The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I don't have any programs to help me with this on my computer. I record on my 12 track digital AKAI. I burn to a cdr and transfer to my computer and thats about it. So basically I don't have any production capabilities. I have minimal on my recorder, like EQ's and thats about it. So when I'm done with my song it ends up being pretty quiet.

1.) Is there an easy way to bump up the level to a normal volume?

2.) As a whole whats the best way to go for a program to help me produce my songs? ( because basically I record and I'm done-I have No fancy programs)

Obviously I'd like to try to get my songs to sound better than just recording and done.

Thanks to all replies.

Do you need free or are you willing to put in some cash?
Ozone is a fine mastering set of plugins, but you'd also need an editor (I use that coupled with SoundForge).
There are free things available but I'll let the users of those softwares speak up about them.
-bill

Free for now but willing to save up money if it would be worth it.

Audacity + Audacity VST Enabler + Kjaerhus Classic Master Limiter = all the volume you need, priced to fit your budget.

Once you have an MP3 you could use MP3gain or MP3trim to adjust the volume.

They are both freeware.

Steve

Ok so I tried Mp3 gain and it seemed to distort the track pretty bad. It worked decent on this other track I tried. So I thought it would work. but no
I also tried recording straight on to the computer and that was distorted. So I don't know if its my sound card or if it's something else I'm doing wrong or what. I haven't tried much but then again I'm not so good with computers
Do most people here record straight on the computer or on a recorder?
and am I stupid for trying to record on a 12 track and transferring to my computer?(cause thats by far the easiest way for me right now)
Should I try to record straight to my computer and if so do you think that the low quality sound card that came with the computer should work fine(it seems to distort if the card is the prob) or should I look into getting a better sound card? and lets say I decide to stick with the recorder I still need to try to figure out the level prob. Any suggestions?

settings -> control panel -> sounds ->advanced -> options -> recording

reduce the recording level of your sound card input

also make sure you are recording from your unit into the line in, not the mic input, of your sound card.

MP3Gain seems to work fine for me. In order to avoid clipping you probably shouldn't go above about 96db. Since it shows you when it clips you can try adjusting the level up 1 db at a time to see where the clipping starts.

If you just have peaky areas in your track then you will need to do some compression first.

It is very important that you get as clean a recording as you can to start with. If your track just basically sounds crappy no amount of post processing can really fix it.

Steve

Desheads suggestions are what you should follow. I posted a reply to you in the prefight thread too. Read up a little bit on compression and limiting through a google search or something(mixing and mastering searches would help too). Get the free software Deshead mentioned and import your track from a cd to the editor. I use a soft-knee compressor over my whole mix, and then a limiter after that (among eq and others etc). Set the limiter to a -0.1 output gain so you don't clip and try not use too much reduction (threshold) so you don't flatten all your dynamics. If you want to be lazy and just get a little gain use the presets if there are any.

So I think I have it figured out. I can't record in stereo on the computer, but what I can do is record in stereo on my recorder (mainly effect pedals with stereo capabilities because I only have one line in input on my computer). I have figured out that I can do all the recording on the recorder and when I get my master L and R tracks record those each seperately on obviously two completely seperate tracks onto my computer. Then just pan the Left to the left and right to the right all the way. thanks to blue helping with the input level. I was thinking it was something like that I just had no clue where to find it. Since I figured out the prob with my input level it helps tremendously. leaves my options wide open. So thanks to all for the advice and I am on my way to becoming the best singer/songwriter/producer in the world. and when I become rich and famous I'll send you guys some kickback for all the advice

alright new problem. I exported from audacity as mp3 and its distorted and have no clue why. Why can't everything on computers work easy and never have any problems. wouldn't that be a nice world to live in.

Your line input should most likely be stereo. Should be mini jack with two stripes on it, which is tip, ring sleeve (the stripes seperate the parts), unless it's a shit factory card. If these problems persist, do yourself a favour and buy a 24/96 card by m-audio. About a 100 bucks if not cheaper. You'll save yourself a lot of headache working in the way you do.

Follow what Blue said. Make sure you are going line and not mic in. Signal might be too hot.

Screaming Poet wrote:Why can't everything on computers work easy and never have any problems. wouldn't that be a nice world to live in.

Get a Mac.

As a complete computer retard myself - the Mac has certainly made my life simpler

I believe that even on a Mac, you need to know whether your input is stereo or mono.

I believe that even on a Mac, you need to set your input level correctly.

I believe that even on a Mac, mp3 encoding can introduce artifacts, distortion, etc.

Were you a computer retard before you started using a Mac, or did that happen as a result? Just wondering.

Spud wrote: Were you a computer retard before you started using a Mac, or did that happen as a result? Just wondering.

No, definitely aways been one. Though I expect my retardedness has increased since using the Mac because nowdays I don't spend hours looking through "Help" files and reading manuals trying to work out what the problem is.

I don't want to know how my computer works. I just want to use it

When I used a PC I always had problems
When I got the Mac everything became much simpler

Just listen to all the cracks and hisses and pops and shit on every Caravan Ray entry before about May last year. Not that I'm saying my quality has improved enormously or that I now know what I'm doing - just that I can now produce a crap result in far less time and with fewer keystrokes

...And just to bring this back to the topic at hand - I was posting similar-type questions to this board about 12 months ago - and the most valuable advice I ever received from these boards was "macs are good for people who don't want to fiddle with their computer settings all the time". I took that advice and I'm glad I did.

I'm able to get my tracks onto audacity just fine and it sounds good but I guess audacity records in some kind of aup file (never even heard of this format) but anyway when I try to transfer from aup to mp3, thats where I'm having my problem not with the input level. I think I've solved that problem. does anybody know if there are any settings that I might need to adjust to get a distorted free mp3. if not I guess I'll do guess and check.

My input probably is stereo but I can't figure out how to put the L and R master tracks onto seperate tracks on audacity. It seems to record in mono. But really thats not a problem for me. It's pretty easy for me to just record the two stereo tracks seperatly on audacity. It's not a hassle at all. I'm so close to working out the major kinks in my production setup. it seems this last tranfer from aup to mp3 is the last thing I really need to figure out.

In Audacity, go to Edit -> Preferences -> Audio I/O Tab -> Channels. Select 2(stereo). You will now be able to record in stereo.

Since Audacity uses LAME anyway, you might as well just save as WAV and convert it yourself, where you will have more control. See http://beesbuzz.biz/music/tutorials/sfencode.php

SPUD

Are you using audacity to encode the mp3? Many applications have shitty encoders, like Acid. Have audacity export a .wav, and use a standalone mp3 encoder on that. Lots of folks 'round here use Lame.

Sober, as noted above, Audacity uses LAME. In fact, you have to download it separately. However, it gives you NO control over the encoding parameters. That is why I linked fluffy's tutorial.

SPUD

I can't be bothered with reading an entire thread, for heck's sake.