Another Newbie looking for a micrphone

55Dudester

55Dudester

New member
Hey all,
I've been reading for quite some time now on inexpensive home studio recording. This is just a hobby of mine, and I have no intention of becoming a full fledged recording studio artist or recording tracks for a living etc. However, I do love to play and sing covers, which I upload to YouTube, and sometimes make an mp3 CD for a friend or relative (those that aren't too fussy about listening to crappy musicians like me lol)
So far, I've been doing video recordings in the following manner (which I know is NOT the way to go about it) but hey, I'm cheap.
I am using mp3 tracks (or karaoke tracks) that play through my pc, and the sound comes out of my 5.1 surround system of my pc. While the mp3 tracks are playing "live", I sing through my Beyer Dynamic M88 xlr microphone through my Yamaha synthesizer, and record it all via my camcorder. I then just upload it all to Youtube and that's about it. If I want to make an audio cd for someone, I simply just download my YouTube video through an mp3 converter, and burn the songs onto a cd, which now just has my acoustic guitar, my voice, and music tracks. I've decided to kick it up a notch or two, by considering the purchase of a new USB mic, along with some music software, and see if I can make especially the voice sound more articulate and clearer.
Right now I'm leaning towards the Samson G-track usb mic, because of the positive reviews I've been reading. Now I know the "better" way to go would be buying condenser xlr mic and adding an interface yaddayaddayadda, but I'm on a tight budget, and I'm simply trying to kick it up a couple of notches, and get better recordings, although I'm not going for gold here.
I was also wondering and questioning, if I were to plug a usb mic into the 2.0 usb port of my computer, will I still be able to play the mp3 music through my computers 5.1 speakers as well as have my mic come through as well...in other words, play record "live" or "on the fly" like I was doing before ? Or will this be a completely new experience (hopefully a satisfactory one) ?
I'm an extreme NEWB when it comes to this, so please be patient with me if I appear to be quite ummm "dense" for lack of a more colorful word, other than stupid.
Any help or advice on what brand or type of mic would be very much appreciated. Once again, I'm sure this question has been asked a bazillion times in here, but I'm thinking maybe my set up is somewhat ummm unique. :facepalm:
Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Hi there,
If you used a usb mic as you describe, the yes, you should be able to record just as you are doing now.

Having said that,
I'd say the main thing that would improve your recordings is not playing the backing track out through the speakers for the mic to pick up.

Maybe it ruins your whole live thing, but ideally you'd put headphones on and record a new track along side the karaoke track in some DAW software..
The voice and guitar won't necessarily sound better doing this, but the backing track definitely will.

Whether this is an option or not, I'd still recommend getting usb mic, or an interface for the (great) mic you already have.

Regardless of your recording method, a decent interface (whether built into a usb mic or not) will show you a great improvement.

Hope that helps.
 
You have no idea how glad I am to hear what you've just told me. I know this is going to be a real big learning experience for me, but I'm tired of the sound I have. Some people that have listened to my recordings have told me that although they love the music I am doing, they found that my voice would sometimes get buried or muffled in the songs, making it difficult to hear the lyrics etc. I tried to paste a link of my YouTube channel, but this site won't give me permission right now to so so. If you go to YouTube, and type "55Dudester" in their search window, you'll be able to see and hear the covers I've been doing and the sound, which is lousy for audio cd burning etc.
I've read a lot of usb mic owners complaining a lot about latency and stuff like that, which kind of scares me a bit. BTW, I just purchased a new pc with 10G's of ram, but my processor is only a 5400rpm, instead of a 7200rpm, but I was told I should have no problems using music software and recording, with no noticeable dropouts that I've read some have experienced in the past. Man I'm getting too old for all this new stuff lol.
Thanks again for your help Sir, much appreciated.

Steenamaroo said:
Hi there,
If you used a usb mic as you describe, the yes, you should be able to record just as you are doing now.

Having said that,
I'd say the main thing that would improve your recordings is not playing the backing track out through the speakers for the mic to pick up.

Maybe it ruins your whole live thing, but ideally you'd put headphones on and record a new track along side the karaoke track in some DAW software..
The voice and guitar won't necessarily sound better doing this, but the backing track definitely will.

