A few Questions for the experienced.

  • Thread starter Thread starter so.so.young
  • Start date Start date
S

so.so.young

New member
well my names jason and i am new to recording and like many of you i have been in several bands i also have so many bands lined up to record. and i wanna do it right from the get go.
so a few simple Questions i got are.
I record drum/bass/guitar/misc. inst./vocals in that order right?
I have 32 square foot pieces of auralex and a large peice of that carpet foam
and i 12x8 room what would be the best way to soundalize it?
best way to record guitar?
any helpful tutorials out there for pro-tools?
When recording vocals and acoustic guitar do i really need to record them seperate?

any input would be awesome and so appreciated:D

by the way i am working with a profire 26x26 preface, sterling st-55 condenser mic, a shure 4-piece drum kit with 3 sm- 57 and i kick drum mic
and an audix i5
 
Last edited:
Technique is whatever you want - Separate, together, whatever gives you what you're looking for.

The room on the other hand... You can pretty much throw out the carpet foam and the Auralex (well, don't throw out the Auralex, it could come in handy somewhere). Always, ALWAYS start with the low end. Broadband trapping and lots of it - Especially in the room you're referring to (which is going to be an acoustic nightmare).
 
Hey that's cool that you're getting set up to record.

I gotta say though, i'd recommend buying or borrowing some books. You've asked what you think are simple questions... but the more you learn.. .the more complex you'll understand them to be.

http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Mus...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234802459&sr=8-1

I find it a great introduction. 20$ well spent.. will probably save you from wasting tons of money on other stuff.

You can learn lots on forums.. .but since it's not always presented in a logical, linear way, sometimes a book is a much better way to start off with and get a bit of the big picture.

Where is the post that the one dude has for Newbies? I should copy that and post it for him.. it's a great post...
 
so.so.young said:
well my names jason and i am new to recording and like many of you i have been in several bands i also have so many bands lined up to record. and i wanna do it right from the get go.
so a few simple Questions i got are.
I record drum/bass/guitar/misc. inst./vocals in that order right?
I have 32 square foot pieces of auralex and a large peice of that carpet foam
and i 12x8 room what would be the best way to soundalize it?
best way to record guitar?
any helpful tutorials out there for pro-tools?
When recording vocals and acoustic guitar do i really need to record them seperate?

any input would be awesome and so appreciated:D

by the way i am working with a profire 26x26 preface, sterling st-55 condenser mic, a shure 4-piece drum kit with 3 sm- 57 and i kick drum mic
and an audix i5
Click to expand...


I suggest you check out youtube for some tutorials for Pro Tools, and also google it. Sorry in advance if you have already used those options.

I'm new to the game myself, and what I find the most fun is trying out different set ups. The more you try the more experience you gain.

Don't limit yourself to one way of doing things because when you start recording for others you want to be as flexible as possible.

Anyways, let us know how you do.

Cheers
 
My obligatory standard reply-for-newbies that I keep in Wordpad:

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:
Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/07...ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)
You can also pick up this book in most any Borders or Barnes&Noble in the Music Books section!

Another good one is: Recording Guitar and Bass by Huw Price
http://www.amazon.com/Recording-Gui...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215734124&sr=1-1
(I got my copy at a place called Half-Price Books for $6!!)

And you can get a FREE subscription to TapeOp magazine at www.tapeop.com

Barnes&Noble or Borders are great places to start --- they have recording books and you can go get a snack or coffee and read them for FREE! Don't pass by a good recording book --- this is a VERY technical hobby and you REALLY want to start a reference library!!!

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics and have good tips:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig: http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

Also Good Info: http://www.theprojectstudiohandbook.com/directory.htm

Other recording books: http://musicbooksplus.com/home-recording-c-31.html

Still using a built-in soundcard?? Unfortunately, those are made with less than $1 worth of chips for beeps, boops and light gaming (not to mention cheapness for the manufacturer) and NOT quality music production.
#1 Rule of Recording: You MUST replace the built-in soundcard.
Here's a good guide and suggestions: http://www.tweakheadz.com/soundcards_for_the_home_studio.htm


Plenty of software around to record for FREE to start out on:

Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (multi-track with VST support)
Wavosaur: http://www.wavosaur.com/ (a stereo audio file editor with VST support)\
Kristal: http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
Other freebies and shareware: www.hitsquad.com/smm

Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $50 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)
I use Reaper and highly reccomend it...

