Newbie Home Recording/Studio Advice

drbabbers

New member
All,

I was after some advice on setting up a little studio to record my 3 piece band at rehearsal. I have basic experience with sequencers and have done a few amateur recordings using USB audio interfaces.

I want to get into the world of multitrack recording as I want to be able to record a 4 piece drum kit and cymbals.

I am using a Macbook Pro with Mac OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.6 and it has 2 USB interfaces.

Ideally I need recommendations on what hardware and software I should purchase. At this stage I am not too concerned by mics, I just want to secure the basics and build from there.

I have taken a look at this site: 'Tweak's Guide to the Home and Project Studio' which was very informative. It looks to me like I need to purchase a mixer with at least 4 or 5 inputs/simultaneous tracks. I would like the setup to be portal if possible!

Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks.
D
 
I have just had a browse on the web and have been comparing Computer Audio Interfaces vs Hard Disk Based Multitracks.. I don't have to use my Mac and at this level would be willing to start the basics on the multitrack as a standalone.. Once again any help is very welcome..
 
I use a ZOOM R16. It's an 8 channel interface that can also record as a standalone using SD Cards. It packs some decent onboard effects and the pre's are usable. It's been a pretty reliable piece of gear.
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Thanks for the reply. What software do you use on the Mac in conjunction with it?

I have had a look on google and a popular match seems to be the Tascam family of USB audio interfaces. Ideally I want one with multiple XLR inputs. They seem pretty good value for money also.

D
 
Thanks for the reply. What software do you use on the Mac in conjunction with it?

I have had a look on google and a popular match seems to be the Tascam family of USB audio interfaces. Ideally I want one with multiple XLR inputs. They seem pretty good value for money also.

D
The ZOOM has 8 XLR inputs with phantom power plus 2 built in condensors.
I run Sonar 8.5 on a PC laptop. I also run Reaper on a netbook. The Tascam M-164uf gets pretty good reveiws around here as well.
Product: M-164UF | TASCAM
 
I have used Reaper before on a Windows laptop and it was pretty awesome. I presume you can setup it up to talk to the 8 track?

My mate has a Zoom HD16 - 16 track hard disk multitrack for sale pretty cheap which looks really good. Anyone have any experience with one of these? It has 8 XLR inputs which will ideal for recording us live in the studio.
 
I have used Reaper before on a Windows laptop and it was pretty awesome. I presume you can setup it up to talk to the 8 track?

My mate has a Zoom HD16 - 16 track hard disk multitrack for sale pretty cheap which looks really good. Anyone have any experience with one of these? It has 8 XLR inputs which will ideal for recording us live in the studio.

Yeah, I routinely ran 8 simultaneous channels into Reaper from the ZOOM.

Here's a good forum for HD16, and any other ZOOM product questions.

Zoom Gear & Home Recording Forum • Index page
 
Very helpful reply thank you.

Am I correct in assuming that I can record the band in the studio directly into the 8 track, take the multitrack home, interface it to my Mac/Reaper and then mix?

Ta.
D
 
Very helpful reply thank you.

Am I correct in assuming that I can record the band in the studio directly into the 8 track, take the multitrack home, interface it to my Mac/Reaper and then mix?

Ta.
D

Exactly. Both the HD16 and R16 store song data as .wav files. Plug them into your computer via USB and the comp will see them as mass storage devices...just drag the files and drop them into Reaper.
 
Exactly. Both the HD16 and R16 store song data as .wav files. Plug them into your computer via USB and the comp will see them as mass storage devices...just drag the files and drop them into Reaper.

Excellent! I got a sweet deal on a HD16 which I am collecting this Friday. :-)

I appreciate the advice man you have been very helpful.

Can I ask another question... I am interested in 'drum triggers', is this something that is achievable in Reaper? I basically want to record my kit using the HD16 and then EQ the drums with a specific sound/sample. Hope that makes sense!

D
 
One other thing.. I am right in saying that I can also attach my HD16 to my Mac, fire up Reaper and do all of the control/live recording from my software? Without touching the HD16 buttons? Sorry for all the questions..

D
 
Excellent! I got a sweet deal on a HD16 which I am collecting this Friday. :-)

I appreciate the advice man you have been very helpful.

Can I ask another question... I am interested in 'drum triggers', is this something that is achievable in Reaper? I basically want to record my kit using the HD16 and then EQ the drums with a specific sound/sample. Hope that makes sense!

D

I don't have a good answer for the drum question, however Reaper will host drum samples and VSTI kits that can be triggered via Midi, but I'm unsure as to whether or not the HD16 can record or render Midi events. Probably a good question to post in that ZOOM forum I linked to earlier.
 
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One other thing.. I am right in saying that I can also attach my HD16 to my Mac, fire up Reaper and do all of the control/live recording from my software? Without touching the HD16 buttons? Sorry for all the questions..

D

The HD is not setup to be used as an interface, so no, you can't record straight into Reaper. You can record to the HD then move those files over to Reaper, but that's as far as it goes. However, the HD16 can be used as a control surface for some DAW programs...I know it's set up to control Cubase...
You have to move to the R series to get interface functionality I believe.:cool:
 
Reaper doesn't support many control surfaces natively. If you have a nice hardware multitracker, I'd use that for tracking and then export the track files to Reaper. The advantage of standalone units is that they're self-contained and don't require futzing around with configuration and setup.
 
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