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Recording with Laptops
Introduction
Laptop users have some special challenges when trying to configure a system for audio and/or MIDI recording. Because most laptops have relatively poor internal audio capabilities, an external recorder is often desired. In this article, we'll look at some of the typical configuration issues musicians face with laptops.
USB or...?
If you have USB on your laptop (or add it via a PCMCIA expansion card), you could record your MIDI from an external serial (and MIDI) device such as the Yamaha MU10 to an external USB-connected audio recorder such as the Roland UA-30. You would then mix the audio tracks down to a stereo 2 track recording to burn to CD. In this case, you would arm two tracks in your recording program (say, Cubasis) as audio tracks, and solo your MIDI tracks. Then route the output from the MU10 to the UA-30 input and you should be set to record.
If you want to use your computer with a single module for both sound creation and recording, an external USB-connected device such as Roland's SC-D70 makes sense. It combines MIDI and audio into a single USB module. The great thing about this unit is that it will digitally record and mix the MIDI with the rest of your audio, making the final mix down process a lot easier.
Note, however: you're not going to get zero audio I/O latency from Cubase or Cubasis using the UA-30, the SC-D70 or anything else. To approach 10ms latency levels, you'll need a sound card (a limited selection on a laptop!) or external device with ASIO direct monitoring support and ASIO 2.0 drivers. The UA-30 supports ASIO in a limited way only, via the slower MME Multimedia Extensions method. Perhaps you should be looking at an ASIO 2.0-capable device, such as one of those mentioned on Steinberg's website. The least expensive ASIO-compatible audio add-on for USB-equipped Macintosh computers, says Graeme Bennett, is the Griffin iMic, which sells for about US$30.
USB hubs are fairly cheap. Kelly Demoline cautions: "if your CD recorder specifically says it doesn't work with a hub, I am loathe to recommend buying one, unless you can return it is it doesn't work as expected." Graeme Bennett recommends a Griffin Audio Hub for maximum compatibility -- a recommendation echoed by technical support staff at M-Audio. a leading audio hardware developer. Generally, says Demoline, powered hubs have the fewest compatibility problems. "They run $50 and up -- and powered hubs, which I generally recommend for maximum compatibility, are more expensive still. I wouldn't necessarily bother with this, given my recommendations below."
A Typical Scenario
Before buying any equipment, computer-based musicians need to carefully organize a plan for recording.
For example, let's say you are using a laptop with Cubase or Cubasis VST, and want to record vocals and use some VST virtual instrument plug ins you've bought. You've also got a MIDI interface connected to your laptop via USB.
And, let's say you already have an old Yamaha MU10 stand-alone sound module for your MIDI stuff. The MU10 has both serial and MIDI connectors, as do many similar devices.
Finally, let's add a CD recorder to the scene -- not an uncommon peripheral for many music fans these days. In our hypothetical scenario, we'll make the unit a Zip CD -- an external USB device. By now, you can probably guess that we also have a USB hub, to handle all these USB devices.
Thus, we've got one USB port on the laptop, connected to the hub. To it, we've connected the USB MIDI interface, the CD recorder (maybe -- Iomega warns that the Zip CD may not be compatible with some hubs!) and whatever other USB devices you might wish to use on your system (mouse, keyboard, joystick, etc.) So, here's the Big Question: Can you have a setup like this running simultaneously with a standalone recorder such as the Roland UA-30?
The short answer is "Yes, but you probably shouldn't."
Ignoring for the moment the fact that you might have to disconnect the UA-30 to connect the USB Zip CD (as noted above, Iomega
says it may not work on a hub), you'd still encounter the problem of having to record the VST instruments as mono or, as appropriate, stereo tracks on the UA30 and then go back and separately record the external MIDI devices and save those as audio tracks for a final mixdown.
So, assuming you are using a PC, you could connect the MU10 via the PC's serial port or a MIDI interface.
Your results will also depend on which VST virtual instrument plug ins are you using. Most instruments will play MIDI data; however, a new product called HALion is sampler. In either case, you need to ask yourself: where do I want the sound from these virtual instruments to show up? As an input to the UA-30? As a WAV file on the hard disk?
Thus, we assume:
- some MIDI tracks will play VST virtual instruments
- other MIDI tracks will use MU10 instruments.
- The output of the MU10 will be routed to the UA30.
- The UA-30, meanwhile is acting as the "sound card" for the VST instrument output.
As you can see, this is starting to sound problematic. You'll need to combine the MIDI output of the VST instruments with the voice recordings output of the UA-30, or whatever recording system you choose.
In fact, the UA30 is not ideal in this situation. It cannot re-route its output as an input, along with a simultaneous external input such as the MU10. In essence, we've created an "infinite loop" that doesn't work.
One workaround is to record each track separately and then combine them in your audio software. But there other, more elegant solutions.
As for writing it to the CD, I would take the final mixed down tracks, of MIDI and audio and create a standalone audio WAV track.
Then, I'd connect the CD (I'd avoid the Iomega product and at least try using a hub -- it's a bit weird that Iomega says the Zip CD can't be shared with other devices) and burn this audio-only tracks to the CD using a tool such as Adaptec Easy CD Creator or Veritas' MyCD that writes WAV files as audio (or computer) data. Thus, no sound card is necessary for this final step.
Hence, the main problem is the simultaneous recording of the MU10 and the VST instruments. If you can solve that, you're golden.
In conclusion, my advice is to get an ASIO 2 compatible (PCMCIA) PC Card for your laptop, such as the VXpocket from http://www.digigram.com/, route your MU10 into it, play the VST instruments and record to your portable's internal hard disk (or an external high-performance storage device if necessary) with it and away you go!
The VXPocket page is here: http://www.digigram.com/products/getinfo.php?prod_key=9000
Mac Laptops
Laptop users looking for higher quality output should take a look at the Echo Indigo, a CardBus 24/96 (24bit/96kHz) audio output adapter for laptops - it has a built-in audiophile quality headphone amplifier (with two outputs) and is only US$99. It's compatible with Windows and Mac OS X.
Also, take a look at the new USB audio/MIDI adapter from Emagic.
All of Apple's recent PowerBook and iBook models have USB, making them suitable for use with USB-based recorders.
PC Laptops
EgoSys makes an audio/midi interface for laptops with a Cardbus (32-bit PCMCIA) port. It also has a built-in sampler/synth.
A similar do-it-all product for USB-capable PCs is the Tascam US-428 (about US$500). It, too, has digital ins and outs, and provides a sound card interface with the ability attach a keyboard controller as well. Unlike the UA-30, the UA428 fully supports Cubase functions.
Sound Devices offers a device called USBPre. This inexpensive unit handles A-to-D and D-to-A stereo audio over the USB port.
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