Am I ready to record?

  • Thread starter Thread starter badgas
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badgas

badgas

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When I first came to homerecording my plans were to record my songs for my grandkids.
As I added more hard/software and heard songs that other people recorded at home and were selling one of my eye brows raised up in interest.

I asked and asked what I should get for some homerecording equipment.
I was offered lots of advice and ideas.
This is what I have.

My Computer:

800MHz Pent lll E
Asus P3C2000
2 twenty Gig IBM IDE HDs
384 MB 168 pin Sdram PC100
1.44 MB Floppy
Daewoo 17 inch Monitor.
3dfx Voodoo3 (960 x 720 - 16 bit)
Sound Blaster Live
Delta 66 Recording Sound Card
Richoh 6X4X24 CD-RW Scsi Drive
Scsi Card
Yamaha CDrom
OS Win98 SE
MSNatrual KB
Micro mouse

All drivers etc are updated on a regular basis.


My recording software:
Pro Audio 9
Sonic 1.0
and the extras that come with it.
Adaptec 4 recording software to burn disks.
Also some freeware stuff I've seen floating around on the board, but will probably not use as I hear to many arguements against them.

My hardware:
Cables.
Boss DR 770 drum machine.
Behringer MX 602A
Art Tube MP
Omni Desk top Studio that came bundled with the Delta 66 sound card.
Roland VS840GX with scsi card.
Klipsch speakers
Two Kenwood headphones
Shure 57
Shure Green Bullet
Guitars/Amps/Pedals/harps.

After wandering over to the GreyStudio and seeing what those guys are using, I look at my stuff and cringe.

I'm still reading the manuals, reading the posts here at homerecording, thinking, experimenting, using the ideas and tips I read. To me it sounds fantastic, but I'm new.

What I'd like to know is this;
Did I over buy? Is there something else I need?
Is the stuff I have capable of making good quality CD's.

I've read others asking this same question, and one of the replies I hear over and over is "what kind of music do you want to record?"
The music I play is my own. I've written over two hundred songs. Those are what I want to record. Stuff that sounds like Ten Years After, Blue Oyster Cult, Humble Pie. I also have my own blues songs. I play acoustic slide and straight electric, along the lines of everything from Tampa Red and Sleepy John Estes to Lonnie Mack and Gary Moore. Toss in some songs like Leon Rebone and Gordon Lightfoot. I've been playing guitar over forty years.

I'm on the verge of recording my first serious tracks now and don't want to find out later I should of had a doo-hickie hooked up to a gizmo for a cleaner sound.

I'd appreciate any advice, comments, adjustments to my hard/soft ware.
But I'm not changing my PC. I built it, I know it. I maintain it and fix it when it's ill.
I don't know a thing about MAC. Nothing against them.

Mega thanks for everything I've read and learned from you guys,
and a future thanks for anything else.
 
Hell ya, press record......Never let gear stop you from pressing the red button....a good song will be a good song even if recorded on 4 track cassette....and btw, you have a GREAT setup....
 
Gidge
Ok. I feel better about my equipment.
I'm gonna go for it.
Thanks.
 
Uhhhh.... not so fast, pilgrim!

What kind of cables are you using?
If they're standard Guitar Center type stuff, upgrade to Canare, Mogami, or Monster. If you don't, you'll lose a decent amout of sound quality.

Klipsch speakers?
Those are darned good speakers, but not for recording and mixing.
You'll be banging your head on your keyboard in frustration when you've spent 5 or 6 hours working on a mix, only to find that it sounds different in your car, on your home stereo, and on your boom box. In other words.... you'll never get it "just right".

I'm not trying to be the brearer of bad news, just a realist.
My partner and I already tried the shortcut route, and it was an exercise in frustration.

I would also opt for at least one good large condenser mic and a better set of cans (headphones). A Tube MP isn't going to do a whole lot for an SM57, but it'll sure make a good condenser mic sound nice! ;)

Take this advice for what it's worth.
I'm just trying to save you from a ton of aggravation.

Good luck!

Buck
 
Buck,

I would be safe to say that the results you are looking for and the results he are after are different.....if I felt that he was after pro quality, Id say yes on the cables and monitors and all that......all my cables are Radio Shack.....sure you can get better....but at some point you gotta say WTF and start recording.....
 
