Midi editor still needs quite a bit of work, but it works alot better than it used to. It just doesn't remember view settings and always resets the look (piano layout / named notes / diamonds / midi notes with length whatever the f) I have a shit ton of recommends for them but haven't actually posted anything

i guess i don't mind just using bars so i love the midi layout.

you should make suggestions, they're still working on reap4, it could really help!

my suggest is for them to make it so you don't have to opne up each midi bar separately

[QUOTE=The Transporter;18219955]my suggest is for them to make it so you don't have to opne up each midi bar separately[/QUOTE]

wat

whenever you are edit midi its only shows the one bar you are working on. is there a way to change

What EQ inserts do you guys use? Im stuck with the standard Cubase EQ's. Iv exported my SD audio mixdown into Cubase and i wanna try out a few different inserts for my EQ'ing.

Electri-Q (posihfopit edition) by Aixcoustics/Christian Budde

[url]http://www.aixcoustic.com/index.php/Electri-Q-posihfopit/30/0/[/url]

You may have better luck with the original posihfopit:

[url]http://www.savioursofsoul.de/Christian/vst-plugins/eqs-filters/[/url]

While we're talking about Christian Budde, his NoName EQ is also a good neutral-sounding EQ, and it puts less emphasis on the visual aspect of things.

Those are my "fist-line" EQs, and the posihfopit series in particular is amongst the most powerful freeware EQs I've come across.

You can also get better skins for them here: [url]http://www.blackoutaudio.co.uk/forum/production/48610-sweet-skins-users-electri-q-posihfopit.html[/url]

Another solid graphic EQ is in the KarmaFX Free Pack: [url]http://karmafx.net/?id=1#a1[/url]

That one has some cool features that let you adjust the range of frequencies and the degree of gain.

An oldie-but-goody with Linear Phase is Slim Slow Slider's creatively named "Linear Phase Graphic EQ 2":

[url]http://www.geocities.jp/webmaster_of_sss/vst/index.html[/url]

I've used that one on two-track mixes when I don't want to be screwing with the phase and only need to make small adjustments.

Lastly, if you want something that really puts the focus on your ears, DDMF's IIEQ is pretty solid: [url]http://ddmf.eu/freeware.php[/url]

All of those are VST plugins for Windows, and they're all freely available from the devs.

Thanks alot man! Ill start looking through them now. What are the posihfopit EQ's like with regards to CPU load and the like? I dont know what system you are running but it something im approaching cautiously as im abit of a noob.

[quote=benfan;18231874]Thanks alot man! Ill start looking through them now. What are the posihfopit EQ's like with regards to CPU load and the like? I dont know what system you are running but it something im approaching cautiously as im abit of a noob.[/quote]

I've never done the full 32-band load-out on Electri-Q. Normally I'm using 8 bands (realistically it's closer to 5). It makes my CPU meter (in sonar) jump up 3-6% on a single core. That's working in Digital Economy mode. Analog mode tries to add certain characteristics and causes a little more CPU usage, but nothing that will stop the show for a single instance.

IIEQ might be implemented using a wrapper configuration (e.g., SynthEdit or Synthmaker). IIRC, it's less efficient than the others, but still not a big deal to run.

The others are are really inexpensive for the processor.

I'm working with a Core Duo 2 1.8GHz processor.

Generally speaking, EQ plugins won't be a problem unless they're doing some kind of convolution to emulate specific hardware or some other special processing (2nd order harmonics, etc.). All the ones I've given you are generally pretty neutral.

This is actually pretty true for most of the free plugins I've used (and I've used a lot).

Generally speaking you're only going to run into problems with a single plugin instance crippling your processor when you're working with emulation, sound replacement, synthesis, convolution, or 3-dimensional spatialization.

Sometimes you'll run into issues with very elaborate or robust reverb algorithms, but most are pretty computationally inexpensive for today's processors.

The other "normal" stuff (EQ, dynamics, distortion, delay, modulation) isn't generally a big deal, unless the plugin is coded poorly or you're emulating hardware characteristics. Even a lot of amp sims are fairly light on the processing.

Also, don't be too scared to try a VST plugin. Just try them one at a time. The beauty of the implementation is that you can add them as needed, so if they break something you can usually reboot and get rid of the most recent addition to solve things.

Ill be using keFir and ReCabinet when iv finished tweaking the drum tracks so i imagine i should save space for them then.

[quote=benfan;18231946]Ill be using keFir and ReCabinet when iv finished tweaking the drum tracks so i imagine i should save space for them then.

The Cubase EQ isnt too bad but i cant find any options for High/Low filters, so its just the curve and parametric EQs im using.[/quote]


Don't worry about it so much. If you get stuck, you can always freeze tracks to save on processing.

Here's one for you:

Recording some bass last night and there was some strange shit going on.

Got a MOTU 828 and it seemed to be juggling channels about, kept having to change the input channel on Cubase to actually get an input. That and it just stopped mid track at one point for no apparent reason. the mac was communicating with it just fine as itunes was playing through the monitors. managed to roll with it and get the recording done but i just couldn't get me head round why the input channels would suddenly change like that....???

