Wanna record?!Most-important-article for n00bz! (Part-1)
1)It’s a pretty long-ass cut-to-cut and the simplest and non-technical jargon used here to make you understand.Think of it like a story and then proceed.
2)Tweaking is the ultimate key(I have learnt that the hard way).The more you indulge in messing with the softwares and the samplers,the more you progress.Now start readin fella’s. 
Ok!Thank you everyone for supporting me for my scribblings so far 
.Take it as a return on my behalf ;) .
Many people have been asking me after listening to my solo project Essence that how do I record,program drums,process,mix,master etc etc in short,the same things which I used to ask to my fellow awesome musicians and producers some time before and it took me many hours to learn and have a proper understanding of how production works and still I myself am not a pro in all this.
So to avoid answering all those friends of mine multiple times which is absolutely one hell of a job to do(you know that 
),I decided to make up an article on how to start recording.And I will cover the basics of mixing further in the continuation to this article.This is a very long-ass read but I assure you it’s almost very non-technical and reader-friendly and y’all n00bz will get most of your basics cleared
RECORDING BASICS
So I’ll start off with what is required first of all to start your recording with.(for a guitarist)
1)How to connect your guitar to your pc?What all you need?
-You need your guitar,processor,nice cables(minimum 2),a sound card/usb recording interface.
Basically you can record using a soundcard,that is plugging your guitar into the processor and then connecting your processor to your “line-in” jack which is usually present on the back-side of your PC .OR if you have a usb interface > Line-6 Toneport UX2 ,you connect your guitar to your processor and then connect it to your USB interface like the one which I linked above and you have a USB connection from the interface to the USB hub in your pc.Nowadays processors also have USB connections for recording.So you can also invest on that.Here I covered what all connections you make just before recording.USB Interfaces cost around from 5k INR/- + AFAIK!.
2)Why is a good soundcard or an USB Interface necessary to record??
-Generally you must have heard this word named “Latency”(i know it’s a bitchy word ).Latency in simple language means the delay of output from your speakers. i.e. When you record using your on-board sound card,when you strike a note on your guitar,the sound will come after some micro-seconds which makes it pretty uncomfortable for an artist to record.So using a good sound card or an USB interface eliminates the latency to almost zero which is ub3r comfy for you to record.
3)What all do I need to get my recordings started?
-You need your guitar,interface/sound-card,processor,a DAW for starters,a drum sampler
After you are done with the connections(refer to Q1),you just fire up your DAW and start recording.
Ok so what is a DAW??
DAW is the short form for Digital Audio Workstation or audio recording software in layman terms for e.g Adobe Audition(the best DAW for starters),Nuendo,Cubase,Logic,Ableton Live,Fruity Loops etc.
Drum Samplers
-Well for an amateur/semi-pro musician in India and as well as an amateur producer,it’s a pretty tough job financially to go record live drums in a studio.Instead of that we have a very very good alternative that is sampled/programmed drums.They give out pretty good quality if processed well.Some of the e.g are EZDrummer,Drumkit from Hell a.k.a DFH, S2.0 ,Steven Slate Drums,Metal Foundry Drums etc.
Well as this guide considers to helping up beginners,EZDrummer with Drumkit from Hell is the best alternative for y’all.
-PRE-PROGRAMMING ,TO-DO LIST
To program drums,you need both of these softwares.First install EZDrummer and then install DfH.After you are done with this,open up a DAW for programming the drums.According to me Fruity Loops 9 is the best deal for us over here.Even I use FL9.
Just load up FL9(after installing both the softwares),click on Channel>Add One>More.A long list of plugins will appear,just click on “Refresh” which is at the bottom of the list so that it will show “EZDrummer”.Just tick it and close the list.Then afterwards whenever you open up your list,EZDrummer will always appear.
So,when to open up any plugin(including EZD) in FL,you click on Channel>Add One>(the list,find EZD from the list) and click on it.The EZDrummer interface will open which will consist of a drumkit.Click on each drum-part to know the sound,and keep exploring.I’ll go ahead on how to actually program.All this was “Pre-programming” instructions and how-to-start stuff.Haha already bored,are’nt you??But the drive to learn new stuff should overcome this boredom 
.
-PROGRAMMING THE DRUMS
So after doing all that stuff which I mentioned above^.When you come to the main interface page with the drumkit,press “Alt+P”.It will bring up the Piano Roll.A Piano Roll consists of keys(that of a keyboard) and small boxes beside them.Each key denotes one drum part i.e snare,kick.Your job=EXPLORE and tweak.Click on one box,it will be filled with a green box.Set tempo and start tweaking with the software.Similarly you can mess with DFH(which is mainly for programming metal drums) by clicking on a dropdown option which is right above the drumkit on the main interface and selecting “Drumkit from Hell”.Now start tweaking.
Sigh!I have completed the basics of Drum Programming and Recording over here.The conclusion to this guide will have the n00b tips on mixing and mastering(which I myself don’t know properly ).
