Recording tips

[Foolonthehill]

I was just wanting to try recording myself playing some stuff just for the hell of it, and I was wondering if anyone here would happen to have any experience with music recording. I'd just like some suggestions on what software or equipment is good to start with. For instance, should I just get a computer program and a mic for my computer, or would you suggest something more old-fashioned, like tapes?

[Udo]

I tried Audacity. It's not bad for basic stuff and it's free.

[scott]

Audacity is pretty sweet

It kind of depends on what you're recording

if it's just your voice, and a little guitar and some other tonal instruments

grab a digital 8-track of craigslist or ebay

shouldn't be more than 200-250

then you're gonna need a couple mics,

get an instrument and vocal mic

(for vocals a sm58 is preferred, on-brand or off-brand, doesn't really matter if you're doing basement recording)

as far as instrument mics go, there's a wide range, just kinda grab whatever comes up (if you're strapped for cash the sm58 will double for it)

then check to see if your digi 8-track has phantom power, if not, you're gonna need a phantom power box, which will run 50 bux, and you'll need an extra pair of mic cables.

All in all, if you grab everything I mentioned (8-track 2 mics, phantom power box, 4 mic cables) it'll probably run 4-500 dollars.

Now, if you're gonna record some drums, you're gonna need to step up your set-up

Probably make a shift from a self-contained recording setup to a PC based guy

It's still possible to do it self-contained tho, you'll need a 16 or 24 track, with at least 4 XLR (mic) inputs

I'd just reccomend the PC approach tho

You'll need a mixing board

a power amp

a variety of chords

vocal mic

instrument mic

and a drum mic set. (it's like 7 mics)

then a convertor box for mixing console to PC

then just plug all your stuff in and pick out a program (audacity is good, samplitude is also excellent, stay clear of pro-tools, because you're not a corporate tool (not yet at least!))

No matter what route you go, the hardest part is collecting the cash to buy all this stuff, cuz it's expensive.

The funnest part is figuring out how to work all of it, there's a lot of creativity and experimentation involved

there are lots of 'standard' ways to place mics and room reverb stuff, and so on, but recording is an art form, and like any art form the artist should be allowed some room to improvise, so just grab your mics, put 'em where you feel like, and see how it sounds.

[Foolonthehill]

Thanks!

[scott]

No problem, if you run into any problems you can ask me, there's a good chance I can point you in the right direction.

oh and BTW I cannot stress how important it is you don't go with plugging a mic straight into your PC, it'll go very very poorly.

First off the sound quality is abyssmal

and if it's usb or just a mic jack there will be so much lag, you won't be able to stay on time at all

Firewire is definately the way to go

along with 1-2GB of RAM.

Even if you're just doing experimental/basement takes, you're gonna want a decent sound (not studio quality, but decent) otherwise you're not gonna know how 'you' sound. and listening to the horrendus sounds that can come out of a poor setup can be quite disheartening.

[Foolonthehill]

ok I'll keep that in mind

thanks