bschnur
Offline
Chicago

I have a song I intend to record, but different problems arise depending on the method I use to record it.

The first method I used was to connect my (classic) GB to my PC's audio jack (mic in), and record the song with Audacity.  I was able to record this way, but at several points throughout the song, some or all of the tracks become muffled.

I'm not a professional musician, and don't know the actual term for how it sounds.  Flange perhaps? Here's a link to the song in case you want to hear what I'm specifically talking about (an example of the muffling is at 2:12): http://chipmusic.org/bschnur/music/down … ity-issues

The song sounds fine on the GameBoy, as well as when I connect it to my JamBox using the same cable, so I assumed it was either a sound card issue or an issue with recording via the audio jack or with Audacity.

The next thing I tried was to transfer my save file onto the PC and record using BGB.  I was able to record, but the sound is stilted and choppy.  I played with the options in BGB, recording tracks separately and not, halving framerate during recording (not sure what that actually does), but wasn't able to acheive an acceptable quality of recording.

Next I moved on to try KiGB (on my MacBook Pro).  The result had a more consistent tempo, though it was a slower tempo than the song on the GameBoy.  The sound quality was a lot worse than the other recordings, including a lot of infuriating clicks, and the entire song sounds a half-note flat.

Is there another easily accessible option that is tried and true?

As far as additional equipment goes, I'm not broke, but I don't want to spend money on anything I don't know will work.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any help or advice you can provide.

Last edited by bschnur (Oct 8, 2012 2:51 am)

Jellica
Offline
England

dont use the mic in they are usually mono. simple game boy to line in should work fine. also are you using a mono cable rather than stereo?

i find an external mixer helpful, but it isnt essential.

Last edited by Jellica (Oct 8, 2012 9:56 am)

RyuX
Offline
Austria

this sounds like a major problem with the level of your recording. use a program where you can see if your dB level is too high (like audacity). Use another input (line in) and first of all record with the gameboy not playing at all to see how much noise is coming from the device or cable itself. then start a recording where all instruments are playing and set the recording dB Level just as high as needed (right before clipping).
In Audacity you have 2 bars (left / right) where you can easily adjust the level of your recording regarding the dB (if you have an onboard soundcard you might have to use the standard sound software to adjust the line in level)

bschnur
Offline
Chicago

@Jellica: Thanks, I'll try the line in tonight.  I believe it's a stereo cable, and since it sounds fine on the JamBox with the same cable, I'm inclined to believe the cable isn't the problem.  In case it comes to it, are there any external mixers you would recommend (or warn against)?

@RyuX: Thanks, but it's not a clipping issue.  I've turned the GameBoy volume and the recording volume down, and the dB level stays within Audacity's accepted range.

kitsch
Offline
matt's mind

i may have missed this...  but, did you try a new cable?

Fudgers
Offline
Indiana

I may be wrong, but it sounds like somewhere in your signal chain the two stereo tracks are summing and shorting each other out; your whole recording seems to be lacking gain and some of the original frequencies.

Are you recording in stereo or mono? If you're using a stereo cable running to your mic-in (presumably mono), this might be the issue.

Do you have access to any kind of USB or firewire recording interface?

Last edited by Fudgers (Oct 8, 2012 5:07 pm)

bschnur
Offline
Chicago

@kitsch: Not yet.  I haven't had a chance to get a new cable.

@Fudgers: I believe that using the mic-in jack was the issue. See my (upcoming) update for details.

bschnur
Offline
Chicago

I have now recorded the track using the line-in jack, and the summing issue (assuming that was the issue) is solved.  (Thanks!)  However, now I've run into two new issues:

1) There's a slight steady level of noise in the background when the song plays.  It sounds similar to the noise LSDJ outputs when nothing is playing (which also gets recorded, though that's fine) but is happening during the song itself.  I will see what I can do with audacity after the fact, but would love to be able to get a clear recording so that the original sound isn't altered.

2) Though I wait a few seconds to play the song after I start Audacity recording, the song starts out a bit muted and fades in.  I'm not sure what causes this to happen, but am going to try waiting for a longer period of time to let Audacity or the sound card stabilize, or whatever.  I don't know if it needs to do that, but I'm new to this.  I'll post again when this fails, or doesn't.

UPDATE: This regards issue #2 above.  The volume seems to fade in (increase) as Audacity plays (that is, the position at which playback starts affects the volume of the playback).  If I start playback several seconds before the music starts, the song starts at the correct volume, but if I start playback at song start, it takes a second or two to reach full volume.

I'll try exporting it anyway and see what happens.

UPDATE 2: The exported file includes the fade in.  I'll play with Audacity effects/editing tomorrow night, see if I can fix it.

Last edited by bschnur (Oct 9, 2012 6:15 am)

Chainsaw Police
Offline
Sydney, NSW
bschnur wrote:

1) There's a slight steady level of noise in the background when the song plays.  It sounds similar to the noise LSDJ outputs when nothing is playing (which also gets recorded, though that's fine) but is happening during the song itself.  I will see what I can do with audacity after the fact, but would love to be able to get a clear recording so that the original sound isn't altered..

Every recording gets this. Gameboys, not being engineered for crisp, clear music, have artifacts in the recordins, a la the noise you're hearing. Either invest in a prosound, or EQ out the noise (I think Voc Road said it was 2.4 khZ or something, but don't quote me on it).

Either that, or learn to love the buzz!

bschnur
Offline
Chicago
Chainsaw Police wrote:

Every recording gets this. Gameboys, not being engineered for crisp, clear music, have artifacts in the recordins, a la the noise you're hearing. Either invest in a prosound, or EQ out the noise (I think Voc Road said it was 2.4 khZ or something, but don't quote me on it).

Either that, or learn to love the buzz!

Okay, I can do that.  But I want to clarify: is this something that happens specifically when recording, or in general?  Because it's not noticeable when listening directly on the GameBoy or through a speaker.

Last edited by bschnur (Oct 9, 2012 11:30 am)

bschnur
Offline
Chicago

OK, got it figured out.  Here are the steps I took:

1) Use the line-in jack and record in Audacity, making sure that the recording input volume and the GameBoy volume are low enough to avoid clipping.

2) Normalize the track in Audacity so that it isn't super quiet.

3) Remove the background hiss using this method.  If there is no silence on the track for the noise profile, add some empty bars to the end (or beginning) of the track (the buzz coming from the GameBoy when nothing is playing is different).

Of course there's trimming and other editing steps you can perform, but these are the ones that I used to resolve my recording issues.

Thanks to everyone for your help!  Final track here: http://chipmusic.org/bschnur/music/down … ck-factory