Equipment for Newbies

[b-face]

I have sonar 2, acid pro 3, behringer mx160ra mixer, yamaha psr-260 keyboard, DR-5 drum machine and t-rack mastering software.
What else would you recommend if i'm trying to do hiphop and r&b? Should I invest into a different keyboard synth(which one motif or triton) or drum machine or groove machine like dr-202?
Any info would help thanks.

[SPINSTERWUN]

What is your budget?

[SPINSTERWUN]

I would suggest for you purchase a pair of monitors.

[SPINSTERWUN]

I would suggest the Motif.

[cat]

and a good mic

[Roel]

I would suggest the special newbie mic! This is a special onetime offer. Send over 499$ to me, and I will send you this special equipped newbie mic! It looks like a regular SM58, but it's not... Oh no... It's got my special mod that makes it sound as good as any of the neumanns I have modded! You gotta have it... Mail me for details. Just 499$! Don't let another newbie get it first!!

[cat]

Oh and don't forget some headphones.

[knightfly]

Most important, you need a heavy duty BS filter. Second, whatever pisses you off the most (sounds the worst, or can't be done at all) is the next place you should improve... Steve

[b-face]

thanks for replying. I currently have headphones and monitors. What is a BS filter? and it is used for? Because I don't know. My budget is ruffly about $3000. I have a few friends that want to a demo.

[eyeslikefire]

Yeah knightfly, what is a BS filter?

[Blue Bear Sound]

LOL

[bass331964]

I think a good guess would be a bullsh#$#@ filter

[music4all]

The July 2002 Issue of The Electronics Musician Magazine has listed all options of any budget to build a studio, from a home to a professional system.

I suggest you go to a store and get a copy. It's really good.

[knightfly]

Or, you could save the $5 and go here -

http://emusician.com/ar/emusic_build...udio/index.htm

And, yeah, bass****** stated the apparently not-so-obvious... Steve

[knightfly]

(joke) BTW, when shopping for a BS filter, remember that all filters are not created equal - for example, a cheaper passive BS filter just slightly rounds off BS and works only on fairly runny BS. With a more expensive ACTIVE BS filter, you can get up to 24 dB/octave slope, which results in sharply defined, crisp-edged BLOCKS of BS, quickly lowering in level to 0 BS. This would equate to a SPL (Shit Pressure Level) of less than ambient. Sooo, if you lived in a really shitty place, it would be a waste :=) of money to invest in a 24 dB/octave BS filter, because your surroundings would prevent you from ever knowing how well it worked. The only advantage then would be "bragging rights", which would normally require their own High-Q BS filter to limit levels of public disgust...

Now, for just a lot more money, TC makes the ultimate - the "SANITIZER", an all-in-one, do everything well, "royal flush" of BS filters. The Sanitizer is capable of separately filtering BS, CS, DS, GS, HS, MS, and even PS with the optional "humanizer" plug-in... for extreme conditions, there is also an optional oversized output to which you can connect a 6 inch sewer pipe. this saves several cycles of intermediate processing, and improves drastically on the "bypass" mode. Space does not allow a complete "run-down", but more can be found at www.U-B-FULLA-POOPIE.com - "no affiliation, I just use 'em"... Steve

[Guernica]

....... how many people clicked on that link?














I did



g

[knightfly]

Hell, I almost clicked on it, and I WROTE it...

[BibleMan]

My ex-wife had a BS filter.

Come to think of it, maybe that's why she my ex?

[Badger]

Make shure what ever you get it has tubes...and lots of flashy lights. And sliders...you need a lot of those....track lighting...gotta have track lights, and two rooms devided by a window...And the H.G. Signiture Series window unit air conditioner. and foamy stuff on the walls...gotta have that.


And a Harley Davidson...

[knightfly]

OK, 'nuff fun here, dude asked a serious question... Sorry b-face, here goes -

What percentage of what you want to do is r&b, and what part would be rap? This will make some difference as to what you should add to your setup first.

If you plan on more rap, probably a better drum machine with more variety of sounds. With sonar, you could use virtual drum sounds as a VSTi instrument and save some $ -

If you plan on more r&b, a better keyboard should be more of a priority. Either the Motif or the Roland Fantom would give you a much smoother keyboard with more keys and fatter, smoother sounds for those huge r&b key pads.

In either case, you didn't mention a microphone. For rap, a Shure 57 or 58 is a good start. For r&b, a decent condenser mic with stand, shock mount, and pop filter would help the vocal end of things - there are decent ones for $200 or so. If you get a condenser mic, the next thing would be a separate preamp to bypass the mediocre ones in the inexpensive Behringer mixer.

In either case, you'll probably want to upgrade your monitor system to include a subwoofer, so you can hear lower harmonics and make sure they're not over the top on levels.

Figuring around $300 for drum software, $1800 or so for a quality keyboard, $300 for two mics, maybe $500 for a preamp, and at least $400 for a powered sub, you're at about $3300. You should be able to do better on a pretty usable preamp, so it looks like your budget can be maintained and still make noticeable improvements in your system.

