Set up for Spontaneous Recording Takes

[Buddhabreath]

I’m a newb and couldn’t find anything specifically geared towards this, so apologies if I missed it or I’m not posting this in quite the right place. Feel free to put me straight;-).

Goal: I’d like to be able to walk into my studio and within a few minutes be able to record an acoustic guitar or other stringed instrument with or without vocals as well as a keyboard (on board or virtual instruments). I also want to be able to record multiple takes without having to go to the desk and fiddle directly with the DAW. My initial thoughts are to have a DAW template, a Stream Deck or normal control surface, perhaps an iPad controller or even a foot switch. To go along with the template, I’d have two or more mics hooked up and ready to as well as the keyboard. Ideally, this could result in quality tracks that can be edited, mixed and usable in finished recordings. Similarly, I’d like to be up & running asap if playing spontaneously with other musicians, but here I don’t expect a “static” setup would be particularly viable.

As you can see, I’m a bit all over the place and looking for some input based on your experience. I hope I’m making sense and not barking up the wrong tree. Any advice or direction would be appreciated.

 

[TalismanRich]

What do you call "fiddling with a DAW"? At some point you have to actually touch the equipment, unless you can hire an engineer to do it all for you! I don't think we've reached the point where you can say "Hey Siri, add a track and set to input 2". Or maybe we have..?

I can set up a mic, load Reaper, add a track, set the input to 1 and record within about 3 minutes. Stop, add a second track and record in about 10 seconds, rinse and repeat, as they say. Once you have a channel set up, adding a track in Reaper is a right click for new track and click to enable the record button. Setting up a template makes it super simple. Get a wireless mouse and a big enough monitor and you never need to get close to the desk.

 

[Random dude]

I can set up a mic, load Reaper, add a track, set the input to 1 and record within about 3 minutes. Stop, add a second track and record in about 10 seconds, rinse and repeat, as they say. Once you have a channel set up, adding a track in Reaper is a right click for new track and click to enable the record button. Setting up a template makes it super simple. Get a wireless mouse and a big enough monitor and you never need to get close to the desk.

Yeah, I have a Reaper project shortcut sitting on my desktop called "Scrap". I have a guitar channel, a MIDI (keyboard) channel, and a vocal channel set up.

Any time I have an idea for a riff, melody, chord progression, etc...I just fire up "Scrap", choose the channel (usually guitar but not always) and record whatever idea I don't want to forget. The guitar might be out of tune, whatever. Doesn't matter. Within about 2 minutes, my idea is recorded.

 

[Buddhabreath]

TalismanRich, What I envisioned, is having mics and inputs all connected, being able to call up a template and basically have the inputs & levels etc set and ready on go. Perhaps even more importantly from the need to avoid “fiddling with he DAW”, I want to be well away from the desk and easily do multiple takes, comping, punch-ins etc. Back in the day when I recorded to tape, I believe Tascam even had a foot switch to facilitate such a workflow if memory serves. I *think* the Siri scenario you mentioned can essentially be done with a macro control surface like Stream Desk, which is why I mentioned it. I was hoping to see if others had other suggestions. I hope that that clarifies it.

 

[rob aylestone]

I don't quite see what you're not happy with - as we've said, most people actually do have a sort of start up familiar template. I do with cubase like rich said he does. load cubase, click the top item in a list and a track is ready to record and as I never even unplug things, it's a couple of clicks and record works. Cubase remote is also an app on my phone which i could use, but don't. I could be nowhere near the computer screen and hit record, stop, rewind etc - I just don't use it that way? Streamdecks can do this stuff too. I should use templates but I'm just too lazy!

 

[DM60]

Well, there are various ways you can do it. I think for quick and dirty, a phone or a tablet with a recording app, which is not much different that just have a tape recorder around to get the idea.

If you keep your computer on, there are apps that will let you connect to your PC (I think Apple has something similar, I just don't know Apple) and call up the program. I use an App on my tablet called Touch Controller. Reaper has a Web Engine if it is running you can type in the IP address of host computer and call it up. But it has to already be running.

I think the easiest is, just record a working track on a phone. Have your guitar handy and sing your tune, then when ready, go work it out in a recording session. I mean, in the end, that is why we are learning all this recording stuff, is to do a great recording (usually for a song, but not always).

No matter what templates, shortcuts, the recording process is not just throwing something in a DAW and thinking it is great. It requires thought, arrangement, effort.

 

[Folkcafe]

I have a Stream Deck which I tried briefly and found key commnands faster. That's just me. I have a friend that does video production and uses Companion rather than the Elgato software. He can program some really complex macro's with it. Not sure of voice commnand though. Bitfocus.io has a community page that might be of some help.

 

[PorterhouseMusic]

I use a stand alone recorder. I have the ability to walk in the studio, turn the recorder on with the push of a button, arm tracks with a push of the button, grab my guitar, tune, and then press record. In a matter of moments. My recorder records in wav files so those can be moved to a computer based DAW after capture if I choose.

Not sure what your budget is - but you may want to consider an inexpensive device to be used strictly for capture purposes. This one is limited to 16bit/44.1 sample rate.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP008EX--tascam-dp-008ex-8-track-digital-portastudio

 

[BTStudio]

I use a stand alone recorder. I have the ability to walk in the studio, turn the recorder on with the push of a button, arm tracks with a push of the button, grab my guitar, tune, and then press record. In a matter of moments. My recorder records in wav files so those can be moved to a computer based DAW after capture if I choose.

Not sure what your budget is - but you may want to consider an inexpensive device to be used strictly for capture purposes. This one is limited to 16bit/44.1 sample rate.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DP008EX--tascam-dp-008ex-8-track-digital-portastudio

I’m doing exact same thing but with the zoom r24

 

[grimtraveller]

I just have a dictaphone, one of those Olympus digital thingies. It fits in any one of my pockets, records WAVs or MP3s and can be easily transferred to the computer. When I have a basic outline, then the fun begins, either with a drummer or a click and me on guitar. While it would be great to have all my stuff set up and ready to roll, it's not necessary. That dictaphone and my imagination are a heady combination {or, some might say, a Hedy Lamaar}.

 

[Old Music Guy]

Goal: I’d like to be able to walk into my studio and within a few minutes be able to record an acoustic guitar or other stringed instrument with or without vocals as well as a keyboard (on board or virtual instruments). I also want to be able to record multiple takes without having to go to the desk and fiddle directly with the DAW.

Oh, man! That is exactly the reason I joined this forum: to get questions like this answered. I'm a nocturnal creature now that I've retired. When my wife goes to bed, I plug in headphones, grab a guitar and play. I know that I will not remember it in the morning, I want to go to my studio, turn on the lights, hit record, and capture that idea. I solved that part with a tape recorder.
It's the multitracking that I have problems with. I hope that the folks here, in their infinite wisdom, experience and general niceness will help us get to a place where we can make music that we can be proud of.
I'm so tired of mucking around in the weeds of gear, software, plugins, quintuple tracks and samples. It takes up all the oxygen and the creative spirit dies. I just wanna make music that I can embrace and share.

 

[markmann]

Your concept wouldn't work for me because settings change too much from song to song. My vocal and playing dynamics change quite a bit so there is always some setup to be adjusted. What I do to save time is to keep all of my key gear plugged into my mixer/interface with all of the trims set. I also have reaper templates and plugin presets ready to save time.

 

[Folkcafe]

In the past my role was recording engineer. Live and in studio, sessions were mapped out and my job was to capture the moment in time. I gave that up both as career and hobby some years ago but recently rebuilt my studio for my own purposes. I'm not now nor have I ever been a good musician but with retirement looming, I'm working hard to improve and learn in what years I have left.

I bring this up because it points to an adjustment I had to make from what I used to do professionally with workflow. Creative was always left to someone else. Lots of new tools and learning curves to go with it. As I'm working out workflow again, I find myself leaning hard on presets and templates. If you are a multi-instrumenalist, perhaps what I am setting up won't work for you. For me, I play guitar, acoustic and electric and am taking piano lessons so starting to see some improvements with that.

My interface has two mic inputs but more importantly, an instrument input. I picked up Amplitube 5 when it first came out and it included the Axe I/O interface which works well for both my pickup on a couple of acoustics as well as the electrics. I'm using Cubase Pro and have set up a few templates but one in particular matches my workflow well. I have a few Virtual instruments tracks, one with Groove Agent, one with a piano and another with a Mini Moog. I have an electric guitar track and an acoustic both connected to the same instrument input. I've very much moved from setting up an amp or mic and all of that is now in the box. The electric track has Amplitube set up. I've created a ton of various presets and it is easy to swap out amp combos. The acoustic channel and Mini Moog is set up with IK's MIxBox. Comes with 70 different plugin but typically for the Mini Moog, I have chorus, delay and reverb. The acoustic and piano channel its mostly just reverb but like I said, easy to add or swap. Keyboard controller is always set up. Guitars are plug in, tune and play.

