Mixposure : Home of Indie Musicians

Digital Home Recording....Or....What The #&!!

By Sam Houston, 2011-01-10

The majority of my musical knowledge has nothing to do with recording and/or mixing multi-track recordings. There was always an engineer in the studio taking care of all that. Of course I've made cassette recordings or digital handheld recordings just so I wouldn't forget something. But that is not the same. I am a lone wolf at the moment. I choose not to have a band, but I still go play live with somebody from time to time, but mostly it's just me. So, that being the case, I'm left to my own devices.     With technology being what it is these days, once you have an audio file created, you upload it to websites and/or radio stations online. Obviously you already know this if you're here at Mixposure. But, my point is that many of us don't have access to high end recording equipment nor can we afford high end recording software, but we want our music to be the best that it can be with what we have to work with.    So, that brings me to the point of this blog .....article .....blarticle .....articog .....whatever. I have recently been trying to figure out recording and mixing multi-track recordings. I want to improve on what I have. This is mainly because I know it can be done because I hear studio quality music here all the time and it drives me crazy that I can't get mine to sound that good. So, I've been working on it, reading a lot about it, and learning. And, since there are well over 6000 members, at the moment, surely others have experienced some of the same issues as me. Plus, it helps me to learn and remember if I write it down, or type it in this case. Therefore, I thought I would share some of the things I've learned so far so maybe it will help somebody somewhere along the way.    Let it be known that I IN NO WAY claim to know anything about anything and absolutely DO NOT claim to be even close to the vicinity of the neighborhood of the recording pros. So, please, take the time to investigate these things yourself and DO NOT take what I say to heart, because I'm trying to learn also. And, if any of you pros, or anybody smarter than me (which is just about everyone), has any corrections or anything to add, please do so. I need all the help I can get.    So, not long ago, I recorded a song called "Pair Of Dice". I had many issues with this song in particular. I used up 16 tracks to get it done. Not all 16 are full tracks. As a matter of fact, there are NO full complete tracks all the way through from start to finish anywhere in the song. I have the drum and bass on one track (they are together because it's basically a digital sample from a synthesizer), the vocals are on one track, the rythm guitar is on a track, the lead fills on a track, and the lead guitar on a track. So, I've already used 5 tracks right there. Some of the rest of the tracks are snippets of things that I used to fill in here or there or add something that I couldn't add any other way, like a seperate bass run or to add a hi-hat somewhere. I put them on seperate tracks so that I could control the volume of each seperate item and add different effects on different things.    I used Kristal Audio Engine (free) to record and mix the song. However, this was the start of the problems. The main problem I was having was latency. A very simplified explanation of latency is it is "lag time", which can be as high as 50-75 milliseconds on a standard Windows sound card, from the time a signal is created (your voice for example) until it reaches the processor and onto that specific track. Let's suppose, for example, you have track one already recorded with a rythm guitar and you are now using track two for vocals. Ordinarily, while recording the vocals, you are playing back track one with the rythm guitar on it. With Windows typical MME (multi-media extensions) latency of 50-75 ms, your vocals will be off by that much as compared to track one. The thing is, depending on what the latency actually is, you may not realize it until you are several tracks into it and going back and re-recording it won't help the situation because you will still end up with the same result. So, you can imagine the difficulty involved when many tracks are involved and there is a latency issue on every track.For more information and further reading on latency, please see <a href="http://www.digitalprosound.com/Htm/Articles/April/Audio_Latency.htm">http://www.digitalprosound.com/Htm/Articles/April/Audio_Latency.htm </a>This article explains latency and the many different types of latency where digital recording is concerned.    A quick sideline..... I haven't noticed latency issues nearly as bad while using Audacity as opposed to Kristal, while using the same computer. I haven't quite figured out why yet but I suspect it's because they may be using different audio drivers. I don't know yet.    