Enjoying the Spire Studio

[JakeStone]

Excellent to hear that it's a keeper.

I resurrected this thread about a month ago.. Prior to buying mine. Hoping to get discussion going.
It blew my mind that there was so little talk about the Spire.


Trimming is simple.. see here .. I think you are clicking the wrong side of the clip...

https://www.spire.live/en/support/us...a-project.html



Hope this helps!

Originally Posted by raysachs

It's definitely a keeper. Easiest multi-track recording I've ever been able to do. And the sound of both my acoustic guitar and vocals are better using some of their filters (basically just the first two under "spaces") than just recording into my apogee mic with the app. The soundcheck feature is really nice, very effective. And I'm happy enough with just the internal mic that I don't see buying any mics unless I decide it matters to be able to sing and play at the same time into two separate mics, but my singing really doesn't warrant that sort of expense!

I don't like the electric guitar effects at all - I do much MUCH better just playing through my pedals and amp and running the speaker emulated line out from my amp into one of the instrument plugs on the back. Much better sound IMHO. Really freaking great sound actually - best electric guitar sound I've ever managed to record!

After using it a bit, I have a few questions for some of you more experienced folks.

1. Is the actual music stored in the app or on the Spire? I recorded some stuff with the app on my iPad connected to the Spire, then switched to my iPhone and was surprised that none of the songs showed up there. So I figured the music was stored on the IOS device, not the Spire. Since my iPhone has a ton more memory than my iPad, I exported the stuff on the iPad and figured I'd just use the iPhone going forward. When I imported them onto the iPhone, I could listen to them just with the app. But then when I'd connect to the Spire and try to work on one, it was like the song had to then upload from the phone to the Spire before I could do anything with it? So I'm still fully confused about where the data lives. And whether I can fill up the Spire's memory by leaving a bunch of songs on my iPhone that have also been connected to (and seemingly uploaded to) the Spire??? Any thoughts are appreciated...

2. I haven't figured out the "trim" feature yet - every time I try to use it I end up deleting the whole track. I probably just need to play around with that a bit more.

3. When I'm in the mix screen, sometimes if I grab one of the tracks to move it around in the mix, a little label shows up at the top of the screen that says something like 'hold to force solo' or something - I'm sure I have that wrong because I haven't seen it in a little while, but it's something like that. Any idea what that would be? I was thinking it might have something to do with my wish to be able to vary the level of a track in the mix at different points in the song, like bring it up for a solo break and keep it more in the background under vocal sections. But I haven't seen it near enough to figure out what to do with it.

I think there's at least one other thing I meant to ask about, but I'm spacing it out at the moment. There are a couple of features I'd love to see, one of which would probably require different hardware, one could probably be easily done in firmware, but neither of them are deal-breakers given the many advantages of this little unit for a "recreational" player like me.

Outside chance I'll post an instrumental at some point, but my voice will never leave the house! I've recorded a couple of things where my singing is less horrible than usual and it sounded OK in my headphones while recording. But then when I sent a mix to my phone and played it through a bluetooth speaker, it was still embarrassingly bad. So nobody but my poor long suffering wife will ever hear anything with vocals on it!

-Ray

[JakeStone]

Here are links to Spire Studio tutorials and user manual.

https://www.spire.live/en/support/tutorials.html

https://www.spire.live/content/dam/s...dio-Manual.pdf

[Captain Jim]

From the Spire site:

When recording with Spire Studio, your audio is stored in the Spire Studio itself. However, your recordings will sync to your phone almost instantly. Syncing occurs periodically throughout the recording process in near-realtime. Your recordings will exist both in the Spire Studio and on your phone simultaneously, so there is never a need to manually sync your projects between your phone and Spire Studio.

Each time you connect your phone to a Spire Studio, your Project List will update to include all recordings stored on that Spire Studio unit. If you see "Spire Studio" under a project, this indicates that the recording is located only on your Spire Studio. Opening the project will download it to your phone!

After a project is synced to a phone, it no longer exists on the internal memory of the Spire Studio. This means that if another device is connected to Spire Studio the project will not be available. In order to have copies of a project on two different iOS devices, simply export the Spire project from the first device and import it to the Spire app on the second device.

-------------

If I am reading this correctly, once a project is synced to your device, it is deleted from the Spire Studio unit. I always use the Spire with the same iPad. I know you can use the Spire without being connected to a device, but I don't know how you'd scroll through projects in process with just the Spire. It is a one-button press to move a project from your iPad or phone to another device (air drop), assuming you have an internet connection.

The Spire is great. The app is great. Together, they make the experience a snap. Having used them together, I don't see a situation where I would use either alone.

[raysachs]

Thanks Jake and Jim. I’ll have to spend some time with their online manual/tutorial section to get some of the finer details down. I see there is a way to do a punch in, which I was happy to see.

I meant to reply shortly after Jake’s response to my question yesterday, but the internet service for the whole town we’re staying in went down just then and just came back up this morning...

