Newb wanting to record at home

CognitiveMiser

New member
Hey guys. I posted a thread in the newb section and was advised by one of the kind members here to ask my Qs here. However, rather than type everything back out, I'll link my other thread here.

Also: Just clarify regarding budget. When I say I want to do it "cheap", what I mean is - the cheapest things on the market that will still produce halfway decent recordings. I don't feel it's necessary to give a budget. I just want to know, for example, what are the cheapest (fill in the blank...drum mics/condenser/monitors etc.) on the market that still do a decent quality.

Thanks so much!

Edit: I couldn't post the link, so here's the OP:

"I'll just say from the beginning that I'm 100% a newb. I know next to nothing about recording, and that's putting it kindly.

I'm not looking to become a pro right out of the gate. My main goal is to set up a low-budget, but decent quality home studio to record the music that I've written so that I can make decent quality demos for purposes of having good samples to show to potential bandmates, and to put on soundcloud, etc. I could also use it for composing music and other creative projects.

I'll need to record the basic rock instrments (guitar, drums, bass, and vocals).

I'll be honest, as far as equipment, I'm just looking for the cheapest stuff I can get to get a decent result. I thought this would be my best place to start for advice, so I'm making this thread so hopefully some smart people here can help me out.

Thanks SO MUCH for any help!"
 
Ok, I'll bite. Equipment-wise, you do not have to spend a lot of money, relatively, to be able to capture high-quality sound to a computer or any other digital recording device. $100 for a microphone, maybe the same or a little more for an audio interface - oh you want to record drums, so probably $200 minimum. Another $100+ for a mic stand(s), cables, pop-filter(s), $0 for the DAW software if you start with a "light" version included with the interface, for instance, or GarageBand if you're on a Mac, perhaps. About $70 for Reaper if you want the whole enchilada as cheaply as possible, or $200 for Logic Pro on a Mac.

If you want to record a full drum kit I'd start with 4 mics, though you can google and watch and listen to folks who use more or less. Less mics requires a lot more time getting placement right and (probably) some kind of drummer that understands the difference between playing out live and playing to get recorded well with that kind of setup. In any case, bump your mic budget up, and if you go over 4 mics, your interface expense just bumped up another multiple probably, though if you buy the right interface you can expand it for about $200.

Where it gets murky is when you want to hear and mix what you've recorded, and if you want what you record with a microphone to actually sound good. You'll read and hear a lot about room treatment, and studio monitors. These areas generate a lot of excitement around here, but with some good reasons behind them. Basically, you cannot do a really good recording in a poor environment, and it's very hard to mix in that same kind of environment.

So, then we get to room/sound treatment and monitors. You'll be up to your arse in alligators quickly on these topics, but you have to deal with it, and this is where shortcuts will really only lengthen the time it takes to get better at what you're doing, because you'll be fighting things you haven't controlled, and don't understand. Budget - boy, I'd start at several hundred and go up, honestly. Can you get away with doing everything on a $25 set of headphones or the earbuds that came with your smartphone, maybe, but you'll be wasting time, unless your intended audience is never going to listen on anything except those same earbuds.

Good luck.
 
"I don't feel it's necessary to give a budget. "

Yeah, it is necessary. The person who has $200 total to spend is going to get different advice from someone who has $2000. Because its quite simple: for $X you can do abc for $XXX you can do ABCDEFG.

The basics:
Microphone(s) - a basic Shure SM57 or SM58 is $100. A 'starter' condensor mic (good for vocals or acoustic instruments) will be about the same price. Drums? 4 mics to start out with.
Audio interface - you're going to need one with as many mic preamps as the maximum number of mics you will want to record at one time. For under $100 you can get one with 1 or 2 mic preamps. For $200 you might find one that has 4 mic preamps
Monitors - for listening back to your mixes. Yes, you can start with headphones, but you'l most likely have a tough time getting your mixes to translate well using just headphones. (Translate = sound good on other playback systems). Count on at least $250 just for starter-level monitors.
DAW ( recording software) - many interfaces come with a limited-edition DAW, because they want you to pay for the full version. Reaper, at $60 is one of the best DAW deals you'll ever see.
Headphones (closed back) for tracing with mics when you have previously-recorded tracks.
Mic stands, cables.
Not to be ignored: acoustic treatment for your room. This does not mean ;acoustic foam;, but bass/full frequency trapping.

So what do you have for a recording space - for tracking and mixing? How much time can you devote to learning how to record and mix? It's very time consuming.
 
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