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Help Simultaneous play/record audio on Android device?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tkdkerry
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tkdkerry

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I do NOT currently own an Android device, so I have no current HW/SW limitations.

What I hope to do is this:
Place music files on the Android device.
Play the music with output to an audio mixer.
Play an instrument along with the music, mic'd into the mixer.
Record the mixer output with the Android to a new music file.

Is this possible with any current tablet hardware?
Is this possible under any particular version of Android?

My Google-fu has been failing me. I've been unable to get a clear answer on my own.
Thanks for any advice.
 
Are you asking about audio mixers on the Android device - or - are you asking about getting sound out of the device into a standalone mixer that you already have (or are planning on getting)? :confused:
 
Outputting sound from the Android while recording it (mixed with an instrument) back onto the same Android device?
There may be a way if you can have a recording app running at the same time as a music player with audio coming out the headphone jack to the mixer then back to the Android via the USB port (if it supports OTG)?
Tbh I know nothing about Android's recording ability though so you'll need to do some research mate.
Try googling "recording via Android USB" (or OTG)
 
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The way I'd approach this problem, especially for the problem of latency, which you don't want for this. Would be to have an Apple iPad, because that's got Garage Band, which can definitely do what the OP requires. Plus there's many audio connection accessories that plug-in the lightning connector. Audio Evolution Pro is probably the nearest Android equivalent to Garage Band.
 
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@miketd you're barred son. Get yer coat and leave!

Nah its refreshing to read some honest apple talk on an Android Forum.
So will Garage Band work with a hardware mixing desk or is it more of an amateur affair?
 
Frankly it's only really iPhones I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. I'm writing this post on a Macbook. :D A couple of years ago I did seriously consider buying an iPad for some one-to-one student English classes, really because English teaching apps on iOS were so much better and professional that was available for Android, some of which were extremely amateurish and unusable, it's got better these days though. But I think iOS still has the edge here, for professional and good teaching and lesson apps.

Anyway back to the OP. You might need to get hold of an appropriate audio interface for a tablet. Something like this, which is for iPad.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop
Garage Band was not intended for professional use, but it's very capable from what I've seen of it. Recording studios are using Protools or something, which on a PC or Mac.

There's another one here, an Alesis, but again it's for iPad.
http://www.amazon.com/Alesis-iO-Doc...840146&sr=1-5&keywords=tablet+audio+interface
 
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I've recorded my two-track masters to a Zoom H1 Field Recorder, set at 320 kbps for crisp audio remixes of my master recordings, sans live instruments and my lead vocals.

I then take the mp3 recordings, and using the MTP program installed in my PC laptop - I copy the mp3 files from the Zoom - that I transferred to my PC - back into the mp3 files stored on my Android's SD card, which I then use performing live via PlayerPro - the EQ, and audio-enhancement within PlayerPro's separate app, DSP Pack, is a great alternative to using an iPad.

I play guitar and keyboard live, and sing when AC power is available. When I'm busking (playing street music), I use a Roland Cube EX that can give me 50 watts Class D power for four hours on rechargeable batteries (8 AAs). For street music, that's pretty loud - especially when your instruments are input +4 dbV (balanced, which means less noise, more headroom, and louder program audio) into the
'Cube' with my acoustic or electric guitar, and balanced 3-pin mic - the Android, while it isn't an iPad with Garage Band or Logic - the battery in my LG can handle more than four hours of headphone-output audio via PlayerPro...

When the day comes when a dev can come up with a 4-track (plus a 2-track master buss, so that audio can be 'bounce' recorded); i.e., record tracks 1-4 via the mic(s) built-in to the Android; master the tracks via the master buss; then, erase tracks 1-4, and 'bounce' record your master track(s) in stereo to tracks 1 & 2, leaving you two mono tracks, or one stereo track to record upon. Erase the previous master track, and rinse - lather - repeat...

If a dev could come up with something basic like this, with easy mixing tools, basic EQ for each channel, and some basic digital reverb/delay/modulation FX, and, line-in digital audio input via USB to a small, USB-powered input device to mini USB - Android could handle it. LW
 
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funkylogik said:
Nice one mate :thumbsupdroid: So Android can't bounce tracks yet?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the like, everyone. If you check Google Play, they have apps for the loopers who create their own ringtones; also, my LG can record audio internally from apps like TunedIn (Pandora for guys like me who like late night talk shows, such as 'Coast To Coast AM'); yet, it's a memory gobbler, as LG has everything get stored in internal memory, prior to being assigned to external SD card (my Boost phone has a locked bootloader)...

Any devs who'd like design and idea help creating a simple mp3 multitrack recorder, with basic EQ & FX - I'd be happy to get in on the ground floor... as most of the music apps have to with shortening recordings for ringtones, and looping (so I've heard).

Any news to the contrary, please let me know - LW
 
I think there's a forum here for app requests but I'm not sure if its aimed at developers or what
I can definitely see a demand for an app like that if it's possible :thumbsupdroid:
Good luck
 
Get in touch with one of the moderators, and see what's available here at AF... the development forums, for me - in the past - tend to be a bit cliquish.

I'm just a musician, and journeyman recording engineer - not a code jockey in Linux, or Android... so, funkylogik - if you'd like for me to be another Steve Jobs, for the development of an mp3 multitrack recorder - spread the word around.

You can become a part of this, on the ground floor - by helping me to find the right dev, who may be interested.

I truly believe that most
Android smartphones have the CPU power to do something like this, if the actual engine of this multitrack recorder could have its 'essence' stored ext SD, and app 'pointers' in internal memory - kind of like what we used to do with app storage, in the days of Gingerbread with root.

A pad isn't necessary.

I await your
response,
funkylogik. ;)
LW
 
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