Advice for studio

CheddaC

New member
I wanna build a small recording studio in my house. All for making and recording rap and hip hop tracks and songs. I already got a yamaha keyboard, and made a few beats on it...what else do i need to record that wont cost a lot. Mics, mixers, recorders, monitors....whatever advice you got
 
What's your budget? $5., $200., $50,000??? Makes a huge difference. What are you trying to do with the recording? Grab some songs for your own songwriting, DJ mixing, demo recording, full album recording -- again, it makes a big difference.

-lee-
 
My budget is up to $500. I want to be able to record entire albums, by making the beats and rythms myself, and be able to record the vocals. A unit that burns the songs right to a cd would be great but probably too expensive, maybe one that saves the tracks, that can digitally transfered to a computer to burn. Again looking for cheap beat makers, cables, mics, monitors, and how to hook it all up. REPLY....thanks.
 
There are a lot ot tools to start out with that are free,beta or shareware.
I'll point out some, it's for you to see what fits to the way u make and want to make music/beats:

-Hammerhead
-iBeat 2.0

more links from where these come from.
Just look and try the ones u might be interested in

-Shareware music machine

(also visit the main, they have a lot of music software)

And another tip, if u don't mind a popup every time u shut down the app then Acid Express might be your tool.
Loopbased, timestretching, so layering oldschool loops is like a walk in the park.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the links...but i want a studio w/ out computers, with the actaul mixers and beat makers and shit. Any help is appreciated.
 
What's up C? Since your focus is on rap you might wanna post a few questions in the HIPHOP area of Homerecording.com... Seeing as how this area is focused more on the construction of a studio area...

Peace...
 
....whatever advice you got

Quit while your ahead, and still have your sanity, your job, your chick, your car, your
soul.....:D Hehehehe! Just kiddin with you

Hello cheddic
but i want a studio w/ out computers, with the actaul mixers and beat makers and shit. Any help is appreciated.

Alright, the key word here is NO COMPUTERS, is that correct? Then, what you are really after is 2 things. Analog and acoustics. . Good thinking. Ok, heres what you need. Information. Lots of it. Tons of it. For the rest of your life of it:D And thats just the beginning. Congradulations. This is a good place to start. Ever used analog to record, or owned a cassette, or r/r? Ok, lets see.......

By the music you described, you don't need to record live drummers, correct? Or do you? Do you play music? Keyboards I asume.
Vocals...of course if your doing rap.
Instruments....bass?guitars?others? Module bass? Keyboard Bass?
Synths....of course. Probably lots of midi. Analog/digital modules, midi, beat/drum machines , samplers.....correct?

Ok stop right there. That implys digital, i.e..... COMPUTERS.....You would be a fool to ignor that, if I understand the music you want to do. So, what I will describe is ANALOG/DIGITAL HYBRID.

First off, this is my OPINION, and every single member will tell you their OPINION.
Heres mine. Your ears are analog. They detect disturbances in air. They are transducers. They change energy from one form to another. In this case, sound into electrical impulses to your brain. A MIC does the same thing. It changes mechanical energy to electrical energy. That is analog. A speaker reverses it. Electrical energy, into mechanical energy. Thats analog. It produces sound. Thats analog. Regardless if you use digital or analog recording media, you still must have this circle. To record sound, you must have the analog circle
. SOUND >>>>>MIC>>>>>>SPEAKER>>>>>AIR>>>>EARS. Everything in between is what books are writtten about.....Let alone the MUSIC.
So let me say this. There are forums here, where they debate digital/analog wars endlessly, and not just at HR. That is not what this forum is about. Except for this.
SOUND IS ANALOG. If you are recording sound, then it helps to know how sound works. And if you want to improve your recordings, then by all means hang here. Because if you are recording indoors, what a mic pics up is sound in THE ROOM. And a speaker excites THE ROOM when you play back. Thats what this forum is about, IN MY OPINION. This is HOME RECORDING< ie.......ROOMS. Right guys?

But to give you an overview, I need to say something here.
Acoustics is the study of sound, and how you apply that knowledge to recording sound is what this forum is really about. And that involves rooms. Now you can generate any kind of signal, wheather its a keyboard, sound card, or what have you, and record it. Analog, digital what ever your into. But if you are recording sound, then a ROOM comes into play. And it influences sound, which is analog.

Do you record to computer now? Do you use mics now? If so, you already have the two items to generate and record sound. . If your going to record sound, then your in the right place. Acoustics play the primary role in recording and playback of sound. To learn about acoustics, hang here . For other direct information, see the other forums too. Man there is TONS to learn here.

Here is My hybrid breakdown
ANALOG
1. You need a KILLER vocal mic, a SM-57 all purpose mic/ and a condenser mic(talk to RECORDING ENGINEER or any of the other guys at the mic forum. They will tell you about mic pres. Once you open that door your gone for good. Ha!
2. Use an analog mixer. You can send -10 to most anything. 12 to 16 channel. 4 buss minimum, 8 buss better, w/ direct outs. A line mixer is a must for serious synth. Want to get serious? Your the one that asked for analog.
Then upgrade to +4. See the analog forum for info. Ebay too. Nice journey. Prepare for reality checks
3. Recorders.
For Tracking. Multitrack tape, 4trk or more. Forget cassette for multitrack. Go right for an 1/2" 8 track Reel to reel. They are inexpensive today. Many options. I use 2 synched 16 Track analog tape machines.

