Brand New recording junkie!!

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ovenomojr

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Hey mates my name is Ryley. being only 17 this will be my first set up in recording and seeing as im using birthday money my budget is not the best
I sing, quite a lot actually and am in the process of finally setting up a serious band. the question on everyone's mind is how will we get studio quality recordings if we don't have money. so it hit me, i will learn to record!, i built my own computer , and have watched countless videos just to make this work and come may 30th i will be setting up what may be the cheapest and most laughable set up any of you could imagine i already have a nice 250 dollar mxl mic , the sound is really great, and it uses phantom power, here will be my budget rig. if any of you can improve on it , or tell me some tips on getting studio quality mixes it would be appreciated
(i already have recording mics)
Restock M-Audio Studiophile AV30 Speaker System
AKG K-44MKII Headphones
some monster cables
M-Audio Fast Track Pro Mobile USB Interface with Pro Tools SE
all of that is a total of around $360
 
Welcome to what might become one of the potentially most expensive hobbies of your life :D

Thst set-up looks pretty good...seems like you've covered all the basics. If I had to improve anything off the bat, I'd try to save up for better monitors. As for good recording tips....it's all about the mic placement!! :)
 
Welcome to recording engineering. One of the best tips I can think to give you, is to make sure the instruments you are recording sound good to begin with. Fresh heads on the drums properly tuned, guitars with proper intonation and well tuned, well arranged songs and then, like guitaristic said, good mic placement.
The interface you have chosen can only record two mics at a time so it will work great for recording the band playing "live" but not for having individual mics on each instrument.
 
Hey Ryley :)

If you have a small budget, you might wanna take a look at REAPER. While it's not a one stop shop for audio, midi, mixing and mastering etc. it has a very reasonable price at $60.

I think PT is a little overrated, and while it can do a lot, there is software that is capable of the same stuff at a fraction of the price.

Like I've said to some other people, give some trial versions a spin and find the one that you work the best with.

Have fun! I don't even have a decent audio interface yet :P

I've said this in other posts, but use what you work the best with, not what your friends might use or what is the industry standard.
 
240v said:
While it's not a one stop shop for audio, midi, mixing and mastering etc.......
Click to expand...

That might depend a lot on what plugins you have. If you can do all that stuff in Cubase or Sonar then you can do all that stuff in Reaper.

I realize PT LE came free with your interface, but there is a reason why they do that. After you become more "involved" you will - sooner or later - discover something you need to do that PT LE won't do because you have to buy the full "pro" version to do some of those things. They are simply hoping to get you hooked on it so they can suck you down into the money pit buying upgrades every year, etc..... Same with Cubase and Sonar. Every "upgrade" I paid for with Sonar had absolutely no impact on the things I do and use every day. Money down the drain for nothing.

If you have the spare $60 bucks then Reaper is your best bet by far. If you cant figure it out in Reaper then you really don't belong in Pro Tools either. In your situation, Reaper will do way more than you will ever need to do.

I would recommend some nice headphones, maybe two so you can monitor a recording while your singer uses the other pair to sing the track. I'd also recommend a small luxury. Since you built your own computer, you should get a video card that lets you use two monitors. Screen space is priceless when you are mixing and recording and editing.
 
I would second those who suggested to buy Reaper. 60 bucks ain't bad. It's pretty barebones in terms of fancy doo-dads and detailed effects (part of its charm ;)), but you can find plenty of free VST Plugins and instruments online to get you started
 
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