you generally cant return software and best buy doesnt even sell music recording software or the hardware. not to steer you towards the wal-mart of music, but guitar center will have everything you need. op - are you PC or mac? how much $$$ are you willing to spend? you can definitely get started for under $500. at the most basic level all you really need is the software (sonar, pro-tools, abelton live, ect), microphone and some kind of interface to plug mic into - technically, you can plug the mic directly into your computer and it will work, but it will sound better if you have a true interface w/ analong-to-digital converters. i record in sonar, use a presonus firepod and have about 4 different mics - rode ntk condenser is my primary and most expensive. for starters most would recommend a sure sm57, but for the same price you can get sennheiser's 835, which is a better sounding mic imo. im a big fan of presonus stuff - ive had the firepod for about 3 years now and its been great - the set-up was a bit of a headache, but they had really good customer service and guided me over the phone - company is based in louisiana. mine is the big one w/ 8 mic inputs on front, but you can get the scaled down version w/ two inputs on front (and a couple in back) for about half the price. get a decent set of headphones - shouldnt cost more than $100. i like audio-technica. monitors - i actually just monitor out of my computer speakers - im used to listening to music on them so it gives me a good frame of reference when im working on my own stuff.
i think trying to set up my firepod is what caused me to lose all my hair. i had to buy a new firewire card and got the 800 thinking that even if the firepod was 400, it would work. NOPE! they are not backwards compatible - i had to have the 400, but once i got that it was fine. if i had to do it again it wouldnt be a problem, but that initial set-up was a real confusing, demoralizing hassle.
It is those little things that manufacturers expect their customers to know that cause the most hassles. Customers for these products should not have to know these types of things but unfortunately most will eventually learn them the hard way or give up in the process. Cards that I know work well are the TI based SIIG Pci, Pci-e and cardbus firewire cards (400 only as stated unless the audio interface supports otherwise). There are some other non-TI firewire chipsets that work for audio but typically you cannot go wrong with TI based firewire cards and everything else is a crap shoot.
I'm currently on a PC laptop. I'm planning on getting a desktop soon. I'm open to whatever kind, but I'd rather get a PC because I like the flexibility and I'm a lot more comfortable with them. Right now I have a Senheiser e835, Lexicon Lambda interface (it's USB because my laptop doesn't accept firewire), CubaseLE4, and a Mackie CFX16 mixer. Pretty much everything is borrowed at the moment, either from friends or from my church. I don't really have a proper monitoring system, just some old Sony speakers. At the moment, I'm just experimenting with Cubase and just trying to get a grasp of how everything works. A lot of this information is going over my head at the moment, but I'm grasping more and more as I research and experiment.
so true - and couple that w/ the fact that ALL manuals have SEVERAL errors and type-o's and tend to invariably leave out CRUCIAL information - for someone who would rather spend their time focusing on the creative side of music rather than the technical, it can get frustrating. the firewire card thing was the most frustrating. the rest i figured out on my own and honestly, alot of the presonus setup was automatic - it detected the latency settings on its own, ect. but the manual didnt really discuss firewire troubleshooting at all, which is crucial - initially didnt work on my computers built-in card so i went to frys and got the 800. i figured that even if the firepod was 400 it would be backwards compatible. installed that and it still didnt work so i called the presonus people and found out i needed the 400 - got that and it worked fine. but if it was more clear in the manual i wouldnt have had to call at all. so basically, keep all this firewire stuff in mind if you are having trouble on initial set-up. and what roboto says regarding TI cards is true too - those tend to work better for some reason.
if you are going to be getting a new computer anyway, make sure you get firewire - it is superior to usb. if you get a desktop you can install a card on your own (400!!! :grin: ). - take a look at the presonus interfaces - 3 years in and its been great for me - no problems at all. i got the firepod, which got an upgrade and a name change to the firestudio or something. the preamps on there are actually pretty decent. the beauty is that you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. i started home recording w/ cassette 4 track in the early 90's, but went 'digital' in 2001 - my friend gave me cakewalk-guitar tracks, which was like a $50 program - super basic, but did everything i needed. and my recording 'interface' was my cassette 4-track, which i used as a mixer going into my computer's soundcard - and i recorded like that for years and loved it. in 07 i decided to upgrade and got the firepod and sonar (cakewalk) - i bought the program b/c i liked cakewalk and was used to it, but also figured that since i didnt pay for a version that i used for 5 years that i owed them.
Has anyone gone to an audio engineering trade school around houston?? i've been thinking about it, just because i really want to learn the science behind it, and i know a lot of people in the industry.... But it's been 50/50 with people, they either regret it or loved it
If your going to need your computer on stage, you have to get Ableton Live. Ableton is by far the leader in on stage performance and there is a reason everyone uses it. All you need is a midi controller and some sort of monome and live performance is a piece of cake and your not hindered to your original recording. Its usually used for electronic music and djing but if your in a hip hop band thats plays live it would make life a lot easier.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Musical-Instruments/Home-Recording/pcmcat152100050020.c%3Fid%3Dpcmcat152100050020&sa=X&ei=NKlUTI3iL8G88gbNnPT1Ag&ved=0CCoQzgQoADAA&usg=AFQjCNGKy7nhI-tepzcBwIfO3Y_0hODdlQ http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Home-Recording/Home+Recording-Software/pcmcat152100050026.c?id=pcmcat152100050026 ... not sure about the return policy.
it depends, torrents can be real sketch. You might as well just not be a bum and save up for at least a used version. Craigslist is your friend
More important than the ethical issues of stealing intellectual property is the nature of utilizing computers for this type of work. There are a million variables already. The "tweaks" most sites post for operating systems usually do more harm than good. With Windows XP the only tweak necessary is to set the system to optimize for background services. This is a necessary tweak. All others are useless and potentially harmful. For Windows 7 tweaks are unnecessary. The other variables involved mean that if you decide to attempt to work with a cracked piece of software you have compounded the potential trouble shooting process exponentially right from the get go. Most cracked audio software contains known issues that may not be discovered until certain features are explored or a certain stage of use has been achieved. With the affordable options available these days you are simply asking for compounding the non-creative side of the process without reason. But don't take my word for it - give it a go. When you are reinstalling a ghosted image of your drive or your operating system be sure and drop by and tell us how much money you saved and how much productivity increased as a result. Again - just one man's view. Domo, Mr Roboto
I'm still reading through this thread so the answers may be in there: My dad loves to play piano, he's very good at it, has a nice grand piano that resonates throughout the whole house with a beautiful sound. I want to explore recording some of his music, but I have no idea where to start.
ill be damned - did not know best buy sold music equipment. as for software though, i always thought it was a general policy that it can not be returned - what is to stop a customer from buying, installing and returning?
consider purchasing the following: http://www.zzounds.com/item--ZOMH4 A high quality stand You will have a local musical equipment rental supply company - you can consider renting a high end DPA stereo grand piano micing kit for minimal cost per day. If you are going for more of a 60's/70's old school piano sound then rent AKG414's with C12 capsules. Otherwise the built in condenser microphones in the H4 will be alright.
