Instruments & Gear

Stephen Wise writes about home recording.

In the last post, I introduced you to the idea of creating a recording and editing studio built around free software. In this edition, we will talk a little bit about “sound cards.”

Virtually every general purpose PC sold in the last few years comes with a “sound card” built in. I place “sound card”  in quotations because most PCs do not come with a physical card any more. The first sound cards were sizable circuit boards that you plugged into the guts of your PC. Today, all of that has been reduced to a sliver of silicon in a blob of epoxy known as a “CODEC” that is now on the same board with your Intel or AMD processor.

Software that comes with the CODEC completes the package. Today’s CODECs are amazingly good. If they perform poorly, it’s usually due to bad software drivers or poor circuit board design. If you have a high-end PC, you may still have a sound card and you can always add a high-performance sound card at a later date for improved sound quality.

So far I’ve told you the good news;  now I have to give you some not-so-good news: Although chances are, everything will go well for you, your sound card can also be a real headache. There are so many sound cards and software drivers out there that I cannot hope to write something that works seamlessly for everyone. To complicate things, certain applications may sometimes change the sound card settings. Fortunately, the situation is improving.

You have physical access to your sound card through colored jacks on the back of, and sometimes on the front of, your PC, as seen here on the Microsoft web site.

Figure 1

We will be interested in the pink, blue, and green jacks. You may already have things such as speakers, microphones, or headsets connected to these jacks. If so, then leave them as they are for now. Normally, you will connect a microphone, stereo microphone, or two microphones to the pink jack. You will connect “line out” or “headphone out” from other electronic devices to the blue jack You will connect headphones or amplified speakers to the green jack. The jacks on the front of your PC do not always work. If you have problems, try the jacks on the back.

Figure 2

The only thing that works with the sound card jacks is the “3.5mm (1/8 inch) Stereo Phone Plug” that looks like Figure 1. If you need to connect anything that does not have this plug attached, then you will have to use a [fill in the blank] to 3.5mm Stereo Phone Plug Adapter. Sometimes, a “Y” adapter such as the one shown in Figure 2 is needed.

In the event that you are unable to get your sound card working, a Google search will turn up many forums that can help you. Here are links to Microsoft help:

Windows 7 Sound Card Help; Windows Vista Sound Card Help; Windows XP Sound Card Help. In the next blog: Audacity!

Stephen Wise has been designing electronic musical instruments since 1975. Steve specializes in realistic recreations of traditional instruments. He became interested in this field after hearing Walter/Wendy Carlos’ “Switched On Bach” and upon being introduced to the Allen Digital Computer Organ, the world’s first all digital musical instrument. Steve is currently designing instruments for Schulmerich Bells, maker of handbells, electronic carillons, and the breakout MelodyWave® instrument.

Blogger Stephen Wise shares his expertise on building a home recording studio with open-source software.

Hello and welcome to my first blog post for Music After 50! My posts will be a series on how to set up a home recording studio for virtually no out-of-pocket expense.

Why would you want to set up a home recording studio? There are many fun and useful things that you can do with this set-up. The most obvious reason is to make music that you can keep and share with others. It’s not even necessary that you know how to play a musical instrument. You can record the music of others or you can choose to produce electronic music using virtual instruments.

Record your stories
Perhaps you want to record interesting stories as told by your friends or relatives. Anyone who’s lived a while has some good stories that will be lost forever if not recorded. With this studio, you will be able to edit these stories into a professional production that others will no doubt enjoy listening to. If you play an instrument or sing, you can record yourself to check your progress or you can make your own “music minus one” or karaoke accompaniments. We may make our own audio books too (great for those with poor eyesight or reading on-the-go).

Over the years, you’ve probably amassed an impressive record collection. It would be nice to listen to these records on something more convenient, such as an mp3 player or iPod®. Sure, you can purchase digital editions, but that can add up to a lot of money and the digital remix may not be to your taste. Can you download those recordings of your high school glee club or your child’s first words anywhere? Convert them all to a modern digital format and clean up some of the imperfections!

How cheap is cheap?
Did I say virtually no out-of-pocket expense? Well, I assumed that if you are reading this blog that you have a PC, which is at the heart of this project. Any home PC sold today has the basic capabilities that you need, although if you bought a bottom-of-the-line budget PC from a big box store, you may run up against it’s limitations. Laptops work too and have the advantage of being portable. Netbooks or smaller are out of the question. Macs will not be addressed mostly because I know little about them, but also because there’s much less available for them and most folks own PCs. You can, of course, do all of these things on a Mac. Perhaps someone else will address this issue or I will pick it up at a later date.

Open-source explained
We will be using software that you can get for free from the categories of “open source,” “freeware,” and “donationware.” Open source is a collaborative labor of love. Nothing about it is hidden or forbidden. You are, in fact, encouraged to use it in your own software projects and to modify it however you see fit. Freeware is usually software that someone developed to meet a need of their own and they are now offering it to anyone else who needs it too. Sometimes, companies offer their older products as freeware as a way to interest you in purchasing their newest offerings. Donationware is like freeware except the the developer asks that you pay him what you think that the software is worth after you have used it for a while. You don’t ever have to pay for donationware, but it’s the nice thing to do and it will encourage the developer to do more.

