Brand new to Audio.

[Sig]

I am COMPLETELY NEW to making music.

Never played and instrument, Never used any softwware programs. I never sang anything before. Absolutely nothing.

I was watching this video on podcasting, which was what I originally was looking into to, and this guy recommended all this stuff for it.

I didnt think I needed all of that though.

Anyhow, I ended up dropping like 600 of some audio equipment, and I am kinda getting hooked on this whole audio thing.



This is what I bought.

Audio Technica AT 2035 Mic

Alesis Multimix 8 USB

Sennheiser HD380 Pro Headphones

Boom and Pop filter

I have plans for a buying a keyboard and monitors here pretty soon too.

I also have fruity Loops 8

I want to start making some music with it now, but I am having a problem.

The only way for me to record from my mic is to use Asoi4ALL, which I have.

I can do that no problem, but I cant hear anything as I am recording or in playback.

I have to switch the audio settings to Primary Sound Driver or my sound card to be able to hear anything.

The problem with those is that I dont get the option for input in fruity loops, which is what I am using.

Is there a way to record and playback without having to switch them all the time.



Also, when I do record with my mic, I have and annoying echo to it, and it picks up everything in my room.

How do I get rid of that?

There is a low cut switch on my mic, which do I set it to?

Straight line or the one that slants down?

Also, what do I set the pad switch to? 0db or -10db?

I have looked up online, but cant find any direct answers.

I have also messed with all kinds of settings with my mic, software, and the mixer.

I just dont know what to do now! lol

Any help to get me started and going in the right direction is appreciated.

Here is a pic of my setup so far.

 

[mixsit]

Yikes. Music and recording at the same time? Sounds like you're in for quite the learning curve.
Begin with the manuals -at first they won't make a lot of sense but as you go things will become clearer. Perhaps start with the sections on how to get signal in and out on the sound card and program. Look for user groups that deal specifically with your gear', youtube tutorials- seeing it helps.
Ask specific questions. That's easier to respond to.

 

[gecko zzed]

Leave the microphone at its default settings to start with.

Have you got speakers on while you are recording? That would cause those unwanted sounds you mentioned. Use headphones.

Where are you monitoring from. If you can't hear stuff, you could be monitoring from the wrong place. Try monitoring from the interface, using its headphone output.

You should probably spend more time on manuals and less time on distractions . . . like those on the other screen.

 

[Sig]

Yikes. Music and recording at the same time? Sounds like you're in for quite the learning curve.
Begin with the manuals -at first they won't make a lot of sense but as you go things will become clearer. Perhaps start with the sections on how to get signal in and out on the sound card and program. Look for user groups that deal specifically with your gear', youtube tutorials- seeing it helps.
Ask specific questions. That's easier to respond to.

I have read the manuals as I always do with every piece of tech or gadget, and still dont know how to do it.
They can only teach you so much, so I asked for help on here.
And I have watched ALOT of videos and read alot of tutorials online, but they dont answer my answers.
And they were specific to the point. lol

Leave the microphone at its default settings to start with.

Have you got speakers on while you are recording? That would cause those unwanted sounds you mentioned. Use headphones.

Where are you monitoring from. If you can't hear stuff, you could be monitoring from the wrong place. Try monitoring from the interface, using its headphone output.

You should probably spend more time on manuals and less time on distractions . . . like those on the other screen.

I was using speakers, but I turned them off and started using my headphones, and I still get the echo.
I am monitoring from the interface with my headphones.

I have read the manuals. They give all the technical stuff, and not the why, and didnt help me much. I learned a few things though.

And she isnt a discration. Just a beauty.

 

[mattr]

The pad should be used if the source is too loud and you've run out of headroom on your preamps. I don't suspect you'll need to use this The low-cut switch rolls off the lows below a certain point, usually around 80hz.

The mic is picking up the sound of your room because that's what mic's do. Unfortunately they're not magic and its something you have to learn to contend with

The AT2035 has a cardioid polar pattern, which means it has quite a good, narrow focus and rejects a lot of sound from the rear and sides. You can use this to your advantage by positioning the mic such that the things making the noise are positioned in the rear null. Remember that you'll still get lots of the reflections of the sound off the wall though, and you'll probably still get some nasty room sound on your voice in an untreated room.

You can try working close to the mic (unless you are already as close as you can get!) which will give you a drier sound, with your voice louder in comparison to the room/echo. By the way, your pop filter looks very close at the moment. Ideally you want a few inches space between the shield and the mic for it to be most effective

Enjoy! Its a bit of a steep learning curve at first.

 

[mixsit]

I have read the manuals as I always do with every piece of tech or gadget, and still dont know how to do it.
They can only teach you so much, so I asked for help on here.
And I have watched ALOT of videos and read alot of tutorials online, but they dont answer my answers.
And they were specific to the point.

Yes but part of the point would be it's easier to give and get quality answerer to a small range of inquiry rather than a laundry list.

There is a low cut switch on my mic, which do I set it to?
Straight line or the one that slants down?

And granted, this is one of your easier questions, still a good example of how after looking, and considering the info, after a few time it will makes sense..
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/resource_library/literature/bdcb8131ab1a8b43/at2035_ss_e.pdf
Page 2.
A ferq. plot shows how a mic picks different frequencies. The text gives examples of when you might want it.
This manual doesn't however mention that as you get within a few inches the base response actually increases over what's shown on the plot. Low cut can compensate for that if need be too.