A Learning Challenge

[THUMP-LUMP]

When I got into car stereo about 25 years ago, there was a steep learning curve that I'm sure many or you are aware. After about 5 years, it seemed like there wasn't much more to learn. So I started to explore other aspects of music. It seemed like the logical course was to look into how music is produced (playing, mixing, band PA, etc) as opposed to only concentrating music reproduction. Little did I know going in just how much I would learn and how it would improve my ability to tune a car stereo system, or home system for that matter.

So, I had the idea on another thread to kinda pass this on, obviously in a more condensed and cheaper version. Think of this as a online mini college course. Below, I will post links to what you will need. You may have to sign up to be able to access some of it but it's not really a big, drawn out ordeal. This is simply a learning tool that helped me and there are no "correct" answers.

Here's the deal. Download the audio editing software of your choosing and then the instrument tracks (or stems). Import the tracks into the editing software and play around with it. Add reverb to the vocal track, EQ to the guitar track or compression to the kick drum track. Whatever. The more you play around with the tracks and different effects and mixes, the more you will learn about how music is produced and then you will have a better understanding of how it needs to be reproduced. Obviously, a decent method of hearing what you are doing with the tracks is a must. Cheap PC or laptop speakers simply are not going to work. I would suggest at least some decent headphones. You will learn more with a better quality setup.

The primary goal here is to learn to listen differently and it will ultimately improve how you tune a car stereo system. At least it helped a great deal for me.

OK....Here are the links.

Software.....
http://www.reaper.fm/download.php
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
I have found these are the two best ones out there. Feel free to try any others.

Instrument tracks (or stems)
http://www.puremix.net/gearfestmixingcontest
This will require you to sign up. Name, email, country only. If/when these tracks become no long available, I can email them to you or I may, if this is popular enough, upload them to "MediaFire" or some other online file storage service with public access.

http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-di ... st-356614/
This is the "HomeRecording.com" "Mix This" forum. You can find posts uploaded by people for anyone to mix. Again, you will need to sign up for the forum.

If you should want to make your results available to forum users here, I understand that "Soundcloud" is a good resource. I haven't signed up with them but, it seems like a popular resource for the people at the "HomeRecording.com" forum.

I'm sure I can help with basic problems or questions about the audio editing software and how to use it. If it is over my head, I do know of a few resources that can help further.

[THUMP-LUMP]

Just curious if anyone has tried this yet?

[THUMP-LUMP]

Well THAT was a complete waste of my time.

[Eric D]

I am interested in your post and what you mention, but unfortunately for me, I am currently using a Mac at home, so I never looked at your links, assuming they won't work on my computer. I have a PC laptop I will be switching to in a few months, so then I thought I would try it out.

[THUMP-LUMP]

Reaper has a few versions for the Mac. Depending on the OS. The tracks are in a zip file to download. The actual tracks are a .wav file.

[groundpounder]

Well THAT was a complete waste of my time.

Don't be haisty. I am sure there are members interested, just give it some time. (Thanks).I am interested, allthough don't have time for it at the moment.

[ttocs]

Well THAT was a complete waste of my time.

Don't be haisty. I am sure there are members interested, just give it some time. (Thanks).I am interested, allthough don't have time for it at the moment.

idunno its been almost 3 months since the original post.

[THUMP-LUMP]

Well THAT was a complete waste of my time.

That probably came off a bit more brash than I intended. If someone wants to try it, great. If not, that's fine too. I just thought that passing along something that really helped me listen to music, and learn what to listen at/for, was a good thing to do.

The tracks themselves are pretty good, untouched. Everything set at unity gain and no effects. That's not to say that they can't be made better, which is the whole point.

Just listening to the individual tracks without doing anything to them will help you listen to other music, when tuning a system. You may hear something that you missed before and say "A bit of EQ here will really help bring that out" for a better sounding system.

[brenzbmr@sb]

thanks! i been busy that i rarely pop in here. this is interesting and when i get my non gaming rig up i will download and try this.

[Prime mova]

Thanks for posting I'll try the links out.

[ajaye]

I am interested in your post and what you mention, but unfortunately for me, I am currently using a Mac at home, so I never looked at your links, assuming they won't work on my computer. I have a PC laptop I will be switching to in a few months, so then I thought I would try it out.

I def run audacity on my macbook pro without issue. I think its a must have for anyone that does anything audio related considering its free.