justsoulin

Take you about a week then on here LOL Welcome

Hi & welcome

Thanks Graeme That's a really interesting collection too. Thanks for the input. I have Mixcraft and appreciate your mentioning it because I wasn't sure how versatile it was. I'll do some more delving into it and tweaking.

Welcome Brian, don't forget to put your flag on the members map (as I have no idea where you're from lol)

Welcome Lilith

Well John, you're very welcome here. There's a lot going on here and the site crew have a lot in store, so there should be a lot of opportunities for you to join in. I hope I can call on you if I need some help and advice

Can you give one or two good examples please of newsgroups. The few I've been on (other topics than music) always give me the impression that they're a delayed chatbox and little gets discussed of any importance or relevance. I've obviously been on bad ones. Ref RSS, I'm not sure I've ever fully understood it and so never signed up for any as my understanding is that I'd get irrelevant snippets with reference to the newsgroup statement above. That's to say I'd get deluged with RSS news feeds that to me would resemble spam email. And since you only get a soundbite of what the content is about, you could trash something very easily that has a link to something of importance. I do though understand that one should offer such services to those who do like and use RSS.

ref Salesforce - there is now a free trial. Their marketing principles require you to sign up before you can even see a demo. That means spam mail. Not good.

I've decided a few things over the last few days. 1 To learn how to create, mix, record and produce with no instrument ability, from the PC 2 To write a blog on my progress that may help people like me I think the first hurdle is trying to learn the techno lingo and what it means as in DAWs and VST's and VSTi's etc. I say this is the first hurdle because when you begin to look at the things you will need to create, mix, record and produce something purely from a pc and screen, you hit the lingo straight away on websites like Sony and Cubase etc. A bit like when you begin texting or chatting and using smileys. It means nothing to you. So starting with the basics as I must, I could spend hours looking up the terms and putting them into standard lingo. But for the large part, I don't need to because some kind people have already done a lot of the ground work for me such as Desktop_Music Handbook Dictionary. The net is amazing when it comes to information but in this area, it's a little harder to get just what you want - a technical term dictionary for digital music production. Because production is not the sum of all the parts when it comes to technical terms and so we can have a list of terms for production but then the terms for mixing can be different (for example). So the link above does not include the term DAW for starters. I wanted to attach a glossary I'd begun to build but can't so it's an incomplete but quite good list that adds to the above link. Some Basic Audio and Recording Terms analog audio. This is sound that is continuous, corresponding exactly to real sound. This is unlike digital sound, which is broken down into a series of ones and zeros. An analog signal is usually recorded using magnetic media, such as tape. Cassette tapes and vinyl LPs, for example, both use analog sound. Analog recordings cannot be copied without some loss of sound quality and are likely to contain more unwanted noise than digital recordings. ASIO. Audio Stream Input-Output. This is an audio protocol originally developed by the Steinberg company and used by REAPER to communicate with professional-standard audio hardware devices and interfaces (such as PCI soundcards and FireWire and USB devices). bit depth (sample size). The bit depth is the level of detail at which a computer samples analog audio to create digital audio. When recording WAV files, most commonly, you use 16- or 24-bit sampling. 24-bit audio is generally preferred because it gives a more accurate representation of the sound and makes it easier to avoid clipping, but it does take up more disk space. Bit depth should not be confused with sampling rate. bit rate. This measures the number of kilobits per second of data in MP3 and other audio files. The bit rate you choose when creating an MP3 file determines the size and quality of the resulting MP3. The highest commonly used bit rate is 320 kbps. A file created using this bit rate will have excellent quality but will be fairly large. A standard bit rate for encoding MP3s is 128 kbps. A file created using this bit rate will have good quality and will take up about 1 MB per 1 minute of sound. buffer. An audio buffer is a driver setting that helps determine the rate at which audio passes between your computer’s processor and its soundcard. Reducing the buffer size can help