Building my own home recording setup . Help!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shelby Brooks
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Shelby Brooks

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Okay so I have about 2 to 3000 dollars to work with, I need to know everything and if I should get a mac or pc, desktop or laptop? What software ect. I will be recording mostly my voice and guitar and occasionally keyboard. I have no equipment right now other than stands and instruments. I would be so appreciative of any helpful tips you have for me! Im just getting started.
 
I have a Mac with Logic Pro 9 and I love it.. Have you ever mixed before? Are you going to be recording, mixing, or what? What exactly is the goal of your studio? Answering these will better help us to help you
 
I have a Mac with Logic Pro 9 and I love it.. Have you ever mixed before? Are you going to be recording, mixing, or what? What exactly is the goal of your studio? Answering these will better help us to help you
Good job Brian

Shelby before we go and start spending your money do you have any recording, or mixing experience as Brian stated?
You just recording vocals and guitar will be a pretty simple setup and your budget will allow us to get you a full project studio setup well within your budget but we have to know where you are now and the direction you plan to go in the future. Get back to us when you can.
 
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Well I would honestly like to look at this as a career as well as record my own album as becoming a recording artist is my true intent, but I don't want to spend the money recording my album in a studio when I can build a studio for cheaper and distribute my work myself. I honestly am a total noob but am willing to out the dedication in is there any books on music production I can read ? I know the fundamentals of music theory ect and have worked with a guy who has some knowledge in producing and think I know what sounds good but what is the difference between mixing and recording ?
 
Well I would honestly like to look at this as a career as well as record my own album as becoming a recording artist is my true intent, but I don't want to spend the money recording my album in a studio when I can build a studio for cheaper and distribute my work myself. I honestly am a total noob but am willing to out the dedication in is there any books on music production I can read ? I know the fundamentals of music theory ect and have worked with a guy who has some knowledge in producing and think I know what sounds good but what is the difference between mixing and recording ?

Hi Shelby. I started as a an old 54 year old newbie 6 years ago, and there is no easy way to expect studio quality recordings in a short period of time. No bad words intended, but there is just so much to learn, but if you hang in there it is possible to make some very good recordings if you don't get frustrated and give up. I have seen others quit when they are at the beginning stage. I don't try to put out studio quality recordings, use all analog equipment, and send to the computer.

I wish you all the luck and hope u stay with it.

And read .... read alot. There is a lot of people here with lots of experience who can give u good advice.
 
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Well I would honestly like to look at this as a career as well as record my own album as becoming a recording artist is my true intent, but I don't want to spend the money recording my album in a studio when I can build a studio for cheaper and distribute my work myself. I honestly am a total noob but am willing to out the dedication in is there any books on music production I can read ? I know the fundamentals of music theory ect and have worked with a guy who has some knowledge in producing and think I know what sounds good but what is the difference between mixing and recording ?
Shelby you have the right approach of research and learning and kudo's to you for recording your own music and putting out your own music you have all the respect and support from me.

I honestly am a total noob but am willing to out the dedication
This right here is why your going to go very far in this business.

The fact that you are willing to learn is going to save you a TOOONN of time and most importantly a TONNNN of money I cant stress it enough. Yes there is a lot of info out there for you to began learning music production. Google of course, my favorites are The Mixing Engineers Hand Book followed by the Recording Engineers handbook and the Mastering Engineers handbook. Mixing Audio: Concepts Book, Also Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio Heck you can even Home Recording For Dummies. All of these are good, I humbly urge you to do some research before you make your purchase and the person who you know that is in production get with him and learn as much as you can thas what I did (eat off the pro's plate and you'll grow like one). So save your money for now and spend just $50-80 of that money on a few books first. Then come back here to use when your ready to purchase, we'll be glad to help.
 
Read everything you can before spending a dime on 'studio equipment'. Any new computer is going to have enough speed and RAM for you to use - probably whatever you are using now to access the internet will work fine to start out. Questions like 'laptop or desktop' are better answered by your intended use: will you need to record in different locations? MAC or PC - where's your experience? There is a lot more software and drivers avaialble for PC use, but it all depends on the DAW and hardware you choose.
As already mentioned, there is a huge learning curve with recording. Whether you start with $500 worth of equipment or $3000 will have minimal bearing on what your music sounds like when starting out.
 
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