All I want to do...
- Thread starter Rockr56
- Start date
I read the ????? and it semmed like an easy enough answer. but I don't quite get why you would wanna record guitar & vocals simeutaneously......You understand you'll be recording the guitar into one track......but the vocal track would be picking it up again through the mic........or maybe I didn't quite get what u were sayin....but anyhow......the absolute least you'll need.....is a 4-track and a mic.....the least expensive 4 track I can't answer cuz I haven't used one since the turn of the century, but they still do make them.......check out your local pro-audio shop or some of the on line vendors like musiciansfriend and see what they go for
Michaelyu5
New member
From Newbie to Newbie
Hey,
You and I are at about the same level of experience....except I have posted that question in about 10 different variations! Heres what I know....
I have a Tascam 4 track. You can get one for a 150 bucks. You will need 2 mics. I dont have expensive ones so I cant recommend one but I have a Shure SM57 for the guitar (acoustic) and a Nady 'el-cheapo' that I got from Musicians Friend....for vocals.
Put the guitar mic at an angle (45%?) about 6 inches from your sound hole. You can also place it at the 12th fret or about there for a different sound. Place the mic for vocals facing up towards your mouth. This may help isloate the vocals from the guitar a little. Playing with the placement of the mics will create some pretty big differences in your sound. Play with them. Listen and record severl minutes while you tweek the sound and then record. Let me again state I am the Mayor of Simpleton in these matters. There are lots of technical words and theories and names for what you can do but I dont know enought to post them here as I dont fully understand them myself. Afterall I dont have a clue about this stuff really but I read a lot here and am slowly but surely investing and upgrading my gear. I do have several hours of recorded stuff and when I can bear to go back and listen to it....I hear the quality improving a little at a time because Im taking the advice I read here. Also, just play your stuff a lot because when you know it, you can then go and record the guitar seprately from the vocals....
Oh yeah, goto a book store and buy (or read) the "Musicians Guide to Home Recording". It has everything you need to know to get started. Read all through these posts as well. These guys send out great links to sites that you can just spend hours surfing through. Check this one out for starters. Shure gets hammered a lot in here but on our level, I think at least the knowledge at this site may help you out.
http://www.shure.com/booklets/techpubs.html
Good luck and please dont hammer me for offering to help...If Ive passed on bad 'gouge' let us both know...
Michael
Hey,
You and I are at about the same level of experience....except I have posted that question in about 10 different variations! Heres what I know....
I have a Tascam 4 track. You can get one for a 150 bucks. You will need 2 mics. I dont have expensive ones so I cant recommend one but I have a Shure SM57 for the guitar (acoustic) and a Nady 'el-cheapo' that I got from Musicians Friend....for vocals.
Put the guitar mic at an angle (45%?) about 6 inches from your sound hole. You can also place it at the 12th fret or about there for a different sound. Place the mic for vocals facing up towards your mouth. This may help isloate the vocals from the guitar a little. Playing with the placement of the mics will create some pretty big differences in your sound. Play with them. Listen and record severl minutes while you tweek the sound and then record. Let me again state I am the Mayor of Simpleton in these matters. There are lots of technical words and theories and names for what you can do but I dont know enought to post them here as I dont fully understand them myself. Afterall I dont have a clue about this stuff really but I read a lot here and am slowly but surely investing and upgrading my gear. I do have several hours of recorded stuff and when I can bear to go back and listen to it....I hear the quality improving a little at a time because Im taking the advice I read here. Also, just play your stuff a lot because when you know it, you can then go and record the guitar seprately from the vocals....
Oh yeah, goto a book store and buy (or read) the "Musicians Guide to Home Recording". It has everything you need to know to get started. Read all through these posts as well. These guys send out great links to sites that you can just spend hours surfing through. Check this one out for starters. Shure gets hammered a lot in here but on our level, I think at least the knowledge at this site may help you out.
http://www.shure.com/booklets/techpubs.html
Good luck and please dont hammer me for offering to help...If Ive passed on bad 'gouge' let us both know...
