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PC Recording Studios FOR DUMmIES‰
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PC Recording Studios FOR DUMmIES‰
by Jeff Strong
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PC Recording Studios For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River Street Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, e-mail: brandreview@ wiley.com. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REP- RESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CON- TENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CRE- ATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CON- TAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FUR- THER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFOR- MATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number Is Available from the Publisher. ISBN: 0-7645-7707-7 Manufactured in the United States of America 10987654321 1O/RY/QT/QV/IN
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About the Author Jeff Strong is the author of Home Recording for Musicians For Dummies as well as Pro Tools All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies and is President of the REI Institute, a MusicMedicine research organization and therapy provider. Jeff graduated from the Percussion Institute of Technology at the Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles in 1983, and has either worked in or owned a recording studio since 1985. Every week, he records dozens of custom-client CDs by using the kinds of audio recording software covered in these pages. He has also released eight commercially available CDs, four of which can be found at www.reiinstitute.com.
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Author’s Acknowledgments This book wouldn’t have happened without the inspiration and vision of Senior Acquisitions Editor Steve Hayes. This is my third book with Steve; this one was just as much fun to do as the first. A hearty thanks to my agent Carol Susan Roth for making sure I get what’s coming to me.
Books, by nature, are a team effort — and this book is the result of an extremely talented and dedicated team of professionals: Project Editor Paul Levesque (my partner in crime for the third time), who reminded me what a great editor can do for a writer; Technical Editor Erik Scull, who kept me on the straight and narrow; and Copy Editor Virginia Sanders, whose dry sense of humor put a smile on my face more than once during this process.
I am especially grateful for the love and support of my wife Beth and my daughter Tovah, who never cease to amaze me in their capacity to endure non-stop recording talk.
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez Senior Project Editor: Paul Levesque Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Acquisitions Editor: Steve Hayes Lauren Goddard, Heather Ryan, Copy Editor: Virginia Sanders Julie Trippetti Technical Editor: Erik Scull Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer, Joe Niesen, Carl Pierce, TECHBOOKS Editorial Manager: Leah Cameron Production Services Permissions Editor: Laura Moss Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services Media Development Manager: Laura VanWinkle Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves Editorial Assistant: Amanda Fox Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction ...... 1 Part I: Computer Recording Basics ...... 7 Chapter 1: Discovering What You Need ...... 9 Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Recording Space ...... 35 Part II: Choosing and Installing Computer Hardware ....51 Chapter 3: Choosing Computer Components ...... 53 Chapter 4: Examining Audio Components ...... 65 Chapter 5: Connecting Your Hardware ...... 97 Part III: Choosing and Installing Recording Software ...113 Chapter 6: Understanding Computer Recording Software ...... 115 Chapter 7: Finding the Right Software for You ...... 127 Chapter 8: Installing Your Software ...... 149 Part IV: Revving Up the Recording Process ...... 173 Chapter 9: Getting a Great Source Sound ...... 175 Chapter 10: Recording and Editing Audio ...... 191 Chapter 11: Using MIDI ...... 227 Chapter 12: Using Loops ...... 249 Chapter 13: Exploring Software Synthesizers ...... 259 Chapter 14: Mixing and Mastering Your Music ...... 267 Part V: Playing with Plug-Ins ...... 297 Chapter 15: Understanding Plug-Ins ...... 299 Chapter 16: Using Equalization ...... 309 Chapter 17: Using Effects Effectively ...... 323 Chapter 18: Digging into Dynamics Processors ...... 335 Part VI: The Part of Tens ...... 350 Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Improving the Performance of Your System ...... 351 Chapter 20: Ten Great Internet Recording Resources ...... 357 Chapter 21: Ten (Or So) Free or Really Cheap Software Programs ...... 361 Index ...... 367
