Dad3353

It may be useful for those who 'tweet'; for the rest... Not. Never mind, I'm already in the EU, so...

Good afternoon, MM, and ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share.

It doesn't matter, as long as Reaper is informed where they are (there's a section in 'Options/Preferences' for just that...). I like to manage where they go, so I've a folder each in 'Program Files' for VST plug-ins and 64-bit Vst plug-ins, on one of my USB drives. The 'default' Steinberg folder on the 'C' drive is fine, too; just list any and all such folders in the Reaper preferences.

This ... Amazon, Behringer UMC22 ... ... will do what you want.

No, you can't. You can play along to tracks, or record MIDI notes in real time (from a keyboard, for instance...), but it won't do what I think you want. It's very good, but maybe a bit complex for what you want, anyway. Start simple and work up, especially as GP is not free. Not expensive, and worth its price, but not for recording your songs. Sorry. Back to Reaper, and audio interfaces...

I've been modestly using GuitarPro for some years, now. It's very good. What are you thinking of using it for, as it has many salient features..?

There are other XLR sockets, with more pins, available (See DMX lighting controllers, for instance...). It would have made sense, but would have cost more; I suspect that was a major driver at the time.

Feel free to start your own 'gloom, doom and other Cassandra predictions' and we'll see how it goes. In 'Off Topic' there are few 'taboo' subjects, as long as normal house rules are respected. Some subjects are well-known fire-raisers, and are not welcome, but, beyond that, vent your spleen if you so desire. If it gets out of hand, it'll get locked, is all.

Reaper comes with a whole host of 'plug-ins' (Vst for the most part...) for all sorts of treatment. For Vst instruments, there are many sources; here's one ... Bedroom Producer Blog ... Don't go mad with those, though, or you'll end up like me with a couple of thousand, of which I use a dozen or so.

Here's a 'live' rehearsal of us (The Daub'z...). Un-zip the file, and open the .rpp file with Reaper, and play about with it. Beds.rar

Well, to start with , they have an interface...

I'll pop a 'quickie' here in a few moments, from my copious archive of doubtful projects for you to play with...

I concur with my colleague, and can confirm that he is, indeed, as 'thick as mince'. ...

If you've already been recording, even with latency, you can use the files created, pop them into Reaper and have a play around.

Reaper is easy enough for doing easy things, so start off with that. It's capable of much more, but for a simple song, we can talk you though it. Install it first, then ask again. We can supply you with tracks if you've nothing on hand, or look at the projects you're working on and advise. No, we're not (all...) experts, but we all started out as beginners, so we know what it's like. If we can do it, so can you.

Many of the answers to your questions, and others to come, are here, on this very Forum ... Beginner's Guide To Home Recording...

My mini keyboard is an M-Audio 32-key Keystation, bought for very little. It plugs into a USB port. Most of these items can be bought used for about half the list price. I got both of my audio interfaces this way. Most of my Vst instruments were free.

There are interfaces with MIDI ports.

An interface will plug into a USB port. They cost, second-hand, from £10 to whatever, or new from around £50 or so. Just a second and I'll bring up a short list. It's better to get one with a MIDI port, for future use, I'd say. Back in a jiffy... Here you go... Thomann USB Audio Interfaces ... Have a look through that lot, then ask more questions.

To me, that seems quite obvious. For my sins, I spent much of my career in IT. This involved much perusal of technical tomes on subjects such as Operating Systems, Production Management, Statistics, Programming In Cobol and more. I can't honestly say that these would have been my choice for bed-time relaxation and getting off to sleep. So yes, my 'learning' stuff (on drums, but, whatever...) has been Joe Morello method books, Max Abrams Drum Rudiments and many more of similar ilk. Slight difference; I listen to Joe Morello for pleasure, too. It's not the same 'listening', though when I'm 'working' on stuff. To me, that seems quite obvious.

How are your bass and the PC connected..? Are you using the 'mic' input socket..?

What latency..? I use the built-in metronome when putting down a first track, then add more tracks using this same metronome. If necessary, I listen to a previous track, and if it turns out to be mis-aligned, I just move the track along slightly to line it up. For simple stuff (basic chords, a bass line, a drum track, some singing...) there's no issue at all. It's true that in a major studio, the equipment is better spec'ed, certainly, and needs to be, but for writing a basic song, you've all you need to get going, I'd say. Don't forget a good headset, too, though, for monitoring and mixing.

I think there's a bit of confusion creeping in, here. 'Lest we forget' is one thing, but 'We were 40,000 short' is quite another, and not connected. Remember, and respect, if you will, but equating the victory against all odds in other, different, circumstances doesn't cut it, in my view. The 'WWII' spirit is not useful in present times; a 'present times' spirit might be more appropriate. Just sayin'.

This will do nicely for quite a while, and will get you started; my PC was much lower spec than that in the beginning. I use Reaper as a DAW, which will work fine on such a machine, and costs nothing to trial. Pay for a license when you're ready, if you've found nothing better since. You'll need an interface, though, to plug the bass into. The Focusrite entry-level stuff has a very good reputation on this forum; there are others, but that one is a sure-fire bet. A guitar is an option, but you may want to consider a mini keyboard, which offers many possibilities for composing backing stuff, with piano, organ or synth sounds from Vst instruments (there are many free ones that are more than useful...). Yes, such a keyboard plugs into a MIDI socket of an interface, but it's very easy to set up, so no fear of getting sucked down a rabbit hole. Just my tuppence-worth; hope this helps.