I have an 8 track Alesis ADAT. I am wanting to know how hard would it be to transfer those individual tracks onto my laptop to mix. I have a mixing program not top of the line (Cakewalk Home Studio 04) but it works good for me. The only input is the 1/8" jack for the mic. Can i just rewind the tape hit record on my laptop and press play on the adat and record just track 1, then do the same for 2 and so on??? or would it be better to mix it on a board and then send it to my laptop??? I have all the effects and editing on my laptop though. I want to be able to control each track on my laptop so i can add reverb, and eq, and other procedures??
ANY SUGGESTIONS PLEASE HELP..... My setup runs from my Yamaha EMX5000 out the inserts into the adat and back. So after i record i can play back and mix each channel on my board. But I want to go from that with each individual track to my laptop instead of all at once....
I know i'm prolly confusing the hell out of ya'll but. I just got a little home studio do small local projects plus my own.
Thanks
No matter where you go.... There You are! Law of Location
I go from my mixer to my laptop, then into Cakewalk Sonar 4.
I try to record things separately that way (like you said) you can tweak things individually. If you record all at once you are left adding effects to the “whole†track and not the individual parts as you want.
As far as being able to “split†the tracks after you have already mixed them, I would think not. It's best to record separately, and then do you're final mix through you're Studio 4.
So right now all i do is set everyone up and record into the ADAT drums and all, have their own seperate track. Then I rewind the tape to the beginning and play only track one and record it into my laptop. and so forth and so forth. This should work since u rewind the tape all the way everytime then hit play on the adat and record on sonar at the same time the track should line up. RIGHT???? Then after this I can do effects to each seperate track.
Or is it best to just mix down on the board add what effects I can there then record that mix. Im lost i understand what u said but then again i don't explain more please
No matter where you go.... There You are! Law of Location
I am NOT an expert but, I have recorded my own stuff and have gone through some trail and error.
I am not familiar with the ADAT unit, but if I understand you correctly I think there would be two options for you.
1.) If you want to record all at once, make sure you all have everything you need to get the end resulting sound you want. Having a sound guy helping you would be ideal. You can not break up the tracks later to add effects to a particular instrument in Cakewalk or any other I would imagine.
2.) If you want to be able to add effects later in the final mixing stages in Cakewalk, I would recommend recording everything “dry†(without effects) that way you can control your effects better and be able to tweak and dial in the right sound. If you record with too much of a particular effect you will not be able to fix it later in the final mix down.
As far as being able to align everything up by rewinding the tape. You should be close but, that depends if you are all in time with each other which might prove tough without everyone playing at the same time. You can always fix it later in the final mix but, it is not easy and it might take a while.
Another thing, do you plan on going through your soundcard? If so, (depending on what type of soundcard) don't be surprised if you don't get the quality you think you might expect. I picked up the MobilePre USB audio interface for $120. It by-passes your soundcard and works great.
It's a trail and error type of process. Make sure you add a new track for every new instrument.
Most importantly, keep your cool and have fun!