Whether this is an option or not, I'd still recommend getting usb mic, or an interface for the (great) mic you already have.

Regardless of your recording method, a decent interface (whether built into a usb mic or not) will show you a great improvement.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
 
Hey again,
No problem at all.

I agree that a 5400rpm hard drive isn't ideal for audio recording, but it's certainly adequate for modest sessions. Don't worry about it. :)

The latency issues is the same. You can adjust settings for low latency but it puts more of a load on the computer.
Again, with a handful of tracks at most, that shouldn't be a problem at all.


If your voice is getting buried, then recording with headphones on is ideal.
Like i said, your backing track wont lose any quality that way, but also your voice will be completely separate, meaning that you can boost its volume and use eq and that kind of thing.
 
Yo thanks again.
I'm just about to order my g-track (trying to find the cheapest online store that has low shipping charges) Also want to buy a shock mount for the mic, and one of those "poof preventing screens"
I'm also looking for a decent set of headphones that I'm reading I will need....didn't realize that they can go into the hundreds of dollars YIKES !!!:eek:
However, I won't be spending much more than 50 bucks for a pair at this stage of the game. Any suggestions on what I can find for that kind of budget ??
Thanks ever so much for your help, I really and truly appreciate it. I'm glad I found this forum.
Take care.





Steenamaroo said:
Hey again,
No problem at all.

I agree that a 5400rpm hard drive isn't ideal for audio recording, but it's certainly adequate for modest sessions. Don't worry about it. :)

The latency issues is the same. You can adjust settings for low latency but it puts more of a load on the computer.
Again, with a handful of tracks at most, that shouldn't be a problem at all.


If your voice is getting buried, then recording with headphones on is ideal.
Like i said, your backing track wont lose any quality that way, but also your voice will be completely separate, meaning that you can boost its volume and use eq and that kind of thing.
Click to expand...
 
Are you going with the multi-tracking thing then?


To be honest, any headphones at all would do. It's literally just for timing/pitch reference, so if you own any headphones at all (even earbuds), they'd get the job done.

Bet no one's ever said that on here. <hides>
 
Seeing we're being honest here, I really don't know what I am doing, so to answer your question if I'll be doing the "multi tasking thing" I don't have a clue LOL. I was playing around with Audacity today, trying to make some sense out of it, and I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I guess I'm committed now, cause my Samson G-track usb mic, shock mount, and voice screen are ordered and on their way. I'm in for a hard learning experience I'm afraid lol. Regarding headphones, I think I'll just go with whatever I have, which are decent earbuds. Thank again for your help and patience lol. I am going to stop purchasing now, or at least until I know a bit more what I'm doing. I just want to learn how to multi track, do editing, and EQ the tracks I will record. Don't know if Audacity can do all of that or not, in fact, I don't know how I will go about recording my voice AND the mp3 music tracks I have. God help me !!!
Steenamaroo said:
Are you going with the multi-tracking thing then?


To be honest, any headphones at all would do. It's literally just for timing/pitch reference, so if you own any headphones at all (even earbuds), they'd get the job done.

Bet no one's ever said that on here. <hides>
Click to expand...
 
It's good to be honest. :)

I just meant have you decided to play the backing track into your headphones, and record your voice/guitar as a new fresh track,
rather than the way you were doing it before.

I suppose the fact that we're talking about headphones kinda answers that question. :p
 
Yes, that's my "plan" hence why I purchased the new incoming usb mic, however, don't know if I can learn all of this at my age lol.
So I hope the people in this forum are friendly (and patient) cause I'm going to be doing a lot of reading, and asking a lot of questions lol. If all the people in here are as friendly as you are, I'm sure I'll eventually catch on to this new way of recording.
All I want to do is basically play the mp3 music tracks (through Audacity or other DAW) then add my voice to a track on the same software, edit and playing around with EQ' especially for my voice, as I have a very bassy soft kind of voice, which I hate, and much prefer when I can give my voice a "sharper" more trebled or high end voice. So, I'm wondering if what I want to do will be feasible with the limited equipment I'll have. Didn't see a place in Audacity to EQ my voice.
Ok, I'll stop now, cause I'm starting to confuse myself here lol. Sorry for ramblin' on.
 
