new song

[Girl Friday]

I put up a new song on both of my sites. I bounced more than a Rocket's basketball game! ha! Had one little "plosive" I could have stopped with my filter. Strings might be a little strong in places. Sounded fine when I bounced them with the two piano tracks, but at final mix down, would have liked to pull them down.

I got my DVD tutorial on the 2488 in! Watched it all the way through and will use it as I go along. What I'm wondering is when the final product is mixed onto the WAV file, how will I convert that to MP3 as that's the format necessary for soundclick and myspace?

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I have a new song that I will cut my teeth on to show that 2488 who's boss! haha!!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! I learned what FAT means...as in fat partition...not what goes to my thighs when eating a donut. It means File Allocation Table. I always wondered what that acronym meant. ;D

[chrisr]

Fine song, GF. As usual.

And yes, if you have to bounce a lot, there will always be parts that you would have liked to change the "premix" of during final mixing, but oh well.

Now, if you need to do that much bouncing, it probably means that you are indeed ready for the 2488. And since the 2488 is no doubt ready for you... we are all waiting to hear your first 2488 recording.

About the WAV-MP3 conversion : you can easily do that (on your PC) with Audacity or any other file conversion software. No problem at all. We'll give you more details when the time comes.

FAT meaning File Allocation Table doesn't suddenly stop it meaning also the substance that goes to your thighs when eating far too many donuts. Then, it simply means Flubbery Awkward Thighs, I guess.

[mcarp555]

The easiest way to convert your 2488 output to mp3 is to run it into the PS5! Left & Right line out to Input A & B (both set to "line"), record direct to mp3. There's an essay about integrating the PS5 and a larger multitrack in the Essay section. The PS5 can be an FX unit, MIDI sound module and output file converter to your 2488.

[sgulley]

GF (you might want to copy this down),
First you must have an End Point marker set for your song before premastering to allow you to mix, so make sure that it gets set at the end of the song while you are playing back your tracks and listening. This can be done at anytime during recording any track just as long as it gets set before the final mix.

Go through the tutorial on the "Audio" section off the main menu for detailed clarification.

Select the icon "Premastering." At this point you can select the "Singe Effect" button to add a special type of reverb if you want. Then press "Record/Play" and start mixing. The mix will automatically shut off at the end so you don't need to stop anything.

Your next step under "Audio" is to write to CD. You can do this in song groups or one song at a time. Then you can put the CD in your computer & Rip an MP3. You also have the option after the mix to select "Clone Track" and dial all the way back to "Master" Then just assign the stereo track pair you want the master copied to (example T21/T22).

Now you can Export WAV and select T21 and T22 to get them into your FAT partition. The last step would be to USB them over to your computer. Both mono tracks will be 24-bit/44.1Hz. As Chris said, you can use Audacity to import in your mono tracks. Pan each imported hard left/right and then select "Export MP3." You can also "Export WAV" to keep a high-quality 24-bit mix on your computer.

[Tom]

Hi GF,

Nice song -- well played and sung as always. Recording wise I don't think it is up to your usual high standard. I have always been amazed how good your stuff sounds considering that you bounce a lot. But on this one perhaps you have reached the limit of bouncing. Which is OK because I sense you are soon to take on the wings of the 2488.

I am curious about how you use your keyboards in putting stuff like this together. For example, are the strings the PS5 TG or recorded keyboard output. I suspect the latter, and if that is the case I recommend adding a little chorus effect to whatever string voice you are using. And of course, they need to be kept back in the mix as you say -- something I always do myself as synthesized strings, no matter how good, remain synthetic.

That said, your song, arrangement and performance are impressive as ever. I look forward to hearing what you can do with 24-tracks.

Tom

[chrisr]

What Mike says about using the PS5 to directly convert your 2488 mix into an mp3 is perfectly right, GF.

Moreover, do not forget indeed that you can use your PS5 as an FX unit, MIDI sound module or kind of a drumbox while recording with your 2488.

And you can even use the same "line"-method to record your earlier PS5-tracks to the 2488, to add tracks to the song in question.

However, and if we're only talking about converting your 2488 WAV mixes to mp3, I would imagine that you're gonna save your endmixes to your PC anyway. So, with the WAV's already on your PC, I think that converting them to mp3 using Audacity is probably the easiest way.

Once you've downloaded Audacity (freeware), you will see that the software is able to do much more than just converting soundfiles (copy/paste file sections, clean up soundfiles, merge soundfiles, etc...etc...).

You can even convert mp3's to WAV's, and import the WAV's as tracks to your 2488. One might wonder what good this can do (converting mp3 to WAV, I mean), but my experience is that the file sounds more "full" somehow, once it's converted to WAV.

But OK, at the moment, I imagine that you are busy enough learning the 2488, so let's not complicate things even more.

Anyhow, if you have questions, do not hesitate asking them.

[mcarp555]

Chris, I'm glad we're in agreement about using the PS5 to convert the .wav files to .mp3. And yes, GF has enough to learn without breaking into Audacity as well.

But don't forget that d/l the final mixes as .wav files is assuming a lot. There is probably no compelling reason to do that. For archival purposes, the native 2488 files (or all the tracks separately exported as .wavs) negates the need to have a final mix in .wav, unless you plan to do some post-mastering touchups, which I don't think she'll be doing for awhile.

Far better in my opinion to use the 2488 to burn the final mix to CD (or CD-R) as a .cda file so she can play it on her CD players. Then she can rip it like any standard CD to mp3, wma, egg, etc.

[sgulley]

Opinions are opinons and using the PS5 this way sounds easy enough. I of course would never do it that way. There's a lot for me to consider including dithering and mastering after the premaster.

