Basic Home studio - What equipment?

H

hemeltz

New member
Hello,
I've been searching around these forums for a short while and have found answers to some of my questions, but others still baffle me. What I would like to do is set up very basic home recording equipment in order to record acoustic guitar, vocals, MIDI keyboard, and upright piano for some decent quality sound. After a few days of looking into it, I have concluded the type of setup I want to have and just need some tweaking and advice as to what specific equipment I need.

As of now I have:
- computer (devoted entirely to recording)
- midi capable keyboard
- Acid Music Studio Software

The equipment I want to purchase:
- Behringer XENYX 1202 Mixer
- Two Shure SM58 microphones
- Two XLR - XLR cables
- One MIDI - USB cable for the keyboard
- Mic Stands

I'm on an extremely tight budget (as you can probably tell from the equipment) but I believe with some creative spending I can do this for around $200. I just have a few issues to deal with.
A) How could I connect the mixer to the computer to record (either through USB or a basic sound card) and what specific cables and hardware will I need for that?
B) Will this setup even work the way I hope it will?

Thank you very much!
Harry
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad so this is just a paste (I don't want to re-type this all the time):

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/04...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0470385421
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/tips-techniques/168409-tips-techniques.html

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and tested suggestions: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE and July 2009 issue they put out Samplitude10SE. FREE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
Thank you all. I think I'm going to set it up like this:

-Behringer Xenyx 1202 FX Mixer (Maybe 802 depending on ebay)
-2 to 3 microphones (working on specifics because I'm looking for versatile and economical mics, probably Shure SM58s or SM57s, if not, mic quality may have to sacrifice a tiny bit)
-Computer specifically for recording
-Acid Music Studio by Sony and Audacity (options!)
-Midi capable keyboard
-Midi to USB cable
-Behringer U control 1/4" to USB input cable
-various XLR and 1/4" cables

This also gives me the capability to record electric and acoustic instruments through the mixer using direct input or an amp.

Thanks for your help!
 
Actually a friend of mine has been DJing for years as well as engineered the hardware for our band for years and used the Behringer XENYX 802. Other than feeling limited by only two mic inputs, we have been extremely happy with it.
 
hemeltz said:
Thank you all. I think I'm going to set it up like this:

-Behringer Xenyx 1202 FX Mixer (Maybe 802 depending on ebay)
-2 to 3 microphones (working on specifics because I'm looking for versatile and economical mics, probably Shure SM58s or SM57s, if not, mic quality may have to sacrifice a tiny bit)
-Computer specifically for recording
-Acid Music Studio by Sony and Audacity (options!)
-Midi capable keyboard
-Midi to USB cable
-Behringer U control 1/4" to USB input cable
-various XLR and 1/4" cables

This also gives me the capability to record electric and acoustic instruments through the mixer using direct input or an amp.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

In my opinion, current Chinese made Shures are overpriced and overrated. Think about getting a couple vintage or used EVs off Ebay. The N/D series sound great on a lot of things, and a random PL series mic is pretty swell as well. You could probably get both (U.S. made) for the price
of one Chinese Shure.
 
I'm looking into it about mics because that's what's really breaking my budget. I'm just looking to get either two SM57s so I can record just about everything or get one dynamic for the instruments and a condenser to do mostly vocals, but can't really find the right ones for the right price.
 
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