Chiff and Fipple Forums

If there is a place where this should go, the mods are welcome to put it there.
I think people here are as well positioned to advise me on this matter
as anybody.

I want to play flute with another musician, a string musician of some sort. I have tunes
and duets in my head that I can't play alone. This other musician isn't forthcoming,
I'm afraid. But it occurs to me that I can play guitar and mandolin. So now I need a way to record
myself so I can play, and record duets and maybe trios. It would be nice to have three or four tracks.

The difficulty is that I got off the recording-bus after the age of cassettes. How does one go about
getting the equipment to make multiple track recordings? Recommendations welcome. Thanks.

Hi Jim

These days most people do multitrack using a DAE (Digital Audio Editor), sometimes called a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). These run on computers of most persuasions. You can have as many tracks as your computer's resources will allow (and that's usually lots!). The cheapest is Audacity (free!) but it does lack some desirable features for multitrack work. You might like to look at Reaper. It's only $60 for domestic users, and they offer you a 60-day free trial to help suck you in.

Suggest don't start your free trial until you have everything else ready to go. Everything else will include:
- a microphone and whatever you need to connect it to the computer (a USB condenser mic is nice and they are really cheap these days!)
- a suitable stand for your mic (the back of a kitchen chair and some duct tape if you have blown all your money on flutes!)
- some (preferably enclosed) headphones, to listen to playback while adding the additional tracks
- decent speakers are nice for mixing down. You could snitch them from the HiFi ....
- a couple of sets worked out in principle and practiced as much as you can without the technology....

https://www.reaper.fm/

I'm sure there are many of us who can help with any issues you encounter.

Great. Thanks!

Terry McGee wrote:You might like to look at Reaper. It's only $60 for domestic users, and they offer you a 60-day free trial to help suck you in.

Definitely REAPER. It's not only inexpensive, but both powerful and user-friendly. It's used by many professionals, but also my choice for teaching beginners at school where I need to get them going quickly and remember how to do things.

For a good demonstration/starter, I'd recommend Hop Pole Studios' first two REAPER tutorials on YouTube:
Reaper DAW 101 Part 1:- Basics and Getting Started
Reaper DAW 101 Part 2:- Routing

You might also look at one of the Zoom recorders. I have an older Zoom H4 that allows up to 4 tracks and even provides a metronome to help you sync your playing. I’m sure the newer ones are even more capable. Sound quality is also excellent.

Pat

Thanks to all. I did buy an older Zoom a decade or more ago, but couldn't really figure out
how to operate it. As mentioned I'm a refugee from the Age of Papyrus and Cassettes. However
I may have an opportunity to see if it's more refugee
-friendly now.

My Zoom can be used as a USB mic, maybe yours too.

Another option, more expensive than the Zoom but better sound quality, is the Sound Devices MixPre 3M (M stands for Musician's model). While there's a bit of a learning curve, it is designed to do exactly what you are asking for, and doesn't require a computer. You can record multitrack recordings (up to 12 tracks, even though this little thing only has three inputs). It even has a built-in metronome if you use that.

It's a nice portable solution, much smaller than a laptop and simpler than using a DAW (even Reaper, which is reasonably intuitive). The multitrack bit is a little more complicated and you have to read the manual, and beware that the screen is pretty small (as are some of the control buttons). But it's a great solution for something you can put in your coat pocket and easily record wherever you want.

Note that it doesn't have built-in microphones, so you'd need a microphone plus an XLR cable, but you'd need that for recording with a DAW too (plus you'd need an interface for your computer).

Check it out at https://www.sounddevices.com/products/r ... /mixpre-3m

A lot of musicians are using these devices now instead of DAWs, although the one big thing that's not available in this is EQ (equalization). Probably not an issue for your recordings; it does have a low-cut/high pass filter that is useful for cutting out low-frequency noise (foot-tapping on the floor, cars or trucks driving by, Godzilla roars, etc.). If you need EQ, you can always export the tracks to a computer and use a DAW to add it. But you probably won't need it.

Way kool! You folks are the greatest.