HOME - ARTICLES: 1. Home recording - part 1 2. Home recordng - mixing & multitracking - part 2 3. The Songwriters Starter Pack - part 1 4. The Songwriters Starter Pack - part 2 5. The Songwriters Starter Pack - part 3 6. The Songwriters Starter Pack - part 4 7. 'Learn & Master Piano Secrets' Introduction 8. Playing By Ear - Perfect Pitch
Home Recording - part 1 Introduction It is not the intention of this article to teach you how to be a professional sound engineer but rather to give you some tips on how to produce an acceptable demo disk at home. Professional sound recording is complicated and expensive so there is nothing here about how to set up a professional studio but heaps of stuff about how to have a lot of fun at home arranging and mixing your own music even with the most inexpensive instrument.
Instrument features Very little is mentioned throught my keyboard course 'Learn To Play Keyboard' about individual instruments because there are so many different models and, of course, I have no idea what your choice of instrument is. There are some basic similarities and I will try and keep to those. The latest state of the art, top of the range, instruments have a virtual recording studio built in and if you have one of these you are very lucky but many people get a great deal of pleasure out of the less expensive models. It is still possible to use an inexpensive instrument to achieve some amazing results. What you do need is a 'line out' socket which may be called 'aux out'. It is there primarily for extension speakers. Newer models may have one socket which accommodates both stereo channels but older models may have both right and left channel sockets. You are going to use the 'line out' to connect to your computer but more about your instrument features first.
Accompaniment section The accompaniment section, to the left of your split keyboard, will have a variety of functions usually:
Different models will have more or less functions. A large selection of different pre set accompaniments will be provided and on some models you can customise the settings. Usually you can vary the volume of each function to bring up the bass or take down the rhythm or switch individual functions on and off at will during the playing of a piece. Some instruments allow you to build up your own 'phrases' or sequences and store them to be recalled at any point simply by hitting a button. You might be lucky enough to be able to store a number of different sequences which will automatically change to suite the chord you are playing. Great if you have this feature but don't be too concerned if you have not because I am going to show you how to create your own sequences using your computer. Usually you can switch between 2 or more versions of the same accompaniment during a piece so you get 2 or more versions of all the functions mentioned and can create some terrific variations if you explore the possibilities.
Right hand section Your instrument will provide you with a number of right hand voices such as piano, guitar, vibes, clarinet, sax and perhaps a hundred others. Some instruments provide for two voices to be played simultaneously so you could have piano playing over soft strings. The more expensive models might provide a 'Lead' voice in addition to the other two and this is usually a monophonic voice so that you can play it separately while holding the notes of the other voices - great for adding clever harmonies. Don't be concerned if you don't have this because it is possible to include additional voices as you need them on your computer.
Tracks It is surprising that early popular music was recorded on 4 tracks. One of the most popular songs ever was recorded on 8 tracks. Today we feel badly done by if we haven’t got 32 tracks to work with on our home keyboard. Modern instruments require at least 16 tracks just to provide you with that magnificent sound you love so much and if your instrument has 16 tracks you might be surprised to find that there is no room left to add tracks in order to enhance your performance. Don't despair because once you have your music on your computer you can add as many tracks as you want.
Your computer The next piece of equipment you are going to need is your computer and this must have at least one USB 2 port. Most computers come with a standard sound card and speakers suitable for games and basic computer functions but not necessarily suitable for music creation. You might find that your early attempts to record your keyboard into your computer failed because the playback was a whole tone higher than it should have been. Many people strike this problem with their early recording efforts. The basic sound card and audio program is sometimes just not good enough for music production.
The Audio Interface
It will by-pass your internal sound card and the accompanying software is vastly superior designed solely for music reproduction. The cost of this handy little piece of hardware will not break the bank and it just sits out of the way on top of your computer. There are, ofcourse, many different models and some will set you back a bundle but this is what I would call an 'entry level' device suitable as an inexpensive, home recording option. The line from your 'line out' sockets goes to the 'line in' sockets in this little device. It has a headphone socket and it is possible to use this as an extension speaker socket if you want to upgrade your computer speakers. It has a 'line out' socket which you can attach to your keyboard 'line in' socket so that you have two way communication between your computer and your instrument. It also has MIDI in and out.
Recordng software.
There might be two ways to get your music into your computer. Firstly you can play straight into it live or if you have a recording feature on your keyboard you could record it first and then play the recording into your computer. If your keyboard allows you to play back individual tracks so much the better as you can then record each individual track and manipulate them separately. The partial screenshot below shows Cubase with two tracks recorded and the mixer for those two tracks.
Screen shot
If you have recorded a piece on your keyboard you might decide that there are aspects that could be improved. Perhaps the volume of one track is too loud in the verse but not loud enough in the chorus. If you can get the recording into your computer as separate tracks you can manipulate the volume of each track to suit. That's it for part 1. You can cllick here for part 2
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