Michael
Michaelyu5
New member
alternate suggestion, and not much more expensive -
since you don't mind bleed, and you're only going to record 2 mics at a time, I would suggest getting a two-channel mic preamp, the nicest one you can afford. It sounds like the 4-track suggestion is to use as a mini-mixer or preamp, but you will pay for other portions of it that you won't use.
See if you can get one that combines tubes and digital - there's a DBX one (I think the model number is 386) that has tubes for color but outputs to almost every digital and analog format around, and it's only about $500. Or you can look at some ART preamps, they have some solid stuff that's a little cheaper.
As far as mics, I would recommend a Shure SM 57 (the Swiss Army Knife of microphones) and a decent condenser, I'm really liking Oktava MK-012's (small diagphram) and 219's (large diagphram). These can be bought at Guitar Center dirt cheap, I think they are all around $99 each.
good luck.
- housepig
since you don't mind bleed, and you're only going to record 2 mics at a time, I would suggest getting a two-channel mic preamp, the nicest one you can afford. It sounds like the 4-track suggestion is to use as a mini-mixer or preamp, but you will pay for other portions of it that you won't use.
See if you can get one that combines tubes and digital - there's a DBX one (I think the model number is 386) that has tubes for color but outputs to almost every digital and analog format around, and it's only about $500. Or you can look at some ART preamps, they have some solid stuff that's a little cheaper.
As far as mics, I would recommend a Shure SM 57 (the Swiss Army Knife of microphones) and a decent condenser, I'm really liking Oktava MK-012's (small diagphram) and 219's (large diagphram). These can be bought at Guitar Center dirt cheap, I think they are all around $99 each.
good luck.
- housepig
VOXVENDOR
New member
Dave Brophy
New member
I'll comment on the mic-ing aspect.I've been experimenting with singing and playing acoustic at the same time on to 2 tracks.
I'm singing into a Shure SM-57 pointed up towards my mouth at about a 30 degree angle.Four-five-six inches away depending on how loud I'm singing.Experiment and find where it sounds best.
I'm collecting a few inexpensive mics online.Using a condenser mic on the guitar I found picked up a lot of my vocal.It still can be workable.
I suggest using Search in the Microphones section,and look up Electro Voice,Electrovoice,and EV.Great info.There's an inexpensive EV broadcast mic,the 635a,look that up.You can mic the acoustic very close to the soundhole,and pick up less vocal.
I'm waiting for UPS to bring the 635a I got for 40-some bucks on Ebay.Meanwhile I'm using another old EV,an RE 11,which is similar.
This is working for me because I wanted an old-fashioned folk blues sound for the material I'm doing.And it's not picking up too much of the vocal.
On one of the threads you'll find,someone described the 635a on the acoustic as sounding like "an early 70's Rolling Stones acoustic guitar sound."
If you want a more hi-fi sound,you'll need to study up on condenser mics.But you may also find that you'll get a lot of vocal bleed on the guitar track.
I'm singing into a Shure SM-57 pointed up towards my mouth at about a 30 degree angle.Four-five-six inches away depending on how loud I'm singing.Experiment and find where it sounds best.
I'm collecting a few inexpensive mics online.Using a condenser mic on the guitar I found picked up a lot of my vocal.It still can be workable.
I suggest using Search in the Microphones section,and look up Electro Voice,Electrovoice,and EV.Great info.There's an inexpensive EV broadcast mic,the 635a,look that up.You can mic the acoustic very close to the soundhole,and pick up less vocal.
I'm waiting for UPS to bring the 635a I got for 40-some bucks on Ebay.Meanwhile I'm using another old EV,an RE 11,which is similar.
This is working for me because I wanted an old-fashioned folk blues sound for the material I'm doing.And it's not picking up too much of the vocal.
On one of the threads you'll find,someone described the 635a on the acoustic as sounding like "an early 70's Rolling Stones acoustic guitar sound."
If you want a more hi-fi sound,you'll need to study up on condenser mics.But you may also find that you'll get a lot of vocal bleed on the guitar track.