Please edumicate me on home recording! Pro Tools?

[BBQLS1]

I have a BR600, but it's honestly pretty cumbersome compared to a cakewalk demo we did at a friends house years ago. I've seen some pro tools bundles at MF, but I'm not sure what I'll really need.

Thoughts for a recording goob?

[BBQLS1]

No beginner recommendations?

[juniorspecial]

Get an Mbox. It comes with ProTools.

If you've ever recorded on a four-track cassette deck, ProTools will be easy to pick up.

[Grun]

Originally Posted by juniorspecial

Get an Mbox. It comes with ProTools.

I second that. Best deal going. Make sure you have enought computer to handle it, and separate drives (1 ) for your system software and (1) for audio files.

[SgMaster]

check out www.tweakheadz.com for guides about getting started with home recording and product reviews and descriptions. It really helped me figure out what I needed. It took about six months of research to figure it out, but I got Pro Tools with the relatively new 003 Rack unit, but the Mbox 2 and Mbox 2 Pro are very good units with the same program.

Ditto to Grun's statement about separate drives. There are little things you may not think about at first but in order to record using a computer properly the drives need to be separate so thats another couple hundred bucks. Just make sure you have good track of your budget cuz it adds up quickly when you start out with nothing like I did.

Best of luck,
SgMaster...PS PM me if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to help you out with my limited knowledge

[elambo]

Originally Posted by SgMaster

...in order to record using a computer properly the drives need to be separate so thats another couple hundred bucks.

It's ideal, but not mandatory. And drives, even huge SATA drives, can be found for under $100 these days. If you're going to go the route of a separate audio drive, I'd suggest something that's 7200 rpms or faster. 5400 will work too, but if you start adding a bunch of tracks to your session it'll start to choke. And if you start using virtual instruments, you'll bottleneck quickly. Spend $100 and get another drive.

[kludge]

I find Pro Tools to be REALLY awkward and bloated, myself. But I haven't worked with it extensively, just because it made such a bad impression at first.

For easy to use software, I highly recommend Tracktion, by Mackie. Cheap, too, at $99 for the basic package. It's amazingly intuitive and sensible... everything sits on a single window, with action-dependent pop-ups. For example, the level and balance is done with a single control that's maybe 100x100 pixels. Hover over it and watch for a left-right or up-down cursor to get balance vs level. Then click on it, and the control you want pops up as a BIG fader. Very nice... big when you want control, and uncluttered when you don't.

And your signal chain is done very much as a chain, with a clear left-to-right signal flow. Effects and stuff are done just by drag-and-drop. Inputs are selected by a right click on yet another 100x100-type box. Most recording software tries so hard to be a visual respresentation of a mixing desk, and it's just awful! Things that are intuitive on an actual mixer (i.e., grabbing multiple sliders at once) are impossible on the computer, and set-and-forget things (like fader levels) take up enormous amounts of visual space. And then you wind up in modal-window purgatory, trying to figure out which button you need to click to get to the view you want to see, or which pull-down menu has the option you want.

Trust me, Tracktion is a revelation. It improved my productivity at least 100%.

[teXum]

Originally Posted by kludge

I find Pro Tools to be REALLY awkward and bloated, myself. But I haven't worked with it extensively, just because it made such a bad impression at first.

Personally, I found Pro Tools to be incredible intuitive and easy to use from day one. As long as you know your way around a FOH type mixer, working in Pro Tools is no biggie. And as your skills improve, the endless options of keyboard shortcuts really cuts down on the work load.

So if you're going to record a full band, get the 003, or a used 002, and if you only need two inputs at a time, get the M-box. The new MacBooks are more than powerful enough to do full 32-track recordings, so I'd recommend you to check those out as well. And then you'll of course need a separate drive, and some decent monitors, and you're good to go.

I especially think the editing and mixing (effects and automation) features of Pro Tools are superior to the competitors, for basic recording I guess there are a lot of good options.

But since the various smaller Digi M-box and 002/003s are availiable at fair prices, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these solutions, especially for people that record their material for future releases. Eventually you'll want someone else to take a look at your recordings, even mix them, and then of course ProTools still is the choice for 90 per cent of professional and semi-professinal studios.

[SatelliteNine]

take a look at http://reaper.fm and give it a shot. I'm actually using it more than my (legit) nuendo rig lately. Great support and the price is right. Their forum is almost as cool as this one.

[BBQLS1]

Originally Posted by SatelliteNine

take a look at http://reaper.fm and give it a shot. I'm actually using it more than my (legit) nuendo rig lately. Great support and the price is right. Their forum is almost as cool as this one.

A friend of mine (who does studio work in Nashville) just turned me on to this. It's way easy to use. He likes it better than $50K Pro Tools stuff.

[SatelliteNine]

Originally Posted by BBQLS1

A friend of mine (who does studio work in Nashville) just turned me on to this. It's way easy to use. He likes it better than $50K Pro Tools stuff.

me too, what's not to like? as easy as garageband, much more open platform, 64bit mix bus, elastic audio, the list goes on- plus you can use it with ANY hardware. This plus the new apogee duet would be an amazing little demo rig. for cool plugins by a developer associated with reaper check out stillwellaudio.com between these and what is included, it's all you need to do basic tracking mixing and mastering.

[imonabuss]

I am on the cusp of a decision like this myself. Have an older Korg D1600 which I have to download one track at a time onto CDs to move over to anything else. So I am wondering whether to do an 003 or M-box or to get a Boss BR1600, which is supposed to be better than the Korg and can download through USB. I watched a friend of mine go through misery with one crash after another using high-end Pro Tools in his studio, and it makes me very nervous. Any advice?

[LHGriffin]

For anyone one just getting into Home Recording Cubase Sequel is the way to go especially if you are a song writer it has far more features and ability the a Mbox set-up and easier to acclimate to. It has a Street price of $99 and for that many think it is just a toy when in fact there are many song writers who use both Cubase C4 and Nuendo who are going out and buy the program to use as a writing tool. It also with then allow you to take you project to a larger studio to complete or use as a foundation. I appreciate that here in the USA we have the mentality that protools is the end all however the world is getting smaller with technology and being able to work with others easily should be you main goal and many many people are leaving Protools because they aren't known for playing nice with others.
Search this out for yourself and don't ask Guitar Center....LOL