Freeware vs. commercial ware
Is free software as good as software that you can buy? Generally, no. The commercial versions offer the latest in features, ease-of-use,  productivity, and support. They are also expensive, loaded with options, and more difficult to master. You will not be locked out of using these commercial products. The beauty of our studio is that at any time, you will be able to purchase and use a commercial product without having to abandon any of your work to start over. You can mix and match the software in any way that works best for you. Personally, I use a mix of free and commercial products. Here’s an important note: If you plan to do studio work for profit, then you may have to use some commercial products. Some free software is “legal” only for personal or non-profit use. You must read the “agreement” that comes with each offering in order to decide.

The stage is set and now we will have to do some actual work. With a few digressions, I will present a step-by-step method that will lead to a “free” studio with some impressive capabilities. Nothing is yet cast in stone, so your feedback can influence the progression of the project. Let me add here that although setting up a studio can be easy, actually doing something with it takes skill and hard work. It takes many hours to go from raw material to finished product. Some of you will love it and others will decide that it’s just not for you. That’s okay. We need composers and performers too, and everyone needs to record something or edit a music file now and then. My next post will cover sound cards.

Stephen Wise has been designing electronic musical instruments since 1975. Steve specializes in realistic recreations of traditional instruments. He became interested in this field after hearing Walter/Wendy Carlos’ “Switched On Bach” and upon being introduced to the Allen Digital Computer Organ, the world’s first all digital musical instrument. Steve is currently designing instruments for Schulmerich Bells, maker of handbells, electronic carillons, and the breakout MelodyWave® instrument.

"Gear Guy Chris" aka Chris Grova is a veteran collector of instruments, gear, and gizmos. He shares his knowledge about what to buy, or what to dream about buying.

Last summer, I booked a solo electric guitar gig for an outdoor wedding ceremony. I knew a few things: despite the lovely location, there wouldn’t be an electrical outlet nearby, and New Jersey in August was sure to be hot and humid. To remedy this problem, (not looking forward to lugging a 60-pound Rivera combo amp in my ‘heat absorbing’ tux), your humble scribe decided to set out and explore some ‘amp downsizing’ options. What I found was a fairly wide array of portable mini combo amps that are way big on tone and features.
 
The majority of these minis are made by the same manufacturers that produce the bigger boys you guitar players out there have either seen, heard, and possibly already own. Here are some standouts:
 
Marshall. The brand-new entry-level MG (Marshall Guitar) range of solid state amps include some ultra portable offerings that deliver the classic Marshall ‘analogue’ tone and feature cutting-edge digital technology.  The 2-watt MG2FX with its 6 ½-inch speaker packs a serious feature-laden punch of 10 Marshall voice modes to select from. Its digital effects include chorus, phaser, flanger, reverb, and delay, and to top it off — a built in tuner.  The MG2FX can also run on batteries as well.

Roland. The Cube Series of Roland’s compact guitar amps delivers versatility in a small package. Using its patented COSM (Composite Object Sound Modeling) amp modeling, the Micro Cube (2 watts/5-inch speaker) and its big brother, the Micro Cube RX (5 watts/4 x 4-inch speakers, true stereo) are able to mimic the sonic textures of leading amps including the JC-120, Roland’s legendary Jazz Chorus combo. Six DSP effects include chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and delay/reverb, and both run on battery or AC power.

Orange. Orange amps are known for their distinct gain and overdrive, and the Micro Crush has that famous gain with a capital “G”!  While you can get a surprisingly decent clean sound out of this little dude (and we do mean little, it’s just 5- x 5-inches), you’re probably more interested in that classic Orange “crunch.” And it doesn’t disappoint. With 3 watts and a 4-inch speaker, the Micro Crush is light on the effects bells and whistles, but does come with a handy built-in tuner in addition to the volume, tone, and overdrive controls – all you need is a 9-volt battery.
 

Vox. The Vox DA (Digital Amp) Series combines the convenience and freedom of optional battery power, with a dizzying array of amp-type sounds and effects.  These babies go to 11…literally. While each model differs in wattage and speaker configuration, they all boast 11 distinct Vox tone styles from those classic chimey cleans, to blues, crunch, high gain, and overdrive.  There are also 11 digital effects settings to choose from — including delay with tap functionality, reverb, compression, and some cool combinations like chorus+delay, and tremolo+reverb. Full disclosure: the 10-watt, 2 x 6.5-inch speakered DA10 proved to be the perfect solution for my wedding gig dilemma.        

Now let’s keep reality in check – just like anything in life there will be trade-offs. Obviously the low-watt mini with all its ‘grab and go’ convenience will only throw so much sound, and some vacuum tube purists may be hard to win over regardless. But for practice, jams, or even the occasional backyard gig, you can’t go wrong with any of these little tone puppies.  So, if low-hassle amp portability is something you’ve been meaning to cross off your 2010 “to do” list, I recommend you go check ‘em out.

Tune in next time when we’ll highlight some funky cool ‘under the radar’ guitar companies and their wares….till then…

“Gear Guy Chris,” aka Chris Grova has been providing shelter, love, and a good home to wayward guitars, amps, effects pedals, and other assorted musical gizmos for over 30 years. Luckily, his wife and neighbors don’t seem to mind.

Check out the latest discounts and sales on guitars, drums, amps, and keyboards from Music After 50 affiliates. In the coming months, this section will be expanded to include recommendations and reviews. Check back often!

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