kilgoretrout 
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Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
Hi
I have always used Sonar and Cakewalk to record by myself. However, I have a drummer and a singer that I want to record with. Previously, I have constructed my toons track by track segment by segment (intro, verse chorus...).
I would like to try and record 30+ minutes of playing using at least 16 audio channels. I have the hardware, but I have never pushed Sonar this way. I don't want to ruin a session by going in blind and not getting things rolling right.
What steps should I take to insure the best possible session? Here is my equipment
Sonar 4.0.2 PE
RME DIGI 9652 (24 Channels ADAT Light Pipe)
Mackie D8B with 24 Channels ADAT Light Pipe in/out
2.8 GHz Dell PIV
1 GB RDRAM
2 80 GB Ultra ADA Drives
UAD 1
TC Powercore Firewire
Tons of external stuff
I don't intend to run any VST instruments, other than perhaps Battery as a click track.
Maybe this is easier than I think it is. Maybe not. I appreciate any advice before I get started.
2 MOTU
Sonica dual core 3.4 GHz with 2GB ram, 2-300GB audio drives 1-80Gb system drive, RME DIGI 9652, Sonar 6 PE, Mackie D8B, 2x MOTU MTP AV USB, TC Powercore Firewire, UAD1, vintage synths, Modcan modular, guitars, outboard gear,
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WhyBe
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/01 14:28:17
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Why not just try it? You don't have to have the players there to record 16 simultaneous tracks. Just record silence. See how Sonar behaves. If there are no glitches then you re good to go.
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wogg
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/01 14:32:27
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You should be fine, 16 tracks isn't much on a PC these days. A couple tips:
Start the session with a clean boot of the PC
Leave all plugs out of the project until after tracking (with the possible exception of the click track plug, which you should use as lightweight as possible aka Edirol VSC)
Stop and restart recording between songs when possible
Save often
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Synth_sound
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/01 14:37:16
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Hi Kilgore, (a name I have used occasionally since 1975 heh heh) if your hard disk drives are empty you may get away with 16 tracks over 30 minutes. If they are not empty perhaps try recording 5 minutes and see if it floats. Then go for it over 30.
I would use empty hard drives if possible for such a recording session. Even new external drives are quite cheap now.
How are you going to record the drums - is someone on the mixer or have you set some compression levels for those tracks?
Good luck with it.
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tor
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/01 20:52:49
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If you leave all A/D conversion, compression and other effects to be performed by your mixer and other outboard gear, and let your PC record only, you should be able to record more tracks too..... I agree with some points here, I believe it's important to have as clean a system as possible, if you can, start your session with empty HDs...... Also, see if there are tweakings you can do to ensure that your system's capacity is concentrated on the audio task, and isn't running unnecessary programs. If you're not familiar with it, here's the place to go for tweakings: http://www.musicxp.net/ Good luck!
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kilgoretrout
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/01 23:58:59
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Effects - I have a pretty good amount of outboard gear, plus the plugs on the D8B (really just compression during recording). I rarely record using any plugs other than limiters/compressors.
Hard drive is pretty voluminous. I clean it often.
PC optimized as per musicxp.net
I am miking the drums. I have a seperate 12 channel mackie for mixing the drums and sending channels over to the D8B (snare, bass, hat, cymbal pair and overhead pair). I might have to ride the mixer if my drummer gets too excited.
I have my system relatively rock solid (relatively) for the way I usually record (a track or two at a time) and I was curious if there were any mods needed to optimize multi-track recording.
If I record 16 tracks of silence, am I doing the system justice in a test? I guess zeros all count as numbers too.
Kilgore Trout and Chauncey Gardner are my two heros. For the life of me, I don't recall why I have Dr Strangelove up there as an avatar, but he is cool too.
Sonica dual core 3.4 GHz with 2GB ram, 2-300GB audio drives 1-80Gb system drive, RME DIGI 9652, Sonar 6 PE, Mackie D8B, 2x MOTU MTP AV USB, TC Powercore Firewire, UAD1, vintage synths, Modcan modular, guitars, outboard gear,
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davidchristopher
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/02 00:32:44
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ORIGINAL: kilgoretrout
I would like to try and record 30+ minutes of playing using at least 16 audio channels. I have the hardware, but I have never pushed Sonar this way. I don't want to ruin a session by going in blind and not getting things rolling right.
Hey Kilgore. You should be able to do 30 mins at 48k/24 bit without any problems. I've done 20 minutes at 96k/24- and the only thing that stopped me was the WAV file limitation of 2gbs. (I had 24 channels going too- btw) and I record the drums directly - not through a mixer. If you can spare the tracks, you would be well advised to do so as well, it gives you flexability in mixing. And yes, recording empty is a good test, but I don't believe it gives the effects a workout. I'm going to tell you to pull ALL effects from the tracks when tracking anyway- the only thing I ever put on during recording is a little 'talent' (reverb) which I find helps the vocalist hear themselves. I use the realverb from my UAD1 card, and that's about it. But your needs, hence your mileage, will vary. Cheers David
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calaverasgrandes
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/09 17:24:25
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until recently I was recording about 18 tracks at once at my band practice space, using sonar 4.0.2 and a 828MKII with a Behringer ADA8000 for 8 more inputs. Ususally went about 20-35 minutes between saves. The only problem I have had is that when you get into 30+ minutes you are talking about a lot of data to save into one project. (I save a cakewalk bundle file in addition to the folder per session, then back both up to DVD). Sometimes there will be a problem with record enable, just make sure mult-record is enabled. Also, I find it easier to have each input as a discrete track as opposed to stereo pairs. This make sit easier to flip phase or balance out the drum overheads etc.
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tazman
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RE: Perhaps A Stupid Question - Something I have Never Tried
2005/08/09 18:26:03
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I do 16 tracks all the time no problem. Heck, last time I even forgot to increase the latency and we recorded for 7.5 hours with latency set at 5.2ms. I don't mean 7.5hours straight 1 file, it was 9 different songs...
Cheers,
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