So, what do you do when you have a situation like this? There are several solutions. But, here is what I did to get Pair Of Dice better than it was, and then I'll mention some other solutions. As I mentioned, Pair Of Dice is comprised of 16 seperate tracks, and each one had latency issues. What I did to start was to mute every track accept the drum/bass track and the vocal track. Muting all but two tracks eliminates trying to here "between" the other tracks and cuts distraction down to nothing. I then aligned the vocal track with the bass/drum track, at least the best I could with my ear. Once that sounded decent, I muted the bass/drum track and unmuted the rythm track. Now I only had the vocal track and rythm track on. Again, I aligned the rythm track to the vocals. The reason I aligned the rythm to the vocals instead of to the bass/drum is because vocals are more prominent than bass and drums and chord changes are much more evident and need to be relatively precise. After that, I then proceeded to mute the rythm track and turn on the lead fills track and also aligned it to the vocals. I again chose the vocal track for alignment of the lead fill track because lead fills are typically done between words or sentences. However, for the main lead guitar track, I turned on the vocals AND the bass/drum track. I did this for two reasons. I included the bass/drum track to get the lead guitar as close to being in time as my ear would allow and I included the vocals because I needed to know where the lead break started and stopped. I followed this type procedure until the song reached a decent equilibrium. It still isn't perfect but it sounds much better than it did.    So, that demonstrates one painful way to re-align a song recorded on a computer where latency is an issue. It works but is far from being exact and far from the way you would typically want to do it. The right way to do it is to eliminate the latency issue altogether....or as much as you can.    The one obvious solution is to empty your wallet and buy a high end sound card or, buy a new current computer.....and then buy a high end sound card for it. But, either way, empty your wallet. But, if you're like me, you don't always have money just falling out of your pockets. We can't all be Garth Brooks <img title="Surprised" src="http://www.mixposure.com/include/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-surprised.gif" border="0" alt="Surprised" />.  So, what's the answer? I don't know. But I do know there is a solution that should (and I use that word cautiously) dramatically help with the situation. Windows wants to use MME and/or Direct X with its native drivers to create or manipulate audio. MME is probably the worst with regard to latency and sound quality, from what I've read. Direct X is better than MME but still isn't great. One fix is to install ASIO drivers on your computer. ASIO technology, or Audio Stream Input/Output, was developed by Steinberg Technologies, and was initially developed to assist with VST plugin quality (VST plugin technology was also initially developed by Steinberg Technologies). ASIO helps by supporting variable bit depths and sample rates, multi-channel operation and synchronization. According to Wikipedia "ASIO bypasses the normal audio path from the user application through layers of intermediary Windows operating system software, so that the application connects directly to the sound card hardware. Each layer that is bypassed means a reduction in latency. In this way ASIO offers a relatively simple way of accessing multiple audio inputs and outputs independently. Its main strength lies in its method of bypassing the inherently high latency and poor-quality mixing and sample rate conversion of Windows audio mixing kernels (KMixer), allowing direct, high speed communication with audio hardware. Unlike KMixer, an unmixed ASIO output is "bit identical" or "bit transparent", that is, the bits sent to the sound card are identical to those of the original source, thus having higher audio fidelity." So, there's a guy named Michael Tippach that has developed an ASIO driver which works seemingly with just about every sound card out there and it's free to all. You can find it <a href="http://www.asio4all.com/">here</a>. Download and install it and you should notice a huge difference. There is also an article concerning .NET programming <a href="http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-video/Asio_Net.aspx">here</a> that also discusses latency and ASIO drivers.    I know this has been a pretty long winded post but I think if you're going to learn about something then you should try to learn all you can. I know I've learned a ton of things about recording and mixing since I've been on Mixposure and since I started digging more into digital recording. If you've read this far, I appreciate your time, and I only hope that this helps somebody.

