Point me to a Learning Resource

dean2371

The trouble with not working over xmas is that I invariably find another way of spending money on guitar gear. This year it's getting into computer recording. So I've bought a Komplete Audio 6 interface and have loaded the software that came with it. My son has told me to use Reaper which is what he uses. He demoed it but me being old not much of it sunk in.

So can anybody point me to a good learning resource which will take me from complete novice to a reasonable level and is accessible to someone who is technologically challenged?

Thanks in advance and some trepidation as I have a feeling this is going to get expensive!

benmurray85

Im afraid I don't know of any formal "learning resource" but I would echo your son's comments re. reaper. Its great programme and there are tonnes and tonnes of youtube videos people have done showing you pretty much anything that you need to know.

dean2371

Thanks. Any good websites, books etc or is Youtube my friend?

markv

I started on this journey a few months ago too. I think there's learning how to do recording, and learning how to use the chosen recording tool (i.e. Reaper in your case, and mine).

One of the things I found is that a lot of tutorials assume you know something about the general recording techniques and/or terminology being discussed, and are mainly interested in how you achieve this technique in Reaper. Which is of limited help when you don't understand what they're talking about!

For general "so wtf is side-chaining anyway?" type knowledge, I bought the book The Producer's Manual by Paul White. I really enjoyed reading it and it's full of useful info about the basics of recording - and not just with a computer, but how to mic up an amp, or a vocalist etc, plus loads about the producing techniques themselves (mixing, applying fx etc etc).

For Reaper, the main resource is the official Reaper "Up and Running" manual I suppose, but it's a bit of a slog - I mean the info's all there but it's very dry and it does kind of assume you know what you're doing. But there's a ton of videos on Youtube and that's where I go first when I want to understand how to do something.

Hope that helps!

TimmyO

http://www.lynda.com/REAPER-training-tutorials/1639-0.html

see how much you can get through in the free trial period 

dean2371

That's really helpful @markv thanks. I'll check out that book and explore YouTube. Then I guess it's dive in and learn as I go

markv

Oh - and one more thing I found useful, was something to aim for. i.e. why do the recording anyway?

I found doing the challenges on the Making Music section right here on theFB (Solo of the Month, Riff of the Month etc) a real motivator - there's a deadline to meet for a start - otherwise I honestly think I would have done nothing.

kin

Nice one @markv , your experience almost perfectly mirrors mine

So many guides seem to start some distance beyond true beginner level.  

Cheers for posting about the Paul White book.

spark240

http://www.homestudiotrainer.com/

steveb

Not sure on reaper specific stuff but i find these places are a great resource. They have great tutorials and a lot of free content.

Therecordingrevoultion.com
Homestudiocorner.com
Producelikeapro.com

dean2371

Thanks everyone, having a great day exploring my system. Making some progress but much more to do before I have the hang of even the basics

richh

There is an Australian guy called Geoffrey Francis, who has written a number of good Reaper specific books, at different levels.  You should be able to google his name for more info if you are interested, if not let me know and I'll see what info I can dig out.

dean2371

Thanks @richh I'll check him out

Nerine

Groove3.com is another.