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Recording at home...


themetallikid
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OK, so I'm a newb to home recording especially with this awesome black box they call Helix.  

 

I know I need a recording software to work with...I can find that no problem (free or paid).   Where I'm a little out of my element is the connection and setup details.  When I jam to songs for practicing for the band I connect USB only, and then listen via Helix headphone jack.  

 

Is this all I need to do to record is the USB cable and monitor the input/output levels going into my laptop?  I normally have my volume knob disengaged to send the full signal, is that too much for laptop sound card?  

 

My main goal with this is to simple record some audio to represent myself acoustically and potentially record some guitar/bass/vocal tracks over jam/drum tracks for the sake of a cheap homemade demo thing.  

 

In my head I think I have it figured out, but being that I'm going to be home now for awhile with not much outside contact or to do...might as well learn and take advantage.  

 

 

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You don't mention an OS, but if you're a Mac guy you should already have GarageBand, which is a very capable DAW. It has plenty of baked in effects and EQ options, has worked with every plug-in I've tried to use with it, and is stupid easy to navigate (which is definitely not the case for some others I've seen), which for a novice is not a bad thing. ProTools it ain't, but for getting your feet wet it's more than sufficient.

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When you connect Helix via USB to your laptop it becomes your PC's soundcard; your internal soundcard is bypassed. By default your DAW (recording program) should recognize Helix and its ASIO driver as the audio device. If this does not happen automatically you may have to do it manually in your DAW's Audio Devices Configuration/Prefernces area. This is particularly important if you use Audacity because its default is to use a pseudo-ASIO driver called ASIO4ALL. Avoid using that because it is known to cause problems in some situations.

 

Because your Helix becomes the soundcard for both audio input and output you will need to connect your speakers or headphones to the Helix outputs. Your internal laptop mic/line inputs and speakers will be bypassed.

 

In your DAW, when you create a new audio track and arm it for recording you will need to select the Input Source. Helix has 8 independent channels that you can select from. For details check the manual's Global Settings section, particularly the subsections that describe DAW, Recording, and ASIO.

 

 

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Ok that helps a lot.  I kinda knew that stuff, but reading it better confirms what I thought I'd need to do. 

 

With the 8 independent channels, does that mean for recording my acoustic stuff, I could record the vocals/guitar together in a live take, instead of doing them separately?  I know i'll get better quality if I do separate, but it'd be cool to record a scratch track to work off of first and if the live take doesn't work on one of the channels just rerecord that take. 

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46 minutes ago, themetallikid said:

. ....

With the 8 independent channels, does that mean for recording my acoustic stuff, I could record the vocals/guitar together in a live take, instead of doing them separately?  I know i'll get better quality if I do separate,...


Yes you can record both together, either in a single mono track, a single stereo track, or two separate mono or stereo tracks. The technical quality won’t be better one way or another. Your performance quality may be different depending on your ability to play and sing simultaneously rather than focusing on each independently.

 

Assuming your DAW has sufficient capacity (most do) you can also record both guitar and vocals ‘dry’ meaning without any processing while recording the processed tracks as above. This is useful if you want to re-amp or use plug-ins (e.g. Helix Native) later. This will let you modify the processing completely without having to re-record the tracks.

 

 

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Ok, can someone define DAW and what it all entails? I've seen it before and generally 'get' what its referring to, but in my setup helix>cpu...what specifically is it referring to? which portion of what i'm doing?  

 

'I think that's what throws me, I hear language or acronyms thrown around I don't quite fully know how they apply to what I wanna do. 

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DAW means Digital Audio Workstation. For all intents and purposes it refers to Digital recording software.

If you'r allergic to reading manuals, forget it. Buy a Hardware Digital Recorder, they're virtually identical in basic function to old school tape decks.

If you're capable of reading and comprehending manuals, download Reaper. It's full featured, has an unlimited trial period ($60 when you're ready) and has extensive video (available from the Cockos Reaper site), tons of documentation and a VERY active and helpful forum. There are other FREE DAWs of course, I've tried most of them Reaper is the best and most stable.

 

Once you've done that, I can help with your Helix related Reaper questions.

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If you want some quick hands-on experience, go to YouTube and search for Reaper Mania.  Kenny Gioia has a couple of series that will help you hit the ground running....Your First Midi Song in Reaper and Recording Your Band in Reaper.  

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Ok, damn....thank you guys for helping me get over that hurdle.  I was familar with Reaper from my last set of band demos.  I did a nicer job than our sound guy...I think (and others, lol).  

 

Here are the links to what I did tonight already.  A few notes:

 

1) they arent finished, merely recorded the guitars and bass tracks.

2) Bass tracks are a pitch shifted guitar bass rig.  Ive never played bass before, the bass lines probably arent 100% right and not sure if I did a good bass sound.  I think it works though

3) no vocals yet, have to find space and time to get into 'that' mood.  But hoping soon.

4) they arent mastered or anything, just mixed so I can sing to them when ready. 

5) it took me about 2 1/2 hours on the Hard To Handle as I was getting used to it and a workflow developing.  Small Things took me almost an hour 

 

Well here go...be kind and if not kind constructive.  

 

https://soundcloud.com/jason-allwardt/sets/helix-guitar-bass-band-demos-rough

 

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2 hours ago, emagli said:

Sounds pretty good to me! Nice guitar tone — which amp/cab are you using?

 

If anything, the drums are a bit dry, for the lack of a better word (and for my taste). 

yeah I'm sure I can apply an overall reverb to them as well.  the actual tracks arent dry at all, but probably getting lost in the mix.  

 

For the amp/cab varies per song.  I have to run quick for a showing on our house, but when I return later I'll look it up.  I know the IR i'm using is labeled only as 4x12 Creamy.  There are other versions of it listed as 4x12 Crisp, Boomy or something similar.  Not even sure what cab it models or where I got it, lol.  

 

thanks for the comments so far.  appreciate it.  

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On 3/20/2020 at 10:20 AM, themetallikid said:

I think I can start with this info and get myself there.  

 

Any help on good sites for cover song drum/jam tracks?  free or otherwise.

 

These are all pretty much classic rock and blues but I have over 100 drum/bass tracks uploaded to my ad-free site.  Read the 'WTF?' tab to understand how to use them and other info.

 

https://lonepoorboy.com/

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Try ableton lite its free and has a instructional directory on the right side of the screen to get it set up and vfc running ..plus how everything works. I'm pretty much doing the same thing as you recording my keyboard. Guitar..took a little messing with it but I got it working. All kinds of sounds and drum loops you can add to it ..have fun were all in this together 

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"finished versions" - Added vocals, FX/Mastering to my bass track and overall mix.  Vocals are my weakest.  I sound better live than recorded...Also getting a good vocal sound is tough.  Just using a Sennheiser e835 into a vocal patch on the Helix and some post cleanup using the Aggressive/Modern templates in Reaper.  

 

I think they turned out decent.  I need some harmony help from my other guitar player, just dont have the ear for that very much.  

 

https://soundcloud.com/jason-allwardt/sets/demo-tracks-wvocals-master-fx

 

 

For my presets, the Hard to Handle was done using the P75 amp model, boosed with the Heir Apparent into my 4x12 Creamy IR (from somewhere I dont remember) Some Pre/Post amp Eqing as well.  Small Things used the same 'Core' preset.  

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