#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

Recording Kit How To???

I am trying to find a way to record 4 tracks (live) at once with a decent but affordable audio interface

Either fire wire or usb.

I have purchased an Alexis I04 recently , but it wont play ball with Acid Pro 8 and the Cubase wont work either..

So it works as a mixer but not as a recording interface for me.

I have been recomended the Akai unit, but on the internet this also has lots of driver issues.

Previously I have used a Line pod 6 UX2 which is brilliant, but it only does 2 channels at once.

Plus the valve recording station shown above..(cheap used off ebay)

Help has anyone cracked an easy afordable way of doing this with low noise, maybe with a USB mixer.?

I'm trying to find the right bit of kit seems much more tricky than it needs to be..

Also do cheap USB mixers add loads of noise or are they ok for recording and does anyone do one that allows four track recording into Acid pro all at once.

All ideas are wellcome.....

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on June 23, 2014 at 11:41pm

tried using it with Audacity? anything should work with that, and it's free to download (-:

you can record one track at a time but the number of Audacity tracks is only limited by your processor, i did all my early stuff on a laptop.!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on June 24, 2014 at 1:26am

Ok cheers will try that

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on June 24, 2014 at 1:31am

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1541771

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by turtlehead on June 24, 2014 at 6:15am

I'm sort of in the same boat you are bug. I have cobbled together mixers and interfaces over the years only to arrive at a place where I can't multi-track live. I run a small mixer through a usb interface, so I'm mixing on the board and recording all to one track in Audacity. Takes some work to get the right mix going in, but usually it's just guitar and vocals for me, then I'll go back and add in other tracks one at a time. I know that's not what you're looking for...

Reaper is another free to try and cheap to buy DAW that I've messed with and like - might be another option to try.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 24, 2014 at 7:04am

What 4 tracks are you attempting to "multi-track" all at once? I'm guessing harp, git, vocals and percussion. Unless you can separate your body parts into separate soundspaces, you're still going to get at least some bleed-through even if you use 4 separate mics. I do my multi-tracks using GarageBand...one frickin' track at a time. It's slow, but it works. Then I run it through Audacity.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on June 24, 2014 at 7:46am

Ron

Yes direct stuff i can do one track at a time with a line pod 6, which works for me

I also have the valve recording station above , a silent valve amp with valve preamps etc..purty kool

But recording my live stuff in my shed i wnat to get 4 mics on seperate tracks so I can mix after

see my video last night it works as a mixer but the Io4 seems not to like acid pro 8. Driver issues beyond me.

I think the alesis would be ok if i can get it working as its about the chapest you can get that does 4 at a time. I looked at the Akai but the internet says it doesnt work again driver issues.

Everything else is like 300 quid..I even thought about a 60 quid mixer but am woried about noise.

I am going to try maybe another software to see if I can crack the alesis device before I return it

Im still waiting steinbergh to reply to my help request.

Thanks for the tips.. But when you are playing you end up with a blind mix as I cant tweak and play.

But what i did do is put two instruments together that work.. like bass drum and guitar, then voice and snare.. to try and get opposites, that way when you mix the two tracks to stereo.. it kinda works..

Basic but not pro quality...I will keep thinking and let you know any solutions.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BUGGY (C) on June 24, 2014 at 7:46am

Anyone used some of those cheap behringer mixers?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on June 24, 2014 at 8:34am

I've got one I use sometimes, it's good for plugging in all the mikes and leaving them there, just adjusting volume up on the track I'm recording...using a bigger one now tho'

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on June 24, 2014 at 8:32am

yep, one track at a time for me too, it makes editing and mixing a whole lot easier! (-;

if you record separate instruments together they will all be condensed onto one track on the sequencer, if you record each instrument individually each separate recording take will be a new track..then play them all together, the trick is to monitor previous tracks together while you're recording the new one, just make adjustments in the preferences box (-: