How to Record Audio: Getting Familiar with your DAW
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7.1 Testing Your Setup
- Recording a simple track to test everything is functioning correctly.
We’ve covered quite a bit of material so far and we haven't even gotten into how to actually record anything. We’re about to change that!
Now that you understand what an interface is for and some of the settings that control the quality of your recording, let's get into testing your system out. Like I mentioned previously, Ableton is my DAW of choice, so this will be the DAW I use to demonstrate principles moving forward. Don't worry though, if you picked a different DAW that's okay! The principles I’m demonstrating translate to every other DAW because principles are principles. The only difference is where the physical button is located in your DAW.
One thing I struggled with the most when learning about digital audio workstations is understanding that a DAW is a DAW is a DAW. They are all the same at their core. Though some might have unique features, at their core, they all record and edit audio. I’ve learned so much from producers that use different DAWs than myself. As long as you understand the basics of a concept, you can apply it to whatever DAW you’re using.
With all that being said, Let’s Dive In!
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7.2 Arming a Track
First thing is first! Is your interface plugged in, powered on, and selected as your primary audio card in the DAW? If you answered yes to all those, you’re already killing it! If not, make sure you get all that set up, otherwise we won't be able to record audio.
Now that your settings are confirmed, the first thing we need to do is “Arm a Track”. This means we are enabling a specific track to be recorded.
Hold on a second… What is a Track?
During our discussion on audio interfaces we talked about i/o, and depending on how many inputs you have will dictate how many microphones or instruments you can record at one time. If you have 2 inputs, you can record 2 tracks at once. If you have 16 inputs, you can record 16 tracks at once.
A track is a single audio recording’s lane or “channel” that it belongs to. An audio track is easier displayed than discussed.
In the images below each track is designated by a different color. DAWs are multi track recording softwares. Allowing you to record multiple tracks at once only being limited to the amount of inputs your interface has.
Ableton Tracks
Pro Tool Tracks
FL Studio Tracks
Logic Pro Tracks
We can see how each “Track” is labeled and colored to visually separate the recordings. We can see that Drums have their own track, Piano has its own track, bass has its own, and guitar has its own track.
Why do they have their own tracks?
Well, a simple example of why they have their own tracks. If you mix yellow paint and Blue paint, you get green paint. Now try to get blue and yellow back out of your Green,,,, you can’t. Once they are mixed they are mixed forever! This is a crucial concept to understand in audio. If you record vocals and guitar onto the same track, you recorded them together blending them like paints.
This is the basis of “Multi Track Recording” meaning that each instrument, microphone, or audio sample is on it’s own track and only blended at the end when your file is saved.
The Mona Lisa started off as individual color on a pallet before they were blended together to make a masterpiece.
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Now that we know what a track is, what does it mean to “Arm a Track”. Arming a track is the act of selecting the specific track you want to use for your recording, and then telling your DAW what interface input you want to record onto that track.
Example, You select a track, and then tell it to use channel 2 on your interface. Now the track you selected is listening to input 2 of your interface. Now when you hit the record button, anything that is connected to input 2 will be recorded onto that track.
Ableton, Track #1 is armed to record (red record button is highlighted)
Logic Pro Audio track #1 is Armed (Red ‘R’)
Pro Tools track #1 is Armed (Red recording circle selected)
FL Studio track #4 is Armed with Mic input 1 selected
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Now that you’ve “Armed a Track” it is ready to record. Arming a track is preparing that track to be recorded. Actually starting your recording takes another step. And that's actually hitting the record button. Once you hit that button you’ll then be recording the track that you armed.
Ableton recording button
Pro Tools recording button
FL Studio recording button
Logic Pro recording button
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Step 1 is selecting the track you want to use. It doesn't matter which one that's totally up to you!
Step 2 is telling that track to listen to the input on your interface you want to record.
Step 3 is selecting the ‘arm record’ button located on that specific track.
Step 4 is hitting the master record button for the DAW.
Congratulations on your first recording, make sure you save it forever!
In the later lessons we’ll get into how to edit and all the other tools at your disposal. For now it’s about getting comfortable with the recording process. Feel free to play around and try different things, you wont hurt anything by being creative! Recording and making music is the art of discovery and making mistakes can lead to new ideas. Experimenting is the best way to learn. It’s art at the end of the day.
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7.3 Organizing Projects and Files
- Tips for management and organizing projects for efficient workflow.
A few tips when it comes to staying organized.
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Using colors can be a major visual indicator of a specific sound. For example, if you always color your kick drum red, you’ll be able to open a file from 10 years ago and know exactly where your kick drum is based on the color you chose. If you don't color anything, you’ll have to resort to reading the names of things which can take longer to find what you’re looking for. This leads to number 2
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Name everything with a specific name. Sticking to general names like “piano” is only safe if there is one piano. If there were 2, you would have to decipher which is which.
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Using both a unique name and color will increase your speed 10x. Keeping your schemes similar through your works will make it easier for not only yourself now, but also your future self. If you do collaborations this will also help your partner identify things easier as well!
- Organize your tracks in the same fashion in each session. Example, I always put my drums at the top, my bass is after the drums, chords and rhythm is after bass, and leads are after chords and rhythm. Everytime i open a session, my kick is right on top labeled kick and it's red. The next track is my snare labeled snare and its green. My hi hats are labeled hi hats and are colored yellow. This is the same in every session for the past 8-10 years. No matter what song session I open, it’s like home. Everything is where it should be and it's familiar.
This plays into workflow, eventually you’ll form healthy working habits that help promote the speed at which you get things done. I mention speed a lot, while it's not about how fast you can make a song (faster does not mean better) the speed I speak of is your efficiency. What takes you ten minutes today could eventually take you 2 minutes in the future the more dialed in you get.
Familiarity is Key*
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In summary,
Familiarizing yourself with the layout of your DAW is the most important thing you can do. Being efficient allows you to get your ideas out of your head and into the DAW without losing the idea because you were trying to figure out how to make it happen. It takes time so don't get discouraged. Practice makes perfect.
Organizing your recording sessions with identical themes, coloring, names, and layout will allow you to work more effectively, preventing you from having to search all over for something that you know is there. Using colors is extremely helpful and prevents you from having to read labels. Unique names help further identify similar recordings. If all your vocal tracks are colored orange, a further indication of what is what would be the unique name you give it. The color gets you to the area, the name identifies the track in question.
Taking the extra few seconds to color and name things isn't going to hurt you, in fact, you’ll thank yourself later for helping the future you out.