Is it possible to work on Reason projects in Windows that were created on a Mac? Or are the file types different?

I have a couple on a flash drive but they're just files. There's also a trash folder and other mac junk on here. It was formatted to FAT before I put this stuff on it if that helps

[QUOTE=benfan;18231735]What EQ inserts do you guys use? Im stuck with the standard Cubase EQ's. Iv exported my SD audio mixdown into Cubase and i wanna try out a few different inserts for my EQ'ing.[/QUOTE]

api550b, it's EQ's greatest hits collection

Is it freeware or do i gotsta pay?

well, you don't HAVE to pay... if you know what i'm sayin

I formatted to FAT thanks for the help guys!

And the lolmacs weren't putting extensions on the filenames so I changed them

How do you guys EQ your snares?

Im currently trying to get rid of a horrible ringing sound thats hanging around in the mid frequencies of my snare top. Its a juggling game between eliminating that and keeping some mid range to give it abit of oomph. I have my snare bottom to EQ aswell (no idea how to go about it).

Any tips? Its for a fast metal song so i want a nice bright snare with some body to complement the kick drum.

Heres what iv set so far for my snare top -

EQ 1 - Boost 6.4Db @ 131Hz Q7
EQ 2 - Cut 20Db @ 362Hz Q12
EQ 3 - Cut 24Db @ 786Hz Q12
EQ 4 - Boost 5.6Db @ 6584Hz Q9

So im cutting quite abit of the mid range out although im using a narrow Q. Its the only way i can see to get rid of the nasty snare ring.

Giving EQ settings make no difference to us because it completely depends on the recorded signal.
I couldn't say oh yeah man you need to cut this much at this freq. It's all subjective.

I've worked with really problematic snares before, they're a pain. It's best to just attenuate the ring rather than kill it, otherwise it will sound unnatural. Have you tried the basic 'boost a notch to find the freq'?

[quote=benfan;18245874]So im cutting quite abit of the mid range out although im using a narrow Q. Its the only way i can see to get rid of the nasty snare ring.[/quote]


I agree that your best bet is to make sure the ringing is minimized at the source. You could also try gating (or multi-band gating with narrow bands around the ringing frequencies), but those aren't super-effective either.

If you're stuck and you really can't get rid of it to a degree you like, you may have to turn to the dark side of sample replacement.

dun dun dunnnnn...

or at least sample reinforcement. Sample replacement on fills sounds gash.

[QUOTE=benfan;18245874]How do you guys EQ your snares?

Im currently trying to get rid of a horrible ringing sound thats hanging around in the mid frequencies of my snare top. Its a juggling game between eliminating that and keeping some mid range to give it abit of oomph. I have my snare bottom to EQ aswell (no idea how to go about it).

Any tips? Its for a fast metal song so i want a nice bright snare with some body to complement the kick drum.

Heres what iv set so far for my snare top -

EQ 1 - Boost 6.4Db @ 131Hz Q7
EQ 2 - Cut 20Db @ 362Hz Q12
EQ 3 - Cut 24Db @ 786Hz Q12
EQ 4 - Boost 5.6Db @ 6584Hz Q9

So im cutting quite abit of the mid range out although im using a narrow Q. Its the only way i can see to get rid of the nasty snare ring.[/QUOTE]

if you have to eq that hard you should take a step back and look at the snare type, what mic you're using, cables, preamp and maybe any other fx you might be running on the way in. Most people's problem is they think they'll get a lot of attack when they throw the mic right up next to the skin of the snare, bring it off a bit (think audio sine waves) the further away the mic is from the snare the larger you allow the sine waves to grow (peaks) It may also be that your METAL drummer likes a tight snare because it bounces the stick back at him so he doesn't have to work as hard to do rolls etc, on top of that i'm sure he's doing rimshots every hit which sounds cool live but are a bitch to tame in a recording so if you can convince him to actually play for the song and not for himself good work, if not, just tune his snare down way low.

and for a short winded lazy fix:

gate, aux send, fat reverb, boost both the snare and the verb at 250hz

Sorry guys i should of explained im using the standard snare that comes with the Superior Drummer 2 package.

Iv read some info about creating an aux send and using alot of compression on it but im not that advanced yet so has anyone else had any experience of this?

And Xombies thanks for the post man, could you explain a little more about the gating process?

ohh well superior drummer shouldn't be giving you a ring, maybe your chain/ blend of mics / mic bleed are a little askew. Are you using the Avatar soundplate?

