The web home of Kim o the Concrete Jungle, including Kim o the Concrete Jungle, Kinsley Castle, the Mortal Taint, the Mojo Liberation Front, Creighton Keane, and the Blues Convicts.
The web home of Kim o the Concrete Jungle, including Kim o the Concrete Jungle, Kinsley Castle, the Mortal Taint, the Mojo Liberation Front, Creighton Keane, and the Blues Convicts.
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Kim o' the Concrete Jungle's 4. SoftwareRejoice! We're finally past the part of this guide where I'm asking you to spend money. But how is that so? We haven't got any of the software yet! Well, here's the thing. The meatiest part of this meaty tome is going to be devoted to dealing with the software side of things. And every single bit of software I'm going to use is a free download off the internet. I made that decision going in, because: 1) it's actually possible to do this with only free software; and 2) by using only free software off the internet, you'll be able to follow along at home, which means this guide might actually be of some use to you. Of course, in real life I use commercial software as well. For example, my Lexicon interface came with the Pantheon II reverb plugin, which is now my preferred reverb. I also paid for the full, commercial version of the DAW I'm going to recommend, because I thought it was worth supporting. You'll probably end up paying for software eventually. But for now, at least, you can follow along without spending a single cent more. And it's actually a good idea to do that. If you go all out and spend huge sums of money on top-of-the-range everything for your home studio, I can guarantee you won't be getting much work done. Top of the range everything gives you a set-up so complicated and fussy you might as well be trying to climb mount Everest -- that's how steep your learning curve would be. Don't get the wrong idea about free software. The kind of stuff I'll be recommending is not free because it's rubbish (i.e. like 90% of the free stuff kicking around on Sourceforge). It's free because it's simple. Commercial software has shiny interfaces, flashing lights, and in-your-face baroque complexity, because those are the things that induce people to open their wallets (Reason is a good example of this). So, you can't charge real money for simplicity. That's just a commercial reality. The stuff I'm recommending (particularly the plug-ins) is generally programmed by someone who wants a simple, no-nonsense tool that will do one thing well. Stuff like that is good to have. Yer Recording ProgramThe first thing you'll need is a DAW. DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. Either term is horrible, so let's just call it yer recording program. This is a pretty big can of worms to open, because there are dozens of these things. You probably got one free with your interface. Well, you can go ahead and rule that one out. Whichever one you get, it will be a cut-down LE version of the full commercial software. LE versions of recording programs exist for one thing -- to induce you to buy a full license. They usually do this by putting some really annoying limitations into the software, like capping the number of tracks or auxiliary buses you can use. So trust me, you want to leave that one alone. So with all those DAWs available out there, which one am I going to recommend? If you said Cuckos Reaper, you'd be wrong. The Cuckos guys might let you evaluate Reaper without limitations, but it's still commercial software, and if you use it you should pay the license fee. Besides, Reaper is a very comprehensive program, and not a good choice for a guide like this, where my goal is to actually teach you the recording process, rather than bamboozle you with unnecessary complexity. So where does that leave us? You probably haven't heard of the recording program I'm going to recommend. But that doesn't mean it's no good. Zynewave Podium has the following virtues: 1) there's a free version that's not a half-arsed and crippled LE; 2) it has a very good and intuitive interface that will let you get some work done; 3) it concentrates on doing the basics well, instead of trying to be all things to all people. Essentially, it's the very best starter DAW you could possibly hope for. And you can download the free version from here: http://www.zynewave.com/download.html Make sure you actually get the free version, not the demo. I used Podium Free for about a year before I ponied up for the full license. All of my recent recordings were made with the full version, but don't worry about that. The difference is mostly in esoteric features like ReWire support and surround sound... Okay, I know what you just did. You went and googled Zynewave Podium, didn't you? Then you read a bunch of negative reviews by internet wonks who take deadly offense because Podium doesn't have time stretching and midi learn, or Reaper fanboys who say, "This sucks, just get Reaper -- join us, join us! Resistance is futile!" or Chicken Little types who run around saying, "Podium is dying! Podium is dying!" Well, you know, that's just typical dumb internet stuff. You might eventually end up with a different DAW, but for now, just do me a favour and download Podium