What is the best and easiest way to track out your beats ?

[Retro_addicT]

just want to know some of the things you all do to track out your beats that doesn't sacrifice sound quality..

I have ableton live and I planned on tracking out there but I just want to do whatever is easy without sacrificing a good amount of quality..

[rrr*]

i never track out, i go lofi all day. are you gonna get your song mixed? I would just say have separate tracks for sample chops/main melody, drums, and then extra bass/synth.

[Retro_addicT]

i never track out, i go lofi all day. are you gonna get your song mixed? I would just say have separate tracks for sample chops/main melody, drums, and then extra bass/synth.

well yea it would be nice to mix my beats but it's not really a necessity..but like I said I just want simplicity and good quality..im just not sure of the best route to take.. im a noob to all of this and this will be my first sp..so do you use a tape recorder??

[a.D.]

8-16 track recorder should do the job..cassette or digital. A lot easier,quicker and more fun than software imo...just turn it on and go,completely hands on,etc. Best to get one w efx ,but not neccesarry. The boss br series is excellent for tracking beats,super easy to use,and all the efx u could possibly want-- including 12-16 bit recording option w adjustable sample rates.Plus you can get them w a built in cd burner,which is really convenient,no need to hook it up to a computer for the final touches,file coversion,etc...just copped a br900cd for 120,which is crazy considering you can barely get a stand alone cd burner for 100,let alone a fully equipped recording "studio".

[ndrw]

Adding on to what a.D. said:

I use midi with my 303. Using pattern select I can sync up my roland 1824 to be a master and slave my 303 and track out so I can mix here and there.
Very very useful!

page 55 in this manual.
media.rolandus.com/manuals/SP-303_OM.pdf


(I take drums for payment.)

[MattCoops]

If you are "tracking out" so you can mix your recordings,
a smart way is to get your samples chopped and recorded on one track,
then drums on another - take it a step further and put bass/kick/snare/hats all on seperate tracks (if you have digital luxury of limitless tracks).
I like having different drum parts on different tracks
so I can mix the EQ differently
and pinpoint which ones I want to add filters to.
Sometimes I'll have 2 or 3 different hats, all in their own different tracks.
And even the same hat duplicated into 2 or 3 individual tracks. Apply a filter on one, have differing volume levels on others based on their bar placement and effecting mood atmosphere.

There are benefits of having digital software to record tracks to. For one, the virtually infinite number of seperate tracks for purpose of mixing and mastering.
Others like the quick and dirty method of tracking out on an analog multi-track cassette recorder. To some, they're more comfortable with the tactile feel of knobs and pitch, and they have a preference to the sound characteristic to that gear's audio quality.

Experiment with both and see what you like better.
Or, if you don't want to effort the time or invest the cost, hop on YouTube and dig up some "behind the scenes" "making of" "in the studio" beat vids on indie producers using different methods and see which get the end results you like, and adapt those.
Even better, come up with an unorthodox way that's uniqe to you and sculpt a techniqe that others may want to trend.

Have fun! :ThumbsUp:

[MattCoops]

8-16 track recorder should do the job... cassette or digital... The Boss BR series is excellent for tracking

Excellent suggestion.
And I appreciate the Roland brand loyalty, mentioning a Boss product.
Since, after all, at the grassroots of this site, it's an SP forum.


:insert subliminal message:
boycott AKAI

[MattCoops]

And to even add yet another simultaneous post,

I kind of prefer to record out to cassette as opposed to software cus, well, I'm sort of a procrastinate of sequencing, mixing, and finalizing a whole recording.

In some strange way, tracking out to tape motivates me to get more done, and with better efficiency.

For me, I find that if I'm recording to cassette, there's a LIVE feel. As if, subliminally, there is a On-Air sign blinking and it won't shut off until that tape is recorded, mixed and done with.
"Damn it, I paid 2 bucks for this stinkin' blank tape, and by God, I'm gonna make this record, and TONIGHT! Even if I got to lose sleep to re-record this drum track and EQ it so these hats clang perfect."


With software, I found that alot of my stuff wasn't getting finished and ultimately left sitting on my hard drive in project files, tracked out, unfinished, collecting disk space and scattered all over the place. I'd say to myself, "I'll get back to that" and stash it in some folder. And then it just got archived. Even went on to buy another laptop and that work got left behind.

Bumping to tape puts a time stamp on it. Once I hit that button, it's like: "alright man, this is on"; giving me a deadline, and clearly outlining what I need to do for me to be satisfied with a successful recording.

With software, there is so much capability/possibility, that I get tied up and lost with all the little detail and odds and end.

Turntable to sampler to tape. In it's simplicity of process it forces higher priority and commitment to achieve desireable results.

[CULP]

Adding on to what a.D. said:

I use midi with my 303. Using pattern select I can sync up my roland 1824 to be a master and slave my 303 and track out so I can mix here and there.
Very very useful!

page 55 in this manual.
media.rolandus.com/manuals/SP-303_OM.pdf


(I take drums for payment.)

Change 303 with 606 and 1824 with ableton for my secret manual techniquezzzzzz

SP's work amazing for multi tracking with midi sync.

[Retro_addicT]

First of all I would like to thank you all for the useful information and further knowledge of this process. I am going to take the advice of a.D. and check out the boss br series for sure. Now that I think about it it would be very nice to not have to resort to a computer for tracking/mixing purposes.

I agree with you Coops referring to your comment about the "simplicity of process forcing higher priority and commitment to achieve desirable results" it just plain out makes perfect sense.

[Retro_addicT]

Adding on to what a.D. said:

I use midi with my 303. Using pattern select I can sync up my roland 1824 to be a master and slave my 303 and track out so I can mix here and there.
Very very useful!

page 55 in this manual.
media.rolandus.com/manuals/SP-303_OM.pdf


(I take drums for payment.)

Btw what is the learning curve like on the roland 1824 just out of curiosity??

[Retro_addicT]

8-16 track recorder should do the job..cassette or digital. A lot easier,quicker and more fun than software imo...just turn it on and go,completely hands on,etc. Best to get one w efx ,but not neccesarry. The boss br series is excellent for tracking beats,super easy to use,and all the efx u could possibly want-- including 12-16 bit recording option w adjustable sample rates.Plus you can get them w a built in cd burner,which is really convenient,no need to hook it up to a computer for the final touches,file coversion,etc...just copped a br900cd for 120,which is crazy considering you can barely get a stand alone cd burner for 100,let alone a fully equipped recording "studio".

Another question when you burn your recordings to a cd I assume they will only be in mp3? would you have to convert the file to wav via computer?

[a.D.]

Nah actually the cd u burn from the recorder will be wav,or just normal cd format..pop it in your computers cd drive and convert it to mp3

[Retro_addicT]

Nah actually the cd u burn from the recorder will be wav,or just normal cd format..pop it in your computers cd drive and convert it to mp3

Dope..thanks for the info man

[a.D.]

Yea man if u get one let me know how it goes..these br's from the early-mid 2000's are really slept on when it comes to hip hop. Which is weird 'cause they're so beat friendly w all the dope efx and simplicity. Great vocal efx for recording songs too,sounds dope w a seperate pre amp,though the built in pre's are still decent.