Guitar tracks 2

[Deadchef]

Hi everyone. I'm totally new to recording on my pc, and I could use a little help. I picked up a program called guitar tracks 2. I'm having a few problems. First I will list my system specs. PIII 450 256 sdram soundblaster live. Here are the problems that I am having.

I can play my guitar and hear it through my pc speakers, but if I am recording with acertain effect, I cannot hear the effect as I am recording. When I play
the recording back I can hear the effect.

If I try to select 2 or more demo effects when playing back I get a
message that says Out of memory. I do not know if this is a hardware problem or not, if it is please let me know and I will upgrade.

I'm also having a problem hearing the metronome.

If someone knows this program and is able to help me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

[StoneDragon]

That's Cakewalk, isn't it?


I don't know Guitar Tracks, specifically, but I know Cakewalk.

I can play my guitar and hear it through my pc speakers, but if I am recording with acertain effect, I cannot hear the effect as I am recording. When I play the recording back I can hear the effect.

That's because the effects aren't being applied to the guitar. They're being applied to the track as it's being recorded. That's just the way it works... nothing you're doing wrong.


If I try to select 2 or more demo effects when playing back I get a
message that says Out of memory. I do not know if this is a hardware problem or not, if it is please let me know and I will upgrade.


First of all, you have to understand what you're asking your computer to do. Computers weren't designed with "streaming" data in mind. They were designed for handling "static" data. With static data, the computer can grab a chunk, load it into RAM, manipulate it, write it back onto the disk, grab another chunk, etc...

In order to work with audio files, the computer has to get as close to streaming the data directly to and from the hard drive as possible or you're going to get drop-outs and corrupted files. Now, audio data uses up a lot of bits. So, you're asking the computer to deal with this huge bunch of information in real-time, instead of one chunk at a time.

Now, if you decide to patch in an effect or two, your asking the computer to not only push this massive amount of data to and from the hard drive without missing a beat, but to stop and manipulate that data along the way.

That's the equivalent of trying to hold a grand prix through downtown New York, during rush hour, and expecting each driver to stop for pedestrians while also setting a world speed record.

In order to make this all happen, you will need to:

Clear the pedestrians and traffic - This amounts to getting rid of any drivers and software that are loaded into memory when you boot your computer and optimizing how Windows handles data. Screen savers and virus protection sofware are the worst for hogging the roadway. Here (http://www.videoguys.com/speedtweaks.html) is a site that offers some good tips on clearing the roadway. Here's (http://www.funklogic.com/pcaudio.htm) another good site. But understand, these mods are serious. You will effect how your computer operates by messing with these settings. That can be disasterous for "other" programs and applications. If you're unsure of your purpose, it's best to not mess with this stuff. At the very least, you need to know what you did, so you can set everything back the way it was before you messed with it.

Another thing that you need to do is hold down the Ctrl Alt Delete keys simultaneously. This will bring up the "Close Program" dialog box. Each program in the list is using up your computer resources. If you highlight something in the list and click the "End Task" button, that program will be shut down. Normally, you can end task on everything except Explorer and Systray. Windows needs these two items in order to operate.

Which version of Windows you're using can also have a serious effect on audio performance. At the time I put my system together, 98SE was the OS of choice. If you're running 95, ME, NT or 2000, you'll have to do some research on those operating systems. I also used 98lite (http://www.98lite.net/?hop=98litecom.98lite) to strip out all traces of Internet Explorer and extraneous junk that M$ thinks you need.

Widen the streets - This amounts to what type of hardware your running and making sure you've got that hardware running optimally. Prior to ATA/66 (UDMA) capable drives and motherboards, you pretty much had to stick with SCSI drives in order to have a wide enough road to stream audio. The only thing you can do, here, is see what you've got. Look in your MOBO manual (if you have it) and see if your motherboard is capable of handling ATA/66 drives. If it is, you need to see if the drives you're running are ATA/66 and whether the DMA (direct memory access) is enabled (right click on the My Computer icon, choose Properties, choose Device Manager, make sure "View device by type" is selected, double-click on "drives", double-click on one of the listings for hard drive [you'll have to do this for each drive], choose Settings, and see if there is a check box labeled "DMA" and whether it is checked. If not, check it. You'll get a criptic warning about the possibility of your computer not working properly, but if you know you have ATA/66 drives, there should be no problem. If you don't know, there is the real possibility that your computer will not boot properly. That can be a real mess to fix (personal experience, here).

The speed of your drives is also important. An ATA/66 drive that spins at 9600 rpm is going to work better for you than an UDMA 33 drive spinning at 7200 rpm.