Free. Hey, it's free. You've literally got nothing to lose. It's going to make my job here much easier, because I can just show you stuff without having to make allowances for the different features and work methods of other DAWs. Who knows, you might even learn something. And later, when you move on and buy that other DAW, you'll be able to make an informed decision based on experience (i.e. you'll know enough to buy Samplitude or Studio One instead of Cubase or ProTools). Everything else you want comes in the form of VST plugins. VST is the universal format invented by Steinberg for their Cubase DAW. But you don't have to worry about Cubase, because Podium can load VSTs as well. So it's not like you're going to miss out. VST covers pretty much everything you can think of -- effects, instruments, unfathomable esoteric stuff. They range in price from free to "you've got to be f'n kidding me." It's the free ones we're interested in. Again, that's so we can all download the same ones from the internet and be on the same page while we explore this process of recording music together. Zynewave Podium comes with exactly three effects plugins -- zPitch, zPEQ, and zReverb. You can go ahead and thank Mr Zynewave for being considerate and keeping his download package small. But all the same, you're going to want more than just those. Plugin PackagesWe can start with the plugin packages. This is a good way of getting too many effects very quickly indeed, because too many is not nearly enough. There are two in particular that I would recommend. First, there are the Antress Modern plugins, which you can download from here: http://antress.blogspot.com.au/ The Antress Modern package is going to make up for the fact that Podium doesn't come with a compressor. Download this package and, hey presto, you now have seven of them. And some of those are simulations of famous and sought-after hardware compressors. This tends to disturb people who pay a lot of money for the real thing, and these people will describe Antress Modern plugins as the shittiest thing in the entire history of shit. But you don't have to worry about that. You can be content in the knowledge that you've got a few pretty decent compressor plugins for nothing. The EQs in this package are pretty good too. So, what's the catch? There is a catch, unfortunately. Antress Modern plugins are no longer being actively developed (the perpetual curse of free software). So, they're getting a bit long in the tooth and a bit flakey. Occasionally, they'll misbehave and Podium will deal harshly with them. But we'll get to that in due course. And they're still worth the occasional hassle. To make up for that, lets grab another effects plugin package that is up-to-date and very stable. You can download the Melda Free plugin bundle from here: http://www.meldaproduction.com/freevstplugins/ The Melda Free plugin bundle is the perfect example of how good, free plugins get developed. Melda is primarily in the business of selling it's commercial mDrummer software. In the process of laying on the shiny bling to make mDrummer as attractive and fully-featured as possible, they developed all these other plugins that work alongside it. They're simple, no nonsense plugins like frequency analyzers, equalizers, compressors, and so on. They're not fancy enough to sell on their own, so Melda basically gives them away. They're hoping you'll think fond thoughts about them and buy one of their commercial plugin packages in the future. To that end, they are very far from being crap. That's quite a few plugins right there, but we still haven't quite got everything you're going to need. So go ahead and get the mda-plugins bundle as well. These ones are really basic. They don't even come with their own interfaces. Still, this package covers a lot of ground. For example, you've now got some delays and resonance filters you wouldn't have had otherwise. http://mda.smartelectronix.com/ That's your effects covered. Now lets think about some virtual instruments. You can start by going to the DSK instruments page and downloading every single plugin on it. Why? Because they're there, that's why. There might be a couple of duds in amongst that lot. I don't know. If you find a bad one, maybe you can ask for a refund of your $0.00? But I know for a fact that there's at least one or two useful VST instruments in there, and I'll be using them later in this guide. Here's the link: http://www.dskmusic.com/category/vsti-all/ Other VST PluginsOkay, that's bundles out of the way. Let's get down to a few specifics. These are plugins I know I'll be referring to in this guide. Let's start with Black Water Reverb: http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=Black_Water_Reverb&id=542 So why am I making you download another reverb plugin, when you've already got reverbs from the other packages? It's partly because one of the reverbs in the Antress Modern package once crashed Podium so hard I had to kill it in the task manager and restart. I'm pointing you towards Black Water because it's stable, it's only got five controls, and it sounds just fine with the default settings. Reverb is one of those things that can get stupidly complicated, and this one is not