For mixdown, 1/4" tape Reel to Reel......BUT, this is where the fork in the road
is a little muddy. This area needs a little more attention later. I mean, really, this is where it seperates fact from fiction, and a few reality checks. Are you mixing your stuff to CD? Are you producing media for duplication. Or having it mastered. Thats the real question here. See mastering forum. If you found your way out of the mic forum, or the analog pit..er..forum.(that one will take a while )

4. CABLES. A book in itself. Depends on -10, +4 decisions. Use patchbays. Quality is important, as it connects everything. Soldering skills a plus.
snakes are usefull.

5. AMPS High quality, as it is analog. 50w min. Stereo, or if your into it, sound surround 5.1 or what ever it is now. Best advice. USE KISS PRINCIPLE
6. Speakers. The best you can afford. They are refered to as monitors. They are the analog link to your ears. Use nearfields. Anything more, defineitly hang here.
You'll need patience. And more room. More dollars naturally.

7. And finally THE ROOM. That is the environment the sound propogates in. Thats where this forum comes in. Welcome. This is where the discussions of how to design, build, soundprooof, treat and use recording environments, can help you
create your own. The options are many. Just as the equipment options are vast
but many principles can be used at home. Get used to 703. And absorption diffusion discussions. There are MANY highly skilled and knowledgable people that visit and contribute here, Search the archives and READ. READ. Oh yead, did I mention READ
Want to get serious. Order Alton Everests Master Handbook of Acoustics.
8. Digital
Everything in between is a matter of quality. To interface the computer, its as simple as sending the 2tr buss from the mixer to a sound card. If your going to mix to CD, then see the Computer forums. If you simply want to explore analog, then mix to a 1/4" tape, BUT, you can also synch computer and tape along with a shitload of other types of gear, through midi, smpte, word clock, which then opens another ton of decisions. Analog and digital can co-exist. Take advantage of the positive side of each. Avoid A/D wars.
well, thats my take on it. Hope it helps. See ya later.
fitz
 
RICK FITZPATRICK - thanks for the enormous post..learned quite a bit from that. You mentioned computer making it easy... I only said that because my computer is a piece of shit, and being new to this i thought it might be easier to not use them. Well if i tried, what can I do to make a rap album using the computer. I'm going for quality, and not too too expensive, what do you got?

Also, I made anohter post in the hip-hop section, but to save you the time, Ill summarize: I asked a guy how to record the album i am looking for w/out computers, and he told me that if i bought the following things used or off ebay, it would work. Hook up my yamaha keyboard to a TASCAM 788 portastudio digital 8-track recorder (some burn to cd-r right in the unit as u probably know), and then from the vocal booth run the mic and the monitors into the recording unit as well. He said from the yamaha to make beats and melodies (which ive already done) and then just take the vocals and mix it together to burn...Would this work??
 
Hello CheddaC, I'm not familiar enough with that unit, but I've heard great things about it. I believe they are correct. A couple of things I can add, is interface the 788 with a computer running a sequencer program, synched with the 788. I believe this can be done simply. That way, you can access your sound card and soundfonts(even with a typical sound blaster live sound card) with your yamaha. You can get millions of sound
fonts on the net, free. Tons of drums, etc. Use a program like acid, or others that are oriented toward loops, using midi or .wav files. Lots and lots to learn. So what. It'll keep you busy for a few years. Ha!
Add your monitoring amp from the 788 stereo outputs, but you also need a way to monitor your computer seperately and with the mix, but ask in the Tascam forum for more info on the best way to do this with the 788. Typically, the manual will show you many ways to interface the 788. Most likely through MIDI, although it has other digital ports. That is an excellent choice for digital. It has built in A/D to D/A converters, recording burner, mixer, multitracking software......excellent recording quality....what more can you ask for! Its not analog, but who cares. Its your thing and I personally think its a great choice for what your doing. AND, you can add to
it, anytime. Great bang for the buck. Go for it.

I will say this, Most of my recorders are Tascam, although analog. One old Teac 2300 r/r that I simply LOVE, an old 122 cassette which I dig too!, two MSR-16 trks, and a 42b mixdown deck that is phenomenal. I have the 16 trks synched togeather as well as to 2 computers. One for digital audio. One for MIDI. All fed synch from a "midiizer" and all midi routed through a Optcode 128 midi interface. On the digital input side, I use a hybrid mixer setup with a 20/8/2 analog mixer, and a Tascam TM-D1000 digital mixer, both of which can feed, or recieve from a Lexicon Core 32 digital interface system, at -10 or +4, which in turn interfaces the computers and mixers,. The core 32 contains a PC-90 reverb system which is astounding. It can be used as an external reverb for even analog mixers. The Core 32 also serves as well as receives word clock. I am presently waiting for a Tascam 3700 mixer with automation to appear on ebay, if I can meet the usual reserve, I'll be in analog heaven!!
Well, that about sums up what I have to offer on this. Good luck, and keep posting.
fitz:)
 
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