I don't know how many music guys post on this board, but I figure its worth a shot. I've decided to pick up home recording as a hobby recently, just so I can record some solo stuff, and maybe eventually figure out how to record my band and get our stuff out there. Anyways, I've been reading up about the process and all the different gear required, and now I'm ready to invest in recording equipment. Problem is, I don't know what kind to get. If any of you out there have a home recording studio, how did you decide which gear to get (mics, preamps, monitors, etc.)? When buying musical instruments, you can go to Guitar Center or something and try them out, but for recording equipment, don't you need a more controlled environment to test stuff out? I don't really feel comfortable completely relying on customer reviews in making my decisions. Thanks for the help!
I'm still a novice myself, but I started looking here for threads on it: http://homerecording.com/bbs/index.php Guitar Center has a 14-30 day return policy on anything (14 vs. 30 depends on what it is), so that should give you time to figure out whether a particular item works well in your own controlled environment.
For microphones, I've just used the same ones I used for live performance, the old standard Shure 57's and 58's. Though since some of my gear got stolen, I bought a Shure Beta 57.
I remember playing with a band where we were doing our own recording. We bought a Roland digital multi-track (16 or 24) recording unit from Guitar Center. I think we ended up taking it back and swapping it for the Yamaha version.
This is what I started with/use: PC Pro Tools Interface Mic Reflection Filter Would love to answer any more questions!!!
Avoid Guitar Center AT ALL COSTS!!! Invest in a Mac and mess around with garage band. Start from there. Once you get used to it you can build on it with Logic, Pro tool (smh), Acid or what have you. The Computer should be your first major investment.
Great Advice... Only go to Guitar Center to play with their stuff... Thats It! Garage band is good DAW to start in. I started in Sonar. Why the (smh) for Pro Tools... lol
I believe most pro-tools applications require hardware(firewire interface?) yea, get some good hardware before you mess with software. I was using PreSonus Studio 1. it's a lovely program, but I'm really getting into Ableton because everything is straight up on the fly. not really for recording purposes I spose. a better way to phrase it: I use ableton as another 'instrument'. also, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
Because I'm a hater. Now really, because of Pro tools my degree in Audio Recording is almost useless. Recording studios can't make money off some guy wanting to make a Rap album anymore. They want to record in their bathroom. Plus, I use Logic. GC is like going into a used car lot. Shady sales cats who most of the time don't give a **** about what you're looking for and over priced merch. Check out the online forums. FutureProducers.com is a good one I use a lot. Go to your local Pawn shops too. You'll find treasures. I found a AKG 414 and got it for $100.
Yea, I just go to GC to try things out and maybe picks and strings if I happen to be in the area, otherwise I shop online or eBay/Craigslist it. Thanks for the advice guys. I'm getting a new desktop soon, since my crap laptop is starting to fritz on me. I'm thinking about getting a PC simply because I'm not sure how far I'm going to go with this and don't want to invest in a beast of a machine and not use it to its full capability. I prefer just getting what I need in a PC and upgrading as needed, which I can't do with a Mac. I got Cubase4 from a friend for free, which from my research is a decent editor, so I'll use that for now. I'm probably gonna have lots of questions as I go along, but I'll try to find a more appropriate forum to ask them.
I would say your best bet bet if you are demo-ing is to get yourself an all in one 16 track recorder first and kinda mess around with that. They make them where you can mix and burn straight to a cd now. Grab a couple Sure SM58's and a couple SURE SM57s and go to town. If you are interested in getting your music out there to people and putting out the best product LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS and book yourself some studio time somewhere. If you are interested in becoming a recording engineer there are plenty of studios around town that allow apprenticing (sugar hill studios, digital warehaus etc...)
A few things that will help as you delve further into this world: Amount of RAM, speed of RAM and processor speed directly reflect how many plug-ins (effects and VST-i's) you can run Hardrive speed/cache/capacity = how many tracks you can record/playback simultaneously. Always have a separate hard drive for record/playback - meaning have one drive for OS/applications and one hard drive for recording/playback. Otherwise expect limitations/trouble. If you are getting serious about VSTi's then a separate hard drive for samples is recommended. These drives should ideally all be internal instead of firewire/usb - but firewire drives will get you rolling if that is what is available. Windows XP is limited to 2 gigs of RAM per application unless utilizing a registry tweak which allows applications to access 3 gigs of ram. Not recommended. Windows 7 is an excellent operating system for audio. Vista sucks - stay away. 64 bit operating systems allow you to bypass ram limitations, but most software and plug-ins are not 64 bit compatible without using a bit bridge for plug-ins, which is also hit or miss. Software that does support 64 bit operating systems usually will contain two folders for plug-ins - 64 bit plugins and 32 bit plugins. Installing or moving .dll's into the wrong plugin folder will cause issues in the long run. Audio Interfaces: PCI based interfaces offer the lowest latency and highest stability/compatibility. Unfortunately these are rare these days and most manufacturers have yet to release solid PCIe versions of their interfaces. Firewire interfaces are next in line - but it is a good idea to utilize something other than an integrated motherboard firewire chipset as you will have compatibility issues with most firewire chipsets except the ones manufactured by Texas Instruments. Even then, most interfaces will have issues if it is not strictly a Firewire 400 chipset instead of a 800 or combo chipset. USB sucks for audio. Highest instability, lowest I/O capability and highest latency due to the fact that it is not a truly peer to peer protocol. This will change with the next generation but may be a while before audio interface manufacturers take advantage of the capabilities. Never rely on bus power for your audio interface - always use the external power supply (unless it is a PCI or PCI express based interface). Presonus devices: The Firestudio Mobile is a nice piece of equipment as are the StudioLive consoles. All other Presonus interfaces use lesser quality conversion than the Mobile and the StudioLive. M-Audio: Mediocre conversion but rock solid drivers ProTools: Terrible conversion but decent software. In respect to software: They all pretty much do the same thing although some require additional software for media authoring. It really comes down to budget, personal skills and personal workflow and user brain function in respect to GUI and terminology. I have Sonar Producer, Samplitude Pro, Cubase and StudioOne Pro. For me Samplitude Pro and StudioOne Pro are my faves. Both offer complete package in respect to composition/recording/mastering/authoring. I have used them all (Nuendo, ProTools, etc.) Monitoring: Without spending the money on a decent room it is best to match the speakers to the space that you do have. There are tons of options that are inexpensive and fairly accurate out there these days, but you really need to spend $450.00 or more to get a decent monitoring system. "Cubase 4 for free" is stolen goods unless you also received a hardware dongle or it is the "light" version. Either way expect trouble due to limitations and/or computer issues inherent in cracked software. Brief note on microphones: The good old SM57 and SM58 are excellent microphones period - although they will sound better when matched to preamps that have certain impedance levels on the input (preamps are all over the map in respect to impedance). The BETA series of those specific models has a tighter polar pattern and not as desirable in my opinion. Domo, Mr Roboto
One other thing: All of the software available are capable editors for the most part. Some have their limitations, but unless you are a professional classical music or mastering editor that requires four point editing (available in applications such as Sequoia, Sadie, Sonic Solutions) then any software that suits your workflow will be fine.
Yea for right now its just a hobby, as is the band. It may grow into a career as I go along, but I'm not going to approach it as such until I'm a little bit deeper in.
