A Modest Perspective on Home Recording

[smili]

I think sometimes you have to go through the gear acquisition syndrome before you realize it's usually not the gear. For me anyway it was more like - yeah, this mic or new piece of gear sounds better, but I really just don't know what I'm doing. good post.

 

[Bristol Posse]

Good post
About the only thing I'd add is:

Lesson six, mixing is the means to the end, not the end in of itself. No matter how many clever plugins or analog FX you have, you get far better results by trying to get the sound right to start with and capture it as best as humanly possible than trying all kinds of tricks in the DAW to try and "Fix in the mix". Less is often more where plugin FX are concerned

 

[sixer2007]

On the topic of recording live drums, I don't think it has to be all that expensive, especially if looking for used equipment. A buddy of mine just picked up a used Tascam interface with 8 ins for only $180. When I first started, I wanted to do real drums so I bought a drum mic pack (Cad Pro 7; the same pack that Greg uses, and he gets fantastic sounds!) for only about $150. The pack comes with a really nice super cardioid dynamic for the snare, which I have used on multiple projects in place of a 57 on guitar cabs. Maybe it needs a touch of extra EQ in comparison, but I like the sounds I've gotten with it.

My point being, for less than $400 you can get a great interface that you likely won't out grow, and a set of very versatile mics. Add in a decent used LDC and don't look back. Just figure out the best uses for the mics and learn them well. Recording live drums can be tough, but extremely fun and well worth the time spent. I think they blow programmed drums out of the water, especially when the programmer isn't a drummer!

Thanks for the read, was a good one!

 

[snow lizard]

I'm sure I'll catch flack for this, but whenever I see someone advise a novice recording engineer just getting into the hobby they should go out and get an analog recorder and mixer, I cringe. Probably the worst advice to give to someone just starting out in today's day and age. Chances are it has nothing to do with their personal musical goals and budget. I say, go digital and see if you're serious about this HR thing. After you've got some experience check out somebody's analog recording rig and see if you like the workflow. Then make a decision about whether it's right or not for their method.

Good point. You can take a similar mindset for a lot of gear purchases.

Good gear and using the right tool for the job at hand is important to a point, but it's highly unlikely to be the thing holding you back from better recordings if you're just starting out. Even a modest home recording rig is way better than what we had 15 years ago.

 

[bigdaddysun]

New to home recording after 30 years

attention spans these days are pretty scary. I thought the article was well put together and concise.

I have been recording and creating sounds since the mid 70's when i studied electronic music at U of I urbana, IL. We had test equipment tone generators with knobs and switches and the "state of the art" (LOL) Putney Performer with patch cords to get different tones. Analog tape bounced back and forth for layering and "real" tape loops. What is now called sampling was done with a razor blade and tape splices to manipulate recorded sounds.

After that I was used to letting "real" engineers do the heavy lifting until a few years ago. see: Thundertone Audio, Kingsize Sound Labs, Pogo Studio. I built the original studios for these companies.


That said, the digital gear these days is a godsend. What took hours now takes seconds. If you use even cheap condensors and tube preamps into a digital system the results can be great.

I use Reaper which can be free or a modest $50 license fee. I have Art tube preamps and an assortment of Audio Technica, ADK, MXL and Shures. I rarely buy anything new.

 

[bigdaddysun]

Garbage in, garbage out...

Good post
About the only thing I'd add is:

Lesson six, mixing is the means to the end, not the end in of itself. No matter how many clever plugins or analog FX you have, you get far better results by trying to get the sound right to start with and capture it as best as humanly possible than trying all kinds of tricks in the DAW to try and "Fix in the mix". Less is often more where plugin FX are concerned

 

[grimtraveller]

I'm sure I'll catch flack for this, but whenever I see someone advise a novice recording engineer just getting into the hobby they should go out and get an analog recorder and mixer, I cringe. Probably the worst advice to give to someone just starting out in today's day and age.

Quite often, people starting out have a feeling for one or the other. It's quite interesting when someone wants to start out on a R2R or cassette portastudio. I guess people chop and change. Some of the guys in the analog forum might well advise starting out with an analog rig and they'd have their reasons for doing so, in the interests of balance.

I think sometimes you have to go through the gear acquisition syndrome before you realize it's usually not the gear.

Whether or not you have to go through it, I can't say. But many do go through it. I think much of it is born from natural curiosity.

