I'm looking to start a recording studio

[blues scale090]

I'm looking to start a recording studio to record my songs, mix, edit, and possibly burn them to CD's. I need recomendations on what to buy and how i would go about setting it up and the way they work. I play guitar and a little drums and my brother plays bass. We're looking to be able to record our instuments one by one and then mix it together and edit the sound just a bit and hopefully burn it to a CD.

[blues scale090]

sorry i put up so many threads it was a complete accident

[Farview]

Start here:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

[pandamonk]

Don't worry about the threads. Just rename every one except this one as "closed" or something.

Ok, a few things that need to be sorted out:
1. Where are you(UK, US)?
2. What's your budget?
3. Do you have a decent PC?
4. How many channels do you need?
5. What are you looking for(interface and monitors)?
6. How many channels do you need(drums can be recorded well with just 4)?
7. Do you have much experience?
8. Do you have any equipment now?
9. What is your room(s) like(post a room plan)
10. Do you need isolation?

Any more info would be great...

[blues scale090]

-I'm in US
-My budget is around $500 i could prolly do a litlle more though
-I have a brand new PC that is about 9 months old
-I'm not sure what channels are but enough for bass, drums, and lead and maybe rythm guitar.
-As far as interface and monitors, tell me what they are please.
-same question as listed above
-I've been playing guitar for almost between 1 1/2 and 2 years. drums about a year. My brother is just starting bass so i wouldn't count on adding that just yet unless he can pick it up pretty fast
-I have an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar, a mapex drum set, and my brother has a Fender Squire Affinity Bass.
-It's hard to post a layout of my room but i have my drums at the front end guitars beside the bed, and computer on other side of the bed sorta like this

....................................................d.....guitars
....................................................r
....................................................u.....BED
....................................................m
....................................................s.....computer

[Farview]

YOu need to start with tweakheads guide so you can learn enough to know what questions to ask. There are 10,000 ways of getting this done, the best answer for you will be more obvious once you know how this all works.

$500 is a good start, but you won't get very far at all.

[blues scale090]

Can you link me this guide?

[yoyo]

Originally Posted by Farview

Start here:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

that's the guide - get some books out ur library, they help a bunch

[pandamonk]

Originally Posted by blues scale090

-I'm in US
-My budget is around $500 i could prolly do a litlle more though
-I have a brand new PC that is about 9 months old
-I'm not sure what channels are but enough for bass, drums, and lead and maybe rythm guitar.
-As far as interface and monitors, tell me what they are please.
-same question as listed above
-I've been playing guitar for almost between 1 1/2 and 2 years. drums about a year. My brother is just starting bass so i wouldn't count on adding that just yet unless he can pick it up pretty fast
-I have an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar, a mapex drum set, and my brother has a Fender Squire Affinity Bass.
-It's hard to post a layout of my room but i have my drums at the front end guitars beside the bed, and computer on other side of the bed sorta like this

....................................................d.....guitars
....................................................r
....................................................u.....BED
....................................................m
....................................................s.....computer

1. $500 isn't a lot... You could probably get by with 4 channels, so the presonus inspire 1394(interface)-$160 (it allows direct input of guitar and bass) and 2 more pres(maybe a behringer ub802-$40), and then behringer b2031as(refurb)-$260 for monitors(speakers)
2. The pc should be fine then.
3. 4 should do if you record instruments separately(drums, then bass and guitar, then vocals, or whatever)
4. an interface is what gets the signal to and from the computer(it's like a soundcard), and monitors are speakers.
5. Sorry about the double question.
6. Any recording experience? This is something you will need to practice, like your instruments, before you get really good recordings.
7. So you don't have any recording equipment yet(mics or anything)?
8. I meant to draw out your room in ms paint or whatever, roughly to scale, so we can help with placement and acoustics.

Ok you will need some mics too, and acoustic treatment if you can afford it(this could probably wait until you're more experienced). Check out Naiant mics(very cheap and great quality). You will also need mics for kick and snare/guitar amps. The MSH-1K is "designed for toms & kick drums" so this could be used on kick, and maybe snare. 2x MSH-1(overheads/vocals) + 2x MSH-1K(kick/snare/amps) = $108+p&p, so $568+p&p total. Then you need a recording program, reaper is pretty good at $40, and acoustics(check out the studio building and display forum for info, and here).

[yoyo]

you'll need more than $500 to get by. I'm lucky since I was given a ton of equipment. But you're probably not so lucky. BTW, do you have an output jack on your amp? If so, then you don't need a mic for the guitars yet. Just plug it straight it. That's what i'm doing. I'm in fact not using my amp at all. I'm pluggin my Boss gt-8 straight into my interface. Plus, you're gonna wana record one track at a time. Get about $750 then you'll be all set, get your bro to pitch in some

[pandamonk]

Originally Posted by yoyo

you'll need more than $500 to get by. I'm lucky since I was given a ton of equipment. But you're probably not so lucky. BTW, do you have an output jack on your amp? If so, then you don't need a mic for the guitars yet. Just plug it straight it. That's what i'm doing. I'm in fact not using my amp at all. I'm pluggin my Boss gt-8 straight into my interface. Plus, you're gonna wana record one track at a time. Get about $750 then you'll be all set, get your bro to pitch in some

I'd say $700-800, n that'd do acoustic treatment too($600+p&p without). You you can plug the guitars and basses direct, although if you like the sound of the amp, then it'd be good to mic it.

[yoyo]

Originally Posted by pandamonk

I'd say $700-800, n that'd do acoustic treatment too($600+p&p without). You you can plug the guitars and basses direct, although if you like the sound of the amp, then it'd be good to mic it.

the dude probably doesn't have a nice amp.... judging from his money supply. if he does, the amp will have a studio/mixer output on it, use it. also, he's gonna get a LOT of background noise from recording in his bedroom, best way to go is without mics. plus, the quality will be better unless he buys a really good mic.

[jaybriggs84]

You could look for a used firepod on ebay, that would give you 8 analog ins and 8 preamps, and that'd run you about 300 on ebay. For less inputs theres, the Firebox or the alesis io14, look on sweetwater under firewire interfaces to get an idea, there's a lot of them. As far as mics, most decent dynamics will start around 90-100 new. The sm57 is popular and an industry standard for guitar cabs and snare drums. You will probably want a condenser as a drum overhead/acoustic guitar mic/ and anything you can't really close mic. Use the search function cause there are tons of threads for best mics under $X amount. Make sure to budget enough for a few mic cables, mic stands, set of headphones, and a firewire card if your computer doesn't have a firewire port built in. You'll want some monitors, but any decent pair of those would take up your whole budget, so check your mixes on as many different systems as you can. There are tons of free plugins out there that will get the job done as far as compression, reverb, delay, etc. Good Luck!

[pandamonk]

Originally Posted by jaybriggs84

You could look for a used firepod on ebay, that would give you 8 analog ins and 8 preamps, and that'd run you about 300 on ebay. For less inputs theres, the Firebox or the alesis io14, look on sweetwater under firewire interfaces to get an idea, there's a lot of them. As far as mics, most decent dynamics will start around 90-100 new. The sm57 is popular and an industry standard for guitar cabs and snare drums. You will probably want a condenser as a drum overhead/acoustic guitar mic/ and anything you can't really close mic. Use the search function cause there are tons of threads for best mics under $X amount. Make sure to budget enough for a few mic cables, mic stands, set of headphones, and a firewire card if your computer doesn't have a firewire port built in. You'll want some monitors, but any decent pair of those would take up your whole budget, so check your mixes on as many different systems as you can. There are tons of free plugins out there that will get the job done as far as compression, reverb, delay, etc. Good Luck!

I'd usually agree, but with a budget of $500, you have to look cheaper(presonus inspire/behri) if you wanna get everything(monitors/mics etc). It can be done, as i've shown, for not too much over budget(including everything, even acoustics), although he would probably be better with the firepod, sm57, $500+ monitors etc(but this will be way more than double or triple his budget).