RECORDINGS -> Recording audio from DS to your computer...

[Decktonic]

Uh, spam up there ^

[DS-10 Dominator]

tnx, has been banned.

[Syscrusher]

Care and attention is the key. Over-compression does result in the "two-by-four" effect and generally sounds bad. Pure electronic music generally requires very little compression. A dab can help with evenness and boosting the gain. It can keep the transient highs in check so your skull doesn't explode plus it can give the bottom end a little extra punch. As I said, judgement is key, a little can go a long way.

[alex]

I saw this today:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2010/0 ... ff_your_ds

It wasn't so much the talk about the line-in/audacity stuff which it seems you serious guys have better (and more expensive) alternatives to, but more the talk about the submissions for there music podcasts that they are now accepting. It's a podcast I listen to and it's got an interesting range of stuff for a neophyte such as myself, and it would be cool if someone off the board could get a track down on there.

[DS-10 Dominator]

I saw this today:
(and more expensive)

This topic actually is about getting it done as cheap as possible... I thought.

[MilesT3hR4t]

Hey uh. I've noticed an over-all lack of good bass with the DSi's headphone jack, and come up with a fairly reliable fix.

increase the DB by 1-3 on the 300Hz and below range. if it's a bassline, boost it by 5 for a nice beefy sound.


Also, since audacity is free, and a stereo cable is cheap, I figured I'd also share this tid-bit with you guys.


Record all your patterns, 1 at a time, possibly one instrument at a time, with audacity, and set them up as loops, then arrange/mix them on the PC. you can do this 100% in audacity, it just takes a bit of extra work. with this method you can also add any VST plugins, because Audacity is vst compatible. I mean, with audacity, you won't exactly be adding DBlueGlitch... If you had something like FLStudio, garageband, or Live, it's a snap.

I've been considering making a Korg DS10 mixing on the PC tutorial, and even just a flat out "Make free music in audacity" tutorial... I might be doing that soon actually...

[Syscrusher]

Record all your patterns, 1 at a time, possibly one instrument at a time, with audacity, and set them up as loops, then arrange/mix them on the PC. you can do this 100% in audacity, it just takes a bit of extra work. with this method you can also add any VST plugins,

I use Logic Pro and have considered doing this, however, you have to realize that there are many people on this forum who are trying to maximize what is possible within the DS. That in itself is the creative challenge. As soon as you start messing around with recording and chopping up your DS songs in the computer you may as well start using the many VST (or AU) instruments available and skip all the work of transferring from the DS. Now, having said that, many VST synths don't have the fantastic patching features that the DS-10 does (the Korg Legacy series is an obvious exception).

I definitely used some VST effect and filter plugins on the Electroplankton aspects of my DS-10 tune "Black Sun" and I have been known to do a tiny bit of EQing in logic. Actually I tend to do more bass trimming that boosting.

I do plan to do more hybrid DS-10/other synth/guitar tunes in the future but the DS elements will probably (for now) remain a unit unto themselves.

[MilesT3hR4t]

well, even without using effects, you can still use it to arrange. you could easily get polyphonic in this way, which is something that has been mentioned before.

[Syscrusher]

Why not just use a polysynth vst plugin? Remember that the DS-10 is not an all around synth workstation - it is specifically a virtual software version of a classic monophonic semi-modular synth (paired with a classic analogue style step sequencer). It is what it is. Of course, back in the day people were multi-tracking these things all the time much in the way you suggest...

What you would lose by looping and arranging in a DAW such as Audacity is the organic nature of long evolving filters that cross over the pattern lengths.

[MilesT3hR4t]

Why not just use a polysynth vst plugin? Remember that the DS-10 is not an all around synth workstation - it is specifically a virtual software version of a classic monophonic semi-modular synth (paired with a classic analogue style step sequencer). It is what it is. Of course, back in the day people were multi-tracking these things all the time much in the way you suggest...

What you would lose by looping and arranging in a DAW such as Audacity is the organic nature of long evolving filters that cross over the pattern lengths.

right. I suggest doing what people did back in the day. Back when all people had where analogue synths like the MS10, and drum machines like a 303 or an 808, How many people recorded songs by just hitting play on everything at once, and when they run out of memory, that's all they could do? not really many, Even if it meant multi-tracking on cassette tapes. You just did what you had to do, to get the sounds you wanted.

As for mult-pattern filter changes, you take multiple patterns, one after the other as a 'song' on the DS/DSi, that is ONLY that instrument but has the entire length of the filters. you record that, and use that... I've done it, works just fine. what I'm suggesting is for the most part, Use a PC to get unlimited patterns and synths, with stacking patterns.

[Decktonic]

There's no right or wrong here, just lots of different options. I for one am trying to maximize what I can do with the DS10 for the sake of performing live at chiptune events, just because it's all about playing everything off something that fits in your pocket. I've had lots of compliments from people who are impressed by the fact that it all comes from a single DS10. There are other options too... have two DS units, each with a copy of DS10/DS10+... or heck, 3 or 4... this is something I plan to try soon. You can also play stems of any length into your DAW of choice and chop and sample them electro style. There's lots of options.

