Advice for a complete novice

[Jamthesun]

Hi Guys,

A couple of friends and I get together every couple of weeks to play and have a beer. We have a guitarist, bass and singer. We've written a few songs and would really like to record them and polish them up a little. We'd like to be able to add some drum tracks and keyboards (the singer can play a little piano) and anything else that we think might add something - sample I guess. At any one time it is unlikely that we will record more than four things - guitar , bass, vocals, piano although backing vocals maybe sometimes. Other instruments would be added at a later date. The problem is none of us know anything about recording. We're looking for something we can get into quite easily at a low entry cost. Having done a little research I am kinda tempted by a software mixer (with the facility to edit vocals (the singer can be a bit flakey!) to create the total song but I really like the idea of some hardware that you can use to adjust the sound while recording rather than keep fiddling with a mouse. A lot of what I read about equipment is at this stage complete gobledigook though I'm sure we'll get the hang of it.

As you can see we're a bit confused so I'm really looking for advice on a reasonable set up to get us going. Can you help?

 

[tc4b]

Do you have a computer? If so, something like this would be a good start. If you want a hardware mixer, maybe something like this.

 

[TimOBrien]

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)

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:
http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm
http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

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) 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
Another great option is REAPER at http://www.cockos.com/reaper/ (It's $40 but runs for free until you get guilty enough to pay for it...)

Music Notation and MIDI recording: Melody Assistant ($20) 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're giving away SamplitudeV9SE. It pays to watch 'em for giveaways...)

 

[Daisy]

I would recommend, just for starters, to stay away from the whole computer recording thing. Seriously, it will suck you in, and before you know it you'll be in for a much longer ride than you originally bargained for.

What I would do is pick up a used digital multitracker ... something portable, with editing capabilities and with a few effects you can horse around with, etc. See if you can scrounge up something like a Roland VS-880 off Craigslist or a pawn shop.

With something like that, you'll have more than enough to record some rough scratch tracks, lay some ideas down, etc. You can learn an awful lot with it, and the quality is actually quite decent. Once you get to the point where you've outgrown it, you'll know.

 

[zorf]

Sensible advice.
Since there are more than one of you, look for something that will let you record more than 2 tracks at a time.
Don't forget to have fun!

 

[Treeline]

Something like this will get you started and will stay useful even if you start working with more sophisticated gear. $400.00. This will record four tracks at once. Click on the pic for more information. I assume they're available in the UK as well.



And for about $ 1,200 -- This will record eight tracks at once.



Ebay auction for a Boss 1600 - price around $800.

I have one of these and I can recommend it highly to start out; the preamps are really high quality and the sound quality will be better than any of the other examples I listed. No longer in production, but with a strong user following. These were about $ 3k when they came out, just before the USB / firewire standard hit. Fantastic unit. These do not have onboard CD burners; they are available on ebay but the easier thing is to mix down to stereo on the unit and use the outputs to send the tracks to a computer and burn the disk from there. I also have a way to send six tracks at once to a computer, but that takes a bit of doing. Look for a selling price between $ 450 and $ 700 on ebay. Click on the pic.

 

[drbluezz]

"[...I would recommend, just for starters, to stay away from the whole computer recording thing. Seriously, it will suck you in, and before you know it you'll be in for a much longer ride than you originally bargained for...]"


No truer words were spoken.


Tom

 

[Treeline]

oops. post deleted.

 

[Weasel9992]

I like Treeline's multitrack advice...I think that's the ticket for you. It's relatively easy to operate and it'll do exactly what you need it to do and nothing else. Plus, if you ever do decide to get more serious, you can always go in another direction (DAW, outboard, etc.) and keep the multitrack for recording ideas. I still have one.

Weez