reduce the amount of latency while recording and monitoring audio. Increasing the buffer size can help prevent pops and clicks while recording. burn. This is the process of writing data or files onto a recordable CD using a hardware device called a CD burner. Generally, you create either an audio or a data disc when you burn a CD (although hybrid formats such as CD Extra are also available). Audio discs can be played in any standard audio CD player. A data disc contains computer files and can only be read on computers. Some DAW’s support the burning of audio discs. bus. An internal pathway that may form part of your audio routing system. Although REAPER makes no inherent distinction between a track and a bus, a track can be considered to be functioning as a bus when more than one other track has been routed to it. channel. A channel is a path through which an audio signal flows. One important feature of REAPER is its ability to use up to 64 separate channels with any single track or tracks. chorus. An effect that makes one voice or instrument sound like many. Chorus works with all types of audio but is particularly effective with the human voice. clipping. This is the unpleasant distortion you hear when output is too loud, causing the peaks of the audio signal to rise above the capabilities of the amplifier circuit. To avoid distortion, reduce the volume or gain before the stage in which the clipping occurs. CODEC (or codec). Codec stands for compression/decompression. A codec is a program used to enable Windows to compress and/or decompress audio to and from different formats. For example, REAPER uses the LAME codec for creating MP3 files. compression (audio). A process of reducing the dynamic range of an audio stream. Often used to make the loud parts of a track quieter and the quiet parts louder. Not to be confused with data compression, which is an entirely separate and unrelated topic. compression (data). The process of packing digital data, such as computer files, more efficiently for the purpose of storage or transmission. MP3 is one example of a commonly used compressed audio format. Not to be confused with audio compression, which is an entirely separate and unrelated topic. control surface. An external device connected to your computer by MIDI cable, Fire- Wire, or USB and that is used to physically control various parameters and functions of your DAW. decibel. A unit used for the measurement of sound. Commonly, sound pressure levels (SPL) are represented as numbers from 0 dB (the softest sound that may be heard) to 120 dB and beyond (the level at which sound is perceived as pain). delay. An effect that creates a delayed sound. digital audio. Digital audio is audio that has been converted into a series of ones and zeros that can be processed by a computer. When analog sound is converted in this way, it is commonly saved and stored as a WAV file. Digital sound is easier to reproduce and manipulate without loss in quality than analog. digital audio workstation (DAW). A term used to describe a computer when it has been set up and equipped with the necessary software and hardware to function as a recording studio. DirectX. A widely used plug-in format, generally less popular than VST. Docker. A DAW’s Docker provides a tabbed viewing area for several DAW functions (mixer, FX browser, undo, routing matrix, and so on) and is accessible through the View menu. The Docker can often be detached from the main DAW window and moved, for example, to a secondary monitor. driver. Software that works with your computer’s operating system to control and use a particular piece of hardware, such as your soundcard. To enable it to function at its best, you should check the web regularly for any updated drivers for your soundcard. dry. A term used to describe an audio signal to which no effects have been added. The opposite is wet. encoding/decoding. The process of converting audio to or from a compressed format, such as MP3 or FLAC. The encoding and decoding processes require the use of codecs. envelope. A technique used to control how any of a number of a track’s attributes behave over time. For example, an envelope can be used to automatically fade a track’s volume up and down as required for different parts of a song whenever it is played back. equalization (EQ). Sound is made up of many vibrations that take place at the same time at different frequencies. An audio equalizer lets you separately adjust the volume of different ranges of frequencies, thus changing the makeup of the overall sound. