And away we go....

[cunk]

I'm sure you've heard this before.

I'm just starting out and know very little about what I need. I've seen home studio xl in ads. I just purchased a new computer with a p4 80G hd 512ram. I know I want to record original hard rock music. My budget after buying the new computer tells me i need to start small. How do I hook up a mic or a guitar to my computer without blowing it up. Please help. I'm Itching to buy software and get started.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally posted by cunk
I'm sure you've heard this before.

I'm just starting out and know very little about what I need. I've seen home studio xl in ads. I just purchased a new computer with a p4 80G hd 512ram. I know I want to record original hard rock music. My budget after buying the new computer tells me i need to start small. How do I hook up a mic or a guitar to my computer without blowing it up. Please help. I'm Itching to buy software and get started.

In its simplest terms, you can take a mic and plug it into the "mic in" port on your sound card. Then take some recording software to capture the sound, and start singing.

Odds are, however, you will not be too thrilled with the quality of what you get with that approach, and hence you start your quest grasshopper.

First off, you need to answer some questions:

1. What's your budget?
2. How many tracks will you need to record simultaneously. An entire band? Or are you a one man show recording one track at a time.
3. How computer literate are you?
4. What equipment do you currently have. Mics? Mixing board? Brands/Models?
5. What sound card is currently in your computer?

There's probably more, but let's start there. Software, as you will soon see, is only one piece of the puzzle.

[cunk]

i have mostly live equipment.

1. Roland Jazz Chorus
2. Gibson Explorer
3. Dean Cadillac
4. Numerous Effects pedals
5. 2 SM57s
6. 1 SM58
7. Drummer with Drum Kit
8. Bass Player
9. Singer
10. Rented Rehearsal space

As for sound card it's whatever comes with a dell.

thank you for helping me

[dachay2tnr]

You didn't answer all my questions:

Although your budget will certainly impact on your decisions - as well as our recommendations - we really need to know how many tracks you plan on recording simultaneously.

Dell Computers come eqipped with several models of sound cards, however, it almost certain that what you have will allow a maximum of two tracks simultaneously.

This is gonna be a bit of a problem if you plan on recording bass, drums, singer and (I assume) guitar player at the same time. In addition it is quite common to give the drummer several tracks of his own - kick, snare and overheads as a minimum.

Ergo, you're gonna need a different sound card to start. Which sound card will depend on your answer to Q2. (It also looks like your a bit shy on mics as well - although the bass could be run direct.)

Now, you are also gonna need pre-amps. If you happen to have had a mixing board, you could use that for your pre-amps. If not, you're either gonna need a mixing board, standalone pre-amps, or a sound card with pre-amps built in.

So you see, the journey continues, grasshopper.

[cunk]

Alright, I have about $300 to $400 to spend on my next purchase. After spending 2 grand on two computers, my wife would not be too pleased if I went out and spent another 2 on music. She may divorce me. Then I would probably lose what I already have.

I digress.

I'm looking at a Guitar Center Ad and I see a M-Audio usb Interface. Is this in place of a sound card? Can I hook a mixer to this?

I also don't think I should be plunking down $300.00 for Sonar when I would probably be in way over my head. You would know better than I.

As far as computer literacy. I sell computers to consumers less knowledgable than my self. That in no way makes me an expert. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give my self a 6 1/2.

How many tracks st one time?
For right now I would like to be able to record the drums as one track. Maybe 2 or 3 . After I get a collection of mic's we can start recording the drums and cymbals separately. I would just want to record ghost tracks for bass,guitar and vocals.

[Qwerty]

Say "NO!" to USB sound cards. M-Audio is good though. Aardvark make the Q10 which is an 8-channel soundcard with mixer software built-in.

Q.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally posted by cunk
Alright, I have about $300 to $400 to spend on my next purchase. After spending 2 grand on two computers, my wife would not be too pleased if I went out and spent another 2 on music. She may divorce me. Then I would probably lose what I already have.

I digress.

LOL.

Look I'm not trying to take you to divorce court. I just want you to understand that this is not really as simple as buying and installing a new piece of software (although that is part of it).

