brand new, need help please

H

hipboy

New member
I would really like to record some songs that I have written. Let's just say that, I have never recorded before and I only play rhythm guitar and I would like to record mostly me playing acoustic with vocals. As you can probably tell, I don't need anything too elaborate but I would really like it to sound great (CD quality if I can). I don't think they are looking to spend a ton of money but I would be willing to contribute atleast half of it. I was hoping that you would recommend all the equipment I would need to get started (please remember I know nothing about this and I trust your advice. I am looking at some equipment like the BR538, MR8, br864, br1600 and other machines like that. I live in Canada and don't know how much all these cost so that would be helpful as well. Is this something that I could use for what I am looking to do, or is it too much for what I am looking for. It would be nice to have something that was atleast 8 tracks in case I would need it someday or bring in someone else. I also need your advice on mics (I know the SM57 is popular). How many mics do I need (for the acoustic and my vocals, can it be the same mic, do I plug the mic and acoustic into the MR8 or whatever machine it is? If I don't need something as big as the MR8, then I would really appreciate your help on what I could use. I don't want to record onto tape, but I would like to be able to transfer it to the computer so I could burn it on to disc. In the future I would probably need advice about this, but for now this is good for starting. As you can see, I know nothing and I hope you have the time to help me with this and give me ideas and products. I really appreciate your help. I don't know if it is possible to get everything I need for $1000 or less(less would be better, but if I need it I don't mind getting it).

Thanks so much!
 
Is your screen name a Tragically Hip reference?

Anyway, I STRONGLY recomend that you buy a 4 track cassette. A Shure SM57 is also a great starting point for a microphone (and also a mic you will still be using 10 years from now if you are still recording).

Do not jump in at the deep end with recording. If you look around used you can find the 4 track and the SM57 for $200 Canadian. You will have fun with it, you will learn a lot and it will sound cool. If you can not get the 4 track cassette to sound good its because you do not know how to record yet, and buying fancier gear will not fix that problem.

Once you have learned how to record with your 4 track cassette you will have a better understanding of recording and gear and you can then make some good choices about gear purchases based on your own recording style and preferences. If you buy the 4 track cassette and a SM57 you will probably be up and recoring music the next day. If you buy a fancier system you will be spending a lot more time trying to figure out the gear than recording music. If you want more tracks you can do something called bouncing which allows you to record more than 4 tracks on a 4 track by mixing tracks together.
 
just an idea. if you want some fun on your pc, and as you dont have access to other musicians ; try band in a box demo from pgmusic.com sometime.
basically - you choose a song style and it creates a back up band playing
on your pc , then just add your live vocals and guitar.
its particularly effective when one wants to try out new songwriting ideas.
it also does some amazing scoring features as well.
its very highly addictive due to the way you can try different song ideas out.
and i think youll get a lot of fun out of it compared to just a 4 track.
its also used by a lot of music theory teachers. so you can use it very simply or as complex as you wish as you learn.
peace.
 
thanks guys for the ideas, I am hoping to get some more ideas as well. I was thinking about the casstette 4-track and I know I should start small and you are right but I was thinking about the cd qaulity sound. I guess there is nothing out there like a cassette 4-track but with cd's. I tried to use a mini-disk recorder not too long ago but was unhappy with the output so I was thinking other ideas. Thanks for your suggestions and please keep them coming.

My name is reference to The Tragically Hip (I love those guys, seen them 33 times!!)

Thanks
 
The advice above is good, but I wanted to add that I too play mostly acoustic guitar and was at the same point as you were a few years back. I got a Boss BR-8 (like the "all in 1's" that you are looking at), and although the overall sound was pretty good and clean, it really was much better for loud rock than for quiet acoustic guitar. I found it very "brittle" on acoustic guitar and sold it for just that reason.

Used ADAT's go for nothing on e-bay, that's what I got right after the BR-8, and the sound of acoustic guitar feels much better to me. It seems more detailed and more full.

There are tons of discussions here on what mic to use for acoutic guitar, and I like the Octava MC012 right now. Pretty cheap and sounds pretty good (I prefer it over my Groove Tubes tube mic).

The only downside to the ADAT is that it is a good deal more complicated than a 4 track cassette deal. With an ADAT, you need a mixer with channels for input and output (a 16 channel board works well.....or I use an 8 channel board for output and a few outboard pre-amps for input).

Good luck.

charlie
 
I think that the best combination of cheap and simple recording is to go with your computer. If it's less than three years old it'll be fine to start with.

You can pick up recording software for under $50, then just a little micro mixer such as the Behringer UB502 and a cheap mic such as the Studio Projects B1 or Sennheiser e835 (I don't actually like sm57 very much) will get you going!
 
Thanks a lot guys,

I might go the computer route but unfortunately I know as much about using this software then I do with the 4 track stuff (which is pretty much nothing). I would like to know some programs that all of you use and if it is easy to use (like I said, I'm a rookie). I will probably need a new sound card as well, so your help there would be appreciated. A mixer that would be good to use would also be a helpful suggestion to me. I wouldn't even know how the stuff hooks up to the computer. One of my acoustics is a plug-in, but the other one I would have to mic. So I would need to know how to do all of this. Thanks again guys, I really appreciate all your help!
 
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