HomeStudioGuide.com - Guide to Home Studio Recording

Let's continue our discussion of decibels.

When you look at equipment specs, you often see the term dBm. What does the "m" stand for?

The m refers to 1 milliwatt, which is a 1/1,000th of a Watt.

Now, in audio, it's assumed that there is a 600ohm load when you measure this power. Using ohm's law, 0.775Volts (rounded) applied to a resistance of 600ohms, results to about 1 milliwatt of power.

So if you buy a preamp or mixer, and it says it's maximum output level is +20dBm, we can compute that it's maximum output level is 100 milliwatts.

The term decibel has been used and abused and thrown around. You go to a music store and the clerk will tell you, "Buy this one instead, it has -10dBu inputs! " Meanwhile, you nod your head... thinking, "this must be better than the 4dBu unit I saw at the HomeStudioGuide.com website, and it's even cheaper...."

prrrrrrrrrrrttttt!!!

First, let's understand what the word "decibel" really means.

Download FREE orchestra samples from this huge database. The vision for The Sound Exchange came about from research originally carried out for the Philharmonia Orchestra by Olivia Lowson in 2000. She asessed the potential for the Orchestra to create an Education and Access Web Site. The possible new site would need to to provide opportunities for people to learn about the Orchestra, about music and at the same time to exploit the internet to help widen access to the Orchestra, which is something the Orchestra was very keen to do.

I haven't DIY'ed for a long time, so to kickstart this hobby again, I decided I'm going to build an 1176 Compressor.

The 1176 is one of the classic compressors in used by almost every recording studio out there. (The other classic compressor is the LA-2A). Bill Putnam designed the 1176, based on the 1108 preamp. Back in 1966, the Field Effect Transistor (FET) was just developed and he's experimenting with the properties of this new device. Basically, think of an FET as a "voltage controlled variable resistor."  The FET has three terminals. Drain, Source, and Gate. The resistance between the Drain and Source can  be varied/controlled by the Gate voltage. So what Mr. Putnam was doing with the FET is using it as a variable resistor to contorl the gain reduction in the circuit.

The output stage of the 1176 is a Class A line level amp, feeding a load of 600 ohms. It's got an output transformer which converts the output from unbalanced to balanced, and also do impedance matching. 

If you don't know or don't want to DIY, you can buy an 1176LN (for Low Noise) compressor for about $1800. Or, you can purchae "virtual" 1176 plugins from $130 to $225 price range. Click here for software plugin versions of the 1176.

Wouldn't it be cool if you can setup a MIDI network without all the cables and instead just use your local area network? And woudn't it be twice as cool if it's a wireless network??? Here are the step-by-step procedure for setting up MIDI over LAN using Apple's built-in MIDI over Lan feature. Yes! Apple has built-in MIDI networking and I bet most of you didn't know that.

A few years ago, the common wisdom was to "record as hot as you can." By HOT, I don't mean temperature wise. The wisdom at that time was to record your signal (from your guitar, keyboard, mic, etc.) so that the on-screen digital VU meters on your ProTools, Logic, DP, or Sonar is just hitting 0 dB, but not going over. Everybody knows that as soon as the red light turns on, you'll get clipping and digital clipping sounds nasty... like a fingernail scratching on a blackboard. ... The above argument sounds LOGICAL. There was even talk "you must use all of the bits as much as possible, so 0dB must be 1111111111111111 and that's good since we used up all the bits, nothing got wasted."

But something got forgotten along the way by the people who advised you to record close to 0dB in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation... just a fancy name for a fast computer optimized for audio recording).

Read more ...

Digital Performer 5.11 is now shipping. If you own Version 5.0, 5.01 or 5.1, you can download the free Version 5.11 updater here. This maintenance release includes numerous program enhancements and optimizations. The 5.11 update also includes hundreds of new presets for DP5's six included virtual instrument plug-ins.

If you have Kontakt v1.x (Kontakt.component) in your /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components folder... take it out. Move it somewhere else, out of the Components folder...

Otherwise, DP 5.11 hangs/stops/dies on startup.

Anyways, Kontakt 2.2 is out (now a Universal Binary) so no need to keep v1.x

One thing I noticed is DP 5.11 startup and loading of instruments seems faster to me.

Kontakt 2.2 Update is now available on the NI website. And it's FREE... well, that depends. At first, I've read reports that the 2.2 Update will cost $29. But according to the email NI sent, if you're a PowerPC or Windows user, the update is free. You only need to pay the $29 or 29 Euro update fee if you'll be running it on an Intel Mac (Universal Binary). So I downloaded K2.2 and it seems they also changed the registration and activation procedure. I had to re-activate my copy of Kontakt using their new "Service Center" program. This is a Flash program that runs on your desktop but communicates with the NI server. You can update your personal information, download updates and get technical support using this program.

Just a work in progress.... using a breadboard. API schematics found on the Internet... just google API 312 schematic. You can see the printout of the schematic on the photo. I'm using a Melcor Discrete opamp instead of the original 2520 opamp (which you can't buy unless you have a broken 2520 to surrender to API). Although there are many substitute opamps you can use like the Jensen 990C, Forsell Technologies 992, John Hardy opamp, etc... or if you're really scraping, just use an NE5534 IC chip.

One of the biggest problems facing home studio owners is money, mulah, $$$$.... more specifically, the lack of money.

Does that mean you can't enjoy this hobby? No, not at all. On this page, I'll list some freebie software (or reasonably cheap software) you can use in your home studio setup.