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Table of Contents
Introduction...... 1 About This Book ...... 1 Not-So-Foolish Assumptions ...... 2 How This Book Is Organized ...... 2 Part I: Computer Recording Basics ...... 3 Part II: Choosing and Installing Computer Hardware ...... 3 Part III: Choosing and Installing Recording Software ...... 3 Part IV: Revving Up the Recording Process ...... 3 Part V: Playing with Plug-Ins ...... 4 Part VI: The Part of Tens ...... 4 Icons Used in This Book ...... 4 Where to Go from Here ...... 5
Part I: Computer Recording Basics ...... 7
Chapter 1: Discovering What You Need ...... 9 Looking at the Larger Picture ...... 9 Interpreting Input Devices ...... 11 Instruments ...... 11 Microphone ...... 11 Sound modules and soft-synths ...... 12 Examining the Audio Interface ...... 13 Singling out a sound card ...... 15 Examining AD and DA converters ...... 15 Deciphering direct boxes ...... 15 Perusing the preamp ...... 16 Clueing In to the Computer ...... 18 Signing On to Software ...... 19 Meeting the mixer ...... 20 Accessing the arranger ...... 22 Exploring the editor ...... 22 Managing the MIDI sequencer ...... 24 Digging into digital signal processors (DSPs) ...... 24 Monitors ...... 30 Headphones ...... 30 Speakers ...... 31 Mastering Media ...... 32 CD ...... 33 Computer files ...... 33
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Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Recording Space ...... 35 Preparing Your Room ...... 35 Creating an efficient working environment ...... 36 Taming heat and dust ...... 39 Quieting your computer ...... 39 Optimizing Sounds in Your Room ...... 40 Keeping the sound in or out of your room ...... 41 Getting the sound in your room under control ...... 42
Part II: Choosing and Installing Computer Hardware .....51
Chapter 3: Choosing Computer Components ...... 53 Selecting a Windows PC ...... 54 Understanding minimum requirements ...... 54 Opting on the operating system ...... 55 Viewing internal components ...... 56 Making your choice ...... 57 Choosing a Mac ...... 58 Making sense of minimum requirements ...... 59 Opting on an operating system ...... 59 Understanding Mac configurations ...... 60 Making your choice ...... 62 Getting a Handle on Hard Drives ...... 62 Recognizing Your RAM Needs ...... 63 Opting for Optical Drives ...... 64 Viewing Video Monitors ...... 64 Chapter 4: Examining Audio Components ...... 65 Examining the Audio Interface ...... 65 Understanding the interface ...... 66 Exploring digital audio specifications ...... 67 Taking a look at interface types ...... 69 Finding the right interface for you ...... 76 Making Use of MIDI ...... 79 Understanding MIDI ...... 80 Gearing up ...... 81 Adding Microphones to Your Studio ...... 89 Making sense of microphone types ...... 89 Polarity patterns ...... 92 Choosing mics ...... 93 Monitors ...... 93 Headphones ...... 94 Monitor speakers ...... 94
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Chapter 5: Connecting Your Hardware ...... 97 Making Connections ...... 97 Analog ...... 97 Digital ...... 102 USB ...... 105 FireWire ...... 106 Getting Hooked Up ...... 107 Connecting your computer ...... 107 Interface ...... 108 Input devices ...... 110 Monitors ...... 111
Part III: Choosing and Installing Recording Software ...113
Chapter 6: Understanding Computer Recording Software ...... 115 Audio Recording and Editing Basics ...... 116 Track counts ...... 116 Recording ...... 116 Editing ...... 117 Making Sense of MIDI Capabilities ...... 120 Looking at Looping ...... 121 Making Use of Mixing ...... 124 Digging Into Digital Signal Processing ...... 125 Finishing Up with Mastering ...... 126 Chapter 7: Finding the Right Software for You ...... 127 Determining Your Needs ...... 128 Examining Popular Programs ...... 130 Pro Tools ...... 130 ACID ...... 134 Cubase ...... 136 Cakewalk ...... 138 SONAR ...... 139 Logic ...... 141 Digital Performer ...... 144 Nuendo ...... 146 Chapter 8: Installing Your Software ...... 149 Getting Ready to Install ...... 149 Putting Software on a Windows XP PC ...... 150 Configuring the Windows XP operating system ...... 150 Connecting your hardware ...... 158 Installing your software ...... 159
