Virgin, clueless, technophobe

Hi , Please could somebody advise on what steps I need to take? My aim to get some bass lines and drums put down so that I can play across the top of them. The current situation stands with me having a PC and an Gibson SG waiting to go- Im about to download Reaper - What the best way to connect the guitar to the PC etc. What else do I need? Sorry for being lame.

It's easy to get overwhelmed with all this new power at your fingertips; don't worry too much. You have a guitar, a computer, and Reaper. You want to record some drums and bass, maybe loop them so you can jam. Cool. First step is your audio interface. It's how you're going to connect to your PC and digitize / process the audio. Many users here use portable USB or Firewire audio interfaces (portable sound cards with inputs and outputs that connect to your computer). Others have PCI soundcards that snap into their motherboard. I recently made a thread asking for suggestions for a friend with a new Firewire interface: Use the "search" feature of the forum to browse the boards for other suitable topics. Beyond that, the best thing you can probably do is download Nicholas' amazing Reaper user guide, grab a cold one, and just read. Read the first few sections and then skim more advanced material you're interested in. If you have questions, try to have a little patience by first searching the forums for threads that relate to your needs. Then, if questions persist, the users here are always more than happy to help. Reaper's evaluation guide can be found here: You do have to put a little time in to learn. But it's well worth it. A little patience will go a long way and have you off to digital musical wonderland before you know it.

If you want to lay down bass and drums you will probably need bass and drums! :) Bass you can possibly do with a synth, but you'll probably get the best sound and performance out of a decent real bass. Use the same input you get from the research as above. Drums are easier to do digitally... I highly recommend Jamstix 2 especially if you don't want to fuss, just pick a style and hit go and have it drum realistically for you. There's nothing like it in that field. It is a VST plugin instrument so you use the FX button to insert it in a new track in Reaper and it will record the audio for later use. I'm sure the above created more questions, don't worry, you're in the right forum to get them answered!

A workaround I use for my lack of a bass guitar is to just record a clean guitar track playing with my thumb instead of a pick (since it is hard to use my index and middle fingers on the smaller strings of my electric) and then apply the ReaPitch FX (included in the Reaper download) to the track which lets me transpose the whole thing down an octave to where a bass guitar's notes would be. As for plugging your guitar into the PC, the best way is to get a proper USB or Firewire audio interface as was already mentioned. But if you don't have the cash for extra gear right off the bat, you might get away with a workaround. If you have something with a headphone out (effects pedal, small mixer, practice amp, etc.) you can in most cases just run that to the Line In on your PC soundcard. That gets you around needing an interface for the time being (although, in the long run, you will want one anyway. My solution just gets you up and running quickly, but you may run into sound/quality issues that you can only solve with a proper interface.) Please note, if you are using a laptop, many only have a Mic input and NOT a separate Line in. If this is your case, make sure your Windows Mixer isn't set with a 20db boost on the input (usually under Advanced properties for the mic input). If it is, turn it off before plugging your guitar into it or you run the risk of frying the input out. In either case, watch your volume going into the PC or you can still wind up with a fried input. Start very low and work up until it is usable. If it sounds too quiet, use the volume knob on your speakers before you crank the input signal and you should be safe. That's what I've been doing for a long time now (even before I discovered Reaper) and it has worked fine. (I intend to get a real interface though as soon as I get the extra cash) Drums will most likely require you to learn a little about MIDI programming in order to get something you want to use. In Reaper you will only need to find a drum VSTi that suits your preferences/working style. You can also search for download-able drum loops which you can just copy and paste into the order you want them to be in. Generally speaking, for MIDI drums you'll create a track in Reaper, insert a MIDI event and then click the FX button to insert a Drum VSTi (there are a lot of freebies out there, just use your Google-fu) on the track. Double click the MIDI event and it will open the editor. Now you just click where you want the drum beats to be and press play. (It gets a little more complicated that that, but that's the basic idea anyway) Definitely keep asking questions. The folks here are very helpful to pretty much everyone. Welcome to Reaper!

My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad: First off, IMMEDIATELY get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio: Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15 (Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief) You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section! Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price (I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!) Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!! Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips: 21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: Also Good Info: Other recording books: Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) not quality music production. #1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard. Here's a good guide and suggestions: Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on: Audacity: (multi-track with VST support) Wavosaur: (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\ Kristal: Other freebies and shareware: Another great option is REAPER at (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...) I use Reaper and highly reccomend it... Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - Demo you can try on the website. And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)