Now this might be where some of us differ with workflow. I sit down and play with sound till I find a vibe. Especially on guitar, I'll play with it then work something out that matches. Could be an amp and pedal combo or something on keyboard but even if I was just sitting with an acoustic noodling around, if I'm plugged in, I'm ready to hit record. I find it better to be ready and have nothing rather than to not be ready and then have to set up and kill the vibe.

First thing I do when I enter the studio is turn on the lights, next it's turn on the computer.

 

[Buddhabreath]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I can understand that for some they can set up a track to record in a few minutes, while others prefer to have everything plugged in and pre-set as far as possible.

On a related question: what are the best options for being able to feed the mix to headphones well away from the desk? Do you run a longish cable from the computer to a headphone amp and plug in from there?

Sorry if the question is remedial or naive, but I’m a newbie thinking these things through for the first time.

 

[Folkcafe]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I can understand that for some they can set up a track to record in a few minutes, while others prefer to have everything plugged in and pre-set as far as possible.

On a related question: what are the best options for being able to feed the mix to headphones well away from the desk? Do you run a longish cable from the computer to a headphone amp and plug in from there?

Sorry if the question is remedial or naive, but I’m a newbie thinking these things through for the first time.

The answer to these questions are really determined by how you've set up your music environment. I'd also ask if you are looking to capture ideas or trying to produce finished takes?

It's home recording, so most of us are doing musician, producer, writer and engineer all at the same time. My home studio has both a control room and live room with a 16 channel snake and 4 channel headphone monitoring system. This is back when I was recording others. Only thing missing was an intern to get me coffee and the singer some tea. Live room now has all the old analog and digital gear I no longer use, and I've moved everything I need into the control room including a set of drums.

I don't quite understand the question regarding desk and such. Computers these days are easy to be made silent. Me, I work at my desk with a piano bench and keyboard controller to my left and guitar stand to my right. Just about everything is within reasonable reach. If you are to work alone, it requires figuring out how to at least be engineer and musician at the same time.

I don't actually play the drums, other than as noise therapy but if I did, a wireless keyboard and mouse works. You can have more than one keyboard and mouse on a computer too. Put the keyboard and mouse on a music stand tilted sort of flat. If you can't see your monitor from where you play, you can even buy a video distribution amplifier to split the output of your computer and have a second monitor near where you want to record.

And yes, you can use a headphone extension cable. It is more a matter of creating a set up that works for you but keep in mind, it probably will come with some compromises such as no intern to make tea.

 

[Buddhabreath]

I’d like to have a setting where I can have two headphone monitors. Nothing to do with computer noise, it’s about creating a comfort and inspiring environment for performers and to have basic DAW controls at my fingerprints for spontaneous situations as well as composition. I think I just need a decent headphone amp with two outputs and access Reaper basic controls via an ipad that’s attached to the music stand.



Depends on my experience good forward, I can see possibly obtaining a control surface to execute configurable macros such as the aforementioned Stream Desk which I think can really make workflows efficient for recording and mixing. That’s my take, I was just wondering what others do.

 

[DM60]

I tried the Reaper html/web version. I forget the technology they use, but it is a common standard. I thought it worked well. I use Ableton primarily and it doesn't have such a feature. But it works with, as most do, with a MIDI controller. For that, I use an app called TouchDAW. It has been out for over 10 years. It is pretty good. If you are on an Apple OS, it is pretty straight forward to install. On a PC, it requires a few more steps. The program/app comes with installation instructions and it is very stable once you set it up.

As stated above, when I am recording, long headphone cord, long mic cord (about 10 feet/3 meters) and the Tablet (or phone) on a music stand and you can record rather easy.

TouchDAW - DAW controller and MIDI utilities for Android™

Android DAW controller, MIDI utilities, custom controller toolkit

xmmc.de

 

[Folkcafe]

I’d like to have a setting where I can have two headphone monitors. Nothing to do with computer noise, it’s about creating a comfort and inspiring environment for performers and to have basic DAW controls at my fingerprints for spontaneous situations as well as composition. I think I just need a decent headphone amp with two outputs and access Reaper basic controls via an ipad that’s attached to the music stand.



