KVR Audio

fernee · Post by **fernee** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:47 pm

Hi, I´m completely new here.... just got a Behringer U-PHORIA UMC204HD audio/midi interface, and comes with the Wavefront DAW, great for my home studio project, just followed the video tutorials and manuals, everything went fine importing a *midi file and assigning instruments for each track, but, after pluging the mic, I can´t hear anything! if I record something, it gets recorded, but I can´t monitor the sound, anyone knows what to do?

Thanks

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:52 pm

For direct monitoring (i.e. to hear the mic 'dry' before it goes into the software) press the 'direct monitor' button next to the headphones volume dial. Can't help you with the non-direct variant (i.e through your vst effects) as I've never used Waveform. No doubt someone else can...

fernee · Post by **fernee** » Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:24 am

Thank you Donkey, seems to me like you know this hardware, do you know how to hear the effects and plugin BEFORE you record, I mean, to hear the actual thing as is going to be recorded? I hear a dry voice, just plain, even using Eq., Reverb, whatever... and if I record and hear the track, everything is there, but is a try and guess, and I need to tune things beforehand....

donkey tugger · Post by **donkey tugger** » Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:35 am

fernee wrote: ↑Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:24 am Thank you Donkey, seems to me like you know this hardware, do you know how to hear the effects and plugin BEFORE you record, I mean, to hear the actual thing as is going to be recorded? I hear a dry voice, just plain, even using Eq., Reverb, whatever... and if I record and hear the track, everything is there, but is a try and guess, and I need to tune things beforehand....

You'd need to set that up in Waveform, so you have a monitor mix coming from the software (and not the direct monitoring - that would need to be off) so it would include the effects etc. I could tell you how to do it in FL easily, but I have no clue about Waveform. Maybe you could post in their forum (it's on this site). I'm sure someone will have a similar setup and will be able to help.

jabe · Post by **jabe** » Mon Jan 14, 2019 2:06 am

fernee wrote: ↑Sat Jan 12, 2019 8:47 pm Wavefront

Autocorrect, eh? There is a Waveform/Tracktion forum you might want to use in future:
viewforum.php?f=22

fernee · Post by **fernee** » Mon Jan 14, 2019 7:19 am

Thanks! Will look for a solution there

HitEmTrue · Post by **HitEmTrue** » Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:43 pm

Be aware that monitoring the voice after it makes a trip through the DAW will introduce some latency...a small amount of delay between the singing and what is heard. It may not may not be enough to bother you.

jochicago · Post by **jochicago** » Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:23 pm

Just dropping in to say you made a good choice with this interface. The UMC is a good starting interface, and Waveform is among the easiest DAWs to get started on. Still powerful enough to make music for a long time before you feel you need something with more features. Plus that "free version" was the paid version a bit ago, so it is pretty much fully featured except for Melodyne.

You definitely want to get familiar with the audio settings stuff. It's a pain, but it is essential. If on Windows you'll want to download the dedicated driver (although it should still work with the default Windows driver). Don't know about Mac. Get comfortable with the panel to select audio I/O and manage the latency. And get acquainted with the latency. All important stuff to know when recording and mixing.

And as mentioned, there's a Tracktion forum here you may want to frequent the first couple of weeks. There's also a manual there available for download, but the Tracktioneers over there are welcoming people if you have DAW-specific questions.

fernee · Post by **fernee** » Thu Jan 17, 2019 1:52 am

Very helpful Jochicago... I’ll follow your advice, jus a a couple of questions, what’s Melodyne? And, where is a good place to get VST effects and plugins?

jochicago · Post by **jochicago** » Thu Jan 17, 2019 4:21 am

Melodyne is like a more mature version of autotune. It lets you manipulate vocals, not just to correct pitch issues but also in creative ways to change the performance like timing, volume of some notes, etc. In short it is pretty much a requirement in today's industry if you are going to process vocals at a professional level. Melodyne Essentials comes with the paid version of Tracktion/Waveform and would not be included with your license that comes with the UMC. (You can still buy it separately, or wait a bit and get it for free when you have to upgrade your DAW at some point).

I've been meaning to write a post about must-have free and cheap plugins. But here is a quick overview and links. To start, I would avoid using the dynamics tools that come with Tracktion (compressor, eq). They are not stellar.

TDR
https://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/

Get all the free plugins: Nova, Kotelnikov, SlickEQ. This stuff is not "good for a free plugin", this stuff is top notch that just happens to be free. As good as anything you can get at any price. Grab this stuff and you are pretty much set for processing dynamics for a while. The free versions have a few advanced features removed yet you probably won't notice for a while until you start getting comfortable with advanced stuff.

OrilRiver Reverb
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/orilri ... is-tihanov

The Reaper free plugins:
https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/

Voxengo Free plugins:
https://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugin-download/
These are pretty solid. Voxengo is very generous to make so many quality plugins available for free. These cover many of the more advanced/complex tools that don't usually come with your DAW.

Melda Free plugins:
https://www.meldaproduction.com/MFreeFXBundle
Another solid set with a lot of good plugins. Not everyone loves them because the interfaces are not as cool as other audio plugins, but we are all in agreement that these are good tools in your arsenal.

There also are many free instruments. I don't go into that because I don't know what music you are looking to make. But definitely explore more. Here are a few links to consider:
https://exclusivemusicplus.com/the-top- ... s-of-2019/

Also KVR runs a competition for developers to make free plugins. The winners are great stuff. Take a look and download what interests you:
https://www.kvraudio.com/kvr-developer-challenge/2018/
https://www.kvraudio.com/kvr-developer-challenge/2016/
https://www.kvraudio.com/kvr-developer-challenge/2014/

And you are set for effects.

fernee · Post by **fernee** » Fri Jan 18, 2019 1:43 am

Woow! You got me in the fast track real quick!
Thanks Jochicago,
...one thing if you please, is there a way to modify the key of a midi song (with 8, 10 tracks, etc.) globally? Transpose the whole thing?

jochicago · Post by **jochicago** » Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:32 am

There are some plugins to alter midi info, but I haven't tried what you suggest. You might want to ask in the Tracktion forum if there's a DAW solution, and check out some of the midi plugins.

fernee · Post by **fernee** » Sat Feb 09, 2019 10:10 pm

Hi again, I getting very comfortable with Waveform, Thanks to all in this forum...
Just some anoying thing, if I drop a plugin, like a distortion box, I hear the direct clean guitar AND the distorted guitar, even if I use the “wet” button fully turn, it’s something in the stacking I’m doing wrong, the monitor switch in the input is ON, but I can’t find how to make the signal pass THROUGH the plugins....

no monitoring!