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FR8x/BK7m/vocal arrangements ... comments please

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WestCoastFR8x

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Hello, all.

i have just purchased a new mixer with a USB audio out, so without a lot of fancy recording equipment, i finally have a way of doing some basic recording. i attach the mixer to my Mac and run Audacity (free program). i run my (pre-created) midi track on the BK7m and record it. Thats my click track.

Then i play the BK7m through headphones and play the bass part from my FR8x through the mixer and record it.

Then i play the BK7m through headphones again, and this time record the treble of my FR8x

Then i play the BK7m through headphones AGAIN (whew) and record the vocal.

Audacity puts each recording session on a different track, but theyre not lined up. i align all the tracks using the MOVE tool, balance them and export as an MP3.

id welcome comments and feedback on any improvements that anybody may have...a link to a medley of bits of recordings ive done can be found in my dropbox here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f8tcq2kyeozo76k/DonHallSample - 320 kps.mp3?dl=0

Thank you in advance! Looking forward to hearing from you!
 
I would suggest investing in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation ). Although these software programs can be pricy, there are cut down versions that are extremely powerful. The best known is Cubase Elements. It will provide you with a huge opportunity to record audio and midi with real time playback and even digital effects thrown in.
 
Though I used to record to cassette tape via a small 6-channel Yamaha mixer, it is so much easier to go all digital and save using software via stereo line input that is connected to your mixer.

To start, I find it important that you start thinking what final product you want in terms of a stereo image. What instrument you want where in that spacial image as a listener. To this end, it helps a lot if you don't want ultimate control over every section individually for a big final mixdown at the end by setting up the initial stereo tracks at the mixer and then adding enhancement tracks later by playing the initial tracks through your headphones and recording accompaniment tracks later. This saves cutting down the number of times you play/record the sections.

Instead of recording bass, then treble, then drums, then accompaniment, then main track, let me explain how I did things.

I would configure the mixer settings in terms of my arranger volume and image (pan) settings, then do the same for the bass, and then the treble settings, giving emphasis of volume to the bass and treble settings. Basically, I would set it up as if I was playing a live gig. For me that meant that of the 16 channels on my mixer, 8-9 would be configured how I wanted things to sound. After that I configured effects like echo/reverb to taste.

This was then dumped into 1 left/right track to my computer, saved using Adobe Audition CS6. Now any similar program like Cubase, Audity and other free applications would do the same thing.

Done right, it saved me a TON of time by not needing to record the song 10 times over and separate each section, because the balancing and mastering of all these parts was already done via the mixer on the initial setup.

Where you are going wrong is losing sync between tracks, and here is the trick on how to avoid this... after Track 1 is recorded, you are going to listen to this track through your headphones from the recording and simultaneously play/record an accompaniment track that records only to track 2. Perfect sync every time! And you just keep adding tracks and other accompaniment tracks until you are finished.

The second last step is to balance your accompaniment tracks to your #1 track. Once done, output it all to a nice MP3 and make it available for us to all hear!

Yes, I know that this is not how "real studios" do it, they put everything on it's own track and then spend weeks balancing each track to the overall project, but seriously, unless you are mastering for professional mass production and are paying an expert to do this all for you, it is not always necessary.

Oh, here is a small hint... Unless you are recording from an analog source (a microphone or pickup mics in your accordion), you don't need to use headphones, you can listen to the music through your computer's speakers and record the next track, but make sure all analog mics are disabled or you introduce these background sounds into the track you are recording on when you do NOT want it there.

Need a small video tutorial to show it? Let me know and I would be willing to try to make something for the group. I am not an expert, but do have some experience doing this and would be willing to share if someone wants.

The difference between this setup and a digital "recording" is that you don't play back midi sounds that can be changed and then mixed down, but rather is a kind of more old fashioned way where everything is saved in a digital sound file and the only changes one can make is changes to the track, but that said, you have the choice of adding in effects while recording the track, or if your software supports it, you can do all other kinds of effects additions via software. The one big thing that I like is that when recording audio analog tracks, one can re-EQ and/or de-noise or de-hiss them before mixing down to the final MP3.

In a more complex setup, one could save output to a midi-file that could change the tone/sound/instrument on the fly. I cannot do that in my setup and honestly, don't really miss it, because if you look, one of the first things I do is "design" the sound and final product before I start recording. Most of the time, I would have played that song so many times that I would know in advance how I wanted it to sound and no major changes would be needed after the recording was made. I can see the advantage, though... but its no biggie for me. :)
 
Thanx for the comments! Very constructive and i will take them under advisement! Special thank you to Jerry for the detail...

More comments are welcome...
 
Hi, I've listened through a few times. It was interesting for me and very enjoyable. Due to circumstances, I've only listened on my phone, not even with headphones, so I may not have the best picture of what's going on. Before I comment, may I ask, is the idea to create tracks for listening or is this effectively a record of your live set?
 
Sorry, that may have sounded like a stupid question, obviously if you're multi tracking it's not live, but I wondered if you were building up recordings to use as live backing or for listening. The reason I ask is that I wonder if the personality of the BK-7m is coming through and I wanted to ask about how much you did to the BK-7m styles to adapt them.
 
Matt Butcher said:
Sorry, that may have sounded like a stupid question, obviously if youre multi tracking its not live, but I wondered if you were building up recordings to use as live backing or for listening. The reason I ask is that I wonder if the personality of the BK-7m is coming through and I wanted to ask about how much you did to the BK-7m styles to adapt them.

Hi, Matt

there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers! ha ha

the aim of the medley i posted is to let potential venues who may wish to hire me get a quick sampling of how i sound.

As to the BK7m styles, i dont use them at all. Everything is midi, either completely from scratch myself, or downloaded and heavily adapted to my liking. i do all the midi programming using Aria Maestoso (free, simple, does everything i want, so far). Then i export the midi file onto a USB stick which i insert into the BK7m.

Although the BK7m sets are great, i find that even with all the variations and different fills, the backing just doesnt quite give me the self-satisfaction that i seemed to want. however, i do like the detail that a custom midi track will give me.

On the other hand...just calling up a set and playing along is WAY simpler and faster. It takes me anywhere from an hour to 8 or 10 hours to do a midi arrangement exactly to my liking. Mull Of Kintyre was 11 hours! Every time i perform it, i get a very rewarding round of applause...to me , its well worth the 11 hours if it keeps getting a response like that!
 
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