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz). The higher the number, the higher the pitch of the sound. fade. A technique to bring sound into or out of a track gradually. Fade-in brings the sound in gradually, fadeout does the opposite. Cross-fade occurs when two media items overlap in such a way that one is faded in while the other is faded out. fader. A device that enables you to control the level of an audio signal by sliding the fader up or down. Examples of the use of faders in DAW’s are to control a track’s volume and panning. flange. This is an audio effect that distorts sound by applying both a short delay and variable modulation of the frequency. folder. A folder is a collection of related tracks and serves as a simple and convenient means of controlling all of the tracks contained within it. For example, changes can be made to the volume level of a folder to affect the combined volume of all of the tracks contained within that folder. Changes made to the volume level of individual tracks within a folder will affect the volume of that track and the relative balance between all tracks in the folder. frequency. The number of vibrations in a sound wave per unit of time. Frequency is usually measured in hertz, where one hertz is one cycle per second. High-pitched sounds have higher frequencies, and low-pitched sounds have lower frequencies. glue. To glue a track causes some DAW’s to render the selected items to a new single WAV file, which replaces the original items. high-pass filter. A high-pass filter removes all sound below a set frequency. It can be useful in removing certain kinds of rumble and hum. input monitoring. The process of having the audio stream that is being recorded also fed directly back to the musician or singer through his or her headphones. If latency is too high, a perceived delay or echo effect will be noticeable. items. Items (a.k.a. media items or media events) contain audio/MIDI information and reside in a track. Items can be empty or can have one or more takes, one of which is visible and “active.” Items are often called parts in other DAW software. latency. Latency is a measurement of the time taken for audio to travel from the soundcard, through a DAW, and out again to your headphones or speakers. Usually measured in milliseconds. For input monitoring, a latency of less than 5 ms is usually preferred. level. The amount of power that drives an audio signal. Common names given to varying levels of voltage (from lowest to highest) are microphone level, instrument level, and line level. lossless compression. A method of compressing the size of audio files without losing any of its frequencies. Examples of lossless compression formats are FLAC and OGG Vorbis. low-pass filter. A low-pass filter removes all sound above a set frequency. It is useful in removing certain kinds of hiss. lossy compression. A method of compressing the size of audio files that includes stripping out those frequencies that the human ear either doesn’t hear or hears poorly. Examples of lossy compression are WMA and MP3. markers. Markers, like regions, are used to identify important sections of a song (for example, verse, chorus, intro, and so on). Unlike regions, markers indicate only the beginning point of a section and are displayed in the Markers band of the Timeline. Markers are useful for quickly locating and playing a section. master. The section of a DAW’s mixer where the main mix is controlled. media item. A media item is an audio or MIDI recording. In many DAWs, these are known as clips. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface). A system that uses a synthesizer to enable your computer to play back music under program control. MIDI instructions can include which notes to play and which instrument to simulate. MIDI can also be used to enable a computer to control external MIDI-compliant instruments, such as synthesizers. Mixer view. Mixer view depicts a virtual representation of a traditional hardware mixing desk. This can be used to combine all of the signals from your various audio and MIDI tracks into a main mix, usually consisting of one single stereo-paired output. MP3. MPEG audio layer 3. An audio format with data compression that is widely used to transfer music over the Internet. An MP3 file is much smaller than a WAV file, but it still sounds to most people’s ears virtually as good as the original. noise gate. A noise gate is a filter that detects sound levels in an audio stream and shuts out sound when the volume falls below a determined level. It can be useful, for example, to cut out unwanted background noise that may be present during an otherwise silent passage on a recording. normalization. This effect permanently adjusts the amplitude (volume, essentially) of audio to a certain value. Normalization is particularly useful when creating a CD using various different tracks. Normalization can be used to help obtain a consistent level of volume for the different tracks. notch filter. This filter removes all audio in a specified frequency band in a WAV file. OGG Vorbis. OGG Vorbis is a free, open-source audio compression format. Though less widely used than MP3, it can provide greater fidelity. pan. A