How are you Gary. Well the card is onboard and working well . It didn;t crash yet but it when well before but this time i am hopeful all is well .I followed your instructions to the letter so that is why it is successful . Gary before i installed the card i could go on youtube and play a karaoke version of a song and record with real band and get myself playing behind the karaoke version . Now i just get me playing the guitar on real band and it doesn't pick up the audio from youtube . Is there a setting i need to adjust to pick my guitar and the youtube audio .like it did before with the old card ! Hoping to hear from you and Gary thanks man for you help so far .(I KNOW A LITTLE ) rOB !
Rob,
Let me guess, before you had some sort of Creative Labs card? You were probably recording with the 'What You Hear' setting. The M-Audio 2496 does not have this feature, but that doesn't mean you can't do it, it just takes a little bit more gear.
There are a couple of different ways to do this.
1. You can rip the audio from YouTube, save it as a wave file, and then insert it into RealBand, and play along, and record with it that way. Technically, that's a violation of a copyright, so I'm not going to tell you HOW to rip the audio, but Google might have a solution, if you search.
2. Secondly, do you have a mixer? If not, then how do you get your guitar playing into the M-Audio? I recommend using a mixer. My favorite recommendation is the Behringer UB802 mixer,
as shown here. I've had one of these for years, and while I have a Yamaha mixer in my setup now, the Behringer does duty at work for me, and it soldiers on very nicely.
Now, providing your you're using the analog input and outputs of the M-Audio 2496, I'll show you how to set this up with your card, and what else you can do with it.
A. Set the mixer up and turn everything down. If you're using a DI box for your guitar, or out of an effects unit like a Pod 6, connect the outputs of whatever device you're using to Input 3, and if it's stereo, inputs 3 and 4. You want to leave Inputs 1 and 2 open for microphones, if you do vocals. If, for some reason, you're going directly out of the guitar into the mixer, use Input 1 or 2, but while it may work, I don't recommend it.
B. I assume that you have a PC computer running Windows 7. I will also assume that your computer has a built in soundcard, in addition to the M-Audio. We'll use that card for system sounds and the YouTube output. You will need a 3.5mm to two 1/4" TS Mono Y-Cable,
like this one. If you did have, and still have, a Creative Labs card, AND if you have the slot to install it, I would use that over the built in audio chip. In fact, in addition to my 2496, I also have an Asus Xonar installed in my computer, and that feeds a stereo 7.1 surround sound receiver, and that's what I use for my system sounds. But, it's a $200 audio card, and I don't recommend it for this application.
C. Plug the 'Y-Cable' into the Speaker Output of your ON-BOARD audio output, or if you have connected another audio card, from the output of that, and then plug it into Inputs 5 and 6 on the mixer.
D. Now, using good interconnects,
something that's built well connect the INPUT of the M-Audio 2496 to the Tape OUT of the mixer. Using another set of the same kind of interconnects, connect the OUTPUT of the M-Aduio 2496 to the Tape IN of the mixer.
This is your basic connection scheme.
In Windows, and again, I'm assuming Windows 7. I do no have the experience with Windows 8 or 8.1 to tell you how to set the internal audio mixer up. At the bottom right hand corner of your screen, there is a speaker icon to control the Windows Audio Mixer. RIGHT CLICK that and select Playback Devices. Select your ON BOARD Audio device as your DEFAULT playback device. If you have a Creative Card that you've installed, select that instead. Now, all of your Windows sounds, Browser audio (i.e., YouTube) and such will go out the On-Board device, and into Inputs 5/6 of the Behringer. Turn up the Level on the Behringer to '0', or about half way up. I don't know about the new ones, I think there's a small detent there to tell you when you've gotten to zero.
Okay, now, here's the next thing. What kind of speakers do you have for recording and monitoring with? What were you listening before with your old card with? For my setup, I use the KRK Rokit RP-5s. I have a Generation 1 set, and a Generation 2 set.
This is the Generation 3 speaker. They are $150 a piece, you'll need two, if you don't have anything else, but they are well worth the money, and they sound GREAT!. Now, of course, if you already have a set of studio monitors, you won't need them, but if you don't, I really recommend you get a set of something. If those are too expensive for you, you might try a
less expensive solution. Anyway, plug the Monitors into the Control Room Outputs (so that you can control the volume of them). If you don't have the monitors, but a halfway decent set of computer speakers, you can plug them into the headphone output until you can afford the monitors. You can also use a good set of headphones, as well.
