Recording vocals via Sonic Cell

[a.j.]

I’ve been out of touch with the forum for a while (silly day-job stuff getting in the way). I did a search for this topic, and if it has been raised before, perhaps someone can point me to the thread, otherwise I would appreciate some advice.

I’ve had my Sonic Cell for about a year, and as a stand-alone SMF player for live work, it’s fantastic. Now, I’d like to record some sample tracks (our normal midi backings, adding recorded guitar and vocals), using the Sonic Cell directly into my PC (a nice Sonic Cell learning curve project).

Have any other users on the forum recorded vocals via their Sonic Cell yet? If so, I’d appreciate any pointers. Particularly around software set-up, and any issues that you encountered.

I have the Sonar LE version that came with the Sonic Cell, as well as Powertracks and Band-in-a-Box.

Thanks.

[simmo123]

Hi AJ, i dont know if it would be of interest to you but i downloaded some stuff recently directly connected to what you are requesting,i myself have had a sonic cell for about 6 months but i am still struggling to be able to work with the editor & the sonic cell module but thats another story,if you are interested i can send you an eight page sonic cell workshop pdf which might be just what you are looking for,its no trouble at all so just let me know,regards Simmo

[a.j.]

Thanks Simmo, I would appreciate that. My email address should be visible on my profile.

Have you tried recording vocals yourself via the Sonic Cell?

I was on extended sick leave a few months ago and gave it a try then, and eventually put it on one side (maybe I wasn't really up to it at the time).

The thing I couldn't get my head around was that, while I am recording a vocal (audio) track into Sonar LE through the Sonic Cell, I need to play the midi tracks back via my normal PC sound card, so that I can hear it through my headphones (as it's my understanding that you can't use the Sonic Cell for input and output simultaneously). Maybe I'm just not thinking right about this, or maybe I'm expecing too much from Sonar LE.

[Tubbs]

Hi aj... i have recorded many times with sonic cell and sonar...some of the effects are amazing..have a read of the pdf manual kindly offered by my old mate Simmo!! If thier is anything i can assist you with regards recording through it just shout, i will let you know the way i use it if it helps.

Incidentally, you can use input/output together on sonic cell..i usually edt the midi, then convert to wav and then add vocal, if you need anymore help send me a PM and i will go through it with you....cheers.

[simmo123]

Hi a.j have sent pdfs hope it helps out with your problem,best wishes Simmo

[a.j.]

Thanks Tubbs and Simmo for the advice. I'll definitely give it a try, now.

I got the PDFs in my inbox - had a quick skim over them today - looks like the kind of info I'm looking for.

Tubbs, what works best for you. When you add the vocal part to a midi that you have converted to .wav, do you record the voice as a separate track? or do you record the vocal part over the backing in the same track? Also, do you do this in Sonar, or different software?

BTW, I see that there are two other Sonic Cell user groups (Roland Clan and Yahoo), that might be able to help in your quest for more information, Simmo:

forums.rolandclan.info/index.php?p=show&action=show_all&fid=28

launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/SonicCell/

Thanks again, guys - will let you know how it goes. (wow it's so nice to be back!)

[Tubbs]

Oct 22, 2008 14:32:36 GMT a.j. said:

Tubbs, what works best for you. When you add the vocal part to a midi that you have converted to .wav, do you record the voice as a separate track? or do you record the vocal part over the backing in the same track? Also, do you do this in Sonar, or different software?

Hi a.j....i record the vocal over the backing in the same track and i do all this with sonar...after i have recorded i then convert the track with the newly added vocal to wav again..then to mp3.

[JohnG]

Hi Simmo,

What pdfs are you talking about here? Not the manuals on the Roland site I imagine? If they are tutorials I would very much like to see them if possible please? I've been thinking of adding the SonicCell to my collection and with Christmas on the way ... well, Santa has been kind to me once or twice in the past. ;D Though I haven't been a particularly good boy this year.

More in hope than in expectation,
JohnG.

[a.j.]

Hi JohnG,

Roland has published some workshop documents on setting up the Sonic Cell for it's various uses. While I was trawling the internet yesterday, I found the full set (there are about 8) - Simmo sent me the 3 that were most applicable to my question (and are the only ones I need, anyway).

I must say, after reading through them last night, they are definitely an improvement on the Sonic Cell user manual. I'm by no means a technical idiot, but I found the manual to be rather user-unfriendly. IMHO, the information contained in the workshop documents should be part of the document pack that comes with the Sonic Cell.

Many thanks to Simmo for sending them to me, but a pity that I had to find the info by asking my friends for help. Having said that, I still think it's a great device - well worth the investment. I'll put in a good word for you with Santa

I'm not sure if Simmo has another link, but you can find the full set of PDFs here:

forums.rolandclan.info/?action=show_thread&fid=28&thread=23533&page=1

[JohnG]

Hi a.j.,
Yea, good old Simmo sent them to me too. And then I discovered the site.
Often you'll find, at least in my experience, that the user manual is more of a reference document. Quite a few other companies publish like this and also then produce tutorials. Adobe comes to mind.

Certainly I wouldn't want a complete tutorial manual now, if I was to buy the product, but then I've probably got 20 years of familiarity with MIDI and synths.

Roll on Christmas eh! if ther's gonna be a SonicCell.
JohnG.