Re: [Harp-L] home recording

[martin oldsberg <martinoldsberg@xxxxxxxxx>]

But don´t forget that Audacity is a candidate for an award for the Least user friendly piece of software in the History of Mankind. The guys behind it should be proud of themselves. 


If you use an RP pedal, start the computer, then connect the pedal to the computer; then start Audacity; then connect headphones to the RP unit. Make sure that you have the "speaker" and "microphone" options in Audacity set to "Digitech" etc -- sometimes goes by itself, sometimes not. The pedal trespasses the computer´s sound card.

  Note that when you "save" something in Audacity you "export" it. (Of course!) And you need something called "lame" or whatever to be able to use the mp3-format

  Still, things probably won´t work. They rarely do. Then run out and buy a few bottles of good wine and call a tech-oriented and thirsty friend: "Hey Bozo, I´ve got a few bottle of Barolo here, innarested?" Then make sure s/he (magically, it´s almost always a he) just happens to catch a glance at your computer screen: ""What´s it you´re doing here?" "Oh, it´s this really fascinating program called Audacity, can you believe it ...?"


Then if you somehow get things going the nice surprise is that Audacity is pretty good stuff. I have mixed feelings, though. My hair was already grey when I started, but if not ... There´s a price to everything -- and some people say, "Go for the Apple thing", but then you pay.

  After all, this is free.


Good luck,
/Martin

PS If you go to the MBH forum you can search and see some good hands-on advice for Audacity that was given to a participant of Swedish extraction, "Martin".


"brian.irving" wrote:
<Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced set up to record on to a home pc,
<playing along to backing tracks?  I'm working with the Jimi Lee tracks and
<would like to hear what my efforts at different grooves sound like.  I have
<audacity but I'm not sure how to record on top of a backing track.

First, did you read the user's manual for Audacity?  If not, you should.  Get it here:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/

You need:
-
 a computer audio interface so you can get your real-world sounds into 
the computer.  A simple stereo-in-stereo-out USB interface sells for 
about $125-150. (If you own a Digitech RP155/255/355/etc., you already 
own a very nice USB interface.)   Microphones that connect to the 
computer via USB and include a headphone output sell for around $100.  
either will work, but I'd spend for the stereo interface.  Get something
 that records at 24-bit 44.1.kHz or 48 kHz.