act together. I've heard NOTHING bad about Win7. Just a learning curve.

    MikeA

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