Don't worry about it Dudester.
There are a lot of people in here who'll happily talk you through, plus there are almost endless video tutorials for the basics.

I don't know audacity well, but if it turns out to be a limiting factor, there are other very reasonably priced alternatives.

What you're aiming to do isn't overly complicated, so whether it's me, or someone else on the boards, we'll get you there.

Keep us up to date, yeah?
 
Thanks, and I will definitely keep you up to date. So you think the way I want to record, I won't need an interface ? I downloaded Audacity because it was free, however I don't mind purchasing something else that is more commonly used in here. I "think" my new Samson G track usb mic comes with Sonar LE, but the LE probably stands for "Limited Edition" seeing it's free. Where can I watch video tutorials ?
Thanks again,
Ray
 
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For single track recording you'd buy a usb mic, or an interface for your current mic.
You should be fine with what you've bought.

I don't know how limited Sonar LE is, but I know ProTools LE certainly wasn't all that limited. Who knows.

Youtube is a great site for tutorial videos. People seem to post everything from the absolute basics to in depth techniques.
 
I did a little Youtube searching, and found a pretty decent tutorial on Mixcraft 5, so I decided to purchase the software. I ended purchasing Mixcraft 6 online for about $75.00, which was just released apparently, so I now have a licensed registered version of the software. However, once I had it on my pc, I though I'd just load on of my mp3 music tracks to Mixcraft and see what kind of trouble I could get myself into. Low and behold, I went into the folder where my mp3's are, and viewing through Mixcraft, it shows I have nothing in that folder *yet they are there*. I made sure that Mixcraft had the "ALL TYPE" of files selected.
Another thing, when I opened Mixcraft it shows a song already in there, and playing, yet I hear nothing. Hope I didn't buy the wrong software for my kind of music tracks. Ahh and this is just the beginning lol Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong ?
Ray


Steenamaroo said:
For single track recording you'd buy a usb mic, or an interface for your current mic.
You should be fine with what you've bought.

I don't know how limited Sonar LE is, but I know ProTools LE certainly wasn't all that limited. Who knows.

Youtube is a great site for tutorial videos. People seem to post everything from the absolute basics to in depth techniques.
Click to expand...
 
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I imaging mixcraft is pretty much like the mac program garageband from what i've see.
This sounds like a routing problem if the track is there and playing but you cant hear it.
Time to set up your preferances
I'm not sure how its done in mixcraft because i dont have it. so i'm only able to offer limited advice sorry.
 
Kips probably right. You'll need to go into hardware setup or something similar and tell the software what ins and outs you're using.
This will need to be changed again when your new mic arrives, but still, that'll be why you hear nothing now.

Some DAWs wont directly import mp3s; You may have to convert them to wav format first.
I'm not certain about mixcraft, but that's what it sounds like.
 
Thanks guys, just to clarify, when I said I couln't hear the song that was apparently playing when I first turned on Mixcraft, it WASN'T a song I had uploaded, but rather on it's own, and I have no idea what was playing, so I turned mixcraft off. WHen I opened it a second time, there was no song playing and all I got was the normal mixcraft screen....so that's taken care of. Now, I was under the impression from the info I got in this forum, that I would have no problems recording my mp3 Karaoke tracks, and then adding my voice via usb mic to a new track of mp3 song I was playing. Now I find out that I can't play or record an mp3 track on this software. Disappointed to say the lease. Anyway, thanks for your help...we tried.:confused::(


Steenamaroo said:
Kips probably right. You'll need to go into hardware setup or something similar and tell the software what ins and outs you're using.
This will need to be changed again when your new mic arrives, but still, that'll be why you hear nothing now.

Some DAWs wont directly import mp3s; You may have to convert them to wav format first.
I'm not certain about mixcraft, but that's what it sounds like.
Click to expand...
 
Mixcraft is actually a great choice in my opinion. It's very easy to use once you start to understand a little about how everything is plugged up. When you open mixcraft just create a new project and you should have a list of tracks at the top left. If you click the arm button on track 1, then click the little down arrow beside it you should get to see a list of your recording devices. I'm using an interface but I'm guessing you should see the USB mic in the list, just click it. You should now have your track armed and ready to record. You should be able to talk into the mic at this point and see the sound register with the little bar thing (no clue what it's called it's the little green to red graph that shows how loud you are.). If you see sound going in hit record and see what you get.