You also need to concern yourself with how the signal gets into the computer. The "Line In" connection on a sound card is generally where you are going to connect. This requires a "line level" signa, and the signal from a mic is not strong enough. Thus it needs to be boosted. That's the job of a pre-amp.

So in its simplest terms: mic --> pre-amp --> sound card --> recording software. And you need to have that chain for every individual track you want to record. So if you want to record 8 tracks of music simultaneously, you in essence need 8 mics, 8 pre-amps, a sound card with 8 inputs, and recording software that can handle 8 tracks of music.

However, there are many different ways to skin this cat, which is why budget and ultimate goals become very important.

I am not personally familiar with the Q10 sound card that Qwerty suggested; however, it has a good reputation. It will give you 8 distinct inputs and has 8 pre-maps built into it. Unfortunately, it also appears to be out of your price range.

BTW, I agree with Qwerty, stay away from USB Sound Cards.

[cunk]

Ultimate goals--> To be able to record original songs to give to family,friends and coworkers. Also, I would like to mae good quality demo's of cover songs to give to club owners.

ok-how about something with 4 or 6 inputs. 6 affordable preamps would be nice. I think 6 mic's on a drum set could be adequate. Bass, snare, hi hat, tom, floor tom and then maybe one over the cymbals. Ok..Ok. I understand! 8 mics for the drumset. Is there something out there that is good quality w/8 preamps?

Is it possible to buy 4 preamps now and then add another 4 on later? Would I just have to scrap the 4 once I got the cash to purchase the 8?

If i'm running guitar and bass direct do I need preamps or just inputs. Can I run line-out from my amp into the sound card?
How do you feel about purchasing used equipment?

[dachay2tnr]

Is there something out there that is good quality w/8 preamps?

The Aardvark Q10 that Qwerty suggested is probably the cheapest you are going to find a combination of 8 inputs and 8 pre-amps - and still get decent quality. As I said, I'm not personally familiar with it, but there seem to be many users. Do a search of the Sound Cards forum and see what you find.

Is it possible to buy 4 preamps now and then add another 4 on later?

Aardvark also has a 4-channel version (4 inputs and 4 pre-amps) called the Direct Pro 24/96. It's of course cheaper - but I'm not sure if it has the same quality pre-amps and A/D converters as the Q10 - maybe someone else can chime in. It is possible to use this now, and add a second one later on. However, getting two sound cards to play nice together is not as easy as a single card with 8 inputs.

If i'm running guitar and bass direct do I need preamps or just inputs. Can I run line-out from my amp into the sound card?

These signals need to be boosted as well. For guitar, this is often done using amp simulators, but it can be done with pre-amps as well. However, most people will tell you for best results you should mic the amp (or mic the amp + run direct and mix the two signals). Again, others may have more expertise than me in this area. I do primarily acoustic guitar.

One further note: I have been talking about recording tracks simultaneously. Obviously you can also record sequentially. That is, record the drums. Then record bass. Then record guitar. Then record vocals. This would reduce the number of inputs and pre-amps needed. Most recording software will allow for an unlimited number of tracks. The limitation is how many you need to record at one time - and that limit is set by your sound card.

I also noticed that some places are selling the Aardvark Q10 bundled with Magix Audio Studio 7. This might help a bit by eliminating your need to buy additional recording software. I have no familiarity at all with this program - so I can't really tell you if it's any good. Again, maybe someone else can chime in.

(BTW, if you go that way we'll have to kick you out of the Cakewalk forum. )

[dachay2tnr]

Can I run line-out from my amp into the sound card?

Missed that one. The answer is yes, but you may not like the results (see above comments about recording direct).

[acidrock]

BTW,are you planning on using your computer speakers?Most pro-sumer cards don't supply power to the speaklers.Plus computer speakers in a word,suck.
Also you will need a way to monitor people without the speakers on to avoid feedback.If you're recording by yourself,a pair of headphones and one phone input will do.If you want to track multiple instruments things change...a lot!

Something like this would get you closer to what you need faster,due to it's flexibility...


http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-MII-OMNISTU.html

Two of the six inputs are digital,in effect giving you only four,unless you have any equipment with SPDIF connectors.