Of course, all of this is presumption, since I don't know what you have, and if you list what you do have, I'll give you pointers on that, too.
Okay, now, recording with the set up I've given you so far.
1. In RealBank, and I assume that you know how to set RealBand up to use the 2496, and select the input device for each track and stuff, select a track and arm it for recording.
2. Set the Main Mix Out on the Behringer to give you a comfortable level to RealBand. In other words, we don't want the highest sound blasting the VU Meters into the red! The absolute loudest passage should go about halfway into the red. In fact, on the new Real Band VU meter, I would say that you shouldn't go into the red at all, since the red begins at -3dBFS.
As part of setting this, you may also need to set the mixer in Windows itself, since you will be using that to control the audio output volume of your browser's audio. You'll also need to open the M-Audio Delta control panel and make sure that the 1/2 Input levels are turned all the way up.
3. Now, set the Channel 3/4 Input gain to a level that is comfortable for your guitar playing, and matches the level of the browser output. You may need to adjust the 5/6 input levels to help match.
4. When you get all the levels set, go ahead and start your Real Band recording, and then begin the playback of your YouTube video. At this point, you should be recording the YouTube and your guitar.
Personally, I would do it this way, though.I would turn down the Input 3/4 to the lowest setting, infinity, and record the YouTube audio track to a stereo track in RealBand. Record the whole song.
Then, close your browser. Turn Input 5/6 to the lowest setting, infinity, and turn Inputs 3/4 back up.
Now, push the button that says Tape In to Control Room.
Arm another, different track, in RealBand.
Press the Record button in RealBand. The recorded audio from your browser will begin to play back, and you will hear it through either your headphones, studio monitors, or computer speakers connected to the Behringer mixer.
Begin playing your guitar.
You will now record a second track that is JUST guitar. You will have two stereo tracks, one for the audio from the browser, one for the guitar. You can mix them down to a single track and have both together.
This is the way that most people will record in a two track setup, which is what this is. They record one stereo track at a time. The nice feature about this is that not only can your record ONE guitar track, you can record MULTIPLE guitar tracks, so if you want to play harmony with yourself, you can.
In fact, with Band In A Box 2014, you won't need to record from YouTube because you will use BIAB to lay down all of your backing tracks, and import them into Real Band. From there, you'll be able to record, one, two, or even five guitar tracks of your own playing.
James Morrison has one of them most visual examples of this ability. A 17 piece band, played by one man . . . and a drummer. James Morrison and Jeff Hamilton, and Mr. Morrison plays EVERY instrument except the drums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpiCEVHtHXMThis is one of the absolute best examples of 'multi-tracking' I've ever seen. Now, aside from the cute video effects, like sitting there, and looking at a blank space next to you, and smiling at yourself even though you aren't there, which IS pretty good, this shows you what you can do with one guitar and Band in a Box. Plus, if you have multiple guitars, you can play each one of them on your own track.
Points to look out for.You will have multiple mixers and volume controls you need to adjust.
The Windows mixer. It controls the Windows Sounds, which you should shut down the system sounds, as well as the output of the browser.
The Delta Control Panel Mixer.
YouTube Volume Control.
Behringer Mixer Volume Controls
Real Band Volume Controls.
Everything needs to be set properly.
If you don't have a mixer, and buy the Behringer, make sure the connections are correct, and the Tape In to Control Room IS pushed, but the Tape In to MIX is NOT pushed.
If you have, or purchase studio monitors, and then plan on recording with Microphones, turn OFF the monitors, or disconnect them from the Mixer, since they will echo through the mic. Use headphones instead.
If you have multiple hard drives, and I mean PHYSICAL hard drives, not a single hard drive that is partitioned into two drive letters, use the NON-SYSTEM drive for audio storage. It makes it easier and less susceptible to audio drop outs.
Turn off the Windows System Sounds.
Okay, this is the
BASIC setup. If you'll give me more information on the gear that you have, I'll do the research on that, and tell you how to set that stuff up.
If you have any questions, let me know, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.
Gary
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