control that lets you determine the relative left-right balance of a mono signal within the stereo spectrum. plug-in. A small program used in conjunction with a DAW to enable you to manipulate the sound of recorded tracks. Functions carried out by plug-ins include EQ, delay, and chorus. Two widely used plug-in formats are DirectX and VST (Virtual Studio). real-time. Refers to effects that take place as you listen, without a noticeable delay. receive. The method by which audio sent from one track is accepted by its destination track or bus. regions. Regions, like markers, are used to identify important sections of a song (for example, verse, chorus, intro, and so on). Unlike markers, regions indicate both the beginning and ending points of a section and are displayed in the Regions band of the Timeline. Regions are useful for relocating/duplicating existing sections of a song. reverb. An effect that simulates natural reverberations (sound reflections) that occur in different rooms and environments to create an ambience or sense of space. reverse. An effect that takes one or both channels in a sound file and plays them backwards. rip. To extract music directly from your CD in pure digital form and save it directly to your hard drive. routing. A term used to describe the path(s) taken by an audio stream that, on playback, takes it from the track on which it has been recorded all the way to its position in the final mix. Routing Matrix. Overview of a project’s entire routing network. Changes to routing can also be made in the Routing Matrix. sampler. A hardware device or software application that uses samples to generate audio output. Samplers often use a number of samples together to create realistic-sounding reproductions of real sounds and musical instruments. sampling rate. The sampling rate is a measurement of how many times a second your audio recording software captures the incoming audio signal. Commonly used sampling rates are 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 96 kHz. For example, at 44.1 kHz, incoming audio is sampled 44,100 times per second. The higher the sampling rate, the more disk storage required. If you’re not sure which rate to use, try recording initially with a sampling rate of 44.1 and see whether you are satisfied with the results. send. The method by which audio is routed from one track to another track or bus, where it is accepted via a receive. stems. Stems are a group of selected tracks and/or folders. They allow you to render selected tracks to disk at the same time as (or in lieu of) the main mix. You can use stems to “freeze” FX on tracks or to render each track in a mix (a stem, as it is called) so that a mastering engineer (or whoever) can later adjust the mix. synthesizer. A hardware or software device that artificially (using oscillators) generates signals to simulate the sounds of real instruments or to create other sounds not possible with real instruments. takes. A take is a part of an item that contains a media source (audio, MIDI, or other type). An item can have multiple takes, which may refer to different recorded versions (where it gets its name). When you adjust an item (splitting, adjusting its start/end times, stretching, and so on), the action is performed on all takes, so that if you need to switch to a different take, the overall timing is correct. tracks. A project is made up of any number of tracks that you record (or import). Tracks can contain multiple media items and envelopes. Tracks appear as horizontal bars on the Timeline and as vertical bars on the mixer. There can be three types of tracks: 1) standard tracks, which hold items and envelopes; 2) folders, which hold items, envelopes, and standard tracks; and 3) stems, which include selected standard tracks/folders. Track Control Panel (TCP). The area where a project’s various tracks are listed. So called because it is used to control the various track attributes, such as to arm for recording or to control volume on playback. VST and VSTi. A widely used plug-in format, Virtual Studio Technology, developed originally by Steinberg. The term VST usually refers to FX that manipulate or modify the sound of audio in some way. VSTi refers to a virtual instrument used for sound synthesis. wave (.wav) files. A wave file is an uncompressed audio file on your PC. This enables it to be as close a copy to the original analog data as is possible. waveform. A visual representation of a WAV file. WAV editor. Audio software designed for editing digital audio. wet. A term used to describe an audio signal to which effects have been added. The opposite is dry. That raps up todays blog I think. Please feel free to add to this list and also to give any clearer definitions of the above. I'm sure over the next month or so with all your help, we can put together the best technical term glossary for all of us to refer to.