If sound doesnt work you can do File -- > Preferences - and look at your input devices. You should be able to select your mic there and also set your default output (headphones instead of speakers). If you dont see them listed you will probably have buttons for Wave - Asio - WaveRT. Try going through each of those and see if your mic appears as an input device under any of them. If none of that works just let me know.

Also for some cheap headphones head to walmart, Sony makes a "studio" headphone you can find in their electronics department for 19.99, it's not blow your mind quality or anything but they will work and have pretty good sounds.

-polarity
 
I have mixcraft 5 and I can play back and record.

If you use your youtube downloader to get your backing track all you have to do it select a track, then click on Sound at the top, then add sound file.. You should be able to browse to your MP3 from youtube. That will be track 1 (your backing track). Then fllow my steps from above for Track 2 to arm the track. Once you hit the record button if everything is set right you should be able to hear your music in your ears and sing and record. Once done you should be able to rewind and play and hear it all mixed together. From there you can use the volume slider on the backing track (over to the left where it says track1) to turn down the music a little. Hope this helps
 
Thank you very much for your help and advice. Truth is, my usb mic hasn't arrived yet, so I was just playing with mixcraft to see if I could get one of my mp3 music tracks to play, but mixcraft doesn't seem to recognize the mp3 format for playing or recording. Funny thing is, the free Audacity software does recognize and play mp3's.....go figure. So I may have purchased the mixcraft for nothing....leave it to me to learn things the hard way.
My new mic should be here in a day or two, but I am so far from recording anything right now, it really makes no difference.
I simply want to be able to record my mp3 songs on a track, and my voice on another, where I can edit and EQ my voice. Didn't think it was going to get this complicated (or expensive). Not sure what I'm going to do now. Anyway, thanks again for your all your help.
Ray


polarity said:
Mixcraft is actually a great choice in my opinion. It's very easy to use once you start to understand a little about how everything is plugged up. When you open mixcraft just create a new project and you should have a list of tracks at the top left. If you click the arm button on track 1, then click the little down arrow beside it you should get to see a list of your recording devices. I'm using an interface but I'm guessing you should see the USB mic in the list, just click it. You should now have your track armed and ready to record. You should be able to talk into the mic at this point and see the sound register with the little bar thing (no clue what it's called it's the little green to red graph that shows how loud you are.). If you see sound going in hit record and see what you get.

If sound doesnt work you can do File -- > Preferences - and look at your input devices. You should be able to select your mic there and also set your default output (headphones instead of speakers). If you dont see them listed you will probably have buttons for Wave - Asio - WaveRT. Try going through each of those and see if your mic appears as an input device under any of them. If none of that works just let me know.

Also for some cheap headphones head to walmart, Sony makes a "studio" headphone you can find in their electronics department for 19.99, it's not blow your mind quality or anything but they will work and have pretty good sounds.

-polarity
Click to expand...
 
My mp3 tracks are not on Youtube, but rather in a folder in my pc. Most of the songs I purchased, others I downloaded from YT, regardless, they are still mp3 music tracks, some are karaoke (lyrics included) others are just the music tracks minus the voice.
I'll try again using your suggestions and see what happens.
When you say that you can "play back and record" are you talking mp3s ?
Thanks ever so much for your patience and help. I truly am a huge ignoramous at this stage of the game.
Ray


polarity said:
I have mixcraft 5 and I can play back and record.

If you use your youtube downloader to get your backing track all you have to do it select a track, then click on Sound at the top, then add sound file.. You should be able to browse to your MP3 from youtube. That will be track 1 (your backing track). Then fllow my steps from above for Track 2 to arm the track. Once you hit the record button if everything is set right you should be able to hear your music in your ears and sing and record. Once done you should be able to rewind and play and hear it all mixed together. From there you can use the volume slider on the backing track (over to the left where it says track1) to turn down the music a little. Hope this helps
Click to expand...
 
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