Do I need to buy some sort of MIDI device to record more then one track at a time?

I mean I have it working on Mandrake and it works great! Thanks for developing it by the way. My question is less about the program or linux and more about general studio setup I guess. I have a small 4 port mixer that I use to practice bass on (with headphones) while my 5 week old is sleeping, and I have it jacked into the input on my SB Live. With this configuration I can only record one track at a time or the same thing on all tracks at once. What do I need to tie into my system so that I can record my whole band at once? I know this is a stupid question but this is stuff I’ve allways just left up to the studio. But now I would like to do in myself because the demos never come out like I want. He allways puts his own ideas into the mix and pretty much tells us to “Shut up and play”.

Thanks in advance!
Catfisch

I don’t see how this has anything to do with midi…

With your current settup you can record 4 sources at a time, and record the mixed result. But then you can’t remix it in any way.

Or you can record as many tracks as you want, one at a time. (you usually start with a click track, make a scratch track, and then start recording the tracks to use in the final mix)

If you want to be able to have multiple sources recorded independently so that you can all play at once, but then mix later on then you will need a professional sound card.

BTW: you need to get a new record/mix engineer. :stuck_out_tongue:

Yup, currently, it seems you would be able to record 4 different inputs simultaneously, but all to one track in Ardour. This is because your soundcard doesn’t have multiple input channels.

You would essentially need a mixer that has an individual output for each input channel, then connect each of those to a seperate input channel on your soundcard. Then each track in ardour can be setup to record from one of the individual input channels. Most likely, with your mixer only having 4 channels (unless it’s a pretty decent/expensive one), you’re only going to have a single output. So you probably couldn’t record each individual channel, even if you had the right soundcard.

So hook yourself up with a mixer which has individual channel outputs, a soundcard with multiple channel inputs and you should be all set. =]

Yep I’m gonna have to fire him i guess. I just want to capture that live sound when we are all in sync. I can tell, most of the time, if a song was recorded one track at a time. It just lacks that flow you get live. Well I guess I will have to get a sound card with more inputs. They aren’t cheap!! What kind do you use??
Thanks for your input.
-Cat

“it seems you would be able to record 4 different inputs simultaneously, but all to one track in Ardour.”

That’s right. That’s what I was hoping to remedy so we could all play, one guy per track, at once and then mix it down after. So all you guys lay one track down at a time? What soundcard do you recommend that has multiple inputs? My mixer has two outputs on it btw.
Thanks for all your help!
-Cat

There are quite a few which are well supported with ALSA. The RME cards and the M-Audio cards are the more common favourites I think. Like I said, if you want to record multiple inputs at once, you’re going to need a mixer which has individual channel outputs, in addition to the multiple input soundcard.

What you should buy depends on what kind of setup you want. For example, if you want to record a drumkit to sound good, at the very minimum, you’re going to want at least 3 or 4 inputs. I use 7 to record my acoustic drum kit. Then you will want at least 1 input for each stringed instrument (I’m assuming here that you’re in a basic rock setup with bass, guitar, drums and vocals). It would be okay if you want to mix the drums before they’re recorded, through one mixer and then have the drums all recorded to one track. Due to the soundcard I’m using, I have to mix the drums first and then record them to one track.

For my setup, I would want something along the lines of M-Audios Delta 1010 soundcard. I believe that has 8 audio inputs and 2 MIDI if I remember correctly.