Let us know whether your main interest is rap or r&b, and we can start narrowing things down more... Steve

[tf5_bassist]

Hahahahahahahaha!!! That's the funniest geek humor i've seen in a loooong time!

And I clicked on it. Perhaps I should register that domain before someone else does. :-P

Originally posted by knightfly
(joke) BTW, when shopping for a BS filter, remember that all filters are not created equal - for example, a cheaper passive BS filter just slightly rounds off BS and works only on fairly runny BS. With a more expensive ACTIVE BS filter, you can get up to 24 dB/octave slope, which results in sharply defined, crisp-edged BLOCKS of BS, quickly lowering in level to 0 BS. This would equate to a SPL (Shit Pressure Level) of less than ambient. Sooo, if you lived in a really shitty place, it would be a waste :=) of money to invest in a 24 dB/octave BS filter, because your surroundings would prevent you from ever knowing how well it worked. The only advantage then would be "bragging rights", which would normally require their own High-Q BS filter to limit levels of public disgust...

Now, for just a lot more money, TC makes the ultimate - the "SANITIZER", an all-in-one, do everything well, "royal flush" of BS filters. The Sanitizer is capable of separately filtering BS, CS, DS, GS, HS, MS, and even PS with the optional "humanizer" plug-in... for extreme conditions, there is also an optional oversized output to which you can connect a 6 inch sewer pipe. this saves several cycles of intermediate processing, and improves drastically on the "bypass" mode. Space does not allow a complete "run-down", but more can be found at www.U-B-FULLA-POOPIE.com - "no affiliation, I just use 'em"... Steve

[tf5_bassist]

*ROTFLMFAO*!! Shiiit... this is probably the funniest board I've ever been on...

Don't forget the strobe lights. Flashy lights are cool, but strobe lights... and disco balls.. that's where it's at.

Originally posted by Bdgr
Make shure what ever you get it has tubes...and lots of flashy lights. And sliders...you need a lot of those....track lighting...gotta have track lights, and two rooms devided by a window...And the H.G. Signiture Series window unit air conditioner. and foamy stuff on the walls...gotta have that.


And a Harley Davidson...

[eyeslikefire]

this is probably the funniest board I've ever been on...

~singing in my best BTO voice~
You ain't seen nothin' yet
B-B-B-Baby, you just ain't seen nothin' yet

[b-face]

There is alot of humor on this board. But, on a serious note. I think 50/50 r&b v/s rap. I'm currently in the military and I'm moving to Louisiana in two weeks. I know a few guys that would like to do a demo. What type of virtual drum machine software? So, you think a goove/drum machine like the JS-5 or the DR 202 are no good for what I want to do? Where can I find good price for the equipment I need?

[knightfly]

You didn't mention in your first post which computer you have, and whether it's fast enough to add the load of more virtual synth programs or not. You also left out the portability requirement (military), which would change my recommendations about a subwoofer. If you won't have access to a quiet area for recording, don't waste your money on anything beyond a Shure 58 without giving it a lot of thought. I would also consider upgrading your headphones to Sennheiser 280's for their accuracy and isolation. Sony 7506's are good isolation and probably great for beat heavy music, but are hyped toward that so you won't know as well what your stuff really sounds like. Normally we don't recommend phones for mixing, but if you're on the move you might have to make do for a while. You should always check your mixes on a variety of systems to make sure they translate well, even if you can afford $50,000 speakers. (Probably not AS necessary then, though)

If you're concerned with portability, that would be all the more reason (if your computer supports it) for doing as much as possible inside the computer.

So far, I've not gotten into soft drums, instead I have two different hardware drum modules and a couple of keyboards with pretty good samples. This will probably change with the next generation of DAW in my studio, hopefully by late fall or early winter, but for now I'm useless as a source of info. Went looking, found a general how-to that may help in some ways -

http://emusician.com/ar/emusic_kille...oves/index.htm

Also, check out Battery from Native instruments - there are free demos here -

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/inde...rror_us&type=1

Battery is available here for $139.95 if you like the demo -

http://soundstore.holdit.com/cgi-bin...ategory=16&x=2

ships with over 30 soundsets and is compatible with samples for AKAI, SF2, LM4, AIFF, WAV and MAP. Here's the link to more info -

http://www.nativeinstruments.de/index.php?battery_us

As for places to buy, here are some of the places I've had good luck with in the past for web/mail order - some don't have everything but do have good prices on what they do have.

http://www.soundchaser.com/home.html

http://www.americanmusical.com/home....02072900561792 Turn Cookies OFF - this site'll drive you nuts...

http://www.computersandmusic.com/cgi...8771+923283875

http://www.midi-classics.com/

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/

http://www.samash.com/frameset.asp (cookie fiend)

http://www.altomusic.com/

http://www.audiomidi.com/

http://www.interstatemusic.com/

http://www.marsmusic.com/ - (cookie fiend)

http://www.midiwarehouse.com/

http://www.cdbm.com/shop/start.cgi

These are a few of the places I buy from - as with all stores, there is no one place that has lowest prices on EVERYTHING you want, so you need to compare.