I think the DAW that looks just right for me is “Propellerhead Reason 8”. It maybe a $400 program but maybe it’s worth it??? It seems like it’s the best program for creating full band rock music with. The program have also been getting positive reviews from home recording musicians.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Reason8

Again, it may be a pricey program but maybe it’s worth it, ya know? Maybe it’s better to get a pricey program ’cause usually cheap music recording software isn’t really all that good. They make ’em cheap for a reason.

I could go for Pro Tools but I think Pro Tools is overrated as hell so I think I’m gonna try something different. Propellerhead sounds awesome to me.

I think it’ll make more sense if I buy the Focusrite audio interface and the studio monitors first and then I’ll start saving up for the DAW software.

Saving up for new music recording gear will begin this week.

I also think I should get a set of studio headphones and a music stand too. I need a music stand so I can have something to set my notebook on… the notebook is where I write all of my lyrics and stuff.

Since the Focusrite will have a MIDI connection… I’ll have to soon get MIDI connection wires so I can hook up my MIDI keyboard to it. I would also need a keyboard stand. I gotta get around to learning how to play keyboard/piano first, though and will this year.

I wanna turn this room into a mini recording studio and that’s my goal.

Kev

After years of trying to figure out how to eliminate background hiss when recording at home on a PC, I think I finally figured out where it was coming from. It wasn’t coming from the M-Audio Fast Track. It’s not because this room isn’t sound proofed. I think the culprit is definitely the microphone itself. It’s a Shure SM58 which is a dynamic mic so it’s not really the best mic for home recording. It’s a good enough sounding mic for performing at live shows but for home recording no. For home recording, I think I would need a condenser mic in which I do have.

I just learned the difference between dynamic mic and condenser mic:

http://homerecording.about.com/od/microphones101/a/mic_types.htm

The Condenser mic I have is the Shure SM86 which is a phantom powered microphone:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SM86

I bought the Shure SM58 and SM86 myself years ago. The Shure SM86 Condenser have never been used yet because I don’t have anything with phantom power.

That’s why I want to get the Focusrite Scarlett 214 ’cause it’s a phantom powered interface and I might be able to use the SM86 on it:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Scarlett2i4

The SM86 wasn’t a cheap microphone at all as you can see, I bought it for $180 years back. Still have it, just never used it and would like to use it. To use a phantom power mic, it takes special connections in order to use so I’m gonna research into it. I wanna use the SM86 for home recording at some point.

Maybe all the hissing is coming from the old M-Audio Fast Track. If I get a better audio interface, maybe that’ll help get a better sound,

Well, like I keep saying I think I’m definitely gonna upgrade from the M-Audio Fast Track to Focusrite Scarlett 214. I wanna a bigger and better sound. Trying all I can to get that perfect and clean sound I’m looking for. That’s okay ’cause I think M-Audio Fast Track is garbage anyway… I never liked that interface and looking for something even better. The Focusrite looks just right for me.

Kev

The audio interface that I currently have is the M-Audio Fast Track…

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FastTrackUSB/

I plugged the M-Audio Fast Track to see if it will work. It does. I can hear myself play and sing through the thing but the only thing is that the audio skips at some times and acts all weird. I found out why that the M-Audio Fast Track doesn’t support Windows 7. You can see it in the link above that the Fast Track doesn’t support Windows 7 64 bit. The Fast Track may still work but it probably won’t record the audio on the newer DAW’s that are out there. All the new DAW’s out there probably won’t support the old M-Audio Fast Track anymore.

So I’m in definite need of a new audio interface which I’m gonna start saving up for the Focusrite Scarlett 214.

As for DAW, I’ve also been looking at Reaper as this have also been getting positive reviews:

http://www.reaper.fm/

Reaper is also very popular in the musicians community so I’ll probably start with that one soon. I’ll go with the $60 version.

All this technology with music is kind of frustrating, ya know? Having to re-buy all of this equipment so you can keep recording. That’s why all these DAW’s keep coming out with new versions so it can force you to buy new products. Just their sneaky way of making more money. That’s how they make the money.

I gotta have these things so I can record on, ya know? I gotta continue to make music ’cause I love it and can’t live without it. I’ll continue to record songs on the Ipad, though ’cause I was impressed with the sound quality on that thing. The sound quality on the Ipad is cleaner than the PC, in my opinion.

As you can see, I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to technology and music recording but I’m getting the hang of these things.

Kev

Honestly, I’m beginning to become a little skeptical of that “Mixcraft” software so I think I’m gonna scratch that idea and look for something different down the road. I’m reading that people are experiencing computer crashes with “Mixcraft” and I read somewhere that the software only works with certain audio interfaces. I won’t bother getting “Mixcraft” and will search for something different down the road. I will continue to research DAW’s though. I gotta find DAW that’ll work with Focusrite Scarlett 214.

I’m still gonna save up for the Focusrite Scarlett interface and the studio monitors, though. Just gotta find a good DAW that would work with that stuff and I’m gonna research into it.

Kev