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($25) and Harmony Assistant ($80) have the power of $600 notation packages - http://myriad-online.com
Demo you can try on the website.

And you can go out to any Barnes&Noble or Borders and pick up "Computer Music" magazine - they have a full FREE studio suite in every issue's DVD, including sequencers, plugins and tons of audio samples. (November 2006 they gave away a full copy of SamplitudeV8SE worth $150, November 2007-on the racks Dec in the US- they gave away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)
 
awesome guys i will definitley get those books i love reading! for real and i ws looking on amazon and all the books looked like they were made before recording studios were even a thing but thanks and i will def keep you posted with the music i make i started a lil hip hop band one night with the mic on my computer and garageband and got booked on a couple dates on volcom tour
 
Massive Master said:
Always, ALWAYS start with the low end. Broadband trapping and lots of it.
Click to expand...

Why do you always start with the low end? Just to be clear, I ask completely out of ignorance and not because I object to the suggestion. Also, I assume that this would be true in a listening\mixing\mastering environment since one can expect broadband signals in such an environment but what about a room used to record (baritone) vocals and acoustic guitar only? Do you feel that the same axiom applies there?

Thanks!
 
Bass traps are important for tracking AND mixing.

Bass waves are stronger than your mids and trebles and also take longer to develop. So you end up with bass waves bouncing back and stomping over mid and treble waves that are movin out.

Ya put some traps in corners (to start) and it kinda puts the brakes on the wave.

I'm no acoustic expert but I think, even though you're just done ac guitar and vox, you'd still end up winning with some traps set up. Giving you more of a level playing field (sonically speaking) to start with. Then, when it's mixtime, your level playing field just added to your ability to hear what you've tracked... correctly, or at least more so.

If ya can't hear it, ya can't fix it.
Know what I mean?

Luck man......Kel
 
jmcelroy said:
Why do you always start with the low end? Just to be clear, I ask completely out of ignorance and not because I object to the suggestion. Also, I assume that this would be true in a listening\mixing\mastering environment since one can expect broadband signals in such an environment but what about a room used to record (baritone) vocals and acoustic guitar only? Do you feel that the same axiom applies there?
Click to expand...
The low end energy is 90% of the problem in just about any room. So many people throw carpets or blankets or foam or what not all over the walls, killing the ambience and leaving the low end to be 100% of the problem (as if it being 90% wasn't enough).

Take care of the lows and the highs will follow - Although I have to admit, in over 25 years of doing this, I've never been in a room with "high end" problems. Ever. "Gee, that room has too much resonance at 7kHz" -- It just doesn't happen.

And even with very minor top end issues - Comb filtering, unwanted slap -- Once the low end is under control, those problems are usually gone. Broadband trapping tends to soften the high end also - Sometimes too much. You might notice that RealTraps offers a "live" option on their broadband traps (I'm sure they call it something different, but that's the idea). A room without high end ambience sounds like crap - Completely unrealistic to the ear (and therefore, completely unrealistic to a microphone).

Back to the treatments --

Sound energy is going to gather in the corners (which is why you basically always start with broadband traps in all the corners before anything else). Trying to dial in any minor high-end issues with all that low end bouncing around is nearly impossible. If you take care of the lows first (which again, usually takes care of 90% of the high end issues also), at least you'll be able to make a clear and educated analysis of whatever high end problems might remain, take a sheet or two of foam (or better, more broadband traps) and knock 'em out. Otherwise, you start throwing foam all over the place, it doesn't really help, so you throw more foam around, it doesn't really help, so more foam (or those horrible foam corner things) and gee, that doesn't really help - And then you wind up with a room as mentioned before - All mud, no ambience. Happens all the time.
 
Massive Master said:
..or those horrible foam corner things...
Click to expand...

*removes Auralex foam corners from shopping cart*

I will definitely change my strategy. Man, I'm really thankful for this (new-to-me) forum and it's associated search function!

Thanks!
 
I actually used to have some of those. I put my bass traps in front of them at one point.




Seriously - True story.
 
In all seriousness would R30 fiberglass insulation still wrapped and rolled densely have any bass trapping effects?
 
You can use bats of R30 in the bag and stack them in the corners. Works fairly well. Build a cloth covered frame out of 1x2's and it'll even look pretty.
 
Threads like this REALLY make me wish I had a spare room to dedicate to recording. I work in my bedroom, which seeing as I live in Boston isn't exactly spacious, and I don't really have closet space to store bass traps when not in use.

Ah well, one of these days... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top