Acoustic/Electric - Home Recording

[cpickett]

Bare with me, I am extremely new to all of this...

I have a computer, it's one I built, and should be more than enough to handle the load. It currently has an SBLive, but from what I understand those suck for recording, so I need to replace it. The guitar is a Washburn A/E D10SCE, I have an amp (Crate CA60), but would prefer to record acoustic. I don't have tons of money, so the setup I am looking at is:

Behringer UB802 8 Input Mixer
M-Audio Audiophile 2496
Shure SM58 x 2 (or 1xSM57, 1xSM58)
CoolEdit Pro v2

I know I'll never "sell records" with this setup, but I am more looking for something that will get me on the track to where I can record, and also put me in a position to upgrade somewhat easily.

Will all of this work together? Would I be better off wiht other equipment? Any other suggestions?

[rpe]

I think you're on the right track. I can't comment on the mixer but the software and soundcard will work ok. I assume you'll be using the mic pre-amp of the mixer; behringer pre's don't get good press around here but I've not owned one myself so I can only repeat what I've read a million times on this bbs. Anyway, recording guitar at home is a blast. I know you'll enjoy it. Just keep reading this bbs and by all means use the search feature to get excellent information on everything you need to know.

welcome,

rpe

[guttadaj]

Hey, cpickett.

I know I'll never "sell records" either, as I'm sure a lot of us hobbyists won't and perhaps never really aspire to, but we all like our stuff to sound as good as it can of course.

Anyway, I also have an acoustic/electric guitar. I just recently bought a new "toy" which I'm really digging and really helps me to get a good sound. It's a PODxt, which is sort of like a DI box, an amp modeler, and an effects processor all in one. You don't have to use an amp model tho - you can choose a Bypass setting but can still dial in effects to your liking. No, I don't work for Line 6 , but I really am liking this little piece of equipment. I find I get a nice sound plugging in and going through that into my mixer (also Behringer) and also setting up 1 microphone near the soundhole (not directly aimed - on axis - otherwise get lots of booming) and another aimed at the fretboard. (read about this method somewhere) Then I mix those sounds together and record like that. Sometimes I pan the mic'd sound hard left and the direct sound hard right and then record those to 2 separate mono tracks in my Sonar software. Then I can more finely tweak the mix in there.

Good luck and enjoy,
-Jeff

[NYMorningstar]

Hey cpickett welcome to the BBS.
For starting out, your sb live will be fine. When you buy look to the future and make sure you don't invest in something you will be setting aside once you learn how to record.(e.g. will 4 ins/outs be enuff when you decide you want to try recording a whole band live?).

For recording the acoustic you may want to look at getting a condensor mic so make sure your mixer has phantom power. Software for recording you will need but again, look to the future and shop around. Something that is extremely important that you missed on your list is monitors. You will be wanting to get yourself a good pair of nearfield monitors for your mixing and mastering once you record your tracks. They can cost you a chunk of change so be careful in your choice.

Again, make sure you read alot around here and take your time before investing. G/L