Basic PC recording set up

[Call-Of-Ktulu]

I'm starting up a sort of small "studio" in my bedroom so i can record riffs from my guitar and keyboard and maybe mix them together later and get a rough idea of a song using this drum software called Drum Beat (i'm actually a working drummer... but I can't fit my drum kit in my room and doing drum tracks by myself is kind of a pain... not to mension its really loud). I bought this cheap Acoustica MP3 recorder software on the internet and its doing just fine except that it doesn't have any EQ capabilities or any effects. The editing capabilities are right up there though. I just import the drum track onto the Acoustica recorder and start layering my tracks on it. It's all a fairly normal, run of the mill computer with windows XP and about 1 ghz, 128 ram and about 20 gigs on the hard drive.

Can I get separate, "external" software for EQing and effects or do i have to get a whole new program?

My other question is should i get a preamp for it? right now all i have is a cheap radio shack PC mic on my guitar amp and a patch cord going from the out on my keyboard going to the sound card. As of now i'm just switching the plugs when i need to switch between recording each instrument, I was thinking i could just use a splitter so i don't have to keep unplugging and plugging unless any of you think that would be a bad idea. The sound quality isn't ment to be all that great, mind you it's turning out quite well with just the PC mic believe it or not. If i could just get some EQ so i could chop off some of that fat low end I'd be laughing.

Any comments would be helpful!

 

[sucram]

If Acoustica cannot use DirectX or VST plug ins (this should be in the manual or on the website), then you may have to use another editor to equalize your tracks. While I'm sure there are a few shareware/freeware editors out there, the only one I've used is Goldwave, and you should be able to find it online (I've seen it on Hitsquad's Shareware Music Machine). The downside of this is that you won't be able to EQ a track while listening to the other parts of your mix, though this may be okay if you're just looking to roll of some low end on the guitar. Try different mic positions to do some sculpting before even recording the sound. I don't know your knowledge of recording, but cabinets sound brightest with the mic right up to the grill, centered over the cone. The farther you move it out to the border of the cone, the less high end you'll capture.

If the mic is suiting you fine for now, I say keep using it and save some money for recording/arranging/sequencing/editing software until you know the mic is the weak link of the signal chain. It's hard to believe it's not already though . When you do upgrade the mic (Shure SM57s go for around $80 i think and are a guitar standard), you'll need a preamp. It doesn't sound like you require one just yet if you're getting a solid signal into the soundcard. Speaking of which, it's probably best to replace that first if it's the onboard sound.

I'm a bit confused about your mic/line inputs though. Do you have separate inputs for both on your soundcard? If so, you should make sure you're plugging in the mic to the mic and the synth into the line input. The mic input has amplification that the synth does not need. So really, unless you've only got one input, you shouldn't need to swap cables. If you've only got one input, then either your mic or your synth should sound strange since they output different signal levels.

If you're content with the sound for now though, I say wet your feet in the engineering side of things. The best tone in the world doesn't mean anything unless you know just what to do with it in the computer!

good luck,
marcus

p.s: and adding more RAM won't hurt either. from what i gather, most people shoot for a minimum of 512, but unless you've got stuttering or freezing problems, you may not need that.