-Ray

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by raysachs

Thanks Jake and Jim. I’ll have to spend some time with their online manual/tutorial section to get some of the finer details down. I see there is a way to do a punch in, which I was happy to see.

I meant to reply shortly after Jake’s response to my question yesterday, but the internet service for the whole town we’re staying in went down just then and just came back up this morning...

-Ray

Sounds good Ray .. Yeah you'll be a "pro" user in no time. Not a ton of depth to the features. But as you know, it sure works great.

[Captain Jim]

It's been a week or so since I've been able to use the Spire... family visiting over Christmas. Today was a spitty day (chilly north wind and drizzle) in the Tropical Tip. My wife went to the store, leaving the house quiet for me to record another song.

6 tracks: 1 guitar, 1 guitar and vocal, 1 vocal, 1 bass and vocal, and 2 percussion tracks (drums and shaker). A cover of the Jimmy Buffett song Trying to Reason (with Hurricane Season)...



I wasn't completely alone while recording - Rufus (the wonder cat) was in the guitar room with me and decided to add to some background vocals. Even with his help, I have about an hour into this recording. Plus, it got me out of going to the store (and other shopping) on a Saturday.

Yeah, I am still enjoying the Spire. Didn't forget how to use it after a week off.

[reeve21]

Really nice, Jim. One of my favorite JB tunes, too

You guys are breaking me down, resistance may be futile!

[jjbigfly]

Might anyone know if I can record into the Spire Studio direct from my Mackie dl1600 mixer? Either via mains out L/R OR AN AUX out? Not wanting to smoke the Spire.....
The replacement should be here tomorrow! Yea!

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by jjbigfly

Might anyone know if I can record into the Spire Studio direct from my Mackie dl1600 mixer? Either via mains out L/R OR AN AUX out? Not wanting to smoke the Spire.....
The replacement should be here tomorrow! Yea!

I don't think it's a problem...
Here's some info on the Spire side.


Inputs
In addition to the built-in microphone, Spire Studio has two XLR/TS combo jacks and Grace Design preamps for pristine clarity. Connecting a microphone or instrument to Input 1 will disable the internal microphone, but connecting to Input 2 will not. Among the three inputs (Internal Microphone, Input 1 and Input 2) you may have a maximum of two inputs active at any given time.


Output
Spire Studio has two 3.5 mm (1/8") stereo headphone outputs, one on the front and one on the back. These outputs can be used to monitor while recording, or to listen while playing back your project. The two outputs can be used simultaneously so two people may listen at once!

[Captain Jim]

I finally made a recording with the Spire that was a disappointing failure. There is a song that is the "theme song" of a group where I participate. My wife said, "You should record that song!" Being the dutiful husband I am, I gave it a shot.

She printed out the words for me - it's a 3 chord song, so it didn't take me long to pick out the chords and then transpose them to a key that was better for me. I thought I'd sit down, read the words and sing and play it track by track after listening to the song a couple times.

Apparently, the Spire isn't capable of helping the singer remember the words, or the guitar player to have a smooth flow from the verse into the bridge, and the drummer to try to follow along with the guitar player's dropped beats? The bass player was a bit indignant, saying, "I have to find a better band."

I thought this was supposed to be "easy"??

To be fair, I still had fun with it, but the odds are pretty good it won't show up here.

Happy New Year fellow Spire fans!

[Captain Jim]

We have been enjoying some gorgeous weather in the Tropical Tip, giving us the opportunity to get out and about on the boat, the scoots, and just enjoying the sunshine. That didn't leave much time to do anything with the Spire Studio... this morning, I took an hour to lay down 6 tracks on this Billy Joel cover...



1 acoustic guitar, 1 bass, 1 drums, 1 background vocal and amplified acoustic, 2 vocal (lead and harmony).

No doubt, my song choice on this one was influenced by the fact that our daughter and son-in-law got us tickets to see Billy Joel when we're in Phoenix (next month).

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Captain Jim

I finally made a recording with the Spire that was a disappointing failure.

I think we're all waiting for the version with the Talent knob. It had better go to 11

[Captain Jim]

Another Billy Joel cover today...



Spire Studio: 1 guitar track, 2 vocal tracks, 1 bass, 3 percussion tracks (shakers, congas, drums).

Call me mushy, I like to sing this one to my wife.

[Captain Jim]

How 'bout some other Spire users? How are owners using these?

We're about to head out for a while in the motorhome; I put the Spire in to come along with us. Not sure I'll have a quiet enough environment to record, and won't have the bass or drums... so it may be a while before I get to mess with it again.

In the meantime, another recording (after pulling the boat out)...

[JakeStone]

Spire Studio gear review -

Note: The article mentioned "Functionality may differ on different operating systems, though: On my iPad, I couldn’t access the effects;

That's perhaps a user error.. Since the iOS app most certainly has the Effects.

https://acousticguitar.com/gear-revi...-spire-studio/