Now, I understand some of you may be PC users, and some may be Mac users. Don't worry. I'll pick software you can use for both platforms... or if the software is available as cross platform, I'll let you know too.

Audacity

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• And more! See the complete list of features.

** This software even has features like Noise Removal and Change Pitch. Awesome!  And yes, not only you can edit waveforms, but you can also record using Audacity. Current version is 1.2.6 (for OSX) but 1.3.2 is in beta.

More information can be found here. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

CPS

This software is also FREE and cross platform, available for both PCs and Macs. But note, it does not run on Intel hyperthreading and Intel Macs.

According to their website...CPS is a realtime interactive programming environment for audio, MIDI and other media & I/O. Patches are build by placing objects and making wires between them. Areas of interest are sound design, algorithmic composition, DSP, electronic/computer music and education. CPS can be used in any realtime situation where sound plays a role.


More information can be found here. http://cps.bonneville.nl/


Computer Music Magazine Freebies (UK Mag)

If you visit your favorite bookstore and head to the magazine rack section, look for Computer Music magazine. This is a nice magazine published in the UK full of useful and informative stuff. (Why do US music magazine companies suck? In my observation, US magazines seems like 80% advertisements and 20% content...)

Anyways, back to CM mag. They include a CD with their magazine and sometimes you'd find freebie software in it. Like what? Like the VST CM-101 and CM-303 synth (analog subtractive synth), CM-505 Drum synth, DS-404 sample player, or a step-sequencer called the EnergyCM. They also have the cool looking SR-202 Drum Sampler.

The software are mostly VST based and for PCs only... sorry Mac users. So check the latest issue of CM, and see what software they included in each issue.









ORCA

This new software synth is from Fxpansion, the makers of BFD drums series and the geniuses behind VST-to-RTAS and VST-to-AU converters. BTW, If you're a Mac user, you need to have their converters as these allow you to use VST plugins and instruments in your MAS/AU/RTAS host sequencer like DP, Logic, etc.

Orca is free, all you need to do is register on their site. http://www.fxpansion.com/index.php?page=12&tab=60

They say ORCA is an experimental monosynth based on modeling of analog synthesizer circuits and components. Whoa!

It's available as cross platform for both Windows and Mac (both PPC and IntelMacs). Check it out. It's FREE.




CRYSTAL

Crystal by Green Oak software has been around long and they just keep on getting better and better.  Current version is 2.4.8 and it available for both Macs and PCs.  Crystal is fully tweakable with lots of parameters, has MIDI learn (very useful if you have a control surface). It has both FM synthesis (like the ones used in Yamaha DX7) and subtractive synthesis. Again, this is a VST so Mac users will need a VST converter like Fxpansion's VST-to-AU or VST-to-MAS converter. The nice thing is it's avaialable as Universal Binary so it will work for both PPC and Intel Macs.

If you go to the Green Oak's website, you can also download sound bank patches for free and they have a tutorials section too.

http://www.greenoak.com/crystal/about.html




SampleTank 2 Free

Yes, it's that SampleTank made by IK Multimedia.  It is a fully working version of their SampleTank 2 software with some limitations (of course, so you'll buy the full version) but it's still useable. You just can't import, and you can only use one instance of the plugin.

Now, just because it's FREE doesn't mean it doesn't need to be authorized. But authorization is easy and you just need to fill up a form asking for your Serial #, Name, Digital ID (created by the software), and a real email address where IK will send your authorization code.

And yes, SampleTank 2 FREE is available for both OSX and Windows! So both camps can stay happy and no jealousy. :)

There are some free patches/samples also available on the IK website that you can load into your SampleTank 2 FREE software.

http://www.sampletank.com/Main.html?prod_ST_XL

LinPlug FreeAlpha

Here's another great, and of course FREE VST synth plugin. Sorry, this one is available only for PC users, LinPlug is now up to version 2.03. Per their website, FreeAlpha features a subtractive design to recreate the warmth and feel typically found in early 1980s analog synths.... and yes, it sounds BIG and PHAT. Check it out. 

FreeAlpha is meant to whet your appetite so you can check out the other great software LinPlug makes like the Rob Papen Albino 3, CronoX3, Sophistry Ambient, and others...

Post #1:

Welcome! There are many sites and blogs out there catering to the home recording enthusiast; this one is written to take out the mystery out of making recordings in your home studio.

There are lots of information to be covered. You see, recording is part technical and part artistic process. I'd leave the artistic and musical process to you. I know you have your own vision on how your music should sound. But hopefully, with this site, I can share some technical information, and practical knowledge that will help YOU make better home recordings.

This site will be organized more as a reference site for the newbie, the amateur, or the veteran musician wanting to make his own home recordings. Nothing will be assumed, and we'll discuss the recording process from the ground up. I know some topics will be boring to some of you, and you'd want to start cranking and recording. But if we're going to build a home studio or learn about home recording, we should start at the basics and foundation.

I'm not going to promise you that you'll be the next hot-shot recording or mastering engineer. That's not the point of this site. But I hope that the knowledge you'd gain from this site, you'd be able to produce your own recordings that will sound great and that  you'll be proud to share with your friends, or give to that A&R person.

I'll try to update the site at least once a week, or even more often. I'll try to write something every week even if it's just a short topic.

This is my first post, issue #1, my intro, welcoming you to HomeStudioGuide.com.  This is still a brand new site, but I hope you'll support this site by telling your friends and buddies about it and visiting us once in a while.