New recording gear...

J

Jonty

New member
Well, I feel i'm ready to dedicate a lot of time to getting some decent recordings of my band... But I don't want to continually pay for someone else to do all of our recordings (plus I wouldn't mind a lot more control over my mixes), hence me buying under $2k of gear ^^

Band:
Guitarist/Singer/Keyboardist
Guitarist/Singer
Drummer
Bassist

Gear we already have:

Myself:
Fender Strat
Korg MicroKORG
Line6 Spider 2 75w [upgrading to JCM2000 DSL 100 w/ single cab in a few months for recording!! :D)
Sennheiser HD555

Bassist:
4 String Spector Bass
5 String Carvin
Warwick amp

Guitarist:
Epiphone Les Paul
(Will use Marshall for recording)

Drummer:
Drums? (5 piece with a few cymbals)

After a little research this is what i've come up with:

Presonus Fire Studio (inc. Steinberg - Cubase LE)
2x SM57
52 Beta for Kick/Bass
2x Studio Projects B1 for overheads
BEHRINGER HA4700


Questions:
Whats a decent vocal mike for less than $200 for both studio and live?
(Need 2 for guitarists)
What are decent DI's for the bass and keyboard?
What headphones should we get? (for drummer, bassist and other guitarist)
How do I set up a recording room? (links plz :D)

If you need more info, just ask :)

(BTW the band is a Muse/RATM sort of hybrid... If that makes any sense :p)
 
Whats a decent vocal mike for less than $200 for both studio and live?
(Need 2 for guitarists)
What are decent DI's for the bass and keyboard?
What headphones should we get? (for drummer, bassist and other guitarist)
How do I set up a recording room? (links plz )
Click to expand...

So you have 2K to spend on top of what you already have?

If your guitarists only do backup vocals, I would get the Beta 58's, there nice. You could look at the Beta 87A's, too. I wouldn't take a studio condenser on stage with me . . . personal preference.

If you want to invest about 150+ on a good DI for a Bass, go for the Sansamp Bass Driver. I love mine! As for the keyboard, you can go for any run of the mill 50+ DI. Go any cheaper than 50, like Whirlwind DI's, and its a toss up whether it will last very long.

Headphones, not my bag. But if your looking just for tracking purposes, AKG has a pretty good line. I use the K-66's, and their great, but a drummer might have problems with them as far as bleed, and not hearing a tempo click.

I would also invest in Cubase, Sonar, or something like that if you are just using Cubase LE.

If you want to mike your toms separately, you can also look at the AKG (i think) ATM-25's or the Sennheiser e604's. Their cheap, especially on ebay, and they sound great. This is an option if you want to record more than 8 tracks at a time or if you or if you want to multitrack and record instruments separately from oneanother.
 
Jederino said:
So you have 2K to spend on top of what you already have?
Click to expand...

Yeah.

I like the Beta 58's more than the 87a's...
Sansamp Bass Driver looks pretty sweet too...
I'd probably get a Behringer DI for the keyboard as they seem fairly solid..
I've just remembered that I have a copy of cubase sx3 (i'm guessing its better than LE?)
Sennheiser e604's look amazing for the price on ebay, i'll probably end up getting those, unless theres something cheaper...

So now all I really need are some decent noise cancelling headphones for the drummer...
Also, is there anything that seems wrong with this setup?
And I guess I need to know how to set up a recording space...
 
Jonty said:
Yeah.


So now all I really need are some decent noise cancelling headphones for the drummer...
Also, is there anything that seems wrong with this setup?
And I guess I need to know how to set up a recording space...
Click to expand...

Not noise canceling headphones for the drummer. High isloation headphones. Closed back headphones that done let alot of sound in or out are best. Most of them that work well look like headphones from the 70's. They completely cup the ear and seal against the side of your head.

As for your room, that's another discusion all together. You can treat it cheap buy hanging lots of heavy blankets, etc. on the walls to deaden any natural reverb. Some rooms have nice natural reverb that you can work with, most average rooms do not and can give a honky/nasal sound to your recordings. accoustic guitars, vocals and drums suffer most when recording in a bad sounding room. You can use deadening, room position, the proper mic's and mic'ing techniques to overcome a bad sounding room.

F.S.
 
Hey jonty,
If you are interested in a like new with original box SM57, I've got one I'd sell.

Let me know.

Danno
 
dannoman said:
Hey jonty,
If you are interested in a like new with original box SM57, I've got one I'd sell.

Let me know.

Danno
Click to expand...

I live in Australia, so itd probably be the same as buying one here (I assume ur in the US of A??) But anyway, I don't have the money quite yet so no thanks m8, but thanx for the offer :D
 
Just another question: For all of those who use Pro Tools, would it be easier for later upgrades if I started with a 003R instead of the Fire Studio? I was jsut thinking its not that much more.. and all the professional studios where I live use Pro Tools...
 
Hey, welcome to HR.



To better answer your question, we need to know what you want to do and how you want to do it.

Are you going to be recording live shows, or recording in a studio?

Do you plan to record more than one instrument at a time?

I think the B1s are a good choice for starter OH mics.

I think you'll find that generally a good live vocal mic isn't the same creature as a good studio vocal mic - unless you've got lots and lots of gain to play with, and then we're looking at RE-20s and SM-7s. I don't have any experience with the Beta series mics for kick, but I do with the RE-20 and the D-112, and can readily recommend either.

Cubase LE is a good place to start but you'll want to migrate to something a little more full-featured before too long.


A general bit of entry-level advice on the order of importance in getting a good sound:

Talent
Instruments (quality, tuning, instrument care, etc.)
Room
Mics
Monitors
Preamps
Converters
Cables

Your end product is only going to be as strong as the weakest link in that chain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top