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Installing Software on a Mac ...... 160 Setting system settings ...... 160 Installing your software ...... 162 Configuring Your Hardware ...... 163 Setting up your interface ...... 163 Configuring your audio application hardware settings ...... 169
Part IV: Revving Up the Recording Process ...... 173
Chapter 9: Getting a Great Source Sound ...... 175 Making Sense of the Signal Chain ...... 175 Getting a Great Guitar Sound ...... 177 Creating a Killer Keyboard Sound ...... 178 Making the Most of Microphones ...... 178 Tracing typical microphone techniques ...... 179 Taming transients ...... 180 Setting Up Your Mics: Some Suggestions ...... 181 Vocals ...... 181 Electric guitar ...... 183 Electric bass ...... 184 Acoustic guitars and such ...... 185 Drum set ...... 185 Chapter 10: Recording and Editing Audio ...... 191 Setting Up a Song to Record ...... 192 Creating a new song file ...... 192 Taking a look at tracks ...... 194 Routing your input and output signals ...... 198 Preparing to Record ...... 200 Enabling recording ...... 200 Setting recording levels ...... 202 Monitoring your inputs ...... 203 Creating a click track ...... 206 Getting your click track to play ...... 209 Hitting the Record Button ...... 212 Recording your first take ...... 212 Listening to your take ...... 213 Punching in and out ...... 213 Doing overdubs ...... 218 Editing Audio ...... 219 Selecting audio to edit ...... 219 Editing regions ...... 222 Editing audio data ...... 224
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Chapter 11: Using MIDI ...... 227 Making Sense of MIDI ...... 227 Perusing MIDI ports ...... 228 Understanding MIDI channels ...... 228 Setting Up MIDI in Your Computer ...... 229 Enabling MIDI devices in Mac OS X ...... 229 Enabling MIDI devices in Windows XP ...... 231 Getting Ready to Record ...... 232 Creating MIDI tracks ...... 232 Setting inputs, outputs, and MIDI channels ...... 233 Recording MIDI Performances ...... 235 Enabling recording for MIDI tracks ...... 236 Monitoring MIDI inputs ...... 236 Recording MIDI tracks ...... 237 Playing Back Your Tracks ...... 238 Overdubbing MIDI Performances ...... 238 Using MIDI Merge/Replace ...... 239 Punching in and out ...... 241 Editing MIDI Data ...... 241 Manual MIDI editing ...... 241 Performing MIDI operations/editing functions ...... 246 Chapter 12: Using Loops ...... 249 Understanding Loops ...... 249 Using Loops in Your Song ...... 250 Creating a loop track ...... 250 Choosing loops ...... 252 Assembling loops in your song ...... 254 Editing loops ...... 255 Creating Your Own Loops ...... 256 Finding Loop Libraries ...... 257 Chapter 13: Exploring Software Synthesizers ...... 259 Understanding Software Synthesizers ...... 259 Using Soft-Synths ...... 260 Installing soft-synths ...... 260 Recording soft-synths in your song ...... 261 Changing sounds ...... 265 Finding Soft-Synths ...... 266 Chapter 14: Mixing and Mastering Your Music ...... 267 Understanding Mixing ...... 268 Mixing with Automation ...... 269 Knowing what you can automate ...... 269 Getting to know automation modes ...... 270 Recording your automation data ...... 271
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Making Your Mix ...... 273 Mixing in-the-box ...... 273 Mixing to an external recorder ...... 277 Mastering Your Music ...... 279 Demystifying mastering ...... 279 Setting up a mastering session ...... 280 Optimizing dynamics ...... 283 Perfecting tonal balance ...... 285 Balancing levels ...... 287 Mastering your mix ...... 288 Burning Your CD Master ...... 291 Getting what you need ...... 292 Sequencing your songs ...... 292 Making a CD for mass production ...... 293 Protecting your rights ...... 295 Burning the CD ...... 295
Part V: Playing with Plug-Ins ...... 297