[Syscrusher]

Yeah there really is no right or wrong. I have thought of recording my songs "track by track" just for the purpose of saving my tunes but there are definitely creative possibilities there. As an aside,back in the day people working with modular and semi-modular synths often multitracked in the studio but for live performances they were in a sense limited by how many analogue step sequencers they had. The length of the patterns and how many they could "store" was definitely a consideration.

[tacticalbread]

To a usb/firewire interface

A better solution is to buy a decent usb/firewire interface. This way you bypass your computer line-input and can boost your signal.


http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_multimix_4usb.htm

heh, this is exactly what I've got, and it sounds great. ;D

[DS-10 Dominator]

To a usb/firewire interface

A better solution is to buy a decent usb/firewire interface. This way you bypass your computer line-input and can boost your signal.


http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_multimix_4usb.htm

heh, this is exactly what I've got, and it sounds great. ;D

glad to hear so

[mchl nrvs]

I use the zoom h2. not the greatest thing in the world. i have less conversion, i plug directly in to the h2 then take the card out, plug into a card reader, upload to whatever site, that's it. i have noticed the more you add to the ds sounds the better and worse it sounds at the same time. i have some good hardware for line in to computer and the ds does not sound as good as the simple field recorder. my opinion. all my korg ds 10 stuff was done this way. some times i would boost the signal by sync of two ds 10s, sounds great but loud and i wanted all the tracks the same volume (as close as i could as there are ways of amplifying within the program).

[Cfgk24]

HOw about This?
---http://www.amazon.co.uk/Honestech-Audio-Recorder-2-0-Deluxe/dp/B003BEERWE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[DifficultListening]

(apologies for the very old quote, but I've just seen the effects that Dominator mentions...)

I think a compressor is a bit senseless on DS-10 output, because you're only compressing the master channel that way. You can't make the bassline or any other sound fatter separately. You will only be destroying the dynamics of your song. And on top of that DS-10 sounds are already compressed and limited heavily when played loud, that's why there is no meter that can go in the red (digital clipping) in DS-10 and why the output looks so full if you see it in a waveform.

Yep, the DS-10 compresses things when tracks get too hot - now that I'm recording through a decent audio interface (http://www.lexiconpro.com/product.php?id=8) I can see that I'm already getting the "caterpillar of doom" look of heavy compression without any compression applied by the DAW software.

Given that, I'm guessing that a way to make DS-10 sound really full is to cane the crap out of the mixer, just like studio engineers used to mildly saturate the tape for some drum tracks, which had the effect of soft limiting those tracks, and introduced extra harmonics as well. So, ignore my posting signature and learn to love the compression you can't avoid!

On recording, I'm currently using the mic inputs of a Lexicon Lambda with RCA->XLR adaptors (and phantom power turned OFF!) - I had a theory that the DS might be happier driving a lower impedance input, and this way I've got plenty of gain in the mic preamp. I'll be posting some tracks in the coming days using this setup - see the new track forum.

[DS-10 Dominator]

The best trick for better sound quality with DS-10 is lowering the volume of all the channels. The problem is that the song can get really soft, but if you have speakers you can turn them up of course.

But of course the compression (saturation actually, analog simulation, like one of DS-10 programmers told me) can be quite rich sounding as well...

[Infininja]

To a usb/firewire interface

A better solution is to buy a decent usb/firewire interface. This way you bypass your computer line-input and can boost your signal.


http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_multimix_4usb.htm

I was thinking about getting something like this but I'm a little confused about the inputs/outputs. Are they all stereo? If so why is there an L and R for the main out? If not how would you hook your DS up to it? How come line 3 and 4 have the same controls?

Thanks for anything you can clear up. I don't have any previous experience with mixers.

[HarleyLikesMusic]

To a usb/firewire interface

A better solution is to buy a decent usb/firewire interface. This way you bypass your computer line-input and can boost your signal.


http://www.thomann.de/gb/alesis_multimix_4usb.htm

I was thinking about getting something like this but I'm a little confused about the inputs/outputs. Are they all stereo? If so why is there an L and R for the main out? If not how would you hook your DS up to it? How come line 3 and 4 have the same controls?

Thanks for anything you can clear up. I don't have any previous experience with mixers.

Hey hopefully i can help you out abit here.
All mixers have a main L and R out which link to your L and R speakers, if your speakers come with one cable that connects to your computer for both left and right speakers then you can use the headphone output for your speakers.
Channels 1 and 2 are both mono channels so even if you plug in an instrument that has stereo sound like a DS you will only get the left signal.
The reason channel 3 and 4 have the same volume knob is because this is a stereo channel, 3 is for the left 4 for the right, although if you wanted you could plug in 2 different mono signals but you would only have one volume control for the both of them.
So for hooking up your ds you would need a wire that goes from a mini jack from your DS into 2 large jacks to go into inputs 3 and 4.
A wire of this sort might be hard to find but i use a wire that goes from a mini jack to 2 phono connections, then i use phono to jack adaptors.
Hope this helps, if you need anymore info please ask.
Harleyx