So as Mike said, that would be a very good reason to export it over to the computer to master. If not, I would have probably just stuck with a 16-bit recorder, added some reverb, and done.

If you do plan to use the song for an album, exporting the WAVs vs. a whole 2488 project will save you a tremendous amount of time and keep the best qualities of your mixes if you decide to master and release them to the public. If you are just going to post to Myspace and SC then 24-bit quality is not buying you much.

The songs very nice... one of my favs of yours.

Go Cowboys!

[mcarp555]

As for the song... I like it. I really like it. A good recording of a good song. Yeah, the strings are a little strong, and the drums a little too far back, but even so it's a good tight arrangement. The pianos really give it a good mood. I can't decide which Kate Bush song it is, tho! 'Giving It All To You' perhaps?

I wonder what GF from January would have made of this mix? She'd be dumbfounded, for sure. Good job, kiddo.

[Tom]

Oct 10, 2008 19:02:54 GMT mcarp555 said:

For archival purposes, the native 2488 files (or all the tracks separately exported as .wavs) negates the need to have a final mix in .wav, unless you plan to do some post-mastering touchups, which I don't think she'll be doing for awhile.

Far better in my opinion to use the 2488 to burn the final mix to CD (or CD-R) as a .cda file so she can play it on her CD players. Then she can rip it like any standard CD to mp3, wma, egg, etc.

Interesting ... It would make sense that if working in 16-bits on the 2488, making of the .cda from a .wav should be the same as doing it on a PC as the wav data and cda data would both be 16-bit -- so the results of making the .cda on the 2488 would be the same as if one did it on a PC using some application. But, assuming that the wavs for the 2488 mix is 24-bit data like the tracks are, is the dithering down from 24 to 16-bit done by the 2488 according to some standard (and thus identical to what wouold happen on a PC), or is the dithering proprietary and thus liable to produce different results from application to application. If the latter case is possible, I would certainly save the wav(s) of the stereo mix.

[chrisr]

My english may not be good enough to fully understand what you mean here, Tom.

I don't know about the 2488, but I can tell you how it is with the Korg D3200 (the principle is probably the same) :

If you have a 24bit recording, and you want to export (or backup) the files to the Korg CD-R or to the PC, they will be saved as 24bit.

However, if you want to make a CD playable in any CD-player, then the WAV file(s) will be converted by the Korg to 16bit on the CD (while the original WAV's on the Korg harddisk, if 24bit, will remain 24bit, of course).

Now, say you transfer a 24bit WAV file to your PC and you work on the file with Audacity, and then export the worked on file as a new WAV, this new WAV will be saved as 16bit. I'm not absolutely certain that Audacity does that ; it may also be the 16bit soundcard in my PC. Maybe if you have a 24bit soundcard, the exported WAV will still be 24bit (Stan has the answer to that).

With original 16bit recordings : no problem, whatever you do, it will all remain 16bit.

[mcarp555]

Fair point, Tom. Archiving probably depends on what you really plan to do later on. Since GF knows the PS5 much better than Audacity, she's better off using the PS5 for her mp3 mixes. Saving a 24-bit stereo wav file is an option if, as I mentioned, there is any plan to post-process the final mix. If there is no plan to do such, a CD in 16-bit would suffice, since it would probably only be copied to other CDs anyway.

The best option would be to export all the individual tracks as separate wav files, so in future they could be reassembled in the 2488 or another machine and remixed completely. This is the most complicated scenario, but could be done easily by burning the wavs onto a data disc for archival storage.

My point was that it's probably still better to convert the mix to mp3 through the PS5, no matter if you export a stereo master or not, since it saves having to learn another program. Audacity is a great program, but if I don't plan to fiddle with the mix any further to post it to Soundclick, it's easier to run it through the PS5, since with my set-up, it's permanently connected to the multitrack anyway. Your mileage may vary.

[chrisr]

Ah, OK, you were all talking about archiving.

Well, as any manual of a harddisk recorder states, one has to make regular backups (on CD-R or PC) anyway, so I guess that answers the question.

About converting the final mix WAV to mp3 using the PS5 rather than Audacity or any other PC software : well yes, why not.

[chrisr]

Just a word on what you say here, Tom :

......But, assuming that the wavs for the 2488 mix is 24-bit data like the tracks are ......

Again, assuming that the principle is the same as on the Korg D3200 :

once you create a 24bit song, the WAV's of the tracks will be 24bit. The final mix is recorded on the Master Tracks, and as the other "track" WAV's, the Master L and Master R WAV's will be 24bit.

if you create a 16 bit song, everything will be 16bit (once you've created a song as a 16bitter, you can't change it into 24bit anymore)

[Tom]

Oct 13, 2008 18:36:33 GMT mcarp555 said:

Saving a 24-bit stereo wav file is an option if, as I mentioned, there is any plan to post-process the final mix...
.
.
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...it's probably still better to convert the mix to mp3 through the PS5, no matter if you export a stereo master or not, since it saves having to learn another program.

When I move up to more tracks I envision keeping the PS5 right next to the new machine as well, and I am sure that I will, at least initially, use it to make MP3s, not to mention having it there to provide my favorite guitar and vocal effects. I will probably archive both the 24-bit tracks and mix as wavs for possible future use. In the unlikely instance that I want to have something professionally remixed and mastered, I would want to have the 24-bit tracks wavs for that. But it would be more likely that I want to send just the 24-bit mix waves to my friend with the D3200 and Masterlink to see if the latter's multi-band compression would improve the CD product any.

Regards,
Tom