Hey Buck and Gidge.

Results.
For the grandkids CDs, Gidge is right on. I think I have adequate equipment to learn what I'm doing, how things work, and to burn CDs that can be family archives. I just need to learn how to use all this equipment. I'm getting the hang of it. It's all new and I'm taking it slow and careful before moving on to the next phase. The GKs CDs will come within the next year I hope.
Later, after I've done my twenty or so songs on the CDs for the grandkids, then I'll take stock of what I have, where I want to go with my recordings etc.

Upgrading.
I just forked out $500+ on these speakers, so they'll have to see me through the GKs CDs.
I've looked at quality monitors and looked at the prices. That will have to come later, when I intend to market my stuff.
I'm already trading reg 1/4" guitar cables for monsters. Fact is I just returned from town with six replacements. More upgrades include a condenser mic and two booms for the mics. It's like you have been reading my mind, Buck.:eek:

I am a pilgram, a newbie, just learning. I know that, know I will make a lot of mistakes along through out the upcoming year, but I have to learn. Then, when I have those twenty songs under my belt, have the experience to go for the $. I'll get better equipment, and start on a real studio instead of this small room I live in.

I really appreciate the tips, ideas and comments.
Thanks guys.
 
Getting the cables, monitors, and condenser mic does NOT mean you're going to get "pro" results... just a nice "clean" recording.

For "pro" results you need "pro" equipment.

Soundcraft, Neve, Great River, Neumann... that's the "pro" stuff.

The stuff I'm suggesting you buy will just save you alot of aggravation and time, that's all.

Even without the better cables, the monitors and condenser mic are essential to a decent recording. There's no way around it.

BTW, I was just joking around with the "pilgrim" remark.
I was having a "John Wayne" moment. ;)

Buck
 
Hey Buck.
I actually laughed when I read the ',,,not so fast pilgram'. An excellent opening. I sure got my attention. I never saw it as derogatroy. I'm cool with it. ;) Do you walk like John Wayne? I know a guy around here who can emulate him to a T, but this guy is really thin and that gives a comic look to it. John Wayne cut a record once. Only one I know of. I heard it but didn't think it was that good. I guess he didn't either cuz as far as I know he didn't persue a recording career.

I understand what your saying Buck. I have a floppy disk with hardware, equipment and tips and tricks to try. I'm using the floppy to keep focused in my mind as I can afford the up grades. I'm so excited about this recording stuff. I've always been creative, in my own crude way, by writting stories/music, playing music and now recording.
I've already shifted my $ income around so I can begin buying the 'Pro' equipment in a few months.
I'm taking your advice on the monitors first. As soon as I can afford them I'll get a factory tweaked pair.
 
"Am I ready to record" is really more of a philosophical question than one that we can answer here.

Some of the best songs I have heard came off a friend's Panasonic cassette recorder, one of those old ones you see in a classroom. Cost about 29$. Some of my favorite (I didn't say best-sounding!) recordings were made on my old 4-track. Just go for it. Your grandkids aren;t gonna notice "recording quality" anyway.
 
amen to that.....too many people beieve in the "gotta have this before I can record" philosophy......just press the red button.....hell, put me in a pro studio right now and i probably still couldnt get a "pro" recording.....I wont let my lack of gear be the blame for my suck-ass recordings....thats all my fault:D

signed.....

Michael J. "Doing The Best I Can With The Gear I Have And Adding New Gear Along THe Way" Guidry
 
Hee hee.
I've been pressing the red.

I'm suprised at the sound I get back. It sound pretty good.
Yeah, the grand kids will probably listen to most of it then stick in their closet anyway. The other reason I'm doing this one is for something under my belt.

In the mean time, I'm going to get better equipment too.

I gotta go, time to 'press the red' again. ;)
 
I just started out recording straight onto a stereo cassette with the mic that came with. Then I advanced to overdubbing by playing back one recorder, playing along to it and recording with a second cassette recorder.

Now I'm recording digital and mastering to CD. You just use what you've got and keep adding as outgrow your stuff and your wallet can take it.

Hey you can even make your own tape using sellotape and rust flakes.
 
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