On the topic of recording live drums, I don't think it has to be all that expensive, especially if looking for used equipment.

From when I started playing bass, after about 10 months my good mate that played drums and I started jamming. This was '82. I still have all the tapes of jams we did from '82~'92. But drums have pretty much always been part of my playing musical landscape. The idea of using drums has never been odd to me. Not using them would be odd for me ! It's as natural to me as having a guitar and a bass. Whatever the expense, I've never thought about it. But I don't consider it expensive.

 

[fuzzsniffvoyage]

Good topic. It's going to make me rethink my home studio expansion plans. Instead of burning through my yearly budget in January, I'm going to wait for a few months, keep recording and learn to use what I have.

 

[mjbphotos]

On the topic of recording live drums, I don't think it has to be all that expensive, especially if looking for used equipment. A buddy of mine just picked up a used Tascam interface with 8 ins for only $180. When I first started, I wanted to do real drums so I bought a drum mic pack (Cad Pro 7; the same pack that Greg uses, and he gets fantastic sounds!) for only about $150. The pack comes with a really nice super cardioid dynamic for the snare, which I have used on multiple projects in place of a 57 on guitar cabs. Maybe it needs a touch of extra EQ in comparison, but I like the sounds I've gotten with it.

My point being, for less than $400 you can get a great interface that you likely won't out grow, and a set of very versatile mics. Add in a decent used LDC and don't look back. Just figure out the best uses for the mics and learn them well. Recording live drums can be tough, but extremely fun and well worth the time spent. I think they blow programmed drums out of the water, especially when the programmer isn't a drummer!

Thanks for the read, was a good one!

You are assuming the recordist has a good room for recording drums - I would venture to say that most home recordists probably don't.

 

[grimtraveller]

You are assuming the recordist has a good room for recording drums - I would venture to say that most home recordists probably don't.

Probably not. But I have to say, that to me, whether it's a great kit or a lame one, a wonderful room or a shitty one, well tuned kit or not at all, to me it always sounds like drums. Therefore the lack of whatever a good room may be is not an impediment. I honestly wouldn't know whether a recording was done in a good room or not if you held a gun to my gonads.
Though, in that case, I might hazard a guess.

 

[joms]

Very helpful to noobs like me but I got lost on several things.

An example is, you mentioned that we can use software plugins that can perform as good as those used by pros and gone are the days of expensive plugins. You then mentioned how important it is as it will give a huge impact on quality so you said a good strip like the SSL clone. Upon searching google, i saw that the SSL clone is a hardware and not a software plugin and it costs a lot of money....

I got lost here....

Fyi im a total noob. As in total

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Fyi im a total noob. As in total

You're lucky! Never before has there been a better time to start recording thanks to the profusion of high quality, low cost tools. However, it can get confusing with the number of choices out there, so always carefully weigh whether or not you "need" something or not, and seek advice from peers.

An example is, you mentioned that we can use software plugins that can perform as good as those used by pros and gone are the days of expensive plugins.

Software plugins have dropped dramatically in price the last few years. About 10 years ago many of the best sounding plugins were TDM's designed for expensive ProTools HD systems and not readily accessed by home recordists. Those days, however, are OVER.

You then mentioned how important it is as it will give a huge impact on quality so you said a good strip like the SSL clone.

Check out the SSL E and G channel strips by Waves, or Universal Audio's SSL 4000 plugins. They are good examples of today's powerful plugins that give top notch sound for reasonable prices (few hundred bucks).

Upon searching google, i saw that the SSL clone is a hardware and not a software plugin and it costs a lot of money....

SSL hardware does; plugins emulating their most popular products are not.

 

[joms]

Can you give me your top 5 plugins to get/buy? Im actually interested in recording vocals (singing) and maybe in time, record guitar too (still learning). I dont want to get the SSL strip yet since its rather expensive for someone new in this field. By the way, im only a hobbyist

Is there an easy plugin set wherein id just sing, record my voice then run it on the plugins with its default value then save it without that much tinkering involved and it will turn my voice from a karaoke recording to a somewhat respectable sounding singer?

As of now i bought the SM7b, focusrite ISA one preamp, NI Kompete 6 interface and im looking for an easy to understand DAW for recording voice and eventually guitar. (Ive read that cubase is a favorite of many)

My bedroom is untreated and i cant do anything about it.