Depends on my experience good forward, I can see possibly obtaining a control surface to execute configurable macros such as the aforementioned Stream Desk which I think can really make workflows efficient for recording and mixing. That’s my take, I was just wondering what others do.

Ask yourself this. You want to punch in at a specific spot, how to you cue that up with a Streamdeck? Some functions are just more efficient with a keyboard and mouse once you learn and get comfortable with the commands. I had the same exact idea with the Streamdeck and it is now living in a drawer. I'll add the Streamdeck isn't wireless and a keyboard and mouse can be.

You've seemed to have morphed the requirements from just wanting to plug in and record. That's fine but the advice you've gotten is colored by your original post. My advice is simple. More experience will make this all easier and clearer as to how best to set up. Spend more focus on just recording and it'll get easier.

2 monitor mixes is a whole other question and brings up more questions than I have immediate answers. Interface and how many outputs to start. How are you going to deal with latency? I used a 24 channel 8buss, 4 aux inline console, so never had an issue with multiple monitor mixes. You have an interface with two sets of direct outs for monitoring? If everything is going through the computer, latency is going to be troublesome.

I'm currently using a two channel interface which is a departure from the 16 I had with my old Protools rig and recording console. In some ways, I'm in the same boat in figuring out my needs. Currently thinking Yamaha DM3D mixer as my interface. Input to output on the mixer is less than 1ms of latency. If you are looking for multiple headphone mixes, you might consider thinking outside of conventional options.

You are correct, you are all over the place.

 

[Buddhabreath]

Ask yourself this. You want to punch in at a specific spot, how to you cue that up with a Streamdeck? Some functions are just more efficient with a keyboard and mouse once you learn and get comfortable with the commands. I had the same exact idea with the Streamdeck and it is now living in a drawer. I'll add the Streamdeck isn't wireless and a keyboard and mouse can be.

You've seemed to have morphed the requirements from just wanting to plug in and record. That's fine but the advice you've gotten is colored by your original post. My advice is simple. More experience will make this all easier and clearer as to how best to set up. Spend more focus on just recording and it'll get easier.

2 monitor mixes is a whole other question and brings up more questions than I have immediate answers. Interface and how many outputs to start. How are you going to deal with latency? I used a 24 channel 8buss, 4 aux inline console, so never had an issue with multiple monitor mixes. You have an interface with two sets of direct outs for monitoring? If everything is going through the computer, latency is going to be troublesome.

I'm currently using a two channel interface which is a departure from the 16 I had with my old Protools rig and recording console. In some ways, I'm in the same boat in figuring out my needs. Currently thinking Yamaha DM3D mixer as my interface. Input to output on the mixer is less than 1ms of latency. If you are looking for multiple headphone mixes, you might consider thinking outside of conventional options.

You are correct, you are all over the place.

Regarding the Stream Deck, I would think cueing a spot for punch in would be very elementary: simple commands for basic transport control and record, so I am at a loss as why that didn’t work for you as long as you can see the DAW display. Punch in should be very easy to accomplish. I would use Stream Deck for that as well as frequently used functions rather than using key combinations in addition to more complex compound operations (termed Multi Actions in Stream Deck).



There are very sophisticated, professional home studio users that leverage Stream Deck. Perhaps I’m missing your point entirely. You’re obviously way more experienced than I and I think your point regarding experience is spot on.

Thanks for the point regarding latency, I’ll have to research that. Sounds like I need to monitor from the interface rather than the DAW. I don’t know, I’m obviously not a recording engineer.

 

[Buddhabreath]

I tried the Reaper html/web version. I forget the technology they use, but it is a common standard. I thought it worked well. I use Ableton primarily and it doesn't have such a feature. But it works with, as most do, with a MIDI controller. For that, I use an app called TouchDAW. It has been out for over 10 years. It is pretty good. If you are on an Apple OS, it is pretty straight forward to install. On a PC, it requires a few more steps. The program/app comes with installation instructions and it is very stable once you set it up.

As stated above, when I am recording, long headphone cord, long mic cord (about 10 feet/3 meters) and the Tablet (or phone) on a music stand and you can record rather easy.

TouchDAW - DAW controller and MIDI utilities for Android™

Android DAW controller, MIDI utilities, custom controller toolkit

xmmc.de

View attachment 138371

Thanks! I’ll take a look at TouchDAW.