complicated. Later on, I'll be covering the business of recording guitars directly into your computer, and for that exercise I'll be using the Le456 amp simulator from LePou. It's the best sounding freebie amp sim I've come across so far. Here's the download page (look to the column on the right for the Windows download link): http://lepouplugins.blogspot.com.au/ You'll want a plugin for drums. If you want to use electronic drums on your songs, you're spoiled for choice. There are any number of 808 simulators floating around out there. But personally, I prefer to use more realistic sampled drums -- preferably with samples I've made myself. So for me, Softdrum LTD is the best choice: http://freemusicsoftware.org/1801 I like this one because it lets you use your own 24 bit .wav files. It's a much more flexible option than some other drum VSTs where you can only use the kits they give you. And the interface is simple and functional, which is always a plus. It gives you twelve slots, with four velocity layers for each slot. (If you don't know what I mean by velocity layers, just read that as more velocity layers = more samples = more realistic sounding drums.) While we're on the subject of realistic sounding instruments, did you ever want a saxophone in your recording, but you don't play saxophone? How about a Hammond organ? Or a hurdy gurdy? You can get plugins that are pretty good approximations of real world instruments. In fact, if you downloaded all the DSK plugins, you've already got a Rhodes piano, a sitar, and an orchestra. Here's some other things:
Saxophone:
Cello:
Organ:
Chanting Buddhist Monks: Yeah, chanting Buddhist monks. For real. You'll also want some soft-synths as well. Synthesizers are a great thing to port over to computers. You don't ever have to worry that a soft-synth doesn't sound realistic, because real hardware synths never sounded realistic in the first place. So you can entirely abandon any pretense of realism and design way-out, ethereal sounds that couldn't possibly exist in reality. I'm going to recommend three synths: 1984, because it's simple, so you can learn what this synthesis thing is about; Minimogue VA, because its a serious synth and has a lot of features; and AlioNoctis, because it's a different kind of synth that produces weird, atmospheric sounds.
1984:
Minimogue VA:
AlioNoctis: There are literally hundreds of other free software synthesizers that you can download and play around with. In fact, you can get lost for days, sorting through lists of them, downloading them, listening to the preset sounds, and playing around with their interfaces. But hey, stay focused! We're here to record music, not to wallow in the bottomless pit of overindulgence. After you've recorded some music, you're going to have to think about mastering it. Just about everyone will tell you how important mastering is. It's so important that your best bet is to send your raw mix off to a professional mastering engineer, who'll be able to fix your flailing amateurish efforts and make your song just as overhyped, as overcompressed, and as bloodless as your average modern commercial release. And I certainly won't argue with that... Nope... It's commendable advice... Wise... Sensible, even... You're still thinking about doing it yourself, aren't you? Yeah, me too. You and I are recording on the cheap because we're not buying into all that rockstar, fame and fortune nonsense. It's all the same kind of PR crap that turns young people's heads and causes them to do something rash, like audition for Idol. Recording an album to put up on Bandcamp isn't quite the same thing, is it? Luckily, mastering at home is a pretty simple affair. It mostly consists of leaving well enough alone and not buggering up the final mix. And we already have most of the tools we need for that. There's only one more plugin to download. All the hold-outs who cling to their analogue tape recorders will tell you, digital recording is just not the same, man. Tape just has the magical ability to smooth over the rough bits, glue your mix together, and make it really pop. Yeah well, there's a plugin for that. In fact, there are several, but the free one I'll recommend is Ferric TDS. http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/ There's a few other free plugins on that site, and you can try them out if you want. But I'll tell you straight up, some of them don't play nice with Zynewave Podium. Just A Bit More Money...Yeah, maybe just a little bit more money. Because if you're in the UK, or some other country where you can buy UK based publications, you'll want to get a hold of an issue of Computer Music Magazine. Now, there are plenty of music magazines around, so you might wonder why I'm recommending this one in particular. Well, Computer Music Magazine comes with a cover disk on the front of every issue. On that cover disk is some really useful software that you won't be able to find at large on the internet. Believe me, I would love to have done the soft-synth section of this guide using CM101 or Dominator, because they are way better synths for learning synthesis on than Minimogue. There's a whole bunch of other good plugins on there too, like the Kjaerhus Classic plugins. |