Posted in: Music | 29 comments

Exposing the Mix

By Sam Houston, 2010-10-26

Exposing the Mix.....Mixposure  <img title="Laughing" src="http://www.mixposure.com/include/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" />Since there aren't many folks here that are true country and/or hard core country, is there any way to attract those type people here?This leads me to wonder, in a much broader view, how people find Mixposure in the first place. I found Mixposure through links on another independent internet radio site that I belong to....fortunately for me.<img title="Smile" src="http://www.mixposure.com/include/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" width="18" height="18" />  But, if I do a Google search, for example, and look for online independent radio sites, I don't find Mixposure (or at least not on the first few pages....didn't look any further). I would think Mixposure would be the first thing that comes up and if not, then why not? I realize that this site is much more than just an online radio site but if you were searching for such things you wouldn't come across Mixposure. That concerns me. How many people are missing out on this awesome place....hundreds....thousands.....millions? I don't know.So, I'm just wondering.....How many members does Mixposure currently have?How is Mixposure advertised and/or seen by search engines?Is there any way to get Mixposure more exposure?

Posted in: Mixposure | 19 comments

Uploaded Another Song

By Sam Houston, 2010-10-06

I uploaded a song that's new to Mixposure but isn't "new". I've never kept any secrets about how I feel about the music business in general and, in particular, country music. It's just plain pitiful what it has turned into. It seems that anybody and everybody can claim to be country and, if you've got a pop song that you want to promote as country, then all the better. Not to mention all the shaved monkeys with a hat that attempt to even sing, but fail miserably. But that doesn't stop them and it doesn't stop the "industry" from trying to jam them down our throats.So, I wrote this song. It's called "I Shot My Radio". Check it out here <a href="http://www2.mixposure.com/Full_Blood_Country/song_focus_20448.php">http://www2.mixposure.com/Full_Blood_Country/song_focus_20448.php</a>

Posted in: Music | 1 comments

Just a quick note (no pun intended)

By Sam Houston, 2010-09-28

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have uploaded a new version of "No More Goodbyes" here http://www2.mixposure.com/Full_Blood_Country/song_focus_20207.phpThis has been remixed and guitar fill added, both by Joseph Rodriguez. Please check it out.Also, in the last couple of days, I have changed to a premium account and have gone from 5 song uploads to 22 currently. Please stop by and check them out if you get a chance. There will be many more on the way, so stay tuned.I would like to say a few things about Joseph, if I may. If you haven't listened to any of his music then you have really been missing out! He is one of the most awesome and versatile guitarists I've heard in quite a while! His songs are very well arranged, the mix is perfect, awesome lyrics, and, of course, AWESOME guitar! He genuinely knows what he's doing, and believe me, it shows in everything he does. Please take time to listen to his music. I promise, you won't be disappointed! Please see here http://www2.mixposure.com/Joseph_Rodriguez/

Posted in: Music | 3 comments

Carol

By Sam Houston, 2010-10-21

Has anybody heard anything about Carol?Last night in chat she thought somebody was trying to break in and she called the police. I had to go to bed and didn't hear if she's alright or not.

Posted in: Carol | 7 comments

Song Revision

By Sam Houston, 2010-10-04

Uploaded a new version of "Trail Of Tears". Hopefully this one is better.

