so i have troubles with just well, recording in general?

What are you using to record? A gear list would be great. A breakdown on the kind of room you're recording in.

i dont use anything fancy, i've just got an external tascam unit i hookup to the computer i think the model's US-122L? i've got a couple of condenser microphones that i use aswell, and i record with cubase.
most often i record in my room, which consist's of multiple blankets sectioning off the room into different parts one to be mic'd and the other to keep the computer in to help eliminate outside sounds
and uh, that's what i can think of
thanks!

What software? If you're using Cubase LE, you need to enable vst inputs. In the devices menu/vst inputs. Make sure you have your monitors plugged into the US-122. Condesers need +48v phantom power. That's a start. I need to know what software.

What software? If you're using Cubase LE, you need to enable vst inputs. In the devices menu/vst inputs. Make sure you have your monitors plugged into the US-122. Condesers need +48v phantom power. That's a start. I need to know what software.

i am using cubase le!
i've enabled the vst inputs and i've got everything plugged in and running fine, but i still lack that something with recording, i`m not talking about equipment or how things work but more or less things on recording itself
i can never find the time to sit down and record something ì`ve done, i dont know where i would like to go with it,
i should figure that out before i sit down and attempt at it, and even then i end up muddying it up with one layer of chords, another layer of triads, and whatever!
i`m just confused as to how you guy`s may have started out with recording, and what has helped you and you`ve learned by someway or another
thanks!

I began with Cubase LE. did you find the mixer? when I did my crummy recordings got a little better. do you pan? play with levels. less is more a lot of times. if you are hearing mud. then maybe you have too much going on.
also, I learned that sometimes two instruments or inputs could have the same frequencies. I find this with some notes. one instruments note will be heard and the other's similar note could be canceled out.
a wise person on this forum said, 'if what goes in is not good then no amount of tweaking can make it sound better'.

also, how do you monitor your mixes? headphones, near field monitors, computer speakers?

I second the mixer, especially if you are trying to blend two guitars. Lately I've been recording a lot of things with an acoustic and an electric. I bump up the lower frequencies on the acoustic and the mids on the electric and it clarifies each one. I also started panning each guitar a little to either the right or left. I'll pan the acoustic about 15 or 20 to the left (Cubase goes 0-50 or maybe more) and the electric the same amount to the right. Just listen to the get the right sound, you don't want a hard pan where each one is on a different side, just where it sounds like they each start on their own side and meet in the middle. I leave any other instruments in the center.

two instruments or inputs could have the same frequencies. I find this with some notes. one instruments note will be heard and the other's similar note could be canceled out.

This is phase cancellation. It's something that should be fixed at the mic or if the track is already on disc, you can try to flip the phase on one track. Not sure if you can do this in LE but there are some plugins out there that will do this for you. Check out the "Modern Plugins" suite from antres(free). Some nice sounding plugs and the channel strip has a 180deg phase switch. Normaly when two identical frequencies mix there is a doubling of volume not cancellation.

Back to the topic:

I apparently had the wrong impression of what you were asking. As far as recording is concerned, I will do one of two things. I will either hit record and just jam until a good idea pops up or I will go to record with a particular song in mind.

Sometimes I will lay down a backbeat first.(I use audio and midi drum loops. Beta Monkey and EZdrummer). Having a good drum track can inspire you.

Sometimes I will go into a project with a particular feel in mind. IE: today I'm going to write a heavy polka song. A two step Death metal song!

For a good start though, pick a favorite song and do a cover.

Give us an example. Post something up, if you can, and that will give us an better ideas at to what you are talking about.

If your getting muddy sounds, most of the time it has to do with recording levels and mixing (as already mentioned).

Personally, I usually start out with an acoustic base track played to a rythym track or metronome. This track is usually a rough track and will not be used on the final mix. From this base track, I might lay down and actual drum track, better rythym track such as electric guitar or another acoustic. From here I'll play around with mixes, instruments, I might put a midi track for color and finally I'll lay a bass down.

Just start out simple. Pick a cover you can play well, lay down an acoustic track and build slowly from there. Experement. This is'nt a science, it's art.

And post something we can hear.

first you really should have an idea. envision and hear it in your head.
the recording then is just figuring out how to get what is in your head.

I will lay down a rhythm track. I usually use my acoustic. sometimes that track is not used.
next I do the verses if any.
slowly I add instruments in. sometimes I discard.
bass, drum, guitars or midi instruments get added.
I pan them, play with the volumes.
I try to imagine a stage, placing the instruments around that space.
it is good to keep an open mind, because inspiration may pop out;a drum beat or something might trigger.

I don't think the problem here is the setup or equipment folks. Sounds like you just need to practice some more. You should know how to play the song well enough when you're not recording - that is if you're trying to get a clean decent recording. Some people just record anyway to monitor their progress from start....if this is where you are, then you shouldn't be trying to get a great recording yet. Just play and record and then listen back to hear where you're making mistakes. Otherwise you'll get frustrated erasing and redoing.

When you're practised and can perform the song well enough live, then it should get easier to record. Even then, you may still have to redo. You can play songs straight through 2 or 3 times. From this you can either take the best track, or take bits of each and "comp" then together. The key here, like you already know, is to use a scratch track or metronome so that all your takes are in sync in tempo. There are also a few considerations before recording, like levels etc. You should set your recording levels so that you meters are not digging deep into the red while you're recording. They can't be too low either. There's an optimum level, usually between -6dB and 0dB. Some soundcards can handle more than 0dB before you experience a phenomenon called clipping....that's when your signal is too loud and it gets "clipped",

Anyhoo, I'm writing too much eh?

I like to have a fairly decent 'plan' for a song before I try to record it.....like what instruments are gonna be used, if any instru will have a solo, how the piece builds (or doesn't) as it progresses, that sort of stuff. Sometimes, even just drawing a 'sketch' of the track on paper can help you visualise how it will sound (I might post a 'sketch' for one of my own songs, if I eer bite the bullet and post one of my own tunes on here, lol, its easier to see than to describe, I fear).

That said, I first learned how to use recording equipment (and computers in particular) when I was a week away from my music GCSE coursework dadline, and our school's computer's got nicked. Most ppl were ok, as theire tracks were all MIDI (or MIDI plus vocals) and thus saved to disk. Since Mine had a lot of guitar audio tracks, they wouldn't fit on the floppy discs the schools computers used at the time, so some little scumbag in Liverpool naffed off with a computer AND my greatest improvised Clapton-Hendrix-JeffBeckk-cry-with-the-knowledge-you-cannot-surpass-this guitar solo ever commited to tape (well, hard drive, unfortunately). Yup. Its been nearly a decade. I still haven't gotten over that one.

Suffice it to say, in the week that followed, I became very adept at composing-while-recording.
Both ways can work (and its often good to use both approaches), but you might find one works better for you than the other. Finding out which one is subjective and a matter of trial and error though.