 

[Bristol Posse]

Is there an easy plugin set wherein id just sing, record my voice then run it on the plugins with its default value then save it without that much tinkering involved and it will turn my voice from a karaoke recording to a somewhat respectable sounding singer?

Not really, no. it would be nice if that were possible, but if you think about how every voice is different and every song is different in so many ways, the idea that someone creating an all encompassing plugin that will know what you want the end result to sound like and how much compression, saturation, reverb, delay and EQ you want or how it might need to change in the verses, bridge and the choruses to make any vocal sound "respectable" and "not like Karaoke", which are pretty loose definitions, you'll see how unlikely it is.

Unfortunately it's one of those time and practice things regardless of which plugins or hardware you use

The main focus should be on the front end. Writing a good song with a good arrangement, performing as well as you can, using mic positioning to get the best possible recording will have the most impact. Everything after that is diminishing returns.

 

[Elton123]

This is all great stuff. Its such a different process to go through now. New recording enthusiasts used to learn how to capture a sound first, then learn to mix it later. Now with the immediate studio in a box its the opposite. Get something recorded quickly and then spend hours mixing it and wondering why it doesn't sound like a record??! Slap a preset on something, and learn later what all the parameters mean and how they affect the source. This is also happening in live PA situations. I wont deny the ease of use and the advantage of digital, but the learning process seems backwards to me. I think its great that so many people can get their music out now, and thank goodness because alot of it is quite good. Otherwise we'd be stuck with top 40. If i were talking to a newb, i would say be patient. It takes time to develop the skills. And in the end, like said so many times in this forum, its about the capture. The room, performance, instrument, "right"mic, pre and mic technique. Get that going and the rest will fall into place.
As for midi or live drums, yes u can make midi work for you, but to me their is no comparison to live drums. The feel and little nuances of a good drummer are hard to duplicate. Some situations or genres work better for midi drums than others, but a real performance on a kit in the right situation is hard to beat.

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

Im actually interested in recording vocals (singing) and maybe in time, record guitar too (still learning). I dont want to get the SSL strip yet since its rather expensive for someone new in this field. By the way, im only a hobbyist

Can you give me your top 5 plugins to get/buy?

Since it seems you are just starting out my advice is to buy nothing. Use whatever comes in your DAW. When you get more experience and learn what YOU want or need--then part with your money.

For guitar I recommend recording direct with either Native Instruments Guitar Rig or IK Multimedia's Amplitube. Relatively low cost and capable of sounding highly authentic and great. I've heard stuff recorded through software like this kill stuff done in fairly well-equipped studios in the hands of the right people. Doubters will doubt, but you'll never beat the bang-for-the-buck of these types of products.

Is there an easy plugin set wherein id just sing, record my voice then run it on the plugins with its default value then save it without that much tinkering involved and it will turn my voice from a karaoke recording to a somewhat respectable sounding singer?

No.

Vocals are tough. First you have to be a respectable SINGER to even have a chance to sound like one. Then you need to make sure it's captured well. I'm not talking insanely expensive gear chains in the thousands of dollars with vintage U47's and stuff.... I'm saying the room needs to be reasonably good sounding, song needs to be decent, performances good, singer good, compression/EQ/FX settings appropriate and tasteful... you know--the "good rule." No plugin can give all of that or compensate for it.

Sorry, but good vocals seldom just happen. They are planned for. This is something you will learn by doing, experimenting and trying. Ask any big shot engineer and they'll tell you the critical element of any album are the vocals... this gets a lot of attention. It requires a capable, dextrous hand to make happen. Keep at it.

As of now i bought the SM7b, focusrite ISA one preamp, NI Kompete 6 interface and im looking for an easy to understand DAW for recording voice and eventually guitar. (Ive read that cubase is a favorite of many)

Cubase is a fine product. Most DAW's are equally great sounding and powerful. The big difference is work flow or emphasis of what they are "best for." For example, Ableton is incredible for electronic music and DJ's, not as effective IMHO for tracking live music (but can still do it). Personally, my favorite DAW's are Cubase (easy to use, balanced emphasis on sequencing and audio, not a ton of bells and whistles compared to some, however) or Logic (ridiculously powerful, cost effective, but a higher learning curve).

My bedroom is untreated and i cant do anything about it.

Try this low-cost, effective solution:

Primacoustic Acoustic Solutions

 

[jshannon59]

Great Post! To me it was an excellent pep talk to get my ass recording and mixing and stop worrying about having better "stuff".