All the Best!
Cheers.Feel free to pop up any questions on comments below and spread word!!
u need ezdrummer and drumkit from hell together is it? but fruity loops , only one thing is required?
See
Fruity Loops -one setup
EZDrummer -one setup
Drumkit from Hell -one setup.
Total of 3 setups you need.Ask if you need any other clarification
Cheers
^EZDrummer is the basic interface. DFH is just a sample expansion. You need EZDrummer to run DFH.
Very very very basic article. This is the stuff people who want to record should be able to figure out themselves. And if you’re making a guide for noobs, a DAW a MIDI drum programming interace isn’t the easiest and most basic. There are loads of simple small audio recording programs like CoolEditPro or Audacity, and something like Beatcraft that can be used. You would have realised how complex DAW’s are if you had actually bought it instead of illegally downloading, and read the manual. Wanna record some random stuff, get a Digital Audio Workstation! Lol.
Hey mate,well I wrote all what I started with and I did’nt know stuff.And I found Audition pretty easy to mess with and it has a very solid build.I got feedback from people that it helped them and this is what I wanted
And yeah you are absolutely true about the illegal downloading.I personally ain’t that rich to go on purchasing DAW’s and softwares neither is someone who has just started going to buy them.You can’t deny this mate.
And regarding the easy softwares,when I started messing.I did use Audacity and Beatcraft and I did’nt like it.But when I messed with Audition,it was just too perfect for starters!
“Very very very basic article”
^^Absolutely true,this article was meant for people who don’t know a single word in audio production and I myself ain’t pro.And I faced many difficulties in figuring stuff out at the first.
“This is the stuff people who want to record should be able to figure out themselves”
^^Well people do figure it out themselves.What about people who are not able to figure it out.This will help them.
Cheers and thanks for commenting.Glad you dig it
Hello,
I just happened to read this, and also checked out “Essence” which seems to be your solo project. Now going by what I heard, you seem to fall in this so called ‘n00b’ category as well. I dont know what you’re playing at calling others ‘n00bs’ as you seen to be at the same level going by your mix, compositions, arrangement etc.
I do appreciate the initiative to write an article on recording, but you should be doing that a lot later when your actually good at it. For example, just because I can paint a picture, doesnt mean I can write a tutorial on it. Instead I would advise you to focus your energies and your time on working on your mixes, which Im afraid to say sound very amateur. Anyone reading this tutorial should be able to get to that level of mixing(of your songs) by default cause its level 0. You say you’re not a pro, but I gotta say you’re nowhere near intermediate either, you’re a beginner and you should focus on working rather than articles.
This article could have just been http://www.google.com as you’ll find all this data and tons more there. Not only basics like these but from basic or as you say ‘n00b’ to ‘pro’ level information. I’d recommend you to do the same as all ‘n00bs’ and google, work and leave articles to the industry folk.
Hope you take it in the positive spirit.
G
Hey southsideglen,
I absolutely agree that I fall in the n00bz category as well.I did’nt mean to play at anything and yes my compositions will be noobish as they are just 5-minute compositions which I just compose so that I increase my skill at recording/mixing.
“just because I can paint a picture, doesnt mean I can write a tutorial on it. Instead I would advise you to focus your energies and your time on working on your mixes, which Im afraid to say sound very amateur”
^^^This does not hold true here,because Im not giving out tips to get good mixes here.Im just telling you how to start because many people here don’t know the way and you are absolutely true about my mixes which are amateur,I don’t deny that.
The only purpose of my article was getting people started on recording and I am dead confident I have done my job here.
Cheers,glad you said it out,I respect it completely mate
And yeah the tracks were like some months old.My new mixes have definitely improved atleast to get me outta this n00b category hahaz
Cheers
very nice dude.. i desperately needed this article.. very good for n00b…
dude one query.. shud we record the vocals and guitar separately or at the same time .. since m-audio fast track supports both at the same time also..
@Rickkkyrich
but as I said,you can try.
No shyzz dude,spread word
About the recording,as far as I know they are not recorded together
Generally vocals are recorded the last! after all guitars,bass and drums.
Cheers.
LIKE. Much love from the n00b community.<3
Thankuz!
Hope it helped.More articles coming up.
Cheers!
@southsideglen
I think the article is more about the home recording setup and not about mixing. And the author nowhere claims that he is a dada in mixing. He has accepted that he himself is just learning the art of mixing.
This article is a great guide to people who know a bit of music and want to do the extra step and start/try out recording.
I can safely say that this article is worth every second a beginner reads it.
Cheers!
[...] Long time since I wrote my first article so that I could help people out on how to start recording by themselves and what all they need!If you are new to my blog and also new to audio production,I’d recommend you to go through the first article first! http://essentialblend.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/wanna-recordmost-important-article-for-n00bz-part-1/ [...]