I started recording with Cool Edit 2.0 back in the day, its now bought out by Adobe, caleld Adobe Audition 3.0, its a pretty nice little program for live instrument tracking, there is no midi input as far as I know, but it worked for a long time for me, the interface is very simple to navigate through, i used a shure sm58 mic directly into my sound card for a long time, then I upgraded to a USB interface with a condensor microphone for tracking live instruments, i just recently started using Cubase 5.0 for all my recording now cause it supports both live instrument and midi, im lovin' it. For programming drums Ive used EX Drummer (but not the fabricated beats that come with it), I set it up to a midi track in my Fruity Loops or Cubase and used piano roll and just programmed my own with that

I have a few old recordings I did with audition up on myspace, feel free to check em' out myspace.com/thecolorofwe

[QUOTE=Xomblies;18247721]ohh well superior drummer shouldn't be giving you a ring, maybe your chain/ blend of mics / mic bleed are a little askew. Are you using the Avatar soundplate?[/QUOTE]

Yeah im using the N.Y Avatar library, and ive got the Ludwig Black Beauty snare selected. I do all the panning within SD and then export into Cubase for the mixing.

all i do on the snare is boost 250hz by a few db, pop on a comp with a late attack and quick release a high ratio and only a little bit of a threshold rolloff just to lop off the super huge peaks (which shouldn't be too bad considering it's an electronic kit) eq again cutting a small amount of mids (500hz) and bosting 1.5kish by a few db

So you have a different eq before and after your compression stage?

yep, if you have the ssl comp, don't let the meter peak too much above 4

Iv started messing around with the compression but it doesnt seem to make much difference overall, maybe something to do with SD?

Should i compress both top and bottom mics using the same settings?

Im using the Cubase 4 band EQ and the standard compresser aswell, so im not sure which stage comes firts, the EQ or Compresser.

some of it may be the plugs you're using, i forgot to mention throw a compressor on the final 2bus (if you're sending sd all over the place) and send it to an aux channel with some nice medium size room verb. A trick i do often to attenuate annoying frequencies is to get a thin notch eq and boost as high as you can, move it around until you find the native frequency of the ring and cut that frequency a little bit, widen the q to scoop all the accidentals around the frequency in question. Are you using headphones? also are there other instruments going on? a lot of that ring will go away once you start adding other elements...

Well depends on if you plan on recording using mics or via usb.

I've recorded with both. I personally prefer a mic. I would go with an Shure SM57. Very versatile mic. One of the most used in the our studio.

In terms of a DAW I prefer pro tools. Our studio uses HD, but that it pricey for a home studio. I would go with the LE version, works pretty well from my experience (haven't used LE a heck of a lot, so maybe someone else could help you more).

If you only plan on recording guitar you wouldn't really need any outboard gear other the a POD or Tc electronics G major if you wanna dish out a little more cash.

You can get a great Reverb plugin for pro tools for about 400 dollars. Which i know sounds like a lot but it can be used on as many tracks as you want either in line or parallel and it really is a great reverb.

Good luck with whatever you decide to get.

[QUOTE=Xomblies;18251442]some of it may be the plugs you're using, i forgot to mention throw a compressor on the final 2bus (if you're sending sd all over the place) and send it to an aux channel with some nice medium size room verb. A trick i do often to attenuate annoying frequencies is to get a thin notch eq and boost as high as you can, move it around until you find the native frequency of the ring and cut that frequency a little bit, widen the q to scoop all the accidentals around the frequency in question. Are you using headphones? also are there other instruments going on? a lot of that ring will go away once you start adding other elements...[/QUOTE]


I have been sweeping the snare top with a narrow Q, but i have have to cut quite excessivley to hear any difference. I think its a case of trial and error cause im still quite new to this.

Can you explain further the method you mentioned first, Im sending SD as multichannel to Cubase and then exporting the sounds to audio tracks. So after the midi is mapped and exported to audio im not using SD its all audio files.

And yeah im using headphones, i got a pair of Beyer DT990 Pro's.

i think the headphones is most of the problem (mix on speakers to win), but, if you're sending all your drums out different audio channels:

Eq the snare, cut a little at maybe 1k boost between 250hz and 500hz, unless you want to scoop the snare then cut 500hz but i've been favoring the mids on a snare lately. Then run a noise gate (i use the sonalksis s19 gate) set it for a quick attack, quick release 25% hold and set the threshold accordingly, then eq again boosting the top end and some low end as you see fit, then send THAT snare signal to a reverb, medium room or hall should do it, boost 200 to 300hz. It'll take you a while to find your snare sound, don't give up easily or quickly, snare is one of the hardest things to tame on a kit in my opinion

Im getting close to the sound i want. Im mixing the snare in with another that iv used the SD envelope on and then with the snare bottom.

so you gave the snare a big ass? i actually kinda like snare drums that are almost a kick but with snares on em lol

Hi guys. I record a lot of music at home, but my set consists of an SM57, a cord that can plug from that into my computer, and my laptop (and of course my guitar/amp/pedals). What would you guys recommend getting to make it better? Some of the songs can be found here:

[URL]http://www.soundcloud.com/ted-jachimowicz[/URL]

And of course all criticism of these songs are welcome.

[QUOTE=Xomblies;18262015]so you gave the snare a big ass? i actually kinda like snare drums that are almost a kick but with snares on em lol[/QUOTE]

Its sounding promising, if abit wooden at the minute!

what type of plugins do you guys use for pad/ambience stuff?

[QUOTE=The Transporter;18265355]what type of plugins do you guys use for pad/ambience stuff?[/QUOTE]

Ultra Analog.