Thanks Ryan, good to know

Jazz Improvisation Advisor - for the Improviser

The winsite appears to no longer offer the vst's. Freeware home is good though.

Nice one Rob, thx

Thx Rob, does look useful.

Here U go Mahesh -

Found out how it works, thanks lol

Did you take this 4 a test drive yet?

Verse Perfect is useful. Do a search as I posted about it ages ago. I got a copy of MW and never use it.

I'll try for that then John, thank you

Thanks Rob. I see different Sonar products. Producer, Studio, Essential, Home Studio etc. Which do you recommend please.

Hey Ace, welcome. I can't help you on what you want but I'm sure you've come to the right place as someone here will point you in the right direction. I'm wondering though, what do you mean by a producer? There's many parts that goes into a song so what exactly does the term mean to you. Then people have a better idea of how to reply and help.

Thanks John, will go do some homework and research. I know that a language has come from the technology and perhaps I'm lacking in the techie talk lingo here a bit. To me, what I want is simple - create songs through virtual instruments on the desktop, record, mix and produce an output file. It's the huge variety and choice, the incompatibility between software packages and not knowing or understanding if they will help me achieve what I want. Searching other forums offers a multitude of differing and so somewhat confusing advice and the software websites just lose me in the way they explain what it does. There's little on offer that doesn't make me feel a complete "Rodney". When you're starting out, it helps to have an ABC explanation and as I've found in life, so many people with the knowledge gratefully offer help and advice but speak in XYZ lingo. So if someone said that based on what I want to do, Sonar will allow me to take virtual sounds, loops and instruments etc that I import into Sonars dbase of virtual sounds, loops and instruments and play them together to create a musical composition and output a wav file of that musical composition, that I can get ABC-wise. The virtual sounds, loops and instruments I want to use are referred to as VST's and VSTi's and that any such files can be used in Sonar. Certain other file types can also be imported into Sonar such as wav and mp3 files. As well as allowing me to compose the music, Sonar also gives me the ability to add various sound effects and to process any sound effects in many ways so that the final composition has a professional sound. Then taking the Sonar composition file (as a wav), I can then add the composition as either a single track file or multi channel track file into Mixcraft to mix vocals etc. Then the final mix of music and vocals can be output from Mixcraft as a finished song. Then I can focus on these two programs as I now know they will give me what I want. And I'm just using Sonar and Mixcraft as examples. Perhaps Sonar does everything and so no need to have a Mixcraft, Magix Music Maker or BiaB. But since you guys have Sonar and one of the other "types" of program, then there's a need to have one. But what is it they do that Sonar doesn't? As I progress thru this learning curve, I think I see a good reason to make my blog about all this, before I lose the ABC lingo lol. Thanks again.

Thanks guys, you're helping me to understand more. It really is confusing when there is so much choice and when you don't know about this stuff. As I mentioned in my 1st blog, the help manuals don't help a complete novice. Up to now, through sheer determination, I managed to work out how iDrum works to create and play a song and export it as a WAV file. Then badly recording my singing to that beat I made an mp3. Then realising in Mixcraft I can line up both trax and then mix them and end up with a basic single output file. But I want to be better. I want to learn more. And for example, the library with Mixcraft is a bit limited and I began to look for more to add. That's led me to Reason etc which then has me thinking I can't use Reason refills in Mixcraft. But then I came across Magix Music Maker which seems to have a lot of library stuff across a lot of genre's. Then I looked to see what common problems are with it and adding the extra soundpools seems to be a major problem. Maybe I am or maybe it sounds that I am but from my viewpoint of coming into all this, it is baffling. In our combined efforts in future SS projects etc and with all your help and direction, I want to know, understand and be able to mix and produce, add sounds etc. I want to know if I have strengths in the various fields of music that are yet untested for me. In my mind that means getting the right equipment and learning how it works. Remember back in the day when you may have been in my position? I'm guessing back then there's was not as many choices and options as there are in front of me. I want, without being able now to play any instrument, to create music that fits the lyrics I write. And in that process learn how to use the software, learn about mixing, learn about producing etc. You guys all seem to use Sonar. Let me take a look at that. I really appreciate your replies, thank you BTW, how come this post is a minus 1 ? How can wanting to understand and asking for help and advice be negative???

Everyone has their preference for software as in it's easy to use but missing some features or it's got loads of features and not easy to use. But my question revolves around knowing which app will allow which additions whether they be VST's or say Sonic Reality Reason Refills. Since as I read Cubase, Logic, Soundforge, Reason, Reaper, Ableton etc etc etc, don't have a standard. Then you get BiaB, Magix, GarageBand (for Macs), Mixcraft. It's easy enough to say that each one does a specific task or that Mixcraft doesn't compare to Cubase. It does to me. But what bugs me is not knowing what addons or plugins, when there's so many to choose from, will work with what. This stuff is expensive and if for arguments sake you buy a version of CS5 because it's the only way to combine 2 or 3 of the full set of apps meaning you have to buy other apps to do the other tasks you need or want to do, it gets even more expensive!!! So can some one please say which DAW's etc offer the best addon and plugin capability whether they be loops, virtual drum machines like iDrum etc, so that I can make a good decision and spend wisely. I want to be able, for now and the foreseeable future, to utilise my desktop through such programs to add virtual instrument tracks, loops, voice etc to get a half decent result for someone to understand and improve on. My appreciation in advance for your help and advice

Another Scot ............ It'll be called Scot Stuff soon lol Just joking, welcome