Hello. I am a newbie on the recording front - definately non-pro.
I am, however, a writer with two book deals done and have returned to a first passion - song-writing. I've been playing around town, great feedback, good gigs - but I am not trying to be the next star. I would however, love to get low-cost demo CD. A friend of mine in Nashville used to play with me in Los Angeles. He had a #3 billboard song last year and asked me for some of the songs we used to play.
So, here is the deal. I have a guitar player I like - a friend of my son's back in California. I want to record basic guitar, basic vocals, and then send him a file. He will then lay down a guitar track or two.
It is likely that we won't be using the same software. No problem, I can get the file as an mp3 or wav file - or whatever is suggested here. Now for the question...finally!
How do I ensure I can easily bring his sound file into my project on my PC and get it to line up just the way he played it.
For instance, I may end up sending him a merged/mixed file with both my vocals and guitar. He would record some lead and fill over it but keep his work separate. Then send me his file..
Is there a standard way to mark the start of a piece of music - a baseline that he and I can both work from?
Again, maybe this is easily done these days but I am in the dark about it all.
Thanks.