$1,000 is burning a hole in my pocket

J

JazzMasterWil

New member
Hey guys, I used to post here a lot but work has finally caught up with me and my spare time has really taken a beating. To make a long story shorter . . . . I was hanging out with some friends when somebody starting playing a cd he had made using cool edit pro (varisity edition). I was immediately hooked and I want to know more.

I have 1,000 bucks (hopefully I won't have to spend it all). I've been recording at home for years. (Mainly on 8 tracks and 4 tracks etc. . . ) and I'm ready to actually have a studio. My band plays loud crazy death metal stuff and I need to be able to record all of that stuff. It's pretty simple and I don't use a lot of effects or anything crazy. I would also like to try my hand at doing some drum and bass or trance style music. I was never really into the club scene, but; I really love some of that music.

Would cool edit and acid make a good combination for doing some techno stuff? I'd like to be able to play tracks backwards and do some other really weird stuff . . . I'd also like to have drum samples ready to go (or easy to program).

If I wanted to record my intruments and not use samples what would I need to buy? (I'm assuming some sort of interface or something).

Is there anyway that I can put something nice together for $1,000 bucks. Keeping in mind the only things I have that I can use are mics, intruments, cables, and a mixing board (I'm pretty sure I can get a used computer monitor for cheap as well). Other than that I will need everything from the computer on up.

If the Cool Edit / Acid pro isn't the best way to go, somebody please set me straight. I want to spend no more than 500 total on the computer (it doesn't have to come with a monitor). The computer I have now is a piece of junk and I really don't know if I can fix it up. . . . . Does anybody know if I could find a computer without all the stuff I don't need? I want to have the recording computer just be for recording and this computer to just be used for surfing.

I know I'm probally asking a lot out of a thousand dollars, but; I've done some (in my opinion) pretty impressive stuff with a tascam porta studio. So I have a feeling that I can make whatever I get work.

:D Any help would be greatly appericated. :D
 
It's doable. Your not gonna get a crazy fast system but a good enough one. I can't comment on any particular computer model, but I guess any 500 buck PC would do. What you need to really look out for are two things:
- Soundcard. If you want to record your entire band at once you need alot of imputs. That's gonna cost you. If you're gonna record stuff one at a time, any 2 channel recording soundcard will do. Something like the M-Audio delta 2496 is a good choice for a 100 bucks.
- Ram. Especially if you wanna use samples. I suggest 1 gig, even if the rest of your computer is not of equal power. Ram just matters. I used to have a 512mb ram box which was decent, but not that I've got 1gig, I can work on a project that now has up to 80 tracks and it's still running smooth.

Your choice of software is good. I'm not sure if you get alot of drumsamples with those software packages, but ask around and do some searching on the internet and you'll find a whole bucket of decent samples for free/cheap.

The main thing what you're not gonna be able to do is heavy processing. Plugins take CPU power, and since that's what's not gonna be top-notch, so you won't be able to build a 64 track project with 5 plugins on every track. However, your average 16 track project with 3 plugins per channel and a send or 2 should work fine.
 
A grand is a bit of a squeeze as you'd need a comp, interface and software. If you wanted to be able to record a few sources simultaneously this would drive the price up further still.

If you keep an eye on Dell outlet:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...line/en/InventorySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

you should be able to pick up a decent spec. desktop PC for $400-$500, especially if you don't need a monitor. Your minimum spec should probably be 512mb RAM (although a gig is nice if you can stretch to it), 80gb HDD and a Pentium 4 processor.

I've never used Acid Pro but for software I like Cubase SE it's only $100 and although it's a 'lighter' version it's pretty fully featured, I use it and have never found myself wanting for the additional features in SX. If you wanted to upgrade you can always do that and the price of SE will be deducted so you won't lose out anyway.

That would leave you maybe $400 for an interface, lots of options there depending on your requirements (MIDI, digital, number of ins/outs required? etc.). I use the M Audio Delta 1010LT and that gives me 8 analog ins/outs plus MIDI and digital in/out for $200.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Delta1010LT/

Wow, I guess $1000 isn't such a squeeze after all! :D You guys seem to get a bit more for your money over there.
 
if you can get a cheap monitor... buy a basic system online like at z-buy.com or something and don't get like a name brand Dell... then you can get a sweet system... then I suggest getting Cool Edit (now Adobe Audition) because it can handle loops and multiple inputs just fine (you don't need Acid) and then get Fruity Loops instead.
 
Whatever you do, don't look for any kind of deals for anything on eBay...rumor has it that it's impossible to get a great deal on ebay.



Although I don't really buy into that rumor....

Now for some hopefully useful info: you can look into barebones systems at a place like Newegg.com. Do you have the aptitude for putting systems together? It takes some scouring around the Net for deals, but I've been able to put together some decent systems for decent money. An easier approach would be (as mentioned above) the Dell outlet (purchased a couple of laptops this way with great success) and I've had success with various purchases from Tiger Direct too (never systems though).

Software wise: heard good things about Cool Edit and I've used Acid Pro at one point in my music production journey. I like Acid alot for looping stuff and creating crazy compositions, but kinda moved away from it into more robust multitrack options. Acid Pro isn't a little kid though - has some great functionality. Now I use Sonar 5, but Cakewalk also has lower priced options. Cubase SE wouldn't be bad either. I used SX a couple years ago, and as mentioned above, SE is just a stripped down version of that. Still can help you lay down some tracks.
 
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Check out Reason 3. I went to a demo night at my local shop and I'm thinking if you get a decent computer, a midi interface, a controller and Reason you'll have a great Techno setup. You can get it all for under a grand for sure,

Jacob
 
warble said:
Whatever you do, don't look for any kind of deals for anything on eBay...rumor has it that it's impossible to get a great deal on ebay.



Although I don't really buy into that rumor....
Click to expand...

I hear you can get that rumor pretty cheap at a place called ebay.
 
With a grand you got enough to put a down payment on a single channel Neve super duper pre. Then 3 more not so easy payments of 1000 clams and you're 2% equipped to take on the world!

Good luck! :D
 
Thanks for the help guys, I'm sorry I've been away from the computer for so long. The $1,000 bucks was a christmas bonus and I'm going to look into the stuff you guys suggested. Thanks again for the help.

P.S. for the record I already have about 10 lava lamps. I keep finding them at goodwill and yardsales for a buck or two and for whatever reason I keep buying them
 
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