Recording - What do I need

[glock]

I want to be able to record both lyrics and some piano, trumpet, and possibly other band instruments for a competition with only one microphone. I'm planning to record them one at a time and using Adobe Audition to compile them into one. I did some research and saw that the Shure 58 is highly recommended. Can all mics be plugged into the PC directly? Do I need anything else besides a mic and Adobe Audition to start recording?

Thanks!

[Nick98338]

Shure 58 straight to the PC... almost never. Nor, really, can any other mic. Good quality mics put out a very small voltage signal. Hi fidelity, but low voltage. The PC inputs usually require a higher voltage on the signal. There should be some kind of preamp between the mic and the PC. And, it's not just signal strength... there's also the issues of mic impedence, and balanced vs unbalanced. The real problem is that the average PC sound card was not built to accept the signal from a good quality mic. IMHO the best solution is to replace the PC soundcard with a "recording" quality soundcard. Many of these, also called interfaces, have preamps, and they take care of all of the impedence and balanced vs. unbalanced issues.

Also, just my opinion... if your research tells you that a Shure 58 is good for quality recording... do some more research. The Shure 58 is a good "stage and live sound" mic, but there are gobs of mics that are waaaaaaaaaaay better for quality recording work.

[zradioman]

get a used soundcard

Delta 1010 ---(?100-150$$$)

get the rest here. . .it's a package deal

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...age?sku=703626


for 200-250 bucks it'll get ya started. . .kinda

[TimOBrien]

My obligatory standard reply that I keep in Wordpad:

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/076...books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/..._beginner_pdfs

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


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

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/

Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com