Chapter 15: Understanding Plug-Ins ...... 299 Recognizing the Role of Plug-Ins ...... 299 Taking a Look at Plug-In Types ...... 300 Figuring out formats ...... 300 Peeking into processing approaches ...... 302 Using Plug-Ins in Your Songs ...... 302 Installing plug-ins ...... 303 Plugging in plug-ins ...... 303 Processing your audio ...... 306 Finding Good Plug-Ins ...... 307 Chapter 16: Using Equalization ...... 309 Exploring Equalization ...... 309 Parametric ...... 310 Low-shelf/high-shelf ...... 310 Low-pass/high-pass ...... 311 Dialing In EQ ...... 311 Inserting an EQ plug-in in a track ...... 311 Examining EQ options ...... 313 Equalizing Your Tracks ...... 316 General guidelines ...... 317 Vocals ...... 318 Guitar ...... 318 Bass ...... 319 Drums ...... 319 Percussion ...... 321 Piano ...... 321
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Chapter 17: Using Effects Effectively ...... 323 Routing Your Effects ...... 324 Inserting effects ...... 324 Sending signals to effects ...... 326 Rolling Out the Reverb ...... 328 Seeing reverb settings ...... 328 Getting started using reverb ...... 330 Detailing Delay ...... 331 Digging into delay settings ...... 331 Getting started using delay ...... 332 Creating Chorus Effects ...... 333 Chapter 18: Digging into Dynamics Processors ...... 335 Connecting Dynamics Processors ...... 335 Introducing Compressors ...... 337 Getting to know compressor parameters ...... 337 Getting started using compression ...... 339 Looking into Limiters ...... 340 Understanding limiter settings ...... 340 Setting limits with the limiter ...... 341 Introducing Gates ...... 341 Getting to know gate parameters ...... 342 Getting started using gates ...... 343 Examining the Expander ...... 343 Playing with expander parameters ...... 344 Getting started using an expander ...... 345 Signing On to Side-Chains ...... 346 Setting up a side-chain ...... 346 A couple common side-chains ...... 347
Part VI: The Part of Tens ...... 350
Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Improving the Performance of Your System ...... 351 Keep Your Drives Clean ...... 351 Keep Your Hard Drive Free of Unnecessary Applications ...... 353 Keep an Eye on Buffer Settings ...... 353 Use the Freeze Function ...... 354 Keep Other Programs Turned Off ...... 354 Exercise Some Discipline ...... 355 Use Submixes ...... 355 Clean Up Your Tracks ...... 355 Turn Off Unused Tracks ...... 356 Bypass Plug-Ins ...... 356
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Chapter 20: Ten Great Internet Recording Resources ...... 357 Checking Out Online Chats ...... 357 Gearing Up for GAS ...... 358 Getting Help with Mastering ...... 358 Finding Support for Setting Up Your Studio ...... 358 Discovering CD Duplicating ...... 359 Finding Industry Connections ...... 360 Discovering Inspiring Indie Music ...... 360 Chapter 21: Ten (Or So) Free or Really Cheap Software Programs ...... 361 Recording Programs ...... 362 Audio Editing Programs ...... 362 MP3 Programs ...... 363 Plug-Ins ...... 363 MIDI Programs ...... 364 Software Synthesizers ...... 365 Index...... 367
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Introduction
s computers have gotten more powerful, they’ve become the standard Atools for recording, editing, and mixing audio. More and more profes- sional studios are using them because of their power — and more and more amateurs are using them because they’re also relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
For many people — especially any technophobic musicians out there (you know who you are) — the thought of recording on a computer is daunting. You have to deal with hardware issue (what kind of computer do I get?) and software issue (how do I work this #@*% thing?). Add to this the sometimes- complicated workings of the non-audio computer software and you get a deer-in-the-headlights look from otherwise intelligent, articulate people.
Well, I hear ya. I don’t consider myself a techy (although I fear I might be turn- ing into one), and getting up-to-speed when it came to recording into a com- puter left me scratching my head a few times. Luckily for you, I’ve stopped scratching my head and have managed to make some semblance of sense out of the whole thing.
About This Book PC Recording Studios For Dummies is an introduction into the world of computer-based audio recording. This book takes the mystery (and frustra- tion) out of recording into a computer. You discover tips to help you make the process of recording music easy and the final product sound as good as possible.
PC Recording Studios For Dummies gets you going quickly so that you can spend your valuable time recording music — not tweaking your computer settings.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you can find in this book: