Computer Recording Question

[CPT Boy]

Wanted to know what is needed (hardware / software) to record from a mixing
board. I want to feed the computer live audio from 6 mics of voices and at
least 5 inputs for keyboard/drums. Any suggestions on whats needed is
greatly appreciated.

Newbie to live recording :)

[Snowdog]

Hi..

If you want to do live recordings where your mixer mixes all those inputs
down to two channels, then all you need is a sound card with a stereo input
and a software program like Sony's Sound Forge. The problem with this is
once it's to tape (hard drive) it cannot be mixed anymore.

If you wish to do multitrack recording, where each instrument is on a
different track and can be independently eq'd, processed, etc...then you
need to drop the mixing board out of the equation and use a pre-amp to
control mic gain, then you need a multichannel sound card and a multitrack
software program such as Adobe Audition, Nuendo, Pro-Tools. In those
programs you can assign each input of the sound card to a different track
and they will all record at once. It is difficult to do live recordings this
way unless you have a sound card with enough inputs for all the instruments.

Sounds confusing but I figured it out..its quite logical once you dive in
and play around with it.

Hope this helps.

Doug





"CPT Boy" > wrote in message
2.198...
> Wanted to know what is needed (hardware / software) to record from a
mixing
> board. I want to feed the computer live audio from 6 mics of voices and
at
> least 5 inputs for keyboard/drums. Any suggestions on whats needed is
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Newbie to live recording :)

[Paul Stamler]

"Snowdog" > wrote in message
...
> Hi..

> If you wish to do multitrack recording, where each instrument is on a
> different track and can be independently eq'd, processed, etc...then you
> need to drop the mixing board out of the equation and use a pre-amp to
> control mic gain, then you need a multichannel sound card and a multitrack
> software program such as Adobe Audition, Nuendo, Pro-Tools. In those
> programs you can assign each input of the sound card to a different track
> and they will all record at once. It is difficult to do live recordings
this
> way unless you have a sound card with enough inputs for all the
instruments.

Actually, you can keep the board in the picture; wire an unbalanced cable
with a TRS plug at one end (that's the same plug used for 1/4" stereo
headphones); the tip and ring terminals should be wired together. That end
goes into the channel insert on your board. Wire the other end with a TS
plug (standard mono 1/4" plug). The hot conductor of the cable goes to the
Tip+Ring connection at the mixer end and the Tip connection at the other
end. Repeat for however many channels you want. You'll still need a
multichannel sound card (RME, MOTU, several other manufacturers). Actually,
if you use most of the soundcards mentioned you'll need two of them, since
they usually come in 8 channels/card. Some of the MOTU units will do 24
channels.

Peace,
Paul

[Dave Martin]

"Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
news:j4%0d.582543$Gx4.191072@bgtnsc04-
>
> Actually, you can keep the board in the picture; wire an unbalanced cable
> with a TRS plug at one end (that's the same plug used for 1/4" stereo
> headphones); the tip and ring terminals should be wired together. That end
> goes into the channel insert on your board. Wire the other end with a TS
> plug (standard mono 1/4" plug). The hot conductor of the cable goes to the
> Tip+Ring connection at the mixer end and the Tip connection at the other
> end. Repeat for however many channels you want. You'll still need a
> multichannel sound card (RME, MOTU, several other manufacturers).
Actually,
> if you use most of the soundcards mentioned you'll need two of them, since
> they usually come in 8 channels/card. Some of the MOTU units will do 24
> channels.
>
> Peace,
> Paul

Paul is correct as far as he goes, but most recording consoles have balanced
inputs and outputs for each track. I'm using a 48 input console along with a
Pro Tools HD3 system, and don't have a single TRS cable involved..

--
Dave Martin
Java Jive Studio
Nashville, TN
www.javajivestudio.com

[Scott Dorsey]

CPT Boy > wrote:
>Wanted to know what is needed (hardware / software) to record from a mixing
>board. I want to feed the computer live audio from 6 mics of voices and at
>least 5 inputs for keyboard/drums. Any suggestions on whats needed is
>greatly appreciated.

Are you running the board? Can you work well with the person running the
board? Are you unable to work with the person running the board? Are you
going to add additional ambient mikes?

>Newbie to live recording :)

I personally wouldn't trust computers for live recording, but there are plenty
of folks using Pro Tools in the field. Gives me the willies, but they can
bill it.
--scitt
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[killermike]

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> CPT Boy > wrote:
>
> I personally wouldn't trust computers for live recording, but there are plenty
> of folks using Pro Tools in the field. Gives me the willies, but they can
> bill it.

Hey this is modern world. When it goes wrong it's not their fault, they
can just say, "the computer went wrong." :-)

--
***My real address is m/ike at u/nmusic d/ot co dot u/k (removing /s)
np:
http://www.unmusic.co.uk
http://www.unmusic.co.uk/Top_50_Films.html - favorite films
http://www.unmusic.co.uk/amh-s.html - alt.music.home-studio

[Scott Dorsey]

killermike > wrote:
>Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> CPT Boy > wrote:
>>
>> I personally wouldn't trust computers for live recording, but there are plenty
>> of folks using Pro Tools in the field. Gives me the willies, but they can
>> bill it.
>
>Hey this is modern world. When it goes wrong it's not their fault, they
>can just say, "the computer went wrong." :-)

The problem is that if I say that, I don't get paid. And I like getting paid.

I do blame Microsoft for reducing people's expectations with regard to computer
reliability. Twenty years ago, anything that came out of the computer was
gospel. People would tell you, "It _must_ be right, it came out of the
computer." Today people just shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well, you
know how computers are."
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Chris Hornbeck]

On 12 Sep 2004 18:13:15 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

>I do blame Microsoft for reducing people's expectations with regard to computer
>reliability. Twenty years ago, anything that came out of the computer was
>gospel. People would tell you, "It _must_ be right, it came out of the
>computer." Today people just shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well, you
>know how computers are."

When the Apple II came out, I had a side gig pitching them to the
populace of a small town. A Little Old Lady came up to me after
my slide show and asked "Does it tell the truth?"

She was just twenty years ahead of her time.

Chris Hornbeck

[Paul Stamler]

"Dave Martin" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> "Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
> news:j4%0d.582543$Gx4.191072@bgtnsc04-
> >
> > Actually, you can keep the board in the picture; wire an unbalanced
cable
> > with a TRS plug at one end (that's the same plug used for 1/4" stereo
> > headphones); the tip and ring terminals should be wired together. That
end
> > goes into the channel insert on your board. Wire the other end with a TS
> > plug (standard mono 1/4" plug). The hot conductor of the cable goes to
the
> > Tip+Ring connection at the mixer end and the Tip connection at the other
> > end. Repeat for however many channels you want. You'll still need a
> > multichannel sound card (RME, MOTU, several other manufacturers).
> Actually,
> > if you use most of the soundcards mentioned you'll need two of them,
since
> > they usually come in 8 channels/card. Some of the MOTU units will do 24
> > channels.
>
> Paul is correct as far as he goes, but most recording consoles have
balanced
> inputs and outputs for each track. I'm using a 48 input console along with
a
> Pro Tools HD3 system, and don't have a single TRS cable involved..

Of course, but many live-sound boards have unbalanced TRS jacks for channel
inserts. Especially relatively inexpensive boards, which I suspect is what
the original poster is using at the live gigs he wants to record.

Peace,
Paul

[Laurence Payne]

On 12 Sep 2004 18:13:15 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

>I do blame Microsoft for reducing people's expectations with regard to computer
>reliability. Twenty years ago, anything that came out of the computer was
>gospel. People would tell you, "It _must_ be right, it came out of the
>computer." Today people just shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well, you
>know how computers are."

Do we blame Microsoft, or the fact that now everyone has hands-on
experience of computing?


Anyway, I seem to remember "Problem with the computer" being a
standard excuse even 20 years ago :-)

CubaseFAQ www.laurencepayne.co.uk/CubaseFAQ.htm
"Possibly the world's least impressive web site": George Perfect

[Arny Krueger]

"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message


> I do blame Microsoft for reducing people's expectations with regard
> to computer reliability.

As if IBM, the BUNCH, Apple, Sun or any of the rest are really any better?

> Twenty years ago, anything that came out of
> the computer was gospel.

That was illogical. Garbage in, garbage out!

> People would tell you, "It _must_ be right,
> it came out of the computer."

They were mistaken, of course.

> Today people just shrug their
> shoulders and say, "Oh well, you know how computers are."

The truth: "Oh well, you know how humans and their toys are."

[Scott Dorsey]

Arny Krueger > wrote:
>"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
>
>> I do blame Microsoft for reducing people's expectations with regard
>> to computer reliability.
>
>As if IBM, the BUNCH, Apple, Sun or any of the rest are really any better?

For the most part, yes. Microsoft and Apple were the first of the OS vendors
who went out of their way to obscure as much as possible at the system level
and keep people from looking inside. They were the first folks to sell
microcomputers that had no programming interface of any sort, and that were
designed primarily for users running canned packages.

Apple did a much better job of this than Microsoft did. They still ignored
things like real pre-emptive multitasking and per-process memory protection
that were considered standard everywhere else in the computer industry, and
they are still continuing to reinvent things that were standard everywhere
else in the computer world in the 1970s. But they progressively improved the
reliability of their systems, while Microsoft did not, to the point where
the new OS X is actually not so bad.

As far as Sun goes:

grissom% uname -a
SunOS grissom 5.8 Generic_108528-27 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-60
grissom% uptime
11:29am up 385 day(s), 2:03, 8 users, load average: 2.01, 2.32, 2.82
grissom%

which is about typical uptime specs around here. I had a 4.1.4 machine
up for more than two years without a reboot, but I eventually did something
stupid.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."