Posted in: Music | 0 comments

Boundless Talent

By Sam Houston, 2010-10-07

I just wanted to say that Mixposure has to be one of the most, if not the most, awesome independent music communities in the world!I belong to several online music sites and honestly, some sites make you feel like you're in a seedy back alley dive with, what seems like that same old nasty hag with a cigarette hanging half out of her mouth and smeared lipstick up the side of her cheek with a raspy smokers cough that seems to be in every dive, the bloodshot eyed bartender that looks like he hasn't slept in three days, the single beer stained pool table, a sink for a urinal in the bathroom, and the stench of stale beer and cigarette smoke everywhere. I'm not at all saying they are all that way but there are a few. In contrast, Mixposure feels to me like there's nice, new, clean furniture to relax on, the people are great, everyone supports everyone else, the air is crisp and clean, and there are many bartenders, each with perfect bodies and nice tight tee-shirts, that cater to our every whim (.....well almost).Regarding the radio and the dj's. Every dj I've dealt with here has been very accomodating, to me and to everyone else. They don't have to play my songs, but they do. They don't have to help us if we need it, but they do. They don't have to spend their time leaving very gracious and generous comments on our songs, but they do. They don't have to spend time with us in the chat room, but they do. They don't have to spend countless hours preparing and then playing our songs so that we can have one fleeting moment in the sun and go "hey, look at me", but they do. They don't have to constantly stroke our egos about our songs while their own music takes a backseat, but they do.The chat room is yet another very accomodating place. Everyone in the chat room, and I mean everyone, is extremely courteous, respectful, friendly, fun, supportive, and personally I have never witnessed any unacceptable or unexcusable behavior by anyone. I'm not saying it hasn't happened here before, and I'm not saying it won't happen in the future. I'm just saying that I have not personally seen it. Everybody is awesome! And, take my word for it, if I can exist here and get along with everybody, then anybody can. I have usually pissed off several people by this time in other places. But not here. In case you don't know me, I am.....wild. I know I am, but I just like to have fun and enjoy myself and the company of others. I am also honest. Sometimes this offends some people. I don't intend for it to and I never intend anything to be mean or rude. But, it's very difficult sometimes to convey a true meaning in simple typed text, so things sometimes get misunderstood. I will say however, that I will not back down from a fight, whether it's an online text fight or in real life. I can't help it, that's just the way I'm wired. But I'm really trying to work on my demeanor. But, the point is that everybody here seems to understand what I'm saying when I say it and what I meant by it, which is odd. I don't get that too often. Everybody seems to understand that 99.9% of the time I'm just being silly and trying to have fun. It's very rare, at least in my opinion, when you can have 20 or 30 people in a chat room, and everybody gets along and has a great time. It's a beautiful thing!!One last thing. The combined talent on this site is so staggering that it simply cannot be put into words that would do it any justice! It defies reality. Why most of these people are not a household name is beyond me. Why most of these people don't have 50 platinum records hanging on their walls is disturbing. Why most of these people are not playing in front of a million seat sold out crowd every night is tragic. You just have to listen. That's it. Listen and the truth of what I'm saying will be as evident as the bright blazing Sun. True talent does not exist in the murky waters of today's mainstream radio and television. The true talent lies in the shadows. An entire world of artists, musicians, and songwriter's that you may have never heard of, not to mention the countless cast aside legends that actually made real music but are now ignored by the industry, that, if unleashed, would drive every major record label and executive to their knees and cause them to beg for mercy. We are out here. Our numbers are growing exponentially and soon, they will no longer be able to ignore us. Soon, it will be our time. Mixposure is leading the way with the endless talent that has found a home here. THIS is the future of music!!So, what's the point to all this? It's simple. If you are not a member here but are considering joining but you aren't quite sure, DO IT!! I promise you that you will never regret it! And, if you choose not to, that's alright too, but you'll be missing out on something very special.

Posted in: Music | 14 comments

Things That Piss Me The **** Off

By Sam Houston, 2011-01-20

Lots of things can happen and/or go wrong when playing live on stage (gigging). Since I've played regularly on stage for well over 20 years, I thought it would be fun to share some of the things that go on "behind the scenes". The average person has no idea what we musicians put ourselves through in order for them to be "entertained".These will be sort of like the old "I hate it when that happens" scenario. You know, like when you fall off of a tall building and hang your eyelid on a nail on the way down....I hate it when that happens.So I will periodically be adding a new installment. This will be the first of many. So, when you first start out, you don't have a lot of stuff....or money....or knowledge....or sense. Way back when I first started gigging a lot, we just hauled our equipment in pick-ups....three pick-ups to be exact. Well when you haul equipment in a pick-up you don't want to get it messed up so you cover it with a tarp. We always covered our stuff with tarps. But, it never failed, especially on long trips, it would RAIN. Then we would always have to stop several times on the way to re-tie the tarps back down because they would always come loose. When you go to a gig, you always want to look half way decent, so we were always dressed up, our hair brushed just right, and wearing our best boots. But by the time we would get to the gig after having to get out in the rain several times, jack around with the tarps and equipment, and wade around in the mud, we looked like drowned rats or that we had just came from a mud wrestling contest.....and we were the wrestlers....and lost. It's not easy to get women to throw their underwear on stage at you when you look like that. <img title="Tongue out" src="http://www.mixposure.com/include/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue out" />That pisses me the **** off!!

Posted in: Gigs | 9 comments

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