Beginner here and need help

[Donna]

Hi all, I want to set up a beginning home recording studio...without breaking the bank. I;m not sure how to set up all this stuff, either. Here's the equipment I have to work with so far:

Casio CDP 200R Digital Piano

Samson Desktop Monitor system DMS80

Fender Passport Portable PA system

HP Laptop running Windows Vista (I'm not sure what kind of software I need for this).

I have microphones, headphones and some acoustic instruments as well.

I'd like to lay down 4-6 tracks, record my Dad's songs with and without vocals. And, probably do some other basic projects as well.

Thanks so much for your help.

Donna

 

[gecko zzed]

The two most immediate tings you need are a recording interface for your laptop, and an audio recording application.

You can get USB interfaces fairly cheaply these days, and they work pretty well. Some come with bundled software (for example, the Tascam interface comes with Cubase), which you can use for your recording application.

There are free applications you can download.

You can use your DMS80 for monitoring, with it connected to the interface. You could also use the Passport system for this, but otherwise you don't really need the mixer.

You can use the mikes and other stuff you've got. They'll get you started.

The keyboard is fine. You can record its audio straight into the interface, or you can use its midi capability.

You should expect a substnatial learning curve coming to grips with all of this, but don't let that daunt you.

 

[getuhgrip]

Hey Donna! Welcome to the site.

Like gecko said, there are alot of relatively chaep interfaces out there. This what you use to get the music into your computer. $49 gets you an RCA (red and white plugs) into USB adaptor. A few more bucks gets you something you can plug your mics into, and then into the computer.

These units have what are called analog to digital converters (A/D). Your mic signal and acoustic intruments are considered analog, and need to be coverted to digital so the computer can interpret them. The more you spend obviously, the better the quality and EASE of USE (very important to me!)

There's as many recording softwares these days are there are games for the X-box! Lots of opinions and testiomonials on the board. I used Pro Tracks (http://www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm) several years ago and it worked pretty well for me.

I'm now using what they call a "stand alone" recorder which I can plug all my mics into without having to use a computer for mixing the tracks. Not as versatile as I had hoped, so I'm probably going to buy power tracks AGAIN ($49) to do mixing and add effects.

Anyway...what kind of mics do you have? What kind of music is your dad into?

 

[TeyshaBlue]

I wonder if a box would present a smaller learning curve? Maybe a used Tascam 488mkII (the kicker is she'd need an outboard FX unit), or something along the lines of the Fostex MR-9mkII digital recorder? They're pretty cheap these days, and the Fostex is being closed out at GC.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fostex-MR-8-mkII-8-Track-Digital-Recorder-240343-i1480366.gc

And welcome to the board, Donna.

 

[DuddyGuy]

in terms of software you should check out reaper, which is actually a very nice program that should have more then enough power for what you want to do

http://www.cockos.com/reaper/

its free to try and theres no time limit on how long you can use it, it's not limited and never expires, they just ask that if you like it at some point you buy a license for 60 bucks.

 

[Donna]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I wish I knew about this forum sooner.

Getuhgrip, I have two Samson R11 vocal/recording microphones and an 8channel 900 mhz wireless dynamic mike. I also have this little Alesis Nanoverb gizmo (18 bit digital effects processor) I found in my stuff. I do have Band in A Box (and I think Roland 7) on my PC but the computer is old and cluttered...not sure it can handle sound tracks or if the software version will work with Vista on my laptop. I will probably need to invest in new software.

It's good to know, Gecko Zzed that the Tascam interface comes with Cubase. I will definitely check it out.

Teysha Blue, I'm not sure how those digital recorders work. Do you hook them up to your computer? Or are they stand alone recording units? I saw some at Sam Ash that record directly to a cd or memory card. Thanks for the link, btw.

Reaper sounds like a great option, Duddy Guy, I will definitely check it out, too.

Oh, and my Dad writes a lot of ballads, love songs...and patriotic and country, too. He has had a couple of demos made but that gets expensive, especially when I know I can arrange and record for him.

Thanks again, everyone. Sounds like I'm heading in the right direction.