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Thread: Multitracking? Experiences? Problems? Fun!

  1. Cool Multitracking? Experiences? Problems? Fun!

    I believe this is the best place to post this. This summer I've been bored, and not particularly wanted to get a job. I've been stumped as to what to do, not particularly wanting to watch TV all summer, or get a job, I left myself with a conundrum.

    Well I tried out busking, tried some arranging. Both were fun but a little hard to really get into as busking got me and my friends yelled at by the locals, and arranging gets monotonous to me.

    Yesterday I was watching some Christopher Bill videos -- if you haven't seen them they are amazing, look it up on youtube. And decided that this really couldn't be all that hard. I had a Mic, and had done some recordings of myself before. I gave it a try.

    Here is my first attempt at some recordings (at least the ones that sound good): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnFJqGKlvGQ

    Now to delve into some technicalities: I'm using a meteor mic by Samson (it is a usb mic). I am sadly using Bluetooth headphones because my 1/8 jack on my computer is broken. I'm using Linux mint (for anybody who has ever used linux you will know how bad pulseaudio is). and I'm using audacity: http://audacityteam.org/ . This all put together means that between the click track I hear in my ears to the waves showing up on my screen there is about a 1/4 second of lag.

    I managed to fix this somewhat in audacity with a setting that offsets everything recorded back a 1/4 of a second (it's not exactly a 1/4 but it's close). The problem is that this offset isn't the exact same all the time. I'm working on another option besides the bluetooth headset, which I hope is what most of this problem is, but it is still rather unsettling. Despite this, I managed to get a few that I believe are pretty good.

    I'm wondering if anybody here has had any experiences with multitracking. I believe that Steven Mead has a few albums which are multitracked, and have seen people like Christopher Bill and TubaPeter do it on youtube. For anybody that does; what is your setup? What are the problems which you face? What would you recommend?

    On another subject this is an amazing practice tool. I really got to learn a few different things about my playing and had to fix them to make the tracks sound good. I'll definitely be doing this more in the future!

    looking forward to discussion!
    -Jared

  2. #2
    First, good job on the recording! It know it is hard to do it using Audacity because I have tried.

    Here is the solution I have found:

    http://www.amazon.com/DP-008EX-Porta.../dp/B00B9060X6

    It has mics built in and 8-track recording (or you can use external mics, but not USB as far as I know). It has a built-in click track and various mixing capabilities. For the $150 price it will give you excellent results.

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    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
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  3. #3
    Sounds pretty good! You might experiment with smaller buffers in your interface setup for less latency. You're absolutely right about this sort of thing being a great practice tool.

  4. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one which finds audacity a bit clunky at times! As for the 8-track, that does seem like a good solution, just not one that I'm willing to drop the money for quite yet. I'll do some more with this setup for a bit and see if it's something that I want to spend some more money on. I managed to fix some of the latency issues by using a different pair of headphones. The meteor mic comes with a way for me to route my computer audio back through it and out of a 3.5mm jack in the back so that I can use some real headphones instead of my bluetooth ones. Now the latency is much more predictable and I can't blame the technology for me being off .

    as for adjusting the latency, right now it's set at 100ms and the latency correction is at -161. I did the test where I held up my headphones to the mic and found the difference to get it as close as possible. now it only varies by ~3ms in either direction. I don't know why the latency was that by default, I just figured that there was some reason. Is there any reason not to set the latency to 0?

    I did a few more today. I'm finding that the quality and consistency of my attacks is not anything like what I would like. I should have recorded myself a long time ago.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Very nice sound Jared! Audacity is a little quirky, but it has a lot of great tools once you get it figured out. I may try this some myself for practicing in the future. I really enjoyed your tone, and use of subtle vibrato, it was very pleasant. I myself am still working on my vibrato, but you have a great start! Bravo on the multi tracking, there were very few spots that were slightly off, but nothing major. I feel your pain for the summer though, I am in the same boat. No job, but two horns to practice and get good at for this semesters auditions, and if I am really really lucky I'll be fortunate enough to make it into the orchestra on tuba, and keep my spot in the Wind Symphony on Euphonium.

    Articulation is a pain from time to time for me. I may have a tongue that is too long for my mouth so I adjust, but it just takes consistent practice to get consistent results. But now that you know about the issue, it will be much easier to address it.
    Adams E1 SS, Gold Brass Body .6mm DE Euph N103 Jcup, J9 shank
    Meinl Weston 2141 Eb Tuba PT 84

  6. #6
    Great sound, i like this kind of recordings very much. you might want to check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9LH5aExl-Q Jorijn is a dutch player, his website is on the link. if you ask him he will surely respond to answer all your questions.

  7. #7
    Hi all, I had a little go at multi tracking this arrangement of Thriller.

    https://youtu.be/c32NfVLGLU8

    Let me know what you think.

    Matt

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
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    3,853
    Quote Originally Posted by mrmatthewhill View Post
    Hi all, I had a little go at multi tracking this arrangement of Thriller.

    https://youtu.be/c32NfVLGLU8

    Let me know what you think.

    Matt

    Excellent! Thanks for sharing.

    P.S. great solo with Marple Band, "Jeanie with Light Brown Hair"
    Last edited by RickF; 09-06-2015 at 05:10 PM.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  9. #9
    I know this is an old thread, but for multitracking, you can't beat reaper. It's technically shareware, so it'll nag for a few seconds before you start it. I purchased a small business license that was only $60. You can use it forever for free though, and the maker is totally ok with that, as long as you're ok with the nag at startup.

    It's a great very stable piece of software; I use it as my primary recording platform on all my remote sessions, as pro tools tends to be more temperamental on some laptops.

    www.reaper.fm

  10. I've been listening to this kid for awhile now. You want multi-tracks -- this kids got 'em.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GeOQruSJ1E

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