Another important factor is the BUS speed. A PIII 450 has a default BUS speed of 100mhz. You need to run PC100 RAM sticks in order to maximize this BUS speed.

Graphics cards are also a potential road block. Ideally, you need to have an AGP graphics card. PCI graphics cards like to hog the PCI BUS, keeping your sound card from delivering its payload to the CPU. This is like having an old lady with a shopping cart trying to cross the road in the middle of your race.

Another thing to seriously consider is how you use your drive space. Ideally, you need a separate hard drive for your audio data. If your trying to work with audio data from the same drive where your program files are sitting (windows and guitar tracks), your asking the drive to do double duty. The computer has to access the drive for the audio data and access the drive for the program data. That's like trying to drive down a one way street in the wrong direction. Formatting your audio drive with the /z:64 switch will also help with moving and storing large chunks of data. Here (http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/articles/9DC930FCE2658C6F862565ED0078AEF1) is a good article on hard drives and optimization.

Soup up the car - This amounts to how much RAM you have and how fast your CPU runs. Obviously, the more engine under your wheels, the faster you can drive. A PIII 450 with 256 RAM is certainly adequate for doing some serious recording, provided the machine is optimized for the task.

Hire the best driver - This amounts to educating yourself on the process and becoming familiar with the quirks of the software and hardware that you are using. Pro Rec (http://www.prorec.com) and Audio Forums (http://www.audioforums.com) are a couple of good places to start.


Whether or not you need to upgrade your system depends on a couple of things. How serious are you about recording? How much optimization can you do to your current machine given "other" tasks you expect it to perform?

I'm very serious about recording, so I opted to put together a machine dedicated to audio recording. I spent a few months researching all the variables and then had a custom machine built that took all these variables into account. I ended up with a 700mhz PIII that absolutely smokes and is as stable as the rock of Gibraltar.


I'm also having a problem hearing the metronome.


The metronome amounts to a MIDI signal sent to channel 10 note F# on your soundcard. That's the drum patch and the closed hi hat sound. You should be able to choose a different sound for metronome (like snare drum). Look under Tools (I think) in Guitar Tracks and see if there is an option for MIDI settings. You might have to look in the user manual to find where you make this adjustment. Find a sound that cuts through. You might also be able to adjust the volume of the metronome.

[zappatude]

Stone you are the MAN. A round of beers for the band on me!

[kinolo]

.SD--after all that typing you'll never be able to use your fingers for playing your strat!!! whewwww.
~T~ http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/cool.gif

[StoneDragon]

I just pretend I'm playing Scriabin on the piano when I type http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/cool.gif

[kinolo]

http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/eek.gifSCRIABIN??!!!-DARN...i have trouble playing SCRABBLE!!! lol.
~T~ http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/cool.gif

[StoneDragon]

I did say pretend http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/lol2.gif

[Deadchef]

Thank you StoneDragon. I really appreciate your help.

[TeknoAXE]

Watch out for that fruity loops drum composer. That peice of crap program crashes my comp at least four times a day.

TeknoAXE

[Bardsley]

Without really being serious about recording, I have just been looking into ways of making sure my next computer is good for audio. That information was very useful, even though it is based on PC architecture rather than mac, which I will use. That kind of information could be very good as a lesson SD, though the time it would take in making a lesson in PC recording as exhaustive as your music ones would probably be, well, exhausting.

[dacster]

A Pentium processor, Intel chipset,on an ASUS Mother Board. ASUS is the most tested motherboard.
I called cakewalk and A freind who is wroking with the real high end DAW software says the same thing came from his software mfgr. Install as much RAM as you can afford. As well as 7200 rpm hard drives and hunt for the fastest access times.
I have one PC dedicated to Audio so there is nosoftware on the machine not needed. I have the OS and software on one drive and only audio files on a second drive.
As far as the memory thing get into the settings window and call up the system page.
click advanced and then select performance options. Check the virtual memory size write it down then try increasing the size of the virtual memory. IF things work better go with it if not you wrote down the original number just restore it.
At the TASCAM WEB site under the US-428 area there is a dissertation on pc optimization for audio work.

[ericonthenet]

Wow, SD that was a great answer! That's why I love this site. How did you get to be so knowledgable in so many areas of music?? Do you have a PHD in music?? It sure sounds like it. If not: here is your honorary degree: Dragon, Stone, PHD, Dr. of music.
Jim (it's not a joke. From now on, I will refer to you as Dr. Stone)

[theozzwomancometh]

Let's hear it for the Dr! Hip-hip-HOORAY! http://www.zentao.com/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif