I'm not
even sure how old I was when I got the gift
for Christmas, but I remember thinking it
was a pretty impressive piece of electronic
hardware. It was really cool looking (technologically
speaking), and I was awfully proud to own
it. It certainly made for lots of fun times.
What was this high-tech gift, you ask?
Why, it was a tape recorder! It was a monographic,
reel to reel tape deck that came with it's
own plug-in microphone. I could hold that
mic up to my transistor radio's speaker
and record songs onto tape. I could also
play the guitar and sing and record every
second of it. I could even hide and record
conversations from unsuspecting family members.
I was in recording heaven!
Years later I owned an 8 track stereo recording
deck (ok, that was a mistake). At another
point in time I had a stereo cassette recording
deck that would physically flip the tape
over when one side was finished recording
or playing. Now I own a more conventional
stereo dual cassette deck, but I no longer
use it for recording or much of anything
else for that matter.
All my recording is now done on my computer.
The audio and midi software available today
for computer recording is quite amazing.
You can record multiple tracks, edit the
recordings and add special effects as desired.
Many of the audio recording programs come
with their own native special effects such
as reverb, compression, flanger, and chorus,
to name a few. Some of the recording software
can also accept third party effects such
as vocal removers, tube amp effects and
many more.
Multitrack recording software allows for
recording various live instruments, vocals,
etc, onto individual tracks. After recording
one track, you can play it back while recording
another. Once finished, you can mix all
the individual tracks down into one stereo
track. Some recording software will import
and record both audio and MIDI, some audio
only. If you have a MIDI keyboard or other
MIDI instrument, be sure to pick software
that handles both formats.
Creating a simple home audio recording
studio is easy. In addition to software,
an audio and/or midi interface will allow
you to plug in all kinds of audio components,
microphones and instruments into your computer
for live recording, recording from tape
or even from your old vinyl lp's. You can
also use a home stereo system as an interface
for audio components by running cables to
it from your computer's sound card. A laptop
with recording software and a USB interface
can serve as a totally portable recording
studio. And again, if you have MIDI instruments,
be sure to get an interface that will allow
connecting them in additon to audio components
and instruments.
The digital revolution has made music recording
easily available to anyone with a computer.
If you enjoy music and want to do more than
just download mp3's from the Internet, get
some multitrack recording software and start
your own home sound studio.
About the Author
Steve Leedy is a computer technician and
sound hobbysist. His website, at http://www.pcmusicstuff.com,
contains information and diagrams on computer
music recording. |
