I'm in the market

Discuss working with MultitrackStudio.
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bargainboy1
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:56 pm

I'm in the market

Post by bargainboy1 »

Hello all,

I'm new here and need a little information. I've been home recording for a couple years. I use Cakewalk Music Creator as my recording software, but I want to upgrade. I was thinking about upgrading to Cakewalk's Sonar/Home Studio, but I really don't want to upgrade my PC. This is only a hobby for me. On the advice of Robomusic, I'm checking out MTS.

Here is my current setup: HP Pavillion 6740C Desktop, Windows 98SE, 667 mHz Celeron processor, 128 Megs RAM, and a 15 gig hard drive. I replaced the on-board sound with a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card. This all works fine in Music Creator.

Alrighty then, here are a few questions I have that I couldn't find on the web site.

1. Is my computer fast enough to handle MTS (What's with the specs on the web page "Computer should be less than 5 years old" BTW, I think the computer is 4-5 years old)? NEVER MIND - I FOUND THIS ONE
2. Can MTS loop playback and loop record?
3. Does MTS support acidized loops that can follow the project pitch and tempo?
4. Does MTS limit the number of total FX and does it limit the number of FX per track or bus?
5. Does MTS limit the number of busses?

I think that's it for now. Thanks for any and all replies.
Robomusic
Posts: 483
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:23 am

Post by Robomusic »

Hey Jeff thanks for taking a look. As far as looping, they can be imported, and chained together, just like Cakewalk, MTS however does not as far as I know have a looping tool, Cake does, however cake is not a top notch looping program, Acid works far better than cake for that purpose, yet as you know from the tutorial i wrote on looping cake can do the trick. where MTS shines is in it's handling of effects and busses, you can add as many as you need and the one that come with the program ad very good, MTS does not need a wrapper to use VST effects, and VSTi instruments, and DX works just as well, MTS also has a great built in sampler, that handles sound fonts, that makes midi use very easy.

I also love the ease of working with audio files, where you need to cut and paste it does this very well, and you can take out unwanted noises, like breathing, coughs, mike bumps just by highlight and delete.

As far as fx per track, it allows three, yet one effect is a triple slot, so three of those allows 9 effects, it depends on how much power the program has. I have one song with 6 audio tracks, 9 midi tracks each with a sampler, 26 effects total, and about 60% on the CPU usage.
Mac
Posts: 598
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:38 am

Post by Mac »

I arrived at the conclusion long ago that there is not really one music recording software that does everything well.

Kind of like buying the famous Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman tool with the intention of using it to do a repair job on your car, eh? Sure, the Swiss Knife has a Phillips Screwdriver tip, the Leatherman even has pliers, but such tools were intended for portability and emergency use really, you're much better off with a real dedicated toolkit. In other words, don't attempt a valve job with the all-in-one tools.

Bad analogy, perhaps, but maybe you get my drift.

Acid is probably the number one choice for loop based music. Expensive, but my experience with Acid 5 Pro is that it just flat works. I use it with drum loop sample CDs mostly, composing the drum parts for my audio sequences that I do in other programs more suitable for multitracking or even Midi implementation or both. This means a bit of preparation beforehand as to number of bars, etc. and knowing where the turnarounds will be in the tune because of the Export as wav dance and the Import into another proggie for further work. Acid does allow one to record multitracks within the program but I find it klunky for that purpose and have never really worked at learning the full particulars of that part of Acid. Maybe I wouldn't find it so klunky at multitrack recording if I spent more time with it in that aspect.

Anyway, if you are totally into using loops and not really a tracking type of musician, you should consider a program designed for loop-based music making over a program designed as a multitracker/sequencer first and foremost.

The one thing that hasn't changed about recording since the old days of expensive reel-to-reel machines (like a 2" 16-track deck and support electronics only used to run around $50K brand spankin' and you still couldn't record on it without buying more stuff yet.... ) and analog effects units is that even though the advent of digital PCM based recording on PCs or Macs has significantly lowered overall costs by a factor of 10 in a lot of cases, multitrack recording is still a field where many times the basic answer is simply to throw more money at it.

Be happy in the knowledge that the amount of money needed no longer requires a cosigner. :D


--Mac
Robomusic
Posts: 483
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:23 am

Post by Robomusic »

The Macanator is right as always, One cost effective way to use acid as a software is to buy the studio version, it retails around $69 at bestbuy and while it is not as full featured as the Pro version allow seamless loop creation.

I use Acid Pro 3.0. I have never upgraded to 4 or 5 since 3 seems to be less bloated as a program, and is very effecient, then once the loops are right i head to MTS. Occasionally i jump into MC cakewalk to do some fine tning of a midi file, but i am finding that even that is less and less as MTS does a respectable midi job, and midi can be turned to audio far easier in MTS with the way it handles softsynths and samples
bargainboy1
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:56 pm

Post by bargainboy1 »

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I'm not really into loop-based music - mostly tracking. I do use drum loops, but I don't really edit them that often, and when I do, it's not that big of a deal to cut a tom or add a hi-hat and then copy/paste.

I like to playback in a loop to listen to specific parts of the song - say a chorus - to listen to the playing, mixing, whatever, for adustments and fine tuning.

From what Robo's said about the program, I'll buy it. It sounds like it will do everything I want it to - 'cept for the playback loop - but, I'll adjust. Cheaper, and sounds like it's better, than the alternatives.


Jeff
Saz
Posts: 531
Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2004 11:44 am

Post by Saz »

bargainboy1 wrote: I like to playback in a loop to listen to specific parts of the song - say a chorus - to listen to the playing, mixing, whatever, for adustments and fine tuning.

From what Robo's said about the program, I'll buy it. It sounds like it will do everything I want it to - 'cept for the playback loop - but, I'll adjust. Cheaper, and sounds like it's better, than the alternatives.


Jeff
Hey Jeff - it's easy to loop a section in playback for what you want to do...

Just start playback at the point you want and when you reach the end of a section you're working on - hit "Alt" and the "left arrow key" at the same time - playback will start over from your original starting point.

Keyboard shortcuts are a good thing. :wink:
Robomusic
Posts: 483
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:23 am

Post by Robomusic »

I liken this to tools in a tool box, each has it's purpose, none do it all, for loops get acid, try it free, using acid express, http://www.acidplanet.com/tools/?p=acid&T=8174 if you like it you can upgrade to